Finding the right agency to work with, as well as experienced consultants who listen to you, understand your sector and the specifics of your role, and will act in your best interests, is invaluable.
At SEDA Talent, we’re passionate about developing careers within the life sciences sector and want to work with career-focused professionals to help them achieve their career aspirations. As such, we have created this comprehensive interview guide to help candidates perfect their interview skills and complete a confident & successful interview.
Table of contents
Preparation - before the interview
It doesn’t matter how experienced you are, the importance of preparation for any interview cannot be overstated. Thorough preparation will display that you are serious about the role and company you are applying for and give you the confidence to present yourself in the best light.
When preparing for any Life Sciences interview there are several key things you can do:
The interview - do's and don'ts
First impressions count
First Impressions really do count, stand and greet your interviewer with a firm handshake, eye contact and a smile. Do not sit until you’re offered a seat. The interviewer may initiate some small talk to put you at ease, so use this opportunity to demonstrate your interpersonal skills. These first few moments can have a decisive impact on the outcome of the interview. You want to project some personality and charisma, but you also want to come across as a good fit, so if in doubt always verge on the formal side.
Be on point
It’s a good idea to have in mind two or three points that you want to make about what you will bring to the role and what you want from your new company. For example, “I’m absolutely ready for the challenge of managing a larger team”, “I combine compliance experience with technical understanding”. These are the key points that you want your interviewer to remember about you. So, if you can, you should try to work them in naturally during the meeting.
Show your enthusiasm
It doesn’t matter how experienced you are or if you feel your CV sells itself. It is important you are enthusiastic about the interview from the start. Even if you are only curious at the early stages about the role and not overly excited, you must present like it’s the role you really want. The interviewer will pick up immediately on any lack of enthusiasm or energy being displayed, they will want to feel that you see the role as a good opportunity and will relish working at their company.
Avoid negativity
In any interview, negativity about previous employers can be viewed as unprofessional and will not reflect well on you. Even if you feel negative about your experience it is important to frame this properly and construct your answers in way that will reflect well on you. For example, if you are asked “Why do you want to leave your current company” it might be tempting to say “I’m bored” or “There’s not much for me to do” if that is the case. A better way to respond would be to say, “I’m looking for a more challenging role that will stretch me and I don’t feel I am getting that in my current role”.
Online interviews - our 5 top tips
With the technology freely available, video interviews using online platforms are very much a common occurrence. Especially for the early stages of an interview process. It is vital for you to prepare for these interviews as you would a face-to-face meeting as it can be easy to be blasé about the less formal set up. Below are some tips on how you should prepare for an online interview.
Questions you can ask
We discussed earlier that you have a great chance to impress your interviewer by asking intelligent questions that can display your enthusiasm for the role and knowledge of the company. You should tailor your questions with regard to the research you have carried out about the company. When constructing these questions, you can look at the companies services / offering, values & USP’s, awards & news items to help you ask the right things. Some examples are below.
What do the most successful new hires do in their first month here?
This shows that– you’re eager to get stuck in and begin bringing your expertise to the role as quickly as possible. It also shows that you want to be successful in your career, are looking to learn from other people’s experiences and can quickly settle into a new role.
What is the biggest challenge the team has faced in the past year?
This question shows that you are aware that all companies have their problem, and things don’t always run smoothly. By knowing what challenges, the team may already be facing (or have just faced) you’ll go into the role with a stronger understanding of what to expect – that problem the department has been struggling with for the past few months won’t come as such a shock if you’ve had some forewarning about it.
What are the biggest challenges currently facing the team and how could my skills aid in solving these?
Similarly to the above, by asking how you personally could help it will encourage the hiring manager to envisage seeing you working for the company. It also shows that you’re keen to support others, the team and the company as a whole.
What objectives would you use to measure how successful I would be in this role?
As well as knowing how you’d receive negative feedback it’s also important to know how your successes would be measured – knowing this will help you understand what it would take to advance in your career were you to be offered the position, as well as helping you see if they share the same company values as you would expect to work with. It also shows management that you aren’t afraid to be held accountable.
What can you offer me in terms of development and support?
