Congratulations, you’ve passed the human resources screening call and landed a first round MSL interview. Preparation is key to guarantee you successfully progress to the next round of interviews.
The purpose of the first round MSL interview is twofold:
1. Ensure the candidate has a good understanding of the MSL role (the hiring manager will accept that some training is required, but a candidate with a clear understanding of the MSL role will require less training and therefore be more attractive to hire than a complete novice)
2. Understand if the candidate has the necessary skillset to perform the MSL role
First round MSL interviews typically last for approximately one hour and will be with the hiring manager and a representative from human resources. The first round interview will include questions on your experience and CV, and you can also be confident that the questions included in this article will come up in some shape or form. Preparation of the answers to these core MSL interview questions prior to the interview will not only settle your nerves but also give the hiring manager confidence that you know what you are talking about. In this article, I’m going to provide examples of three questions that are commonly asked in MSL first round interviews and how you should answer them.
- Can you tell us why you’re a good fit for this role? This is one of the most common interview questions across all industries. …
- What is your understanding of the MSL role? …
- Why do you want to leave your current position? …
- How do you handle working under pressure?
MSL Talk #45 | The Most Common (or not) Interview Questions and how to Handle Them
Medical Science Liaison Interview Questions
Can you describe the ideal candidate for this position?
This question allows you to probe the most important qualities that the employer is looking for. Respond by matching qualities that you share with what the interviewer has mentioned during the interview.
What is your management style?
This is a helpful question to help you gain insight into whether the hiring manager’s management style is one in which you will be comfortable working. Relate their comments to what your style or experiences are.
Can you tell me about specific projects I will be working on?
This question will help to clarify the work you will be expected to perform and whether this fits in with your current career objective. If possible relate your experiences with those.
Who makes up the team for this therapeutic area? What are their roles?
This question will help you to understand the key staff members that you will be working within each department and how your role would interact with each. Mention your experience working cross-functionally or with internal colleagues within Medical Affairs. Mention some relevant accomplishments from these interactions.
What do you like best about working for this company?
This question can help you to gain some insight with regard to company culture. It will also send up a red flag should the interviewer not be able to come up with at least a few reasons. Mention some of the things that you have learned during your research on the company and what excites you about the company and the potential of working there.
Why is this position vacant?
You need to find out if the organization growing or did the prior employee resign? Also, this will tell you if the company growing or is it a newly created role? Regardless of the answer relate your experiences to where the company is currently at with their MSL team(s). If it is a newly created role and you have years of experience, highlight this and mention how your experiences will help the company be successful in the new role.
Medical Science Liaison Interview Questions with answers
What is your understanding of the MSL role?
This question is asked in the majority of MSL interviews when candidates do not have MSL experience. You want to appear natural in your response so don’t just memorise the below answer, but instead understand it and put it into your own words. Once you’ve given the definition of an MSL, expand on your answer and utilise the job you are applying for as an example to demonstrate your full understanding of what the role requires.
Answer: An MSL is a field based non-promotional medical affairs team member who builds collaborative and mutually beneficial relationships with Key opinion Leaders (KOLs) in a defined therapeutic area with the overall goal to drive the brand forward.
For example, an MSL for this oncology drug will build relationships with medical oncologists, gain insights about how the drug is used, how the clinical data is perceived, what data gaps there are for the drug and share these insights with the company. This will then help the company to develop an effective medical and marketing strategy.
Tell me about a time that you successfully influenced someone?
Every position description for an MSL job talks about the importance of influencing KOLs and internal stakeholders. In short influencing skills are the ability to bring others to your way of thinking without force or coercion. Although there are many different steps to influencing (comment below if you want an article dedicated to the art of MSL influencing), in a nutshell to influence someone you need to highlight how they will benefit from the project you are proposing. An MSL hiring manager won’t expect you to have an example of when you influenced a KOL, but it is useful to have an example of when you influenced someone in your career.
