Beginner CRA
CRA BASICS, TIPS AND CAREER DEVELOPMENT FOR ENTRY LEVEL CLINICAL RESEARCH ASSOCIATES OR THOSE INTERESTED IN BECOMING CLINICAL RESEARCH ASSOCIATES
How to Get the CRA Job Part 3: How to ace a CRA interview?
So now the battle is half won. Now that you have experience and have applied to the right position, finally you have been called back for an interview. An interview will be easy right? Wrong!
This is a make or break situation. You have to nail every interview like your life depends on it. I will share with you some key mistakes I made when I interviewed for CRA jobs. (These were over several interviews not all in one- Thank God!)
Series of mistakes I have made as a Wannabe CRA during interviews:
- I was late– Never show up late to an interview, it is the worst thing you can do to piss off your interviewers and the HR person that set it up. You definitely will not get the job.
- I said I was not willing to perform administrative tasks– I have no idea what possessed me, possibly the fact that I had been performing “admin” tasks as an assistant and was sick and tired of it.
- I was nervous and it showed– I would not look people in the eye. I was overly polite and too shy. It’s not good to be that way when you are applying for a self-directed position. It is ok to be nervous just don’t let it show. Fake confidence is better than no confidence.
- I did not follow-up– If I did not hear back from a job I interviewed never called HR or the recruiter to ask what happened. I would therefore, be left guessing what I was lacking to qualify for the job. Why guess when you can know for sure?
- I gave the wrong copy of my CV– I was constantly revising my CV, which is good, but I never kept track of which CV I used to apply to which job. When I gave a CV to an interviewer it did not match the CV that I applied with… so you know what happened? I didn’t get the job.
- I talked badly about my current company– When they ask you why you are exploring new opportunities, say good things about their company. Don’t use that as an opportunity to bad mouth the company you currently work for.
- I gave cheesy responses– Cliché answers to questions like: What is your weakness? “I work too hard” or “I am too much of a perfectionist”.
It’s embarrassing I know but I actually did do these things. Although, it goes without being stated, you need to know what you are talking about as far as monitoring is concerned. However, with two years of pharmaceutical experience you should be able to answer every monitoring related question.
Good Luck,
-Sara
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Beginner CRA 
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