In preparing to write your resume to submit for an MSL role, keep in mind that it needs to be targeted toward the employer’s needs not your own. This means that your employment history and list of skills and accomplishments must match the requirements of the position.
Begin by researching the company thoroughly, the MSL role, how MSLs are utilized within the company and match your resume so that it directly addresses the needs faced by each. Strategically place important keywords throughout the resume so you are able to highlight how your background meshes with company needs. The goal is to assist hiring managers to see how your background can help the company fulfill the needs of this specific MSL role. Specifically, you want to emphasize any Therapeutic Area expertise that you have that relates to the role, highlight relevant experiences and mention accomplishments that are in line with the role or company.
Begin with a short career profile that describes your core skills and values that mesh with the company mission, culture, and needs of the role. As with your cover letter, you may want to tweak this profile to reflect the specific needs and culture of different employers. The remainder of your resume should provide a clear and logical progression of your career history, skills, knowledge, and accomplishments.
Keep in mind that most hiring managers are only performing a cursory review on an initial read-through. Like Applicant Tracking Systems, they are primarily searching for important keywords that reflect your suitability for the role. Do not use long, complex sentences but incorporate keywords in a bullet-point format (or asterisks if submitting an online application). Do not use template-like formats but strive to create a layout that best illustrates your unique background.
Be specific regarding accomplishment and, where possible, quantify results with percentages, monetary amounts, or comparative statistics. Incorporate details regarding not only with regard to actual tasks performed but also what you have learned, produced or achieved in each of your prior work experiences. For example, did you have any measurable achievements while working with KOL’s, like leading the approval of a certain number of IST’s?
Avoid including the links to personal social media profiles. A more professional method is to share the link to professional profiles such as on LinkedIn.com or BrightFuse.com that are well written and include sections regarding your most relevant accomplishments (to the MSL role) and career highlights
Resist the temptation to embellish any prior work experience or academic achievements. Doing so can tarnish your credibility and will almost definitely eliminate you from being hired. Most companies perform very thorough routine background checks, along with simple online searches that can easily expose the truth. Plus, overstating prior accomplishments may well come to light when you are unable to successfully perform key responsibilities of the position.
Resumes that show a logical career progression can also illustrate to prospective MSL Managers that you have clear goals and the discipline to follow-through on a plan of action. Relating how your MSL experience (if you have any), skills, and knowledge have prepared you for the needs of the current MSL role, any challenges the company faces, as well as future industry trends is a highly effective method to position yourself as a forward-thinking solution provider.
Copyright 2013-2018 The Medical Science Liaison Society. All rights reserved. The information contained in this article may not be published, broadcast or otherwise distributed without prior written authorization. The MSL Society is a 501(c)(3) Non-Profit Organization dedicated to advancing the global MSL career.
According to one source, there are only 2000 video résumés on YouTube. Because of the relatively small number of people who have created video résumés, this type of communication can be a key differentiating factor that distinguishes your MSL candidacy from other candidates. A video resume should succinctly highlight your background and the value you bring to a Medical Science Liaison role.
Effective Strategies for Creating an MSL Video Resume
Video Resume Don’ts
Where to Upload Your Completed Video
The first obvious place is YouTube. Other venues include Rezbuzz.com Google video and ResumeBookTV.com. You can also upload your video to your own Website or blog and link to it from there.
Video Quality
As with your typical MSL resume, presentation and quality are also very important in a video MSL resume. A good-quality video resume can range from something that someone shot at home to a professionally-shot video. However, a professional one will likely provide much better quality in terms of a clearer picture, excellent sound quality, and an overall more professional look.
How to Promote Your MSL Video Resume
Before you promote your resume online, ask colleagues and friends to review it. If necessary revise it to get it to be as professional as possible. Once your video resume is complete, there are several ways to promote it online.
Copyright 2013-2018 The Medical Science Liaison Society. All rights reserved. The information contained in this article may not be published, broadcast or otherwise distributed without prior written authorization. The MSL Society is a 501(c)(3) Non-Profit Organization dedicated to advancing the global MSL career.
Video Cover Letters (a short videotaped introduction to an employer) is a cutting-edge job search tool now beginning to be used across all professions and can be used when searching for an MSL role. Video cover letters offer a novel method for employers to evaluate candidates. However, there are several points to consider when using a Video Cover Letter for an MSL job application. As with search engines and resume database software, it may take some time for video cover letters to be widely accepted by most employers.
10 Points To Consider When Using A Video Cover Letter For An MSL Job Application:
Copyright 2013-2018 The Medical Science Liaison Society. All rights reserved. The information contained in this article may not be published, broadcast or otherwise distributed without prior written authorization. The MSL Society is a 501(c)(3) Non-Profit Organization dedicated to advancing the global MSL career.
