Ask the Experts: Research Careers Month - what questions do you have about careers in research?

groups » Training and Career Development » Ask the Experts: Research Careers Month - what questions do you have about careers in research?

• Joby George 5 Jun 2015

  Hello,thanks for initiating a month dedicated to careers.Great work TGHN,and thanks to all experts for all your valuable suggestions and answers.
  Well,I'm a research nurse from India and a member of TGHN,my question is that I'm now interested to move from india and to take some good opportunities at abroad,in order to broaden my skills and to enhance my career pathway.I often applies to all the job openings in research at abroad,but often I get no answers from the company or universities. is it that being from india and my role is very limited in india,I'm not getting any good opportunities.please let me know what may be the contributing factors even though in the advert mostly my qualifications match with the openings.

• Tsitsi G. Monera-Penduka 4 Jun 2015

  Good day. A research career often involves a great deal of traveling for both short (conferences, workshops) and longer (trainee-ships, fellowships) periods.
  1. I would like to know how colleagues with younger children have managed family commitments.
  2. Are there any resources you are aware of that that are dedicated to assist mobility for researcher, particularly women, with family both short term and long term.

• The Editorial Team 8 Sep 2014

  Hi Amira

  more logs, Checklists and templates have been sent in from Dr Sreedhar Tirungari from India - you can find them in the 'articles' section. I hope this helps.

  Thanks Sreedhar!
  The Editorial Team

• The Editorial Team 29 Aug 2014

  Dear Olubusola

  I hope your relocation plans are going slowly. We have some links that will be useful to you here (https://globalhealthtrials.tghn.org/community/research-careers/), linking you to:
  Guidance article on writing a cover letter
  Guidance article on writing a CV (or use GHT to get a free automated CV, formatted for you)
  Guidance on how to find research jobs.

  You can also find interview tips, and for a page of agencies who publicise job opportunities around the world, click here: https://globalhealthtrials.tghn.org/community/jobs/

  I hope this helps! good luck
  The Editorial Team

• AMIRA ELSHENAWY MUSTAFA 29 Aug 2014

  Thanx for your valuable links.
  Please, provide me with the precise professional title in the field of clinical trials should be given to me while being responsible for the following duties:
  Managing & updating study master files & variable forms.
  Correspondences with the sponsor.
  Logistics.
  Archiving.
  Ensuring that all controlled documents related to clinical research are:
  Approved and follow the guidelines for version control and naming of documents and are in the correct format.
  Reviewed at regular intervals and remain fit for purpose.
  Accessible to all users when required and are being followed.
  Maintaining confidentiality of the trial participants.

  Should I be entitled with "Document Controller" or " Study Secretariat" ???

• Olubusola Onasile 29 Aug 2014

  Hello, I work as a research team member at a non governmental organisation based in the capital city of my country but would be relocating soon to another city. That means I would be needing a new job and so I have been trying to send out unsolicited applications to some NGOs who have field offices or are based in the new city. I would like to know how cover letters for unsolicited applications are written? I have not seen any openings available in the NGOs and so thought to send unsolicited applications to them and hopeful that my cover letter and resume will catch their attention and I can be offered a space in their organisation . I would appreciate it if someone can respond to my question. Thank you.

• The Editorial Team 27 Aug 2014

  Hi Amira

  have you seen the following on the Global Health Network:

  1) a process map to track the INITIATION Stage in clinical research projects. You click on each module (e.g. plan laboratory supplies) and it will give you a guidance article about how to perform that step, as well as useful resources, discussions, templates, tools, etc. https://processmap.tghn.org/

  2) Tools https://globalhealthtrials.tghn.org/resources/downloadable-tools-and-templates/ - there are lots of things here such as guidance documents on keeping costs low and suchlike

  3) Downloadable templates https://globalhealthtrials.tghn.org/articles/downloadable-templates-and-tools-clinical-research/ - including things like budget monitoring templates, participant retention plan, etc etc. These should be helpful to you.

  4) eLearning courses https://globalhealthtrials.tghn.org/elearning/other-resources/ (all free).

  I hope this helps. If you're missing anything specific, let us know - in September we're having a tools and templates amnesty and will be inviting everyone to share their tools and templates here so we can all benefit from eachother's work, rather than having to reinvent the wheel - so if you need anything specific just let us know.

  Kind regards
  The Editorial Team

• AMIRA ELSHENAWY MUSTAFA 26 Aug 2014

  Hi all,Would you please, recommend related websites and online courses other than this helpful one that would help me organize my duties, as we are conducting two trials at the same time starting in August 2014 in our research site. I am the document controller for both studies. I don't wanna commit any mistakes as possible, so am in bad need for helpful checklists & advice for organizing all these documents.

• Cordelia Leisegang - Regional Faculty Lead 26 Aug 2014

  Hi Hilarious,

  I would recommend that based on your experience, you look into the different roles within industry that would be of interest to you. The challenge of moving from a clinical environment into a non-clinical one, must not be discounted and it worth trying to find a role which will allow you to interact with sites, and allows you to apply your clinical knowledge at the same.
  A possible role to facilitate this transition could be as a CRA (clinical research associate). The benefits of the job do depend on the company you work with, so maybe research companies like quintiles, ppd etc to see what benefits they offer for CRAs.
  However if you are interested in the protocol development side of a clinical research study it may be more useful to stay within your current environment and finish off your studies and then make the change!

  Good luck and hope I was

• Hilarious de Jesus 11 Aug 2014

  My question is primarily for the Industry panel but everyone, who have some insight, please feel free to respond. Currently, I work as research nurse in the clinical area, I wonder how much of the skills would be transferable should I consider a career in the industry route? Also, when making that transition, what would be generally the ideal first position to apply for considering my background? Also, what are the usual benefits of the job? I've heard that some of the industry posts allow intra-company transfers to other countries (i.e. for work migration), how true is this? Thank you very much for your time and input.

