Let’s get real about 2024. The clinical research industry wasn’t just dealing with a CRA Hiring fraudulence problem – we were facing an epidemic of fake CRA applications that threatened the entire ecosystem of clinical trials.

In 2024, my team didn’t just identify fraudulent candidates. We led an industry-wide conversation about protecting the integrity of clinical research recruitment. Key insights that drove our work included:

• Exposing systematic vulnerabilities in current CRA hiring and verification processes.
• Working with industry leaders to develop more rigorous candidate screening methodologies.
• Creating transparent resources to help hiring managers detect fraudulent applications.

More Honest Conversations About CRA Hiring Are Needed

Our most impactful moments came from raw, honest conversations. Like this post that resonated deeply with our community:

“Not too long ago, someone reached out to me because a close personal friend of hers had participated in what she believed to be a Fake CRA program.” Read more of her story (and confession) here. 

We also provided checklists to job seekers regarding writing effective resumes and preparing for interviews. A popular article within our job seeker community: 

“The video interview makes it difficult to build an effective rapport during the interview cycle.“

And based on multiple requests, we published a checklist to help hiring managers identify candidate fraudulence early in the recruitment cycle.

“Do you believe that Fake CRA Applicants really exist?“

Also, importantly, we delved into a candid exploration of unconscious bias that benefited both hiring managers and job seekers:

“While I don’t believe most companies consciously practice ageism, I do believe they unconsciously practice it.“

Key achievements that kept us moving forward:

• Published multiple fraud prevention articles for the ACRP and IAOCR.
• Led industry webinars exposing recruitment vulnerabilities.
• Enhanced background check and reference verification protocols across the industry.
• Maintained near-zero contract CRA attrition rates. 
• Provided coaching classes to help aspiring clinical research professionals cross the barrier to entry within our market.
• Facilitated podcasts aimed at supporting mid and senior-level professionals in their career growth.

Looking ahead to 2025 

Our mission remains unchanged. We’re not just preventing fraud in CRA hiring – we are supporting career growth among CRA candidates and rebuilding trust in the CRA vetting process, one verified candidate at a time.

To every honest CRA and integrity-driven hiring manager: Your commitment makes this industry stronger. Together, we can create a recruitment landscape that values quality, transparency, and genuine talent.

This is a first for me…I wrote this with help from coauthor.studio.Can we help you in 2025? Reach out to find out. 

The post CRA Hiring Practices – 2024 In Review appeared first on craresources.

As we dive into the Holiday Season, I am starting to receive the traditional ‘Seasons Greetings’ messages and cards that always begin arriving in December. I am sure you are too. And while I appreciate the thought, it isn’t always clear which yuletide messages are genuine. So it made me think…how can I make sure that my ‘Seasons Greetings’ message to you earnestly expresses that I am grateful for you? 

I am also grateful to you. Whether you are a client or CRA, you have given us the opportunity to partner with you, and I appreciate that. But the true message I want you to receive is that I am grateful for you. You are why we show up to work every day, why we work so hard to drive change in this industry’s hiring practices, and why we love being a part of this beautiful clinical research puzzle. 

The connections we have built and relationships we have strengthened this year are important to us…and you have been a key part of that. So in that spirit, I want to express my gratitude. Thank you, thank you, thank you. May the Spirit of this Holiday Season fill your heart with love, joy, and peace. 

We look forward to serving you in the upcoming year! 

The post Grateful for You appeared first on craresources.

Harvard Health cites that giving thanks can make you happier (and healthier).  And while I do set time aside every day to practice gratitude, I always find myself reflecting on the past year during the holiday season.

And one thing I am absolutely grateful for is you. In a world where so many are struggling, I take solace in the fact that the partnerships we have with all of our great clients and CRAs mean more to us than anything.

Our lives at craresources have been much more fulfilled because of you.

Thank You. In essence, you have helped to shape our business. Why? Because you give us an opportunity to do what we enjoy. We sincerely appreciate you for allowing us to be an important part of this industry and a critical part of your lives.

