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Congratulations! The resume that you spent many hours carefully crafting has resulted in a face-to-face interview at a Company that you are extremely interested in. After the adrenalin rush has worn off, you think “OMG, I have to put together a seminar, make travel arrangements and buy new clothes and shoes (well only if you are a woman)”. Although you may think that the hard part of your job search is over; think again….the fun is just beginning.

The fact that you been invited to a face-to-face interview means that you likely possess the knowledge and technical skills required to performed the job that was advertised. The true intent of a face-to-face interview is to determine whether a job candidate has the personality and so called “soft skills” to easily fit in with a company’s corporate culture. Corporate cultures and soft skill expectations vary widely from company to company. That said, it is important to remember that certain types of behavior are expected of ALL job candidates during a face-to-face interview. I discuss a few of these expected behaviors below.

First, regardless of the state of affairs in your personal or professional life, you must always be upbeat and positive. Every person you meet should be greeted with a smile and a comment that goes something like “It is a pleasure to meet you”. Nobody wants to talk with (or possibly work with) a chronically unhappy or negative person. True, there ought to be diversity in the workplace (unhappy people have rights too) but when it comes to a positive attitude it is a requirement in the corporate world. Second, always make eye contact with your interviewers. We are social creatures and not making eye contact may signal to the interviewer that you are either anti-social or lack basic interpersonal communication skills. Further, never interrupt an interviewer when they are asking you a question. Yes, everyone gets excited and wants to show the interviewer how smart they are, but cutting a person off in mid-sentence is not polite nor is it ever appreciated by the person who is talking. Always answer questions directly and honestly. Never exaggerate or stretch the truth (as appealing as it may seem in the moment)….it will likely come back to haunt you in future. Also, do not offer the interviewer more information than is necessary. For example, an interviewer may say “I see that you did your postdoctoral work with Dr. Doolittle at MIT”. An appropriate response to this statement could be something like “Yes, he/she was my supervisor during my 8 years in the lab. An inappropriate response may go something like “Yes I worked with Dr. Doolittle for 8 years and, I have to tell you, it was the worst 8 years of my life because Dr. Doolittle is nuts”. Although Dr Doolittle may actually be nuts, you do not know what the interviewer’s opinion of Dr. Doolittle is and, for all you know, they could be best friends. Which leads me to my next recommendation– never play the name game. What I mean by the name game is illustrated in the following example. An interviewer asks you, “BTW, did you ever work with Dr. Spock while you were working for Dr. Doolittle at MIT?” If you did in fact work with Dr. Spock, an appropriate response may be “Yes, I worked with Dr. Spock on several occasions.” It is never a good idea to share your actual experiences or true feelings (positive or negative) about a person with the interviewer. This is because you do not know what the relationship is between the interviewer and the person whose name was mentioned. In the example with Dr. Spock, it may be that Dr. Spock slept with the interviewer’s spouse (stranger things have happened) a few years ago and saying anything remotely positive about Dr. Spock, in this instance, is highly unlikely to garner you a job offer.

Frequently, candidates either go out to lunch or dinner with company employees who are hosting the interviewing visit. Just because you are no longer talking with these folks onsite, don’t think that you can relax, kick off your shoes and let your hair down. Contrary to popular belief, you are still being carefully scrutinized and evaluated for your social skills and how you might represent the company (if hired) in social situations. That said, follow the lead of your host(s). If he/she orders an alcoholic beverage, then it is perfectly acceptable for you to also order a drink. However, if you tend to “loosen up” after a few drinks (remember; loss lips sink ships) it may be wise to limit or not drink alcohol during the meal. Finally, and surprisingly perhaps most importantly, remember to turn off all electronic devices before you step in the building to begin your interview. In fact, you may want to leave your cell phone in your rental car or briefcase (turned off ) for the entire interview. A ringing cell phone during an interview is a definite “job killer”.

Until next time…..

Good Luck and Good Job Hunting!!!!!!!!

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Earlier this week, I attended Advanced Learning Institute’s (ALI) conference “Social Media and Pharma” that was held in Princeton, NJ. The conference was chaired and expertly moderated by Bill Evans, a Senior Vice President and Partner, Digital at Fleishman Hillard. Bill’s insights and command of the social media space were outstanding and helped to keep the conference moving forward and always on point (he also knows a lot about selling old iPhone on EBay—thanks Bill). 