Answer: During my PhD, I had to influence my PhD supervisor to enable me to research a specific avenue, using an expensive technique. I knew my supervisor was concerned about our limited budget, but he was also highly motivated to achieve publications. So, when I presented my case to him I highlighted that the proposed experiment would yield results quickly and the technique was well established as a robust methodology in many published papers. I showed him these publications to support my case. I also did research on the exact cost of the technique and received quotes from different companies to demonstrate I had done my due diligence and shopped around. The result was that my supervisor agreed to allow me to use the expensive technique as he saw how it could benefit him (get publications quicker).
5 Concrete Things you Should Absolutely do before Every MSL interview.
- Ask this question when you start (but not in a confrontational way). “I’m excited to be here. I’m curious what was it about my background that made you agree to bring me in for the interview?” Studies have shown that this question statistically significantly increases your chances of actually getting the job. I won’t get into the psychology behind it. If you really want to know, private message me and I can share the study.
- Practice the “Tell me about yourself” response out loud several times. This is probably the most important question for 2 reasons. One, it’s your first impression. Two, we know from data that people tend to make judgements about you in the first 7 seconds. This question is NOT intended for you to share your work history. It’s your chance to sell them on why they should pick YOU.
- Research the company. Yeah, I know that you’re probably thinking, ‘duh’ of course. But I’m not talking about going to the company’s website and looking at the mission & vision statement. I’m talking deep research. Here’s what we know works. Again, based on data. Once you’re at the company’s site, click on the ‘investors tab.’ Usually, the company will have press releases and investor webcasts posted on their site; usually for equity research analysts, investors, etc.. Click on the webcasts and listen to them. Listen to what leadership focuses on, how they pronounce the drug’s name (yes I’m serious) and pay attention to what questions are asked of them at the end. Chances are that you can steal those questions and use them yourself in your own interview. Next, look at the company’s pipeline, of course, then google publications associated with that drug. Once you’ve done that, look up the authors from those publications. Those will most likely be the key opinion leaders (KOLs) (Nowadays, pharma calls them External Experts (EEs) or Key thought Leaders (KTLs). Find them online, usually on YouTube or they may have authored guidelines for that particular therapeutic area. Read those guidelines, listen to what they have to say. Now you’ll know the issues for that product, the disease state better, and you’ll know who the KOLs are and you can then name drop during the interview. Hiring managers like that.
- Presentations. I would say 99% of MSL interviews require you to present (typically using ppt). You’ll either be asked to present a topic of your choice or you’ll be given a clinical paper they’ve published recently about the product and be asked to present it to the interviewers (usually in a group setting). If you did what I said in #3, you’ll be in great shape. Your ppt needs to be polished so look at how KOLs present. If you’re going to do it, go big or go home right? Use their style, template and sometimes you may get lucky and can even download the ppt itself and tweak it. Just be sure to practice out loud. You will be sure to wow them. Trust me it works. I’ve been told half a dozen times after I’ve presented that, “I was probably the most effective presenter they’ve seen interview.” Not bragging- just sharing it because I want people to say the same about you.
- Money. Don’t bring up money unless you’re asked. Don’t bring up vacations unless you’re asked. Don’t bring up work-life balance. Just keeping it real here. Hiring managers don’t want people that are overly concerned with vacations and work-life balance. They want motivated, hard workers, who are hungry to help the team succeed. It’s that simple.
For example, an MSL for this oncology drug will build relationships with medical oncologists, gain insights about how the drug is used, how the clinical data is perceived, what data gaps there are for the drug and share these insights with the company. This will then help the company to develop an effective medical and marketing strategy.
Answer: During my PhD, I had to influence my PhD supervisor to enable me to research a specific avenue, using an expensive technique. I knew my supervisor was concerned about our limited budget, but he was also highly motivated to achieve publications. So, when I presented my case to him I highlighted that the proposed experiment would yield results quickly and the technique was well established as a robust methodology in many published papers. I showed him these publications to support my case. I also did research on the exact cost of the technique and received quotes from different companies to demonstrate I had done my due diligence and shopped around. The result was that my supervisor agreed to allow me to use the expensive technique as he saw how it could benefit him (get publications quicker).
Every position description for an MSL job talks about the importance of influencing KOLs and internal stakeholders. In short influencing skills are the ability to bring others to your way of thinking without force or coercion. Although there are many different steps to influencing (comment below if you want an article dedicated to the art of MSL influencing), in a nutshell to influence someone you need to highlight how they will benefit from the project you are proposing. An MSL hiring manager won’t expect you to have an example of when you influenced a KOL, but it is useful to have an example of when you influenced someone in your career.
