Secrets of a CRA Recruiter

“Why do I keep failing interviews?” she asked.  I felt bad for her because she was an excellent CRA. But the reality is that she wasn’t failing her interviews because she lacked experience or competency within the role. Actually, it has been our experience that interview fails rarely have anything to do with your qualifications. It is also not typically about your resume. After all, the resume’s s...

Candidates need them. Businesses need them...Recruitment Agencies are a critical part of any industry. But how do you recruit a recruitment agency? How do you evaluate recruitment agencies that are ethical as well as good at what they do? And how do you define a 'good' recruitment agency? After all, recruitment agencies can have some pretty horrible reputations. We sat down with one of o...

When your candidate pool is too large, you are at risk of missing the highest-quality candidates. I was speaking to an HR manager at a mid-sized CRO and she was in tears. Her operations team desperately needed CRAs for an upcoming project, but for each position she posted, she received over one hundred applicants. She couldn't get through all of the resumes, much less determine which candidat...

Last week someone reached out to me with a simple question: Do you place Contract CRAs?   This was definitely not the best LinkedIn connection request message to send me. Why? If this potential candidate had spent even a brief amount of time on my profile, he would have known that placing CRAs is a specialty of mine. My partner and I built a business that specializes in it. We have a team dedicate...

This past week I had an individual contact me through LinkedIn asking to be considered for some of our open Clinical Research Associate positions. His foundations were terrific but he met none of the qualifications of our industry CRA positions. The rub...he didn't understand that he was extremely underqualified. Are our Clinical Research Associate candidates confused? His inquiry made me won...

You have heard us say it before – Competent CRAs are great public speakers! But being an effective public speaker isn’t magical. We have addressed overcoming the fear of public speaking and why you should seek public speaking opportunities . Now we dig into how to engage your audience. We sat down with one of our favorite people, Elizabeth Weeks-Rowe to discuss this very important topic. Elizabeth...

Many job seekers take the flawed approach of focusing on the formatting of their resume instead of their resume content.  While we certainly don't want to go on record stating that resume formatting isn't important, the content is the point. What content should I include on my resume? There always seems to be confusion about what to include. This podcast is all about the do's and do...

Applying for multiple jobs at the same company may seem like a smart approach. And maybe in certain circumstances it does make sense to apply for more than one position at any single company. However, you have to be very careful in how you go about it.  One of my favorite colleagues has narrated one of our exceptionally popular blog posts on this topic . Stay tuned as she describes how submitting...

Let's just start out by stating that a gap in resume is normal. Everyone has them. But when it comes to providing an employment gap explanation...Well, everyone doesn't have those. Gracefully providing employment gap reasons is an incredibly useful skill. In this podcast edition we break down the various reasons for employment and career gaps. The goal is to assist Job Seekers when it co...

For professionals at all level, the ‘How Far Back Should a Resume Go?” question is one that is important to consider. For the senior level professionals, be aware that unfortunately Age Discrimination in the workplace is real. For the junior level professionals, understanding what to include in order to show a desired path is critical. So how do you decide what positions and activities such as vol...

There are several resume mistakes candidates make that fall outside of the obvious spelling and grammar issues we often see.  This podcast covers the 'not so obvious' resume mistakes such as: Adding meaningless statements: Of course you will provide references upon request! Save the space on your resume to reinforce your skills, qualities, achievements and passion points. Including an un...

When outsourcing your clinical studies, should you consider establishing an oversight monitoring plan?  We work with some outstanding Sponsors who did not…and the results were disastrous. So when do you need an oversight monitoring program? In this recording of one of our most popular articles on the topic, we discuss a specific case study which will help you make the right decision for your compa...

You should know that the simple act of creating a resume doesn't mean it will be read. According to a recent article in the Harvard Business Review , it only takes around seven seconds for a recruiter to decide if you might be right for a job. Seven seconds.  One thing is for sure, creating a resume that gets read is more than just documenting your work history and education. You need to find...

"What is the best thing I can do to advance my career?" she asked.  It is a common question for us here at craresources and my answer may surprise you. While we may be tempted to tell you that learning the hard skills associated to monitoring clinical studies is critical, my real answer for what is most important is this:  Get comfortable with public speaking. Our friend and colleague, E...

Looking for a CRA Career? Or perhaps you want to progress within your current CRA role? Before you start your CRA career search, let's discuss a 'tried and true' strategy that will enable you to effectively outline a plan to land you that perfect position. Join us in a discussion on identifying your why, your what, as well as how to assess the areas of career development you need to...

And before you say that you don't make job search mistakes, let me be the first to correct you. You do. Everyone does. And many of them are avoidable! It surprises me how often an experienced professional will miss out on an opportunity because of committing silly (and avoidable) mistakes. I hope you find this podcast beneficial! craresources

Many companies are not clear on what types of charges are standard. Unfortunately the practice of Sneaky Billing is real.  Let’s talk a little about what you should expect as well as the pitfalls and sneaky billing practices that can put your company (and your budget) in jeopardy.   craresources

 Let us help you figure out what causes it...and more importantly, how to avoid it. I have learned that there is always a reason why job seekers don't receive a response to their job applications.  Actually there are several, so let's take a look as to why you may be getting ghosted by recruiters and hiring managers.  craresources

Regardless of whether you work with a CRA Recruiter, Soup-to-Nuts Recruiter, or Sleezy Recruiter…it quickly becomes clear that recruiters are not all created equally. But putting the quality of the recruitment agency aside, when it comes to discussing whether a CRA, Sponsor or CRO should work with a Niched CRA Recruiting firm, how do you select an agency that will quickly yield high quality CRAs t...

Effective presentation and communication skills are dynamic elements of a successful CRA - Site relationship.  Unfortunately, intense nervousness and an anxious mind can put a kibosh on being able to effectively get your point across. Want to know how to overcome the knocking knees so you come across as confident and knowledgeable?  Take a listen to our super awesome guest, Elizabeth Weeks-Rowe to...

CRA Careers are available! The hard skills are teachable, but the soft skills are what is really important.  Anyone looking to develop themselves into a mature CRA must focus on improving their soft skills. Communication skills, time management, organizational skills, conflict management… This podcast is about honing your soft skills!  Check out our supporting blog posts and certainly reach out if...

No more calls. No more Texts. We are breaking up.  This industry is extremely small. The goal in every interaction should be to build a rapport...which will lead to a relationship...which will continue to grow your network. So in the effort of nurturing your network rather than burning bridges: Job Seekers - how do you gracefully decline a job offer?  In a way that keeps the hiring manager interes...

Is the Reference Check a Waste of Time? As a hiring manager – do you conduct reference checks?  How about you Job Seekers out there…are you taking the reference check step as seriously as you should? With the goal of streamlining the process while ensuring it’s effectiveness, we spend a few minutes busting myths and sharing common errors (as well as share a story or two). We hope you enjoy! crares...

Want to know why interviews aren’t always effective?  Interview fails aren’t just made by the job seeker; hiring managers make them too.  Our team held a quick round table on this topic and want to share our thoughts on interview dos and don’ts as well as the CRA interview process. We would love to hear stories about your “interview fails”! craresources