We always encourage candidates to enquire about training and development. What opportunities are there to grow professionally? What types of training do you run? This shows that you’ve got an interest in learning on the job to develop your skills and knowledge to benefit not only yourself but also the company. It also suggests that you’re looking to stay with the business long term. This is something you need to find out for your own career also – if no training is offered you may need to think carefully about whether this is really the role for you.
Where does the job fit into the team structure?
“Team player” is a phrase thrown around in CVs and cover letters, but we all want to know what part we’d be playing within a team – How many people will I be working alongside? Will there be anyone above or below me? Is it a sociable working group? This is important information to know for you to understand whether this is somewhere you can see yourself working.
What are the company’s plans for the future? What do the next 5 years look like?
This is a great question to ask as it shows you’re also interested in the company. It’s always useful to know where the company is planning on going. Do they want to grow? Will they be employing more people to your team? Will this give you an opportunity for further progression/promotion? Again, the interview process is as much about you learning about the role as it is about them learning about you and will give management a chance to sell the company.
Questions you can prepare for
There are interview questions that will almost certainly come up in one form or other, some are listed below, you can practice answering during your preparation.
You may be asked some Life Sciences specific questions that you may be asked, depending on the role. Finding the right talent is crucial for the company so along with general questions above they will most likely ask a serious of job-specific and behaviours based questions such as.
Can you talk me through your experience and what you've achieved?
Try to keep this as concise as possible while describing all your proudest work-related achievements in there. This will be different depending on your experience, but we suggest covering education, work history, and recent job roles.
Why are you considering leaving your current position?
As mentioned previously It’s key to remain positive here, do not criticise your current employer. Emphasize the experience you’ve gained and focus on why you hope to expand your future growth and opportunities elsewhere.
What are your key strengths?
Relate these to strengths mentioned in the job application and give examples of when you’ve demonstrated them in a working environment.
What are your weaknesses?
Be honest by addressing your past weaknesses, but don’t forget to draw attention to how you learned to overcome them!
What excites you about this role?
You will have to research the company to find common values and understand the role you have applied for. Authenticity always stands out!
What is your understanding of this position, and how can you add value? / What do you feel you could contribute to this organisation?
Thoroughly review the job description and match your skills and strengths to the job requirements.
Where do you see yourself in five years?
Think where this job will take you and that it fits with your career plans, your ambitions should align with the role and the company you have applied to.
- Describe a time when you faced a challenging problem in your research. How did you approach and overcome it?
- Have you ever had to collaborate with a team from a different discipline? How did you ensure effective communication and collaboration?
- Can you give an example of a situation where you had to adapt to unexpected changes in a project?
- Describe a time when you had to present complex scientific findings to a non-technical audience. How did you ensure their understanding?
- Have you ever had to make a difficult ethical decision in your work? How did you handle it?
- What laboratory techniques and equipment are you most proficient with?
- Can you explain your experience with data analysis and statistical methods?
- How do you ensure the accuracy and reproducibility of your experimental results?
- What safety protocols do you follow when handling biological materials?
- Have you been involved in any grant writing or funding proposals for research projects?
The STAR technique
By using these four components to shape your anecdote, it’s much easier to provide a focused answer, providing the interviewer with compelling narrative of what you did.
How to prepare to use the STAR method ahead of your interview
To be ready to use the STAR method of interviewing, it will be helpful for you to prepare what stories you might tell ahead of time as well as how you’ll tell them. These tips will help you out:
Look over the job description
The job posting you applied to contains all sorts of useful information that will tell you what an employer is looking for in a candidate. Think about what qualities and skills are most important to the role and choose stories that emphasise them.
Choose a few strong, versatile example stories
The STAR interview method won’t be helpful to you if you use it to structure an answer using a totally irrelevant anecdote. There’s no way for you to know ahead of time exactly what the interviewer will ask you, but you can prep a few stories about different types of experiences that you can tweak and adapt for various questions
Practice your answers
While the STAR method is a great technique, you still want to make sure your delivery is good. Practicing your answer in the mirror, talking through your response so that it feels natural and comfortable when you’re in the interview will really help.
We hope that this guide has been useful, feel free to get in touch with any of our team to help you anything you are unsure about.
