Secrets of a CRA Recruiter

It is standard practice for interviewers to open up the discussion with a question like “tell me about yourself” or “walk me through your resume.” I like starting an interview this way because it typically puts the candidate at ease while giving me an idea of what he/she is looking for. While there are certain key points you want to make when answering these introductory questions, it is important to know what not to say in a job interview. While this seems like a benign topic, we just had a very seasoned contract CRA who faceplanted during what should have been a simple interview.  Why? Because she talked about experiences that weren’t on her resume. The very experienced CRA may be thinking – “there is no way I can include everything on my resume”. We agree. So how do you know what should be included on your resume (and thus be prepared to discuss during the interview)? When you are updating your resume, what other aspects of your brand should you also consider tweaking? And the most important question - how do you know what not to say in a job interview? You may think my questions are pedestrian. But the answers will make or break your results. 

The topic of this week’s roundtable is self-defeating beliefs and how they may be keeping you unemployed or unhappily employed. I refer to self-defeating habit patterns as Blockers. Blockers are those habit patterns that may have helped you survive in the past but are no longer beneficial to you. For example, as a baby, you cried when you were hungry. But as an adult, if you cry every time you feel a bit peckish, people are going to think you have crazy on your face. And yes, limiting beliefs will sabotage your success. Although self-defeating beliefs are extremely powerful, they only subtly impact your behavior. But that subtle impact is enough because these limiting beliefs will keep you from pursuing your dreams. They keep you from reaching your full potential. For example, if you lack confidence, you are less likely to apply for jobs that are a slight stretch for you. If you don’t feel you are capable of achieving a specific goal, you are less likely to even try to obtain it. Alternatively, if you are overqualified for a position, you may act entitled or arrogant while in the pursuit of it. So how do you know if you have self-defeating beliefs? How do you know if you have blockers that are sabotaging you? Let me ask you this: are you currently feeling love, peace, fulfillment, joy, and enlightenment? Did you wake up this morning with enthusiasm, feeling super excited to tackle your day? If not…then you are running one or more blockers. Which means you have limiting beliefs that are sabotaging your efforts. Join us as we discuss how to identify what Blockers you may have as well as provide some examples of how to overcome them. 

Do you think that bosses can have friends at work?  It is a complicated question…and if your answer is no, then I am certainly guilty. I love my team members. Each and every one of them are more than just colleagues to me. But as the boss, fostering close relationships with team members can sometimes lead to firing a friend. The irony is that most firings can be avoided. Last year I had to release one of my recruiters and it broke my heart (I cried for a couple of days, actually). I had felt she was becoming burned out because I noticed that she was pulling candidates from our pool for silly reasons. I attempted to open a dialogue with her during one of our one-on-ones but she insisted everything was okay. But then, she went ‘bat-crazy” on the company’s co-founder because he asked her to download a new firewall on her PC.I had no choice but to let her go. After I released her a couple of my team members revealed that she had been bullying them. Jeepers…she had been negatively impacting the rest of the team. And I had to ask myself…why wouldn’t she open up to me? Why wouldn’t she just tell me what was amiss so that we could work to solve the problem? None of us have to be on this journey alone…isn’t that the point of being ‘more than just colleagues’ at work? We team up with one of our favorite industry leaders, Linda Arnett, to discuss this exact topic. Everyone trips and falls at work…but these trips and falls don’t have to be deal breakers when folks are properly communicating and holding themselves accountable. Yes - firing a friend can be avoided. Listen in to find out how. 

Some of our listeners may argue that no one should be declining a job offer in today’s economy.  I find that many candidates decide to accept or decline a position based only on compensation. But aren’t there other factors important to you? And while I agree that money shouldn’t be the primary driver in making career decisions, isn’t financial security something everyone strives for? How do you balance ensuring your financial needs are being met while also considering the other aspects of the position? If you are thinking about applying to or accepting a job that doesn’t fit your career path, perhaps you should consider the following:  Does accepting this position completely (and permanently) derail your career path or goals? Will you jump ship if you receive the perfect job offer next week? Have you considered what you can gain in this position and if that is ‘enough’ for now? Oh – and if you decide to decline the job offer, how do you do it in a way that leaves the door open for future opportunities? There are many reasons for declining a job offer. Alternatively, there are many reasons for accepting one that may not be a perfect fit. This is our team’s roundtable topic this week. We want to hear from you – should you be declining a job offer in today’s economy? 

