ADP's Guide to PharmD Fellowships
Last Updated 10/13/2023
Update for 2023: Midyear is not mandatory this year for some programs. If you don’t intend on going, any notes regarding travel and packing and hotels and all that can be ignored.
This is a guide on how to secure a fellowship for pharmacy students. It’ll give you an idea of what you should be doing from years 1-4, what your timeline should look like, how to prepare for it, and more. IPhO has a decent book on how to land a fellowship, but it’s over a hundred pages long, dry, and costs money. This one’s free.
Fellowship applications are a very process-oriented system, so get ready for a ton of lists in this guide. Keep in mind that everyone’s approach to fellowship apps and interviewing are very different. Only use this as a reference and find out what works best for you. Also, RPIF has a process that differs a good amount from the rest of the programs, including how they conduct interviews and how they want their cover letter submitted. I strongly recommend you go to FIND (their informational day) to get the most details out of it.
The first real thing I want to say, though, is that fellowships are extremely competitive. You should not feel discouraged if you do not get one. According to IPhO, the “match” rate is around 20%, possibly less. Compare that to residency’s match rate of 65-70% and you’ll see why everyone says it’s hard to get into industry. If you do not succeed in getting a fellowship, do not feel bad. Keep applying for industry and learn from each experience.
Another thing to mention is if you do not have industry experience, that’s ok. Many people get fellowships without having stepped foot in a pharmaceutical company’s building. Fellowships are more about personality and translatable skills than anything else. I’ll say that one more time for emphasis: fellowships are more about how you mesh with the company and how you convey your skills as translatable. Experience has little comparable weight.
Lastly, if you are unfamiliar with what roles exist in industry, read the Guide to Industry post found here:
If you prefer the Google Docs version of this guide, use this link, go here.
Topics Covered (just ctrl+f to get there):
Years 1-3
Picking your Experiences
Picking your APPEs
Year 4
Timeline
Maximizing your APPEs
Editing your CV
Writing your Cover Letter/Letter of Intent
Picking your Fellowships
The Interviews
What to bring
The Interview Process
The Interviews
The Reception
The Onsite
The Virtual Process
Virtual Interviews
Virtual Receptions
Frequently Asked Questions
Closing Remarks and Other Resources
Years 1-3
You may not know what functional area you want to be in. Most people pick medical affairs, but keep your mind open to regulatory affairs, clinical development, marketing, and the other fields out there. If you do know, perfect. Your job is easy. Do as many industry-related extracurriculars as possible that are relevant to your field. If you don’t, do as many translatable ones as you can. When picking your projects and experiences, there are two important things to keep track of while doing said project:
Develop translatable skills. This is how people with no industry experience get fellowships: they show how the experiences they’ve had in school are translatable to the fellowship that they are applying for. Did a journal club? Did four journal clubs? Congrats, you know more than the average person does about a certain trial. You can show that you know how to analyze a clinical trial and point out its weak spots to make a better trial. Did you do a drug info rotation? You’re knowledgeable in said therapeutic area and can speak to it clearly. Even something as simple as winning your local P&T competition shows you know how to make simple formulary decisions and economic analyses if you’re applying for an HEOR fellowship.
Write down good interpersonal and behavioral question-type stories. This will be what a large part of your interview will be about. The interviewers are going to ask you about a time you had trouble with a colleague, or a time when you were overwhelmed. Keep track of all of these and write them down in STAR format so that when it comes time to interview, you’ll have some stories prepared and won’t have to dig deep in your brain to find some. You want a bare minimum of 3 stories, ideally 6+.
Picking your Experiences
Before I get into the types of experiences you can do, it’s important to point out that these are all only as good as you make them. A candidate who can talk about every initiative they created, the pitfalls they encountered, and the lessons they learned during their time as AMCP President will come out miles ahead of a candidate who had two industry internships but can’t say anything more than “I made scatterplots.” When you get these experiences, make the most of them.
