Life at PSI CRO

Working, training, and connecting at PSI CRO.

Expert Tips to Help You Prepare For Your Job Interview

Preparing for a job interview can be overwhelming. Candidates often ask themselves questions like, “How can I best prepare” “What if I don’t have all the skills necessary,” and “What is the interviewer expecting of me?” To help answer these questions, we’ve connected with the experts here at PSI to learn their tips for assisting candidates in preparing for and acing their interviews.

Be Honest About Your Skills and Experience

“In your interview, be honest about your skills and professional experience. If you lack expertise in certain areas, recognize that and focus on your transferable skills and knowledge that can make up for it. For example, if you haven’t done a certain task before, describe your theoretical training and how you can apply that to handle the job. It’s also important when you’re presenting yourself during the interview that you strike a healthy balance between enthusiasm and overconfidence. Avoid using cliches or generic answers that you can’t back up with real examples; instead, be specific to avoid sounding too rehearsed.”

– Ksenia Solovyeva, Recruitment Director

 Do Your Research and Come Prepared With Questions

“An interview should never be one-sided. In your interview, you’ll have the opportunity to ask questions, so make sure you’ve researched beforehand and crafted thoughtful questions that align with the job description and company culture. The interview is also an opportunity to see if PSI aligns with your values and expectations. Be sure to ask yourself, “Why am I interested in this position? How does this role relate to what I seek for my career and professional future?” “What are my expectations for this opportunity?” These questions will help you understand why you’re interested in the position and help you be more prepared.”

– Leticia Secler, Recruiter

Provide Tangible Examples to Support Your Professional Experience

“During your interview, provide the hiring team with tangible examples and details to support your professional experience. While you have the full attention of the hiring managers, highlight why you’re the best candidate to be considered for the role and explain how your experience aligns with PSI’s core values. It’s also a good idea to express your genuine enthusiasm and excitement about why you feel this position is a good fit for you, how your experience aligns with the position, and how it fits your career goals. Finally, make sure to have the job description in front of you during the interview and highlight some key areas in which you feel you have been successful throughout your career, and how you can take this experience and contribute it to PSI.”

– Kimberly Simmonds, Recruitment Manager

By following these tips, you can better prepare for your job interview and increase your chances of success. Interested in joining PSI’s team? Apply today and put these tips to use!

Influencing Positive Change in Quality & Delivery Through Training 

When Andrea Cracraft joined PSI in 2013 as Director, Clinical Operations, North America, there were only a handful of clinical operations team members in the region. Together with a dedicated team, she and colleagues worked tirelessly creating systems and processes to ensure the growth of an efficient department and has since witnessed its incredible growth to well over two hundred team members.

After helping to build the local team, she and two other colleagues created the Oncology for Monitors program in 2017. With this program’s success, the team identified a need to improve the quality and delivery methods for training. To help meet that need on a global level, Andrea was promoted in 2020 to Director, Clinical Operations, Global Training where she manages a group of talented team members dedicated to creating various training programs and raising the bar for excellence in training here at PSI.

Throughout her career with PSI, Andrea has worked on many exciting projects with countless colleagues around the world. One especially impactful project is the product of her collaborative work to create oncology indication training for Clinical Operations. Together with the Master Trainer Unit, therapeutic area training is now offered in five different indications, specifically targeted to monitors. The Master Trainer unit has created more than 67 interactive and simulated tutorials, 17 training programs and workshops, and a successful mentorship program.

These programs are great examples of how PSI strives to ensure that team members are prepared to be successful in their careers and have the best training possible to provide quality service to clients.

Why PSI?

Andrea shares that she doesn’t know of another CRO where the owners work alongside the employees. “PSI’s owners truly want employees to have a career at PSI, and support their growth and development,” she says. “They care about our well-being and invest a considerable amount into programs, training, and activities that will increase employee satisfaction.”

Being a part of a company where colleagues work together with the goal of finding treatments that may positively affect or extend someone’s life is a fact that gives Andrea a great source of pride.

“I’m proud to work for a company that cares so much for their employees. A company that nurtures the environment that every patient counts, of being in it altogether, being accountable for your personal actions and responsibilities, being excellent at your job, but still maintaining humility, and being responsible to deliver results in a timely manner.”