It is now a common practice when applying for an MSL role online that you will be required to either create a resume via a resume wizard or to upload a resume through the company website. Electronic resumes (e-resumes) are either plain text or HTML documents that are often attached to online MSL job applications when applying on company websites. The resumes that you include as an application online on a company website will not contain elements that might be included in traditionally formatted resumes like bold-text, italicizing, creative fonts, etc. but will need to be much more basic in format.
The Purpose of an E-Resume
When you submit your resume and application materials via a pharmaceutical, biotech or medical device company website, your resume will likely be entered into an applicant tracking system. This system is designed to primarily search resumes for specific keywords most related to the responsibilities of the MSL role that is posted and you are applying to. For this reason, it is important that you embed certain keywords related to your specific Therapeutic Area or directly related experiences throughout your resume that match the role that you are applying to. The system will match and retain only those resumes that contain the keywords the system has chosen for that role and discard the remainder unrelated or unmatched resumes.
Five Steps in Formatting Your MSL E-Resume to Apply Online
The format you used to create your resume as a Word document won’t be able to be read by the online application (remember that e-resumes are text or HTML documents.)
To remove the formatting, save the file as Plain Text or Text Only. In the dialog box that appears, choose the option for the insertion of line breaks.
Close the original version of your resume and reopen to the text document using such editing software as Notepad, WordPad, or Simple Text. The text version should not contain any graphics symbols, creative fonts, and bullet-points. Text should be aligned to the left- margin.
To ensure that the text can be read by the application software, use simple, sans-serif fonts such as Courier, Ariel, or Times New Roman. In this way, the software won’t misinterpret your text as a misspelled word or symbol.
Use a 12 point font as anything smaller won’t scan well. Don’t incorporate any italics or underlining, as these won’t be readable by the software. Use capital letters to separate sections, such as work experience and education, rather than boldface type.
Rather than bullet points, use such standard keyboard characters as an asterisk or dash. Use the space key to indent rather than the TAB key since the tab won’t translate to the e-resume. Ensure that your name, address, phone, and email address are all placed on separate lines with one blank line before and after.
Applicant-tracking systems scan resumes for keywords that match the most important responsibilities of the specific MSL role. Embed relevant keywords to the role in your resume to ensure that your resume passes the initial pre-screen by the software. Try not to use the same two or three words but vary the keywords as appropriate to your past experience that matches the needs of the MSL role you are applying to.
Place the most relevant words at the beginning since the software may be limited in terms of the number of words it is able to read. Use nouns rather than verbs – “Medical Science Liaison”, “Key Opinion Leaders”, “Cardiovascular”, “Neurology” “name of drug products”, are more effective than, “researched”, “developed”, or “coordinated”. Avoid abbreviations since most keyword searches will bypass them.
After you have reformatted your resume into a text document, test it by sending an email to yourself, as well as to friends and associates who use a different Internet Service Provider (ISP). Be sure to embed the resume into the body of the message rather than add it as an attachment. Make any needed adjustments before submitting it as an application online.
Copyright 2013-2018 The Medical Science Liaison Society. All rights reserved. The information contained in this article may not be published, broadcast or otherwise distributed without prior written authorization. The MSL Society is a 501(c)(3) Non-Profit Organization dedicated to advancing the global MSL career.
In the past, when resumes were sent by snail-mail, the most important considerations were paper quality, paper color, and professional formatting. The first goal was to simply present your resume in such a way that it would capture the hiring’ manager’s attention.
Although the primary goal remains to present your resume in a way to capture the hiring manager’s attention, today the first goal has become to get past Applicant Tracking Software. In this age of the electronic resume, it is no longer the hiring manager that your resume will first pass by. Applicant Tracking Software is essentially a search engine for resumes that serves to pre-screen candidates by searching resumes for important relevant keywords and separate qualified from unqualified candidates.
The use of digital applicant screening has set a whole new set of important considerations for resumes. No longer are recruiters initially perusing resumes searching for candidates. Rather, they are downloaded into a database and digitally searched by the software for relevant keywords. Just as you insert certain words into Google to obtain certain results, so should you insert important relevant keywords in your resume to ensure that it gets “noticed” by the software.
Below are 3 strategies for resume keywords you can use to get past the Applicant Tracking Software and screening process and increase your odds that it will land in front of a recruiter or hiring manager.
In most cases, many of the keywords that resume databases will be searching for are the main responsibilities listed in the job description. For example, if you are looking for an MSL role and the job description requires that candidates have experience developing and managing KOL relationships within the CV therapeutic area, then each of these words should be embedded in your resume. To better ensure that you included the most important keywords you may also want to review the job descriptions of related roles. Another option is to search through the LinkedIn profiles of other professionals within your drug or therapeutic area.