We wish you a silent night, a star above, and a blessed gift of hope and love. Happy Holidays! We look forward to working with you for years to come.

The post You are Our Gift…Happy Holidays from craresources appeared first on craresources.

When looking for high-quality work, it’s essential to think carefully about the people you hire. What makes a good consultant? What are some signs of poor-quality consultants? Identifying key traits can be an effective first step in improving your workforce and ensuring that every hire is right. 

How to Identify Poor Quality Consultants

We are receiving hundreds of applicants for every position. So how do you avoid hiring poor quality consultants when you are being overwhelmed with candidates? The first step is to learn the key indicators of what makes a consultant poor quality, so you never have to settle for a candidate that mediocre or doesn’t fit your needs. 

Red Flags for Poor Quality Consultants

To help you identify poor-quality consultants, we’ve put together some easily identifiable red flags. When reviewing a candidate for your company, you should utilize caution if you encounter any of these red flags and inquire further about their relevance to the position you are hiring for. 

Poor Employment History 

Does your candidate have unexplained gaps in employment or short tenure with multiple employers? These issues aren’t necessarily deal-breakers, but you need to know the reasoning behind the gaps or short tenures before you make a decision.

A red flag would be if the candidate has a trend of leaving contracts for better opportunities before their initial contract terms had expired. I also pay close attention to complaints about previous positions. If the candidate complains about work-life balance or travel, I dig into how that position may (or may not) differ from the one I am offering. 

Here at craresources, we make sure to ask these questions to determine acceptable reasoning before submitting candidates to our clients, but you may also want to conduct a background check to investigate other components of their work/life history.

Insufficient Knowledge

Being a CRA is a job that requires strong industry knowledge and experience. Even if the resume looks flawless, a candidate worth the current market value should be able to easily answer questions about their monitoring skills and clinical trial experience in an interview. However, when asked these questions, if the candidate seems to have trouble confidently formulating answers or describing their relevant experience, they may lack the knowledge necessary to get the job done. 

Poor References

With the prevalence of fraud in this industry, it’s important not only to receive qualifying information from the candidate but from relevant references as well. When you ask the candidate for references, tune into how he or she responds to the request. Did the tone of voice change? We often sense a shift in energy or notice a slight change in their demeanor. Behavior like this may betray a lack of confidence in their past experiences with their references, or they may be concerned with even providing relevant references.

A quality CRA candidate will follow your reference process. And their references will respond quickly with excellent feedback. If the candidate’s references are nonresponsive or lukewarm, you may want to question if that candidate is of the right caliber for your organization.

Green Flags For Quality Consultants

When hiring CRAs, you should actively seek out these traits to find the best candidates.

Honesty

No one is perfect, and that is okay. However, this is why you should actively avoid anyone who claims to be! When we see ‘perfect’ resumes, we dig deeper. When we interview candidates, we always ask about prior missed deadlines or difficulties in the workplace. The ideal candidate will be straightforward and honest about their shortcomings but should also offer insight into how they have worked to rectify them. 

Communication Skills

Communication skills and mastery of the English language should be the first thing you notice about a candidate. Is the resume easy to browse with sufficient relevant details included? Can the CRA clearly and thoroughly articulate their expertise and experience during the interview? Skilled communicators make any project, task, or meeting go smoothly. Therefore, good communication skills are critical when judging a candidate’s aptitude and avoiding poor-quality consultants. 

Relevant Experience

You may be looking for a CRA to monitor a specific study with a focused therapeutic area, or perhaps you are looking for a diverse range of therapeutic experiences so that you can utilize the CRA on different projects. Whatever your needs may be, I recommend you create an interview template that outlines all of the skills and experiences your team requires.   

Let craresources Help

With hundreds of applicants expressing interest in every position, it can be a challenge to sort through all of the candidates to find the best fit. This is why you should consider looking to a firm like craresources to assist you in finding the right consultant. We go above and beyond to ensure that all of the candidates we source are qualified and devoid of fraud so that the hiring process can go as smoothly as possible.

