Article written by the Pharmaspecific Society, a specialist in clinical research.

Hello everyone! This is Vanessa Montanari from the clinical research blog.

Today, I’m making a little video on « You can’t find a CRA position, why? ».

There can be different reasons why you can’t find a CRA position:

First, maybe it’s on your CV. Maybe it’s the substance or the form.

In terms of form, it could be a muddle and messy CV, an unsuitable photo, a CV that’s not very clear, or a CV that gives the impression that you lack rigour.

In terms of content, you need to be fairly precise with your CV. For example, note the therapeutic areas, the number of centers, the number of patients you have worked on, the different tasks you have done in detail (for example, if you have done filling, monitoring, regulatory submissions, project management, …). Mark all the details you did exactly during your ARC assignment.

Apart from the CV, this can also be the therapeutic areas you are working on. For example, if you apply to companies working on cancer while you worked on rheumatology, there is little chance that these companies will contact you again, because they are looking for experts in the therapeutic area they are interested in. Therefore, you have to apply to companies that work in the therapeutic areas in which you are an expert.

This can also be in English. If, for example, your level of English is not specified in your CV, or if your English level is academic but the company needs someone with a fairly good level of English, this will be a problem. So, they won’t necessarily call you back.

Another thing that may be problematic is the experience you offer. For example, if the customer wants someone who is very experienced, and you are not, you should expect that you will not be contacted. It is important to have at least six (6) months of internship to ensure that your experience is sufficient to be contacted again for certain positions. Look to see if it says: « Beginner Accepted ». Look at the number of years of experience required. For example, if they are asking for one (1) year of experience and you have six (6) months of experience, you can apply. But if they ask for five (5) years of experience, it means that the client is really looking for someone with experience and that beginners will not pass.

Also, you can ask yourself if you have submitted your resume to enough companies. There are sometimes people who submit about ten (10) resumes to companies and expect to be contacted again by these ten (10) companies. My starting point is that you should send no less than 70 targeted CVs to companies. When I say targeted, I mean that you have looked for ads, you have found ads, or you have contacts of people you know and who can pass your CVs to recruiters. So, really, 70 targeted CVs, meaning that you match the profile and you submit your CV. Out of these 70 targeted CVs, I estimate about 10% of responses if your CV is good enough. So if you have sent 70 CVs, you will have at least seven (7) people responding to you, either to interview you or they call you. But if you send about thirty (30) non-targeted CVs, you should also expect to get casts. You have to expect that this will not be successful.

Also think about choosing your training school carefully. Choose schools or masters that have a very good network. A good network of companies that they are in contact with and that they can put you in touch with for future internships. This is an important point and it increases your chances of finding assignments and a position in the field of clinical research.

There must also be a certain method of searching for a position. For example, if you get a call and you don’t even know which company it is, it can be awkward. The person realizes that in the end, they’re just a number among the companies you’ve contacted, that you’ve tried to approach, and it would be a little bit of a shame to be frowned upon in relation to that. You have to know the companies you are applying for, be organized in your research, have tracking charts and be able to know when you applied to a particular company. So that’s really a minimum.

Another thing, if you have more experience as a CRO, you’ll find a CRO position easier to find than positions in CROs or pharmaceutical companies. If you have CRA positions instead, you’ll find CRA positions and you can also, if you wish, at some point become a WIP. So you really have to take that into account, because when you’re working in the public instead, you’ll tend to find positions in the public. If you started in the private sector, you’ll tend to work in the private sector, but you can also work in the public sector.

I hope these little tips will help you. As for me, I’m in Rawai, Thailand, and I’m watching a beautiful sunset from a beautiful viewpoint on Rawai. I’m going to look at from these viewpoint, and I wish you good luck in your research.

See you soon!

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