Do you want to join a collaborative global team and make a difference in your career and for patients around the world? Click here to explore our open positions.

Mastering Communication & Knowledge Sharing, One Story at a Time

As a truly global company, we recognize that diversity is one of our greatest strengths. Our team members, with their unique skill sets, contribute to our culture of mutual support and accountability and bring greatly varied expertise to our projects. 

 Laura Alessandroni came to PSI with incredibly diverse skills. With work experience in hardware producing, consulting, communication & publishing, and teaching Italian to international students, she’s done it all, and we’re so proud to have her on our team.    

When Laura joined PSI, she began in the Pharmacovigilance department as a PVG coordinator where she used her experience writing, editing, and promoting to help create awareness for the PVG team and their internal and external work.   

One of the perks of working with PSI are the growth opportunities available to our team members, and the possibility to change departments to find the best fit to not only follow your passion, but also develop your skills. When a role opened in the Marketing team focusing on internal communication, Laura knew this was where she wanted to grow her career. Now as a Marketing Specialist, she’s one of the leading storytellers behind PSI Live!   

On any given day, you can find her researching, interviewing colleagues, and writing articles for PSI Live; creating graphics for articles, drafting the bi-weekly PSI newsletter, supporting PSI’s swag management, and helping to organize PSI Italy’s annual training plan and PSI values training just to name a few of the many hats she wears.   

In her role within the marketing team, Laura continues to learn and grow and makes connections with colleagues worldwide. She finds her work fulfilling, sharing that she’s grateful for the positive feedback on her projects and knows her commitment and effort are appreciated.  

 

#PSIProud

Laura is proud to be a part of a company that helps find new treatments and medicines to help heal patients, giving them a chance for a better life.  

“PSI is a company comprised of professionals,” Laura shares. “We’re all passionate about our jobs, respectful of our colleagues, and are growing together in a company that values learning and growth.”   

To those considering a career with PSI, Laura shares, “If you’re looking for a company that recognizes your efforts and commitment and a team who pays attention to your work-life balance, values you as a colleague then PSI is the place for you.” Explore our career opportunities here. 

 

 

Making A Difference With Statistics

Jürgen Deinhard, Principal Statistician, works in clinical research to make a difference. While the work at PSI is not always easy, he feels he can positively impact patient lives through his expertise in statistics to help influence the science making new therapies available to those who need them. 

 

Making A Positive Impact

 

Sometimes it can be hard to see the tangible effects of one’s work in clinical research. But no matter your position at PSI, the culmination of everyone’s work plays a role in putting the patient first and helping improve patient lives. The FDA recently approved one therapy that Jürgen, and many of his colleaguges, had the opportunity to work with. “Now, in the end, everyone contributes to this success – whether an accountant, a country manager, or a SAS programmer – every single one of us does an important part of the work,” Jürgen says. 

 

Working Together and Putting Patients First

Juergen believes many aspects influence our positive corporate culture and our goal of putting patients first.  These include our open lines of communication that make it easy to brainstorm and collaborate with colleagues, our stability and organic global growth, and our culture of putting people first with constant trust, support, and appreciation.  

No matter where our colleagues are located, team collaboration is high on our agenda, and we’ve built a culture of respect, support, and accountability.  

Do you want to join a collaborative global team and make a difference in your career? Click here to explore our open positions.  

 

Top Reasons to Join PSI CRO as a CRA 

PSI Clinical Research Associates (CRAs) are integral members of our team who help maintain the highest quality stands in the industry while enjoying various monitoring tasks and working on clinical studies in various therapeutic indications.  