Have you ever considered how getting a job is directly related to your mindset as a job seeker? Before you craft your resume, update your LinkedIn profile, or start applying for positions, consider whether your mindset may be turning off potential hiring managers. For example, let’s say that you apply for a position that is a bit over your experience level. If you go into that situation lacking self-confidence, your interviewer will sense it. The bottom line is if you can not convince yourself you deserve the job, you will have a difficult time convincing your interviewer.Alternatively, maybe you feel you can handle the job in your sleep. Do you therefore come across cocky? And what about those of you who are running away from a current position because it is so horrible? When you are living in a mindset of frustration, don’t you think the recruiter or hiring manager will sense that energy? Getting a job should mean that you are going after a job that matters to you. Which means you are clear on what you want. It also means you must have the right mindset to go after it. For example, having the right mindset will enable you to craft a resume that is true to who you are. One that tells your story and clearly outlines where you want your career to go. Having the right mindset will also enable you to clearly articulate your skills, desires, and goals during an interview. But…and this is a big one…but maybe you need someone to help reset your mindset or attitude. Perhaps a sounding board will enable you to get clear. And that is the topic of today’s podcast with our friend and colleague, industry coach Jasmyn Quianna Adams. We hope you enjoy it! 

Several years ago Lou Adler wrote an article that described what recruiters and talent leaders felt were challenges to hiring the right person. He boiled their feedback into two primary categories: Teams aren’t seeing enough quality candidates, and Hiring managers are the problem, not the solution. Hiring the right person can certainly be a challenge. And yes, we see many Sponsors and CROs speak to a shortage of qualified CRAs as the reason to settle. But I don’t feel there is a shortage of high-quality CRAs. I do, however, feel the real ‘shortage’ companies are challenged with is their inability to attract great talent.  But this is a discussion for another day. Today, I want to ask if you agree with Lou’s assessment. Do you feel hiring managers are the problem when it comes to a company’s ability to hire great talent? We teamed up with one of our industry leaders, Brian Dempster, to shed some light on the topic. We address the idea that hiring the right person starts with using the right interviewer. And no, not all clinical operations managers make good interviewers. But is the hiring process complete without clinical operations being involved? Likewise, I have met many recruiters who are terrible interviewers - especially when it comes to sussing the technical details. In a nutshell, my opinion is that the largest barrier most companies have to hiring the right person is their recruitment strategy…or lack thereof. We hope you enjoy the discussion! 

In the last 24 hours, one of our clients just received 667 applicants for an open CRA position. I just received 272 applicants for an administrative position (and they are still pouring in). The rub? Many of those candidates were seriously overqualified for these roles. Some people may feel that such an outpouring of interest is a positive thing.  But I see something different…hundreds of individuals stating, “I need a job now…please help me.” Which begs an extremely important question: Should job seekers hold out for a job that is right for them? One that fits their goals and helps progress their career?It depends.  We love to see candidates who are in control of their careers. But sometimes job seekers don’t have the leisure of holding out for the perfect job. And when the “I need a job now…please help me” mantra takes over and you have to settle in order to make your mortgage payment, how do you pick a position that won’t negatively impact your future career goals? And how do you positively (and honestly) present that position on your resume? Or…do you present it on your resume? Oh, and when you can ethically leave that ‘filler’ position to accept a position that better aligns with your career goals?  Great questions – and we discuss all of them in this week’s podcast. 