Many MSL Candidates believe that the interview process is heavily one-sided with the employers asking the majority of the questions. However, interviewing is a mutual process and it is just as important that candidates prepare meaningful questions of their own. Failure to ask relevant questions can signify a lack of interest in the job. The key to creating effective questions is to research the company, the role, and current trends in the industry. It is advisable to prepare a list of questions before each stage of the interview process. The initial pre-screening interview may require only a few general questions such as job title, main responsibilities, schedule and travel requirements (if any), and hiring process. As candidates move further along in the hiring process, the questions will become more detailed in terms of key challenges of the role, reporting structure, performance evaluations, and company goals.
This question can help you to gain some insight with regard to company culture. It will also send up a red flag should the interviewer not be able to come up with at least a few reasons. Mention some of the things that you have learned during your research on the company and what excites you about the company and the potential of working there.
You need to find out if the organization growing or did the prior employee resign? Also, this will tell you if the company growing or is it a newly created role? Regardless of the answer relate your experiences to where the company is currently at with their MSL team(s). If it is a newly created role and you have years of experience, highlight this and mention how your experiences will help the company be successful in the new role.
1. Why are you interested in a career change?
2. What are you looking for in your next position?
3. Why are you interested in this position?
4. What is your experience related to this position?
5. What are your short and long-term goals?
6. What can you tell me about our company?
7. Tell me about yourself.
Questions for the hiring manager could include the following:
Make sure that you always follow up with a formal Thank You letter. You can obtain the hiring managers details from the recruiter or HR personnel that set the interview up for you. If you are not used to sending these types of letters, send it to the person you are working with first to review the letter and ask for any feedback. Keep the letter brief 2-3 paragraphs and mention some specific details that you discussed during the interview.
As you proceed, try to get a feel for the chemistry or rapport that has been established. If you feel the interviewer is impressed with you, and you are interested in pursuing the opportunity, do not hesitate to close the conversation by pushing for a face-to-face meeting: “(Interviewer’s name), based on the information you have given me, I am very interested in pursuing this opportunity and would be very interested in moving forward in the interview process. If the interviewer agrees that the process should continue but cannot commit to a specific schedule, suggest that both parties should coordinate their respective schedules thru the company’s search consultant. If you are not interested in the position, don’t burn your bridges. Your misconceptions may cause you to lose out on a great opportunity. Express your concerns with the recruiter or whoever set this up for you – he or she may be able to clarify the information due to his or her intimate knowledge of the client.
In a face-to-face interview, your appearance and body language can help reinforce the impression you are trying to create. Over the phone, however, their impression of you will be based on your voice and your answers. Confidence and strong communication skills are a must and skills that every successful MSL must possess. However, you do have an edge – you have your home field advantage, familiar surroundings with your notes in front of you. Listen to each question carefully and respond enthusiastically with concise, fact-filled sentences; responses should be limited to 90 seconds. Describe your ability to impact the company by using specific dollar amounts and percentages to explain your past accomplishments.
The typical second step in the interview process (after an initial phone screen with a recruiter or HR personnel) in becoming an MSL is the Telephone Interview. A telephone interview is basically a screening tool favored by employers. Telephone interviews will almost always take place with an MSL hiring manager to explore your experience as an MSL, how well your background matches their needs, your work history, abilities, and even evaluate the candidate’s enthusiasm and interest level before committing to a face-to-face meeting, thus saving companies time and money.
FAQ
How do I prepare for an MSL interview?
- Ask this question when you start (but not in a confrontational way). “I’m excited to be here. …
- Practice the “Tell me about yourself” response out loud several times. …
- Research the company. …
- Presentations. …
- Money.
What questions should I ask at an MSL interview?
- Why do you want to be an MSL?
- What do you know about the company?
- What is your understanding of the MSL role?
- What do you think you can bring to the role?
- How do you stay up to date with the latest clinical research in the therapeutic area?
How do you answer tell me about yourself MSL?
What do the 3 P’s of Interviewing stand for?
