How to escape the job hunt black hole

The Wall Street Journal explains the “job hunt black hole”, wherein you submit a resume to an online posting or corporate website and never hear about it again.

The article explains that when you send in your information,  automated “Applicant Tracking Systems” (ATS) swallow and dissect your resume.  It will only be seen by a live human being if it matches with specific keywords and skill categories determined by the software. If you’re lucky, you’ll get an automated email reply telling you that you’re in the system.
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Posted: March 8th, 2009 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , | No Comments »

Using LinkedIn to find Clinical Research Jobs: Part 1

The Blue Sky Resumes blog has a great post, the 7 Mistakes You’re Probably Making on LinkedIn.

The pharmaceutical and biotech sectors have been enthusiastic adopters of this social networking site. If you’ve ever wondered how to find the names of people to call for informational interviews, or for personalizing your cover letters, this is your answer.

These days, LinkedIn should definitely be a part of your networking strategy but you can’t just put up a profile and forget it.   Louise Fletcher’s advice will help your profile get attention.

If you’re trying to land a clinical research job, you should apply these tips on how to write a clinical research resume to your profile as well. Be sure to sign up for some LinkedIn groups that relate to your career goals (e.g. the Good Clinical Practice group).

In a future post, we’ll talk about how to use LinkedIn to actively build relationships, and discuss the value of other niche social networking sites.


Posted: February 14th, 2009 | Author: | Filed under: Informational interviews, networking, Resources, Resumes & CVs | Tags: , , , | No Comments »

How to write a clinical research associate resume

This post will help you write a resume for clinical research jobs: entry-level clinical research associate jobs, clinical research coordinator jobs or clinical trial associate jobs would be good targets for this advice.

The hardest step to a successful career in clinical research is the first one. Getting your foot in the door takes patience, preparation, ingenuity and a toolkit of supporting materials and behaviors that will make you stand out above the competition.  A well-crafted resume can help you get your chance to shine as a clinical research associate, medical science liaison or other pharmaceutical professional.

There are a million guides out there that will give you good general advice on writing and formatting your resume, and (with one important exception) I’m not going to waste your time by duplicating that advice here. These tips are specific to the clinical research field. If you’re applying for entry-level clinical research associate jobs, the following suggestions may help your resume get noticed. Read the rest of this entry »


Posted: January 29th, 2009 | Author: | Filed under: Clinical research, Clinical Research Associates, ICH-GCP, Resumes & CVs | Tags: , , , , , | 13 Comments »