Unplanned absences are going to happen.  Kiddos get sick. Parents become ill and need to be cared for. Car accidents happen. Unplanned absences from the workplace are inevitable.We teamed up with one of our favorite Hiring Managers to discuss how both management and team members can (and should) proactively plan for unplanned absences. Part of our discussion relates to federal guidelines that protect team members when it comes to requesting time off for certain reasons.We then breach the subject of how leadership can provide team members with an easy way to alert them of an emergency leave from work. This communication topic is an important one…and quite tricky. After all, how do you balance a timely notification while not feeling that you have to reveal more personal details than needed?I tell a story about one of my CRAs who just went missing. She didn’t show up for a visit and wasn’t answering her phone. After she had been missing for several days, I was so worried about her that I sent the police to her house. And yes, she had experienced an emergency. But she was physically able to communicate but hadn’t. She allowed her situation to ruin her brand with both our firm and the client to which she was assigned. The net was that if she had been more proactive in planning for a potential emergency, the resulting circumstances would have caused a lot less heartache for her, for me, and the overall team.We hope you enjoy our most recent podcast where we provide both leadership and team members how to plan for unplanned absences from work.

Folks break into a clinical research career via many different pathways. And when it comes to a clinical research professional’s foundations as a CRA, we typically see one of two approaches.  Many sponsors and CROs would say that obtaining foundational experience through “classical training” is the preferred approach. However, while we are seeing more and more sponsors and CROs offer entry-level programs that offer classical training, on-the-job experience is also golden.Our roundtable topic for today asks if it matters how you got into the industry as a CRA. Is classical training a stronger entry than on-the-job training? And once you have broken into the role via either classical training or on-the-job experience, how do you then focus on continual learning activities that will balance your knowledge?Oh…and regardless of how you formed your foundational knowledge, how does that experience fit into your overall career story? How will your continued job tenure and work experience either reinforce or detract a future hiring manager’s perception of the validity of those foundations?Importantly too, how do you articulate your foundational knowledge in a way that makes recruiters and clinical operations managers see you as strongly desirable and competitive?

This podcast tackles the topic of how job seekers should be pickier when selecting a recruiter to work with.  In this ‘How to Recruit Your Recruiter’ discussion, you will see how easy it is to fall prey to a recruiter who may not have your best interest in mind.Years ago, an executive search firm reached out to me, offering to represent me if I paid them a fee.  At the time I was with IBM and quite comfy…so I didn’t bite.  But now, I know that I barely escaped a huge con.  It dismays me to find that so many candidates think they are supposed to pay an agency or individual recruiter.Or even worse, candidates don’t always feel they have a choice when it comes to the recruiter they work with.It isn’t supposed to work this way!No candidate should have to settle for a recruiter who doesn’t care. So how do you recruit your recruiter? I am so glad you asked. Join us as we speak to a dear friend and colleague Elizabeth Weeks-Rowe. Elizabeth describes a scenario a friend of hers recently experienced…and I bet many of you have experienced something similar.The takeaway? Picking the wrong recruiter can keep you unemployed (or unhappily employed). Self-centered recruiters can cost you money and can also hurt your brand. We give tips on what questions you should ask a recruiter before you allow them to represent you.

About twenty years ago I had a mentor who told me that interviewing was the worse way to identify talent. I thought he had lost his mind. But with the rise of the fake interview, I see some wisdom to his point.Now I am not going to go on record stating that we should throw out the interview. But I will state that an effective vetting process starts long before scheduling an interview. And when it comes to the actual interview, strict guidelines should be followed to ensure the interview is effective and the results are trustworthy.We just had a candidate who couldn’t get his speakers to work during a video interview. After fifteen minutes of troubleshooting, the issue seemed to generally resolve itself, but his sound kept going in and out throughout the entire discussion.Perhaps the issue truly was technical. But if you had heard the many fake interview stories that I have heard, you would be suspicious.We were.  So how do we, as recruiters and hiring managers, make sure we are giving job seekers a break when they are genuinely experiencing an issue during an interview? Alternatively, how do we know to classify the interaction as a fake interview?This is an important topic because I feel that many recruiters and hiring managers are so shell-shocked from interview fraudulence that they are ruling out good and honest candidates. Join us for this week’s round table where we dig deeper into the topic.

