DR J. #7 - My MSL interview round 2+

Interview Round 2+

To pick up the thread from my last post: After my initial contact with a recruiter some time ago, I was invited to a next interview round for an MSL role in oncology that  I find tremendously exciting. I was extremely happy, nonetheless, a ‘healthy nervousness’ now descended upon my mind. This was the real thing! This is what I wanted to happen!

What I heard various times before, resonated in my head: fail to prepare = prepare to fail. It is true.

So, I set out to maximally prepare myself for this new interview round using the online MSL training materials/videos. I invested all the time I could sensibly free-up besides my ongoing job, and I mean ALL the time I could find before the interview took place: evenings, late-nights (canceled those loose appointments), mornings, lunch breaks, I must admit I even dreamt about it. I went deep, deeper and then a bit further. II studied the company, the drugs, the trials, the competition etc. You name it and I had read about it. I accumulated so much information, that at one time I used our kitchen table (see picture) and some chairs to systematically arrange all information in clusters for the interview so that I could get them in my head.

And it worked. By systematically working through as much information as I could find, I could construct a picture of the role, the company, and the landscape it is operating in. Preparing as many interview questions as I could, made me feel more self-assured and took away some of the nerves.

The information on the TA and MOA made me feel secure in those areas. Knowing the basics of the treatment algorithm, raised confidence there.

Then, roughly a day before the interview, I heard I would be interviewed by multiple people. I briefly thought, regarding the classic 4-stage interview system, this made my interview like a ‘level 2½.’ I always assumed, a first company interview is usually performed by a single company interviewer. And if successful, it may be followed by the multiple interviewers-stage.

Well, in any case, I went from the first level straight into the multiple-person interview. As I think there is no ‘easy level’ in interviewing and one- or multiple-interviewer constellations are equally tough for distinct reasons, I revved-up the prepping in those final hours before the interview.

Making sure to allow those 15 minutes of tranquility before actually entering the interview. Just to get the mind at ease, settle that prep-dust, and get truly ready to rumble.

And we did..! Following the interview, the same day I was invited for the next round at HQ! How fantastic! I almost couldn’t believe it at first, it felt so unreal. Not because the interview didn’t go well, but because I was still in the interview ‘buzz’ and had to convince my mind it truly happened. Having progressed to the next interview level, I’m now prepping further. The MSL role should come naturally now, especially so as an academic with no previous MSL experience. So once again it is: Let’s get ready to rumble! I hope to also give you some good news from the next interview stage.

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