Welcome to our blog!
Within the craresources blog you will see industry updates, Job Seeker and Hiring Manager advice. We want you to join us and help create the community you want to be a part of!Welcome to our blog!
Within this craresources blog you will see industry updates, Job Seeker and Hiring Manager advice. We want you to join us and help create the community you want to be a part of!We believe the most important role in this industry is that of a Clinical Research Associate. We ‘pound the pavement’ daily to find the best CRAs…and engage them.
The craresources blog offers advice to CRA job seekers and those who hire them. So buckle up, use the search feature, and if you have questions, give us a shout. We look forward to our collaboration!
Roundtable: Why the Frustrating Job Application Steps?
Job Application Steps: The job application steps in today's hiring process can feel like pure busy work. You submitted your resume, then the application made you retype all of it, one field at a time. Then came a competency assessment before anyone would schedule an...
Signs You Need a Career Change
Career Change: Not every bad week at work means it's time for a career change. Sometimes you are burned out. Sometimes you are bored. And sometimes it is something bigger than either one, and knowing the difference is the whole game. After almost two decades placing...
Roundtable: No References? Here is What To Do
No References: Picture this. You have your LinkedIn buttoned up, your resume is ready, and you find the perfect part-time oncology gig. When you get on the call, everything is going great...until the recruiter asks about your references. And it lands with a thud. You...
No Application Responses? Start With Your Professional Summary
Professional Summary: You have sent out application after application. Maybe dozens. Maybe closer to a hundred. And what comes back is silence. After a while, the silence starts asking its own questions. Is it my age? Is it my experience? Am I overqualified? Let me...
Roundtable: The Confidential Job Search, Done Right
Confidential Job Search: It is Tuesday afternoon... just a normal day at work. Except it isn't. You have been thinking about starting a confidential job search for a while. But your calendar is full, your paycheck is steady, and you have watched enough people on...
Four Reasons a Real Candidate Reads as a Ghost Candidate (and How to Fix Each)
Ghost Candidate: Before my team evaluates whether a candidate is any good, we evaluate whether the candidate is a person or a ghost candidate. That sentence would have sounded absurd in 2015. But it is simply how sourcing works now... at our firm as well as at every...
Roundtable: Negotiate Your Compensation Package Confidently
Compensation Package: You got the offer. Now they are asking what you expect to be paid, and you realize you have no idea what number to say. So you guess. Or you name the figure you made at your last job. Or you take whatever they offer because you are relieved to...
The Best CRAs Aren’t Applying to Your Job Posts. Here Is Why.
Job Hugging: The reason your application pile keeps thinning while the talent you actually want stays exactly where they are. Your last CRA job post pulled in 87 applicants. You called three...but you hired none. The talent shortage is the easy explanation. But it is...
Let’s Stop Saying There Is a CRA Shortage and Start Focusing on the Real Issue
CRA Hiring: Originally published April 28, 2017. Refreshed for 2026 with current data. I wrote this article in 2017 because I was reading too many industry pieces claiming a "concerning global shortage of experienced CRAs." Drug Discovery and Development had reported...
Roundtable: How to Stop Being The Invisible Expert
Invisible Expert: Why the Most Qualified Person in the Room Isn't Getting Called You have 10, 15, or 20+ years of experience, a track record that speaks for itself, and a depth of knowledge that most hiring managers would fight to bring onto their team. So why do you...
Negotiating Salary in Clinical Research
Negotiating Salary: Why the Number Was Never the Whole Conversation When a clinical research professional tells me they are negotiating salary, they almost always mean the same thing. Base pay. They look at the number in the offer letter, decide whether to ask for a...
Roundtable: The Apply Button is Broken
Apply Button: Here is why I am officially declaring the death of the job portal... You sent the application, you checked the portal, and you waited...and then waited some more. Nothing. You aren't imagining it, and you aren't the problem. The apply button is broken....
Why You Are Getting Interviews But No Offers
Getting Interviews But No Offers: In our recruiting practice, we sit on the receiving end of the post-interview debrief. After the panel meets and the hiring manager calls us back, we hear what was actually said in the room. And in our experience, there are four...
Roundtable: Career Progression Beyond 90 Days
Career Progression: You survived your first 90 days. The onboarding fog has lifted, your name is in the team chat, and you finally know where the coffee lives. So... is it too early to focus on career progression? Have you ever wondered why some people quietly climb...
The Job Market Changed While You Were Working. Here’s How to Catch Up.
Job Market: You were good at your job. You still are. But the rules of finding the next one look nothing like what you remember. The call comes without much warning. A meeting that wasn't on the calendar. A conversation that ends with words like 'restructuring' or...
Roundtable: New Job? What Happens After You Prove You Belong
New Job: The first 90 days in a new job are important, and today we are going to discuss the 'ownership' phase...which usually happens between days 60 and 90. This phase happens once you have learned the basics. You have found your footing. And hopefully, you have...
One-Way AI Interviews: How to Prepare
One-Way AI Interviews: One-way AI interviews are changing the hiring approach. Why? Because now we are hiring people through a screen, a timer, and a whole lot of awkward silence. Wonderful. One-way AI interviews, also called asynchronous or pre-recorded interviews,...
The Ghost in the Clinical Trial: A Needle in a Pile of Fake Needles
Clinical Trial: Why the Job Market "Trust Gap" is an Existential Threat to Clinical Research This week was very much like most: my team and I flagged twelve fraudulent candidates. These weren't just "embellished" resumes or slightly padded dates. These were...
Roundtable: First 90 Days in a New Role…
First 90 Days in a New Role: Are You Settling In or Setting Yourself Up? Starting a new job can feel exciting, a little intimidating, and if we are being honest, a bit like you are trying not to trip in front of everybody. You have the laptop, the logins, the...
The Layoff Fog: 3 Things to Do Immediately (And 1 Thing to Avoid)
The Layoff: It usually happens on a Friday. A calendar invite titled “Quick Sync” or “Organizational Update” appears with less than an hour's notice. Thirty minutes later, you are standing in your home office (or walking toward your car), realizing that 10, 15, or 20...