From a CRA staffing perspective, I believe all of us can agree that we have some work in front of us to clarify the barrier to entry into the role.  We also need to define the CRA role more consistently. Wouldn't it be nice if all sponsors and CROs were in agreement on titles and the qualifications of CRAs at various levels?With all of that in mind, I have recently been seeing bloggers and ‘experts’ state that a ‘scandalous byproduct of the COVID-19 pandemic’ is candidate fraudulence.How ridiculous. We have been experiencing serious CRA candidate fraudulence in this industry for well over a decade. Unfortunately, some folks are just going to do what they can to fake the system (any system, actually). But what about those candidates who have honestly tried to break into the role and been unsuccessful?Jeslyn Atanu joined us to discuss her perception of the confusion around the barrier to entry into the CRA role. We also bridge the topic of how it may be one of the root causes of some of the fraudulence we are experiencing.Make no mistake. I certainly do not agree that it is okay to commit fraud to gain entry into such an important role. But, I do agree there are some problems we should band together to solve within our beloved industry. And better defining the barrier to entry into the CRA role is one of them.Join us as we lay it all on the line. And while we didn’t magically solve all of our industry’s issues, we sure did shine a light on several of them.

I had someone ask me once: Do you wear the same clothes to a phone interview as you do to a face-to-face interview?  Wow…I sure hope not. But since you would certainly consider the interview venue when planning what to wear, shouldn’t you also consider your interview audience when planning what to say?As an example, what topics do you feel are appropriate to discuss with an HR partner? And why is it inappropriate to discuss some of those same topics with a Clinical Operations Manager?  What should you expect when being interviewed by a future colleague? And before you answer that question, know that peer interviews can be a lot trickier than you think.And let’s not forget about executives. Preparing for a discussion with someone in a senior leadership role can be just as tricky…but in a much different way.Taking the time to analyze your interview audience is super important and this week’s round table digs deep into the topic. Listen in for loads of tips and tricks…as well as a funny story or two.

She wore a wig in her video interview.Not that wearing a wig is a bad thing in itself...my Mom wore a wig after her chemo.  But the reason for the wig became apparent later.It all had to do with her faking her interview. You have heard us talk about various ways that candidates falsify their way through the interview process, but we want you to hear what a seasoned CRA Manager has experienced with fake video interviews.Dalia has been in the clinical research industry for over two decades and has been interviewing CRAs for a very long time. Which, of course, means she has lots of stories to tell. Join our discussion where Dalia Tsurov shares some real examples of fake video interviews.  This is a podcast you won't want to miss!

What the Heck is Brand Storytelling?You have heard me say it before: I want to hear your career story. Your unique story.  I want to see what your passion is as well as the qualities you bring to my table. In a nutshell, you need to be versed in the art of brand storytelling.So how do you tell that story? Well, you start by clarifying your personal brand. Then, you come up with a way to honestly relate your journey.  And by journey I mean I want to see how your past has led you to the current moment...and how this current moment is leading you to your future career objective. You can articulate this through your resume, through your LinkedIn or other social media profiles, or via articles or blog posts.Your story will help you stand out. And by being authentic and real, you will build a connection with your future hiring manager. Why? Because people want to build emotional connections with others. And hiring managers want to hire people that they resonate with.What are Some of the Best Examples of Personal Branding?Do you need some help to better craft your brand, so you can tell your story? Brand storytelling doesn’t have to be complicated and this podcast digs into some real examples that will help you craft the perfect story for you.  Thanks to our friend and colleague Amber Victor and her insight as a Hiring Manager! We know you won’t want to miss this episode.

This week's roundtable theme is simple and can be described in one word: Responsiveness.  It is interesting to me how many candidates miss out on great opportunities...not because they aren't qualified, but because they aren't responsive.I've been so busyI do want to note that when we speak of candidates being responsive, we are talking about candidates who are further along in the interview process. Meaning, that we have already fully qualified the candidates as well as spoken to them about the position.And at this juncture, we are just looking for a confirmation to proceed with submission. We just recently had a candidate respond a week after asking for permission to submit...and the position was already closed!We have all heard the excuses.  Job Seekers and Recruiters alike: "I've been so busy", "The battery in my phone died", "I didn't see the email", or "I have been traveling". But let's discuss the impact that responsiveness will have on your candidacy.Today's roundtable will take you through how we view candidates who are responsive and who are not. We dig into specific examples so you can better understand when it is okay to delay a response. And of course, cover when a lack of responsiveness will cost you a coveted role.

