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!
Thank you so much for…You
"Don we now our ugly sweaters....fah lah lah lah lah lah lah lah lah" I was thinking that Christmas is really the only time of the year where you can sit in front of a dead tree and eat candy out of a sock. It is a strange world we live in. But at the end of all of...
Why You Should Send Rejection Letters
I once posted a back office job that received 773 applicants. It took me several days to review the submissions in order to come up with a short list of the candidates that I wanted to speak with. I conducted a quick email prequalification process with 65 of the...
Two Job Offers? How to Gracefully Decline One (or Both)
One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish… Who doesn’t want to have to pick between two job offers? Celebrate…pat yourself on the back. Then dig into the dilemma of making a decision. If you have ever been fortunate enough to be in the situation where two or more...
Podcast: Secrets of the CRA Reference Check
Is the CRA Reference Check a Waste of Time? As a hiring manager - do you conduct CRA reference checks? How about you Job Seekers out there...are you taking the reference check step as seriously as you should? Our experience is that most CRA candidates don't take it...
How to Recover from Being Fired
I was fired once. When I worked for IBM, I was a project executive for a large client. The senior project executive and I butted heads over how to deal with them…and he decided to remove me from the project. AKA - I was let go from the project and had no idea how to...
7 Big Reference Check Mistakes
"Would you like to see the results of this candidate's reference check?" I asked. “We don’t do reference checks”, she said. I was floored… I had been speaking with the Director of Clinical Operations for a mid-sized Sponsor who had been struggling with extremely...
Podcast: Common Interview Fails and How to Avoid
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...
Why Interviews Won’t Identify Candidate Fraudulence
One of the clients we work with has a very tough qualification process. I appreciate their effort…after all, we have a tough process too. With that being said, even with their extra diligence, this particular client has still been plagued by fraudulent candidates...
CRA Interview Failure: Tactics to Recover
I was floored. I couldn’t believe her interview failure was so extreme. She passed our competency assessment and CRA interview questions with flying colors. She was incredibly ‘buttoned up’ when interviewing with our internal team. She was also able to gracefully walk...
What Makes an Honest CRA Look Fraudulent
Fraudulent CRA Resume: Fraudulent CRA Resumes Aren't Always Easy to Spot Let me start by stating that we receive a fraudulent CRA resume multiple times a day. They are real. We have data to prove it...so addressing the issue seems the most logical approach rather than...
Identifying Fake CRA Resumes
I was speaking to a CRA candidate the other day and was impressed with how well he presented himself. Not only did he have a lovely personality, but his communication skills were also terrific, and he was nailing my competency questions. One of our clients is...
Why Your CRA Attrition Rate is So High
Many organizations struggle to control their CRA attrition rate, having a difficult time encouraging their CRA team members to stick around. In a candidate-driven market, many companies attribute high turnover to the industry, while other organizations blame the...
Tips To Pre-Qualify Applicants Before The Interview
In this day and age, every minute is valuable, and in the role of a hiring manager there never seems to be enough time in the day to accomplish everything on our task lists. This is especially true when seeking to fill a new position. In today’s market, it isn’t...
The CRA Hiring Process: How Has it Changed?
The CRA hiring process has transformed, like work conditions, over the past few years. At the onset of COVID, we saw clinical research pause in many areas but then raced to restart once the industry learned how to adapt to the travel limitations thrust upon us by the...
Job Description Requirements by Law: A Guide
Did you know that for most positions, there are no state or federal laws requiring you to have a job description? While there are no state or federal requirements to provide job descriptions for most positions, there are still job description requirements by law....
How to Properly Address CRA Recruitment and Find Quality Candidates
Many recruiting companies take a cookie-cutter approach to recruiting, feeling that the act of recruiting clinical research professionals who will work on your clinical trials is much like recruiting for any other position. We disagree. As with other industries,...
Never Settle: How to Avoid Hiring Poor Quality Consultants
Poor Quality Consultants: 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...
What Not to Do When Building a CRA Pool
Looking to build a CRA Pool of Qualified Candidates? Then the first step is to establish an effective methodology to build that CRA pool of qualified candidates. Consider starting out by defining the things you should do during CRA Recruitment. If you think of a three...
CRA Attrition Rate – Why Good CRAs Quit
If your organization has a high CRA attrition rate, it’s time to take a long, hard look at why you’re losing clinical research associates. If poor-performing CRAs are quitting, it’s likely a symptom of an inefficient hiring process; after all, shouldn’t your hiring...
Hiring Practices and the Seniority System
Companies that leverage the seniority system in their hiring practice assign privileged rank to those who have been in the industry the longest. When it comes to hiring professionals, a key question is whether hiring more senior level persons is worth the extra...