1. Upskill on what the MSL role is and highlight your relevant MSL skills, competencies, and knowledge on your CV/resume and during the interview process

2. Become a subject matter expert. You need to upskill on the treatment management of the disease you will be working on as well as the clinical data of your...

1) Please take us through your CV and highlight the parts most relevant to this MSL role

2) How would you describe the MSL role and how does it differ to a sales role?

3) What are your skills and competencies that would make you a good MSL?

4) What attract you to this role and what attract you to this company?

5)...

Get a cup of tea, open Google and let’s find the right KOLs.

1) Look at the 4 or 5 major teaching hospitals/centers of excellence where you will be expected to work as an MSL and see who the top specialists (usually professors) are.

2) Look at who wrote the disease guidelines, the authors of these guidelines...

1 – Not fully understanding the MSL role. 

The standard questions you will be asked are: “Could you describe the MSL role? How does it differ to a sales role?  How do you bring value to the HCPs and to the company? Tell us about MSL compliance and ethics?”

2 - Lack of preparation. You...

Last week I spoke to an aspiring MSL, who had recently stared working as a technical sales representative, selling research compounds to researchers and pharma companies.

He asked me if being a technical sales rep is a good job to then move into an MSL role later on?

He had finished his PhD recently. First thing I...

We hear this every day speaking for the first time to aspiring MSLs on the phone who have been trying to break into the MSL role for months!

"I have submitted 40 CVs/resumes and never heard back. It is true, they only want experienced MSLs!"

Sorry, but I have to be blunt and direct with you. Your CV is just not...

Many people ask us what degree do you need to become a Medical Science Liaison (MSL)?

This really depends on the company and country you are in. 

Globally the most abundant background of MSLs are the researchers and the pharmacists. Researchers’ background can be BSc, MSc or PhD. While pharmacists can be...

When “from SCIENCE to PHARMA” asked me if I’d write a piece on how my first 2 years as MSL have been, I immediately thought about what a life-changing decision it has been to transition from Academia to Pharma as an MSL. And how much more rewarding and fulfilling the MSL role is than I’d...

Those of you who have read my blog posts might have wondered where Dr.J went. Wasn’t he on a mission to transition..? Did he lock himself in in the cold room, for a colleague to find him frozen to the floorboards on Monday morning? Go on and do yet another postdoc? Succumb to the challenge..?

No. None of that....

My brief ‘radio silence’ on the blog has had a cause. After completing multiple interview rounds successfully, I finally had an MSL contract in hand! Yes, indeed a contract! However, I didn’t sign it.

Let me describe how my final interview round unfolded, how great of an experience it was and how...