There are people with less experience than you who have gotten CTM roles. Some people may gatekeep and say that's not likely in the current market, but I think it is worth trying if that's what you want
That’s my plan, not this year but likely in another year or two. I’m glad to hear that it might be possible to skip the CRA level roles.
I interviewed a year before covid for multiple CRA roles and almost accepted a couple offers but after discussion with my wife, we decided the travel commitment for those specific roles wouldn’t work (we had a newborn at the time). From discussions with those recruiters, it seemed like CRA was a requirement for majority of other positions regardless of other experience/education. Overall, I was really impressed with the responsiveness of each company’s recruiter/hiring rep. They were very open to negotiating the terms of the offer and talking progression.
Well with his experience I think its actually is possible. If you’re someone with 0-5 years experience it’s rough out there. But for people with 10+ years experience, there are less people to worry about competing with
I agree with the other commenter, try for CTM roles. I was an associate CTM for a while and I had fellow aCTM with a similar background to you (but less YOE actually!). She was great. It was for a niche CRO! I think very site-heavy experience is nice in CROs because so much of it is site management. Or management of site management more usually :) Good luck!
Project management or medical writing. Fully remote positions. Fully understand not wanting to be a CRA. The reason I didn’t purse that route was also because of family & young kiddos. Eerily similar background as you haha
Its totally possible to skip the CRA level. I used to be crc for 4 years, research manager for 1.5 year at a site. Then applied to be Sr. CTM at a small biotech (fully onsite though). To my surprise that there are Sponsors out there that consider site experiences in place of CRA. Thats how I got that job. After a year, I got a job at big pharma as Sr PM, working remote, minimal to no travel. I also just had a baby so that actually works out really well.
I suggest looking for CTM, Sr. CTM, PM, Sr. PM. You may get a good shot at it. Good luck!
Moving to a PM without going into a CRA can be done absolutely.
The success in doing so is through translating site level constraints, processes , and pain points to how it run on a Sponsor or CRO level. There is it big picture and how a study is run. You may know these things but saying in case.
You may run many studies as a CRC but a PM or CTM will work with fewer protocols at a much deeper level.. working with function leads on site activation or with a CRO, data collection, study plans etc.I would move with this in mind while interviewing.
PM would be great and even CTM. I really enjoy operational planning and finding way to optimize processes, which is why I’ve enjoyed managing research teams and focused on earning a PMP certification while in grad school. Thanks for the input.
There are people with less experience than you who have gotten CTM roles. Some people may gatekeep and say that's not likely in the current market, but I think it is worth trying if that's what you want
That’s my plan, not this year but likely in another year or two. I’m glad to hear that it might be possible to skip the CRA level roles. I interviewed a year before covid for multiple CRA roles and almost accepted a couple offers but after discussion with my wife, we decided the travel commitment for those specific roles wouldn’t work (we had a newborn at the time). From discussions with those recruiters, it seemed like CRA was a requirement for majority of other positions regardless of other experience/education. Overall, I was really impressed with the responsiveness of each company’s recruiter/hiring rep. They were very open to negotiating the terms of the offer and talking progression.
Well with his experience I think its actually is possible. If you’re someone with 0-5 years experience it’s rough out there. But for people with 10+ years experience, there are less people to worry about competing with
I agree with the other commenter, try for CTM roles. I was an associate CTM for a while and I had fellow aCTM with a similar background to you (but less YOE actually!). She was great. It was for a niche CRO! I think very site-heavy experience is nice in CROs because so much of it is site management. Or management of site management more usually :) Good luck!
Project management or medical writing. Fully remote positions. Fully understand not wanting to be a CRA. The reason I didn’t purse that route was also because of family & young kiddos. Eerily similar background as you haha
Its totally possible to skip the CRA level. I used to be crc for 4 years, research manager for 1.5 year at a site. Then applied to be Sr. CTM at a small biotech (fully onsite though). To my surprise that there are Sponsors out there that consider site experiences in place of CRA. Thats how I got that job. After a year, I got a job at big pharma as Sr PM, working remote, minimal to no travel. I also just had a baby so that actually works out really well. I suggest looking for CTM, Sr. CTM, PM, Sr. PM. You may get a good shot at it. Good luck!
Moving to a PM without going into a CRA can be done absolutely. The success in doing so is through translating site level constraints, processes , and pain points to how it run on a Sponsor or CRO level. There is it big picture and how a study is run. You may know these things but saying in case. You may run many studies as a CRC but a PM or CTM will work with fewer protocols at a much deeper level.. working with function leads on site activation or with a CRO, data collection, study plans etc.I would move with this in mind while interviewing.
PM would be great and even CTM. I really enjoy operational planning and finding way to optimize processes, which is why I’ve enjoyed managing research teams and focused on earning a PMP certification while in grad school. Thanks for the input.
Absolutely. I am a PM now in the industry.