We hear this all the time: “My current full-time job is very slow, so I thought I would pick up a contract to supplement my hours”.  Or“I want to shift into contracting, but I don’t want to leave my permanent position until I am secure. Therefore, I am seeking a part-time contract while still at my current employer.”So, let me ask – is simultaneously holding a full-time job while working a contract position okay? What if I were to tell you that sometimes it is okay and sometimes it isn’t? This week’s team roundtable tackles this very important topic. We dig into what when working two jobs may cause a conflict of interest. We also address why schedules for each position matter. And in case you were wondering if (and how) you should ask your current employer permission, we provide some tips. And most importantly, we go through how to document the scenario in your resume so that it doesn’t raise flags. 

Most people approach the job interview as if it were a dog and pony show. After all, isn’t it tempting to ‘perform’ as the person you think the hiring manager is looking for? We have seen it cited that up to 90% of job candidates engage in faking their behavior at an interview.  But being authentic in the job interview is important.We teamed up with a friend and long-time hiring manager, Kathleen Hanlon, to discuss what all hiring managers are looking for – someone who is genuine, truthful, and real.Yep.Now that doesn’t mean you show up late to the interview in a dirty shirt and sneakers because you overslept. But it does mean that you shouldn’t feel pressured to play a role.  Being truthful and honest in the answers you provide will help you land a position that will best suit your skills and passions.We also talk about a big peeve of managers - job seekers who provide generic answers! Job Seekers are finding themselves in a much more competitive environment and those CRAs who can provide details regarding their experiences in the interview will be top candidates. We provide some tips on how to showcase your skills with the level of detail hiring managers are looking for. We also talk about how to let your personality shine through during the interview…and why it is important.

Did you know that hiring managers hate interviews as much as job seekers do?  Interviews can be mundane. In most cases, I ask the same old questions, and the candidate answers with the same old answers.And for those candidates who have a hard time connecting with their interviewer or properly communicating their experience…well, I can usually tell within the first two minutes how those interviews are going to go.Interviewing takes a lot of time…for both the Job Seeker and the Hiring Managers. Which begs the question: How do we turn a much-hated chore into something meaningful and worthwhile? And how do we convert a typical interview from an interrogation into a real discussion?We felt it was so important to let folks know that it is okay to hate interviews, that we decided to dedicate a podcast to the topic. One of our favorite hiring managers joined us for this very important subject. We discuss various interview venues, express our opinions on which ones are more effective, and also discuss interview practices that may not be ethical.The goal of this podcast is to help you look at the interview process a little differently. Yes, it is still a means to an end, but it can also be fun and informative. We share some ‘face-plant’ stories as well as discuss how to improve your interview techniques, all in the spirit of making your next interview a meaningful conversation.

One of my mentors has a favorite saying: If you don’t know what you want, any road will take you there.  We speak a lot about setting career goals. After all, how are you going to find the right job for you if you don't have them? It has been my experience that talented individuals set goals because they want to advance.  Out of sheer motivation, driven professionals can maintain a clear career focus to obtain their career goals.However, while having a vision of your objectives can keep you engaged and persistent when it comes to obtaining those career goals, life often has a habit of getting in the way.Which means, you may have experienced a circumstance that has sabotaged your career progression. Perhaps you have faced a personal illness that has kept you from working long hours. Or maybe you had to take some time off from travel to take care of an aging parent or a sick child.Experiencing a life event doesn’t mean you have lost career focus…it just means you may have to side-step forward progression towards that goal.At least temporarily.And the problem you now have to solve? How to articulate this ‘side-step’ in a way that doesn’t hurt your brand or negatively impact the story you are trying to tell. So how do you show potential employers the career focus you still have when a life event has taken you off track? In this roundtable we discuss how to exhibit a clear career focus…even when life circumstances may have gotten in the way.