  (N.B. I am a paediatric research nurse managing about 8-12 studies in different phases of research delivery and my usual job description is project management from start to finish, not a lot of involvement yet with the protocol development phase but will work on it as I take on my MRes in Clinical Practice)

• AMIRA ELSHENAWY MUSTAFA 7 Aug 2014

  Would you please, recommend related websites and online courses other than this helpful one that would help me organize my duties, as we are conducting two trials at the same time starting in August 2014 in our research site. I am the document controller for both studies. I don't wanna commit any mistakes as possible, so am in bad need for helpful checklists & advice for organizing all these documents.

• Paramasivan R 9 Jul 2014

  Hi, I am basically microbiology, diploma in medical virology,phd in biology having working on vector borne diseases especially on dengue and chikungunya. kindly suggest me shall i undertake a course on global health or global health trials? which one will be useful for me considering the current and future requirements globally. thanks in anticipation

• Karla Lam 14 Apr 2014

  Sorry Elizabeth for not noticing it! Thank you very much. It is very interesting to see the perspective of someone that has worked both in academia and industry.

• Elizabeth Allen - Regional Faculty Lead 13 Apr 2014

  Apologies, Karla, my reply above starting "Thank you for your question" was for you!

• Karla Lam 11 Apr 2014

  Thank you very much for your responses Pauline and Lesley. It is very interesting to hear about the different roles and profiles study coordinators have in industry and academia.

  @Pauline, could you perhaps briefly explain what the other coordinator roles in industry (clinical trial assistant, clinical trial manager and clinical operations manager) involve, please? Thank you.

• Lesley Workman 10 Apr 2014

  @Chalachew: I totally agree, researchers need to develop protocol writing skills as they are the ones most in touch with the problems facing their communities. Most post grad diplomas/degrees in Public Health/other will cover a section relating to research methods which will cover protocol development; also there are some standard templates available for researchers to use as a guide – this is the one available on the WHO web-site.
  http://www.who.int/rpc/research_ethics/format_rp/en/
  Best Lesley
  

• Lesley Workman 10 Apr 2014

  @Astrid: To add a bit to Pauline's comments. Always do research into the institution/organisation and position that you are interested in. Three questions that we nearly always ask are; "What interested you in this position" and "What are your goals/ambitions over the next 5 years"; "What do you think you will add to the group/institution/project". Best lesley

• Pauline Hope - Senior Contributor 10 Apr 2014

  @Astrid The two most common interview styles used in the clinical research environment are behavioural-based questions and Competency-based questions. In my opinion, and every time I have interviewed candidates, I have used these styles. They are perfect for industry roles because 1) as a clinical research associate/manager/assistant we have a LOT of face to face interaction with our clients and with the investigators. 2) We work a great deal of time as a TEAM. 3) We sometimes need to portray a sense of calm in difficult situations. I want to be sure that the person I am hiring has good interpersonal skills and can work pleasantly with the site to get things done. The competency-based questions help to confirm the candidates competency when engaging in everyday activities and also demonstrate your problem solving skills. read up on these two styles, there is a lot of info on the web. Lastly, always have at least two GREAT points/talents about yourself, and also 2 "faults". An interviewer will sometimes ask you to state these to them... so be prepared. Make sure the faults are not faults that would be detrimental to any working environment - so for instance a personality trait could be "perfectionist" for example. I have included a link here: http://www.interview-skills.co.uk/competency-based-interviews-questions.aspx to some questions you might find handy to practice. Good Luck!

• Pauline Hope - Senior Contributor 10 Apr 2014

  @Chalachew You pose an interesting discussion topic here, and something I am very passionate about. During my career as a clinical ops manager, I came across these exact problems and ended up in lengthy discussions with the MCC numerous times because they would not approve clinical protocols that were not adapted for the South African market. Since moving to industry from an academic environment, I have noticed the extreme need for this and am actually happy to report that the Pharma companies do too. In my present role, at every PSV we sit down with the investigators and discuss what he/she has found difficult performing trials at their site and then suggest that certain things are added or changed in the protocol. This way, we have less protocol deviations, SAEs, and DQ's... and better, cleaner data! I also know of one such investigator/specilaist in Cape Town who is currently trying to the bridge the GAP between public and private hospital trials (Public hospitals have the patient numbers and private hospitals have the infrastructure).

• Elizabeth Allen - Regional Faculty Lead 10 Apr 2014

  Thank you for your question. I think there are certainly transferable skills between the academic clinical research site coordinators and those working in industry (Pharma companies or Contract Research Organisation) clinical research departments - I have done this move myself and employed staff both ways. As my colleagues have mentioned, trial coordinators in academic sites are more at the patient level, so she/he would be involved in the day-to-day operational running of a trial in a clinic or ward etc. They also may need a qualification so that they can multi-task within what could be a small team (e.g. as a nurse to take blood). Coordination of trials from the industry side (which may be part of the CRA role) is more removed from the patient but involves the same kinds of processes/documents and often for multiple sites (though academics sometimes also play this typical Sponsor role too). In industry the coordinator may progress to monitoring, then project management, departmental management etc. - all the way to Director level if good! In academia, I would suggest this managerial career progression is more limited (unless medically qualified), due to a lack of such posts. However, from my perspective, this is more than made up for by the access to further qualifications and independent research. I have been supported to study for a Masters and PhD and now apply for my own grant funding and publish papers. My contemporaries from my industry days are now Directors of Clinical Operations. It's personal which route you want to take and nothing stops you moving between the two your whole career!