Of course, the job isn’t finished on the hire date. We remain in contact as an unbiased point of contact for both our clients and the CRAs we place. Our goal is to always ensure the entire contract term is as productive as possible. Contact us today to see how we can help you.

The post Never Settle: How to Avoid Hiring Poor Quality Consultants appeared first on craresources.

Most of us are more than just a little stressed as we find ourselves working from home or even worse, on a hiatus from work without income until this crisis is over. While we are confident that our industry will pick back up in the near future, we are also thankful that lessons learned from this crisis will only serve to improve clinical functions and efficiency, making us stronger as an industry and a nation.

The good news is that in all this madness, there is one sure way to be happy and healthy now while you are staying home.

Say, Thank you.

Research has shown that expressing gratitude by doing something simple like jotting positive thoughts in a “Grateful Journal” or writing a thank you note can change your mood, alleviate anxiety, improve your relationships with others, and can generally make you feel happier. And being happy impacts our overall physical, mental, and emotional health.

Feelings of gratitude stimulate the parts of the brain that control emotions, memory, and bodily functions. That being said, being grateful can reduce physical pain, help regulate stress, improve quality of sleep, release noxious emotions, and reduce anxiety and depression.

And, remember a few weeks ago when you were sighing and wishing your busy life would slow down? Now is the time to be thankful, now is the time to enjoy the moments at home, to spend time with those you live with and love, to bake and cook, to paint and write, to clean and organize, to listen to music and read a book.

The post Being Grateful is the New Exercise appeared first on craresources.

At this point, you have surely felt the sting of the Covid-19 crisis. We sincerely hope that inconvenience has been the only symptom you have suffered. Our CRAs have told us of their issues with travel, how their sites have been restricted and have canceled monitoring activities, and how their children’s schools have been closed creating an issue with childcare.

With approximately 318,900 clinical trials enrolling and/or providing care world-wide, the ramifications to the clinical research industry will likely be altering – permanently altering. We would like to believe that many of those changes are ones that will make our industry stronger. Will this pandemic force the Clinical Research Industry to embrace Risk Based Monitoring, Decentralized Trials, or Hybrid Trials?

While most of our Monitors have been restricted from travel, they have reported that some sites which had never previously allowed remote monitoring have reversed policies, opening access to databases allowing CRAs to monitor during this crisis. Other sites have been faxing or emailing redacted source documentation to the CRAs so monitoring of critical data can still be performed. What are some of the changes you’ve encountered so far?

We want to hear from you. How have you and your clinical teams been addressing the current crisis in a way that may positively impact our industry’s efficiency moving forward?

The post COVID-19 and Clinical Research appeared first on craresources.

• Take a walk to sightsee in the town you’re visiting. Walking two miles can burn 95 to over 200 calories, based on your weight and the speed you walk.
• Walk to the restaurant instead of driving. Every bit adds up.
• Take the stairs instead of the elevator.
• Can’t find a close parking space? No worries, the extra walk will help.
• No exercise room at the hotel? Not much time? Check out the infogram below to see how squeezing in just these few exercises can add up fast to burn those calories away.

Finding ways to efficiently get as much done as possible (like squeezing in the exercises above) is a great way to move forward toward your goals.

Looking for an efficient way to find your next great employment opportunity? Read our article 5 Tips to Identify a GREAT Recruitment Agency to help you keep reaching your professional goals.

Be sure to opt in to our email marketing campaign for further information regarding your health and how to meet both your personal and your business-related goals.  And check out our job search tips and interview tips as well.

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Written by: Malaika Pickell

Investing in a Lifetime of Success,

Angela Roberts
www.craresources.com
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Are you considering a career change? We are niche clinical research associate recruiters! Sign up for our Job Seeker email course which provides valuable insight into how to become more competitive in the marketplace.

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