All of the talks that I attended were outstanding and I have to say that the conference was one of the best organized and most focused conferences on the topic of social media and pharma that I attended to date! This is because Bill, a former technology turned business guy, organized the meeting around a conversational “how to” theme rather than allow presenters to talk about their cool Facebook pages, Twitter feeds and blogs. Instead, he asked presenters to share with conference participants their ideas, strategies and experiences associated with implementation of their social media campaigns and programs. 

Two of my favorite presentations were delivered by pharma companies; Pfizer and Novo Nordisk. This was somewhat surprising because historically many pharma companies had to be reluctantly forced into the social media fracas.

The Pfizer presentation, “A Common Sense Approach for Integrating Social Media into Your Traditional Communications and Marketing Plans: A Roadmap for Success” was skillfully delivered by Paul Dyer from WCG (the agency that worked with Pfizer on its social media campaign) and Pfizer’s Kate Bird. Paul, who previously worked with social media in the consumer product industry, offered more facts and statistics that I ever knew existed for social media. With this as a backdrop, Kate went on to describe how Pfizer, a late entrant to the social media scene, leveraged this information to create one of the better social media campaigns launched to date by a pharmaceutical company.

The Novo Nordisk presentation, “How to Use Twitter to Deliver Measurable Results For Your Organization” was delivered by Lois Kotkoskie and Ambre Morley was a veritable road map on how to use Twitter to delivered branded messages about pharmaceutical products. For those of you who may not know, Novo Nordisk is the only company to date that has delivered a so-called “branded pharmaceutical tweet” in the Twitterverse. The now infamous tweet about Novo’s diabetes product Levemir s was delivered by race car driver and Novo spokesperson Charlie Kimball.

Despite this bold and unprecedented foray into branded pharmaceutical tweets, Novo hasn’t yet run afoul of regulators at the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) This is because Ambre, who is a marketing and PR professional, understood early on in the process, that in order to succeed and stay off of FDA’s radar, she would have to work closely her company’s regulatory affairs department. This is where Lois came in; she is a bona fide pharmaceutical regulatory affairs expert who in addition to her understanding of the arcane regulations guiding pharmaceutical advertising, has a well-developed sense of humor (frequently absent in pharmaceutical regulators) and is seemingly less risk-adverse than a majority of her peers.

It was easy to see that Ambre and Lois work very well together (sometimes I thought I was watching an Abbott and Costello comedy routine). Undoubtedly this is the likely reason why Novo’s diabetes-focused Twitter campaign was so well crafted, executed and in the end, successful. The take away lesson from the Novo experience is that pharma marketing and communication professionals interested in designing and implementing regulatory-compliant social media campaigns must include legal and regulatory representatives in the discussion.

Honorable mentions go to the presentations offered by Ken Rashbaum, Doug Levy and Peter Pitts who mainly talked about some of the legal, regulatory and privacy concerns voiced by pharmaceutical companies about the use of social media. An important issue that nobody at the meeting was prepared to discuss was the possible use of social media for pharmaceutical adverse event (AE) reporting. Generally speaking, conference participants were reticent to address this issue because most thought it would be difficult to have meaningful discussion in the absence of any regulatory guidance on this topic.

As many of you may know, the FDA held public hearings on the use of social media for various purposes in the life sciences industry late last fall. At present, it isn’t clear when the agency will issue that much anticipated guidance.

This past week’s “Social Media and Pharma” conference was the second event produced by ALI on this topic. Based on the attendance and enthusiastic response to the meeting, I suspect that ALI may be planning future events on social media and pharma. If this proves to be the case, then I highly recommend that you attend one or more of them!

Until next time...

Good Luck and Good Tweeting!!!!!!!!!!

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The bad news is that the US unemployment rate is close to 10 percent. The good news is that the government is looking for scientists at FDA, NIH, USDA, CDC, EPA and other agencies. For those of you who haven’t applied for a government job, the process can be daunting and overwhelming. To alleviate some of the pain, Cyndi Fischer, MSA at the BioCareer Center has written a post on the salient features of filling out a job application for a government job!

Capturing Your Worth in a Government Job Application 

You’d like to consider government employment but are not sure where to start. You know the government has a generous compensation and benefit plan, can offer long term employment stability, and in most cases its employees do not need to seek research grants or funding to continue their rewarding scientific work. Sounds like a dream, so why haven’t you applied? Perhaps you’ve heard that it’s hard to get a government job, that the hiring process is mysterious, slow and a confusing maze of information. While some of those concerns are valid some of the time, government employment has such positive benefits it is indeed a career path you don’t want to overlook. The most important thing to remember about applying for a government position is that all the items that appear to be drawbacks to you in the application phase, are really set in place to ensure that the most qualified candidate, hopefully you, will get the job!