Both large and small pharmaceutical companies are using keyword-search tracking software in their recruiting process so it is important that every resume you submit has incorporated the most relevant keywords. Focus on what you have done in your career and highlight those experience that matches the keywords from each job description that you will apply for.
While including a “skills” section in your resume is a viable method to ensure that relevant keywords are included, a list by itself is usually not sufficient to get noticed by the tracking software.
Many Applicant Tracking Systems look for the frequency of keywords spread throughout the entire document rather than just in a list format. For example if the job description states that building and maintaining effective relationships is important for the role, a statement in your resume such as “Maintained 30 effective KOL relationships in my region which led to 4 new IST’s being approved from 3 different KOL’s” might impress the hiring manager while also meet keyword requirements.
While it is important to create a resume that embeds important keywords, don’t neglect those qualities that serve to make your resume attractive to human eyes. These qualities include font style, size of the font, overall layout (e.g. use of white space and category headings), along with perfect spelling and grammar. Like all marketing campaigns, a job search will be most effective when you address the needs of all audiences; in this case, both automated and human.
Copyright 2013-2018 The Medical Science Liaison Society. All rights reserved. The information contained in this article may not be published, broadcast or otherwise distributed without prior written authorization. The MSL Society is a 501(c)(3) Non-Profit Organization dedicated to advancing the global MSL career.
“Attached you will find my resume for the position of_______”. How many cover letters have you created and submitted that included such a standard opening? How many other candidates do you think have done the same? Put yourself in the recruiter’s or hiring manager’s position and imagine how tedious it must be to read submission after submission with these same or similar words.
Recruiters can easily receive 100’s of cover letters and resumes for each advertised MSL opening. As a result, your cover letter needs to grab the attention of the recruiter or hiring manager very quickly. Most employers will only spend a matter of seconds during an initial pre-screening or review of your cover letter. If it doesn’t grab their attention in some way, it will be discarded.
What strategy can you use to catch the attention of the recruiter or hiring manager? You need to use an attention-grabbing relevant opening while simultaneously remaining professional. In short, write something that will motivate the reader to learn more about you.
Obviously, you can only pursue this tactic if you have spoken with this person. However, if you had shared such a conversation you have a distinct advantage. Start the letter by referring to this prior contact.
Example: “Thank you for taking the time to speak with me regarding the MSL role in the __________therapeutic area. This position is very interesting and seems to match well with my experiences and to what you and the company are looking for.”
Recruiters and hiring managers are much more likely to remember a cover letter when it mentions a trusted colleague or friend.
Example: “Hello, my name is ______ and I received your name and contact details from John Smith. I am contacting you to learn more about the MSL role with _____ Pharmaceuticals that you are working on”.
Concisely describe this major accomplishment and point out how you can achieve similar results for their company.
Example: “As a senior MSL with _______ Pharmaceuticals in CV, I was able to develop and manage significant KOL relationships which resulted in _____________. I would appreciate the opportunity to speak with you regarding the MSL role in (CV or specific drug) with ______ Pharmaceuticals.” (You need to match and relate your background, accomplishments, pre-existing KOL relationships within the same Therapeutic Area, or any other relevant experiences to the needs of the role and company you are applying to.)
If the hiring manager has been interviewed in the media or has posted a comment to a social media site or blog, quote the statement in your letter and highlight how your business practices and values are aligned.
Example: “In a recent interview you had with _________, you stated, “the MSL role continues to evolve as a greater number of KOLs increasingly recognize the important contribution that MSLs can make in the development of their research projects.” After reading this statement, I was confident that my relevant MSL experience of the documented history of successfully working with KOLs on numerous research projects would be valued at __________ Pharmaceuticals.
Quoting an article or statistic relevant to the specific company or industry demonstrates your knowledge of industry trends, latest news, or recent developments.
Example: “The recent (for example-specific Medical Journal reference) article stated that ________ Pharmaceuticals CNS product (or drug) went into phase III trials for the treatment of severe pain. Having relevant experience of working with two pain products in phase III trials while at _________ Pharmaceuticals, will enable me to play a critical role in assisting the company to be successful in this important step.”
The first paragraph should make it clear how your background and experiences fit well with the role and how you can add value to the team. If possible, try to make a connection with the company, the hiring manager, a mutual colleague, or some other relevance to your background to grab the attention of the reader.
Obviously, the most important factor that a hiring manager considers when screening an applicant is that the candidate meets the minimum requirements for the role. However, when several candidates meet the initial criteria, one way to distinguish yourself is to write a unique cover letter to grab the attention of the reader to motivate them to arrange a telephone interview or screen.
Copyright 2013-2018 The Medical Science Liaison Society. All rights reserved. The information contained in this article may not be published, broadcast or otherwise distributed without prior written authorization. The MSL Society is a 501(c)(3) Non-Profit Organization dedicated to advancing the global MSL career.