 

Are you considering a new home for your career in clinical research? If so, here are just a few reasons to join PSI as a CRA: 

  • Culture 

PSI has a strong culture rooted in our core values, and every new team member receives training on how to exemplify them in their daily work within their teams. At PSI, you’re not just a number; you are an integral part of the team and recognized for being yourself and for the expertise you bring  

 

  • Training & Development 

At PSI, we offer dedicated training and development programs to ensure that our team members are confident in their ability to do their job and receive the necessary skills and training to progress in their careers. For our CRA colleagues, we offer a CRA I training program, a lead monitor program, and a clinical trial lead training program. In addition, several training courses are available for team members with a desire to broaden their therapeutic expertise with intensive GI, Oncology, and Hematology programs 

 

  • Clear Career Growth Pathways 

A consistent pathway to progress in your career is important to our team members. When you join PSI as a CRA, a clear career path is available for you to follow as you grow your skills and desire more challenging projects. Want to grow into areas that are not already laid out in our clear career paths? No problem! We work with team members and provide opportunities to grow in other unique areas. We aim to promote from within, so there’s no shortage of opportunities for our CRAs to grow. 

 

  • Support & Mentorship 

Joining a new company and learning its unique processes can be overwhelming. We recognize that and want to make sure you are set up for success. That’s why after joining, in addition to the standard onboarding and training, you are paired with a senior member of the team to show you the ropes and provide guidance on duties you may not be familiar with yet.  

 

At PSI, we bring together more than 2,700 dynamic and knowledgeable individuals who work hard to help impact the future of medicine in more than 60 countries worldwide. Our team members, with their unique skill sets, contribute to our culture of mutual support and accountability. 

 

Are you ready to take your career to the next level as a PSI CRA? Apply today

Making a Positive Impact on Healthcare Around the World

Since joining PSI more than five years ago as a Systems Engineer, Artem Ivanov has grown to IT Project Manager overseeing a team working hard to improve company-wide development and communication processes.  

No Matter the Department, You’re Making a Difference

One may think those working in departments with no direct sponsor or patient interaction may not have an impact on patients, but that couldn’t be further from the truth.  

Despite not having a patient-facing role, Artem notes that he’s able to make a positive impact on healthcare and a difference for patients through his work on projects such as protocol deviation tracking, safety reporting, and web-based pre-visit and follow-up letters. These projects directly impact the important work being done to ensure trials are completed safely both on time and within budget.   

Artem shares that his favorite part about working in the industry is the opportunity to help people. The work that we do at PSI helps people all around the world, and it’s exciting to know that we have a hand in moving medicines forward. 

“PSI gives many opportunities for people to grow, and not only within medical and pharma teams,” says Artem. “You can add to your professionalism and passion to reach goals in healthcare by being a part of a great and experienced team.”  

Do you want to join a collaborative global team and make a difference in your career? Click here to explore our open positions.

Entwining Passion and Work

At PSI, science is at the heart of everything we do. Dylan Stoy, Associate Director, Therapeutic Strategy, has held a passion for science since a young age. Here at PSI, he’s able to nurture that passion, bringing a scientific component to operational strategy and training and educating PSI team members to better understand the pivotal therapies they’re engaged with each day.

Growing with PSI

PSI’s culture and how we operate are unique, and so are our career growth opportunities. Starting as a CRA, then as a project manager, Dylan worked less with the scientific aspects of therapies and wanted to move into a role where he had more autonomy in working with the transformational therapies that PSI has the opportunity to trial. Working on a unique project, he connected his love and knowledge of the technical side of science to explore our current operations and identify ways to enhance them – leading to the development of an entirely new role in a completely new department.

In his new role, Dylan works closely with teams throughout the organization to oversee therapeutic and operational strategies, not only to bolster our business development team but also to bring the various scientific components to proposals and bid defenses. He now even delivers training to team members interested in the ground-breaking science behind the therapies we’re working with.  Dylan’s career growth is an example of the creativity and nimbleness that team members can utilize to ensure they’re going where they want with their careers while helping fulfill unmet needs within the business.  

Why PSI? 

Dylan notes that PSI has an unencumbered approach to driving innovation and facilitating the most impactful research to benefit patients and our sponsors. He adds that because our owners and leaders are scientifically minded, high-quality science-backed standards trickle down through our teams, allowing us to all drive towards the same goal – performing quality work to help positively impact patient lives.   PSI provides all the services seen in large companies but also has a personal touch and a culture based on delivery and service that people fall in love with – and because of the culture, we can pursue what we think is right based on science and ethics.   As a truly global company, our diverse team members, with their unique skill sets, contribute to our culture and goal of putting every patient first.

Click here to learn more about our culture and to apply to join our team.