So what do you need to know to ensure that you have the best shot at being considered for a coveted research position within the government? First you must apply to a vacancy announcement published by the government in order to be considered, and subsequently offered employment. Almost all government entities now use an automated system to post vacancy announcements and receive applications. The most widely used website to post vacancy announcements is USAJOBS.opm.gov. Once you have established an account on the site and placed your resume in the space available, you are ready to apply for any vacancy announcement you would like. Be keenly aware though, this is where attention to detail separates the candidates to be interviewed from the resumes in the scrap pile. The government hiring system revolves around merit. Specifically, the candidate who has the most knowledge, skills and abilities (KSA) to be successful in the vacant position should be offered the job, as the desired KSA’s for an opening are derived from the position description itself. Your role is to ensure that you capture your KSA’s as accurately as possible so that you are considered for the positions you are most qualified to hold.

If KSA’s are the key to government employment, how do you ensure you include everything that needs to be considered? In many cases this will be easy to discern as the vacancy announcement will list specific KSA questions prompting your response. If there are questions that seek specific answers, it is a requirement that you answer them or your application will not even be considered. In the event there are not specific questions presented, you must ensure you cover the likely KSA’s for that position within the body of your resume. Knowing what the KSA’s are for the position being advertised is one

aspect of being qualified for the position you are seeking. Let’s take a quick look at each element of the KSA’s so you know how to present your talents.

Knowledge covers the body of intellectual information you possess that will assist you in the position. This knowledge is not limited to your academic knowledge, though critical, but encompasses all aspects of what you know that pertain to the position. Included in your mental reference library are federal, state and local regulations that govern the work you will be doing, policies and procedures that apply to the work environment, industry standards and cutting edge technology that you are current in that would make you a good fit for the position. Essentially any knowledge that you possess and can articulate in your resume that is pertinent to the job you are seeking is something you should capture in your resume or the KSA questions presented as part of the announcement.

Skills represent the manipulation of systems, processes, people and things that will allow you to be competent in the position in question. They can include specific skills that require you to operate technical equipment or work with particular software or hardware systems or they may be more generic such as the skills required to communicate effectively. These skills are often the core competencies of the position and are incredibility important. Conversely, some of them are areas that professionals often under-report in their resumes as they take many of these skills for granted such as problem solving, creative thinking, decision making and stress tolerance. In most cases, government application software systems allow you a very generous amount of character space to document your KSA’s or resume, so leave no skill uncaptured!

Abilities refer to your capabilities as they apply to the work environment. Your ability to manage people and programs; to organize, plan, implement, and evaluate; to analyze, supervise or otherwise effectively impact the mission of the organization. One of the unique aspects of this element is that you do not have to have a vast work history to quantify what you can offer an employer in this category. You may have organized a large volunteer effort or been part of a regional political campaign. Any quantifiable information that depicts your role in a challenging environment which allows you to capture the results of your efforts is value added in this element.

Government employment has many rewarding aspects – not the least of which is that the infrastructure of the whole civil service is based on merit. Now that you know a little more about how to present yourself and what you have to offer in the three key government consideration areas (KSA’s) you are one step closer to accepting your first federal research position. Remember it’s not what you know and what you can do that counts in a job application; it’s what the selecting official knows you can do that matters. Good luck!

Cyndi Fischer, MSA is the Director of Strategic Recruitment for STG International. As a Human Capital Management specialist her work concentrates on agency level recruitment strategies and workforce planning. During her tenure at STG, Mrs. Fischer has designed and implemented recruitment strategies, branding techniques, and succession plans for many federal agencies seeking Phd/MD level candidates for research, managerial, and professional opportunities. Mrs. Fischer has a Bachelor of Science degree in Criminal Justice and Psychology and a Master of Science in Administration degree in Human Resources. www.stginternational.com

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By now, most of you have heard or read how vital networking is to either advance your career or find a job. Like it or not, learning to network is another skill that everyone must master (including scientists) to insure a successful career trajectory. Not surprisingly, most scientists are notoriously poor at networking—mostly because they haven’t been taught to network or perhaps more egregiously they have been told that it isn’t worthwhile or necessary to find a job. For example, in 1974, during a seminar  series required of all incoming graduate students in the Department of Bacteriology at the University of Wisconsin, a very famous and influential microbiologist sanguinely quipped: “your science should speak for itself and that’s all that matters!” In other words, if we graduate students do “good science” then others will recognize it and we shouldn’t have difficulty finding a job upon completion of our training. How wrong he was—it took me over five years (and two post docs) before landing a faculty position at the University Of Miami Shcool Of Medicine in 1987!

