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Job Search Basics > Interviews

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Interviewing with Biopharma Companies

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Opus Scientific

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Interviewing is the single most common source of anxiety for job seekers. Though the anxiety diminishes with experience, the best way to alleviate the anxiety and perform at your best despite the situation is thorough preparation. Though a great interview alone can not get you the job of your dreams, a bad interview can eliminate you from consideration. Crises are not inevitable; expecting them and preparing for them will prevent them from taking away your control. Preparation is crisis prevention.

Your First Time Interview for an R&D Position at a Pharmaceutical Company

Interview techniques are very different at different companies and for different positions, but pharmaceutical company interviews come in a few basic flavors: the HR phone interview, the phone interview from an R&D scientist, the face-to-face interview at the company with HR, the face-to-face interview at the company with the principal investigator and R&D team members and then sometimes the call back.

For the HR phone interview expect the standard questions. Be able to discuss your science in lay terms without talking down to the interviewer. Have your employment history in front of you to refer to. Don’t take the phone call if the time is inappropriate for you. Get their information and call them back. Use standard STAR (Situation Task Action Result) interview responses. Be prepared for many personality and behavior questions; for example how have you behaved not how would you behave. In general, make sure before you get off the phone that you make the HR person like you, take a moment before answering any of the representative’s questions, and be sure to demonstrate genuine interest in the position over any other for which you are interviewing.

For any of the subsequent interviews, be prepared for surprises; for example, your interview with Dr. Johnson may turn into an interview with Dr. Johnson and two other PI’s. Be sure to have recalled all the reasons for performing various experiments and methods you may have used to troubleshoot SOPs or protocols. Demonstrate that you have good judgment about which direction to take an experiment in order to answer a question. If you are coming from academia, be sure to convey that you understand the basics of an FDA regulated environment and that compliance is as important as good science. Also, be prepared to demonstrate that you have “good hands” through previous experiences and that you are proficient in most of the techniques the position demands. Lastly, do not under any circumstances exaggerate your experience with a technique. Instead, wow them with stories (if true) about how quickly you learned techniques you had never heard of and that others in your lab found extremely difficult to master and how you in the end taught the technique to even visiting academics.

Interview Tips

There are countless resources dedicated to advising individuals on the interviewing process. From my perspective there is not much I can add to the body of knowledge on interview preparation. However, these pointers can help you to consider whether or not you are a strong interviewee. As a recruiter, I repeatedly have seen that these are the most common areas in which candidates continue to fall short.

· Make and maintain eye contact with everyone you meet.

· Treat the receptionist with the same consideration you give to the interviewers and everyone else you encounter.

· The HR interview is not a formality. The HR reps are in a great position to determine cultural fit which is just as important as experience. The HR interview can make or break you.

· You must rehearse your responses so much so that you can deliver them without sounding rehearsed. Be especially ready for uncomfortable topics to arise.

· You must provide concrete examples for everything you say. As a recruiter the word “hard-worker” is meaningless to me, but the fact that you maintained a 3.5 GPA attending full-time, working and serving as club president means a lot.

· Through the web, your network, and informational interviews, learn everything about the company that is readily available. Interest and preparedness is as important as experience.

If you find that you have gone on many interviews and none have resulted in second round interviews or offers, consider having yourself videotaped to examine how others may be perceiving you. Your academic institution most likely will have counselors who will do this for you.

Opus Scientific, based in Long Island and New York City, is a specialized professional staffing firm supporting biotechnology, pharmaceutical, medical device, cosmetic, chemical, food and other scientific intensive industries that require skilled talent. The core focus areas include research & development, drug discovery, pre-clinical development, clinical research, manufacturing, regulatory affairs, quality assurance, quality control and sales & marketing.