Unfortunately, this “networking isn’t necessary” attitude is still pervasive among life sciences faculty members in many graduate departments throughout the US; despite an acknowledgement that there continue to be dwindling numbers of job opportunities for PhD scientists. Nevertheless, in the real world—especially during  tough economic times—networking is a vital component of all job searches. That said, you never know who you may meet when networking at a conference, a seminar or even at a social event who might be helpful in your job search. However, before you begin networking, it is vitally important to understand networking rules and basics.  To that end, I found an informative article that showcases 13 common networking mistakes and blunders to avoid making. I highly recommend that you read this article before your next (or first) networking event!

Until next time,

Good Luck and Good Networking!!!!!

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The recent spate of corporate layoffs has forced many people to reconsider what their next career move ought to be. While looking for another corporate job (similar to your old one) is the most obvious thing to do, the likelihood of quickly finding a new job in these economic times is remote. That said, now may be a good time to consider leaving confines of the corporate world and striking out on your own! Based on my own personal experiences, this can be a very frightening and overwhelming undertaking fraught with anxiety and uncertainty. But, not to worry! Sharon Jaffe, a self described “passionate digital marketing and media strategist and former corporate executive” has written a great blog post that offer some helpful tips and suggestions  for people who may be thinking about leaving the comforts of the corporate world and striking out on their own.

Sharon’s Tips and Suggestions About Starting Out on Your Own

1. Feel the fear and do it anyway. This is a great book by Susan Jeffers, and it's my main point, since 96% of people don't start a new busineness because of the fear of failure.  Don't expect to be fearless, but don't be paralysed by your fears. Help and seek help, especially where you need it – be it logistics, network, introductions etc.

2. "Do unto others..."- The Ethic of Reciprocity. Don't underestimate your own value and your ability to help others. Realise that others want to see you succeed and need your help too, so jump in the "informal economy" of networking, connecting, giving and asking for help. I wouldn't be here today if it wasn't for key people who gave me their time and guidance. In turn, I always make time for others since you never know when the favour will be returned. ;-)

3. Network isn't everything, it's the only thing! It's what you know AND who you know. The people who've worked with you and know what and how you do it are the key people to hire you, help you and recommend you on. Almost all my business has come from my own network where I have spent many years building a reputation and building my personal brand.

4. Be resilient! Be prepared to bark up a lot of wrong trees. When there's nothing up the trees, pick yourself up and move on to the next one. Set-backs and disappointment are par for the course. Protect your self-esteem and be positive. Matt Crabtree, from Positive Momentum, was instrumental in helping me with most of these tips as well as recognising the power of the right attitude and positivity.

5. Be your own guiding light. Trust your internal instincts when making decisions and be true to yourself. If you're asked to do something which doesn't feel right or by someone who doesn't feel right, it generally isn't right. Don't accept work which you don't feel good about i.e. is not the type of work you want to be doing (you'll be hating every minute of it). At the same time, be open-minded. I was asked to do training and figured, "why not?". It has since turned out to be my main source of business second to consulting.

6. Quality is key! Maintain your own professional quality standards. Invest in your brand and pay attention to everything from the way you dress to showing up on time. Now more than ever it's important to realise that you are your own business card.

7. Have a clear vision. Always hold clear the vision of where you see yourself in 1 or x year's time. Let that motivate you! Make sure you create some goals and milestones, be it a revenue target, or your first press interview. Remember to also reward yourself and congratulate yourself on your achievements along the way with rewards.

8. Think big but start small. Don't be arrogant or overconfident in what you charge. Be willing to do stuff for free to build experience, reputation and a solid track record. Trust me, the rest will follow.

9. Watch your costs. Don't splurge unnecessarily but don't skimp on the important things like a good laptop and a business card. It's not necessary to have a glamorous website to get started – one year on I still don't advertise what I do on the web and yet I've been fully booked.

10. Manage your work-life balance. It's easy to start working evenings and weekends and it's hard to give yourself a break. I think this is a key driver of entrepreneurs and a danger in the general unwillingness or inability to take time off. I think I'm still learning this one, which is why I put it last.

I hope these tips are helpful! Good luck!

You can follow Sharon on Twitter @sharonjaffe

Until next time…

Good Luck and Good Job Hunting!!!!!

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