So what kind of projects and special experiences can you get? This bulleted list is pulled directly from the industry guide so if you’ve already read that, you can skip it:
Research
This is the one of the best and absolute easiest things you can do that sets you apart from other candidates, yet so few students do it. Maybe that’s why it’s so good: because no one does it. A research project shows that you want to do more than just your didactic classes. It shows that you have an inquisitive mind and are willing to put in the effort to find those answers. Most importantly, it shows that you know how to conduct research which is the entire backbone of drug development.
Ideally, you want a research project that is in line with what industry wants while also showing translatable skills (HEOR, Patient-Reported Outcomes, literature reviews, claims data reviews, etc.), but if you have never done a research project, then really any pharmacy-related research project is good, even medication utilization reviews.
Try to stray away from wet lab projects. Again, any research is good, but wet lab research is more for PhDs and doesn’t hold the same weight as the other kinds of research projects.
Industry research > Clinical research > Wet lab research
Internships
Internships are obviously the best way to get direct industry experience, but they’re super hard to get. You’re one person in a pool of hundreds to thousands of candidates. It’s easiest to get one if you know someone in that company already, but if you don’t, just keep applying and you’ll (hopefully) get one eventually. If you don’t get it the first cycle, don’t feel discouraged. Just keep applying. I sent out 50-100+ applications each summer until I got one.
Some summer interns are fortunate enough to get internships at companies that can afford to keep them year-round as contractors. Keep this in mind during your internship and scope out of this is a possibility. A full year of experience >>>>> 3 month internship.
Leadership
Duh.
Don’t spend too much time and energy on this. It’s a few positive points on your fellowship application and can be a good talking point if you absolutely cannot get any other experiences, but the weight is relatively low compared to other things you can do and doesn’t provide direct experience. After graduation, you’ll probably never talk about these experiences again. A president position and one or two other minor roles is probably good enough. Don’t go crazy with 5 president positions, 3 VP positions, and bake sale coordinator because your time is better spent elsewhere.
If your school doesn’t have an AMCP or IPhO chapter, make one.
APPEs
APPEs are in a way easier to get than internships simply because there is less competition to get one. If your school already has industry APPEs, great, apply for them. If not, reach out to people you’ve met in industry companies and try to set one up. It’s a little bit of work, but it’s very much worth it and oftentimes the only direct industry experience students have.
FDA APPE is hella easy to get, looks good on CV, and is generally very low stress (almost a vacation). Only downside is that it can be expensive with travel and lodging for 5-6 weeks. That said, because so many people get FDA, if you have the chance to fill up on industry APPEs, prioritize them over FDA.
If you want an “off the menu” pharma APPE that you have to create yourself, it can take 12+ months to set up the contracts with your school. Invest in networking very early, ideally before P3 year.
Work experience
Whether it’s working in the clinical trials department of a hospital, reviewing medical literature for a medical content company, helping with prior auths for a managed care company, or something else, work experience is a fantastic way to get those alternative experiences under your belt. The hard part is finding them and being aware that they exist. LinkedIn is good for this.
Hospital intern positions are decent, but you can do better if you want to get into industry.
Retail intern positions are a dime a dozen. I pretty much skip right over these when reading applicants’ resumes.
Academic Competitions
So many of them exist. AMCP has P&T. IPhO has the VIP Case Competition. ACCP has clinical skills. Do them because they show your drive while also teaching you important aspects about industry and/or strengthening your clinical knowledge.
Network
This isn’t something tangible you can write on your resume. You’re not going to have a networking section on your CV where you namedrop everyone in industry you’ve ever breathed next to. The value of networking is that it opens up the doors to all of the above experiences. Maybe that one Pfizer lady you had a great conversation at that roundtable with has an internship opening in her department that she can refer you for. Maybe she can make one just for you. Maybe she can be the person you reach out to so you can set up an APPE there. Maybe she knows someone that can get you a fancy shmancy work experience that sets you apart from the other 9000 CVS interns. Everyone in industry will tell you to network, and for good reason, too.
So how do you network and where do you meet these people? Go to roundtables and have actual interesting conversations with them. Conferences are another way to meet people. AMCP has a conference buddy program specifically meant for this. Ask your existing network of who you should reach out to. Treat every conversation you have with someone in industry as if it were an interview, but don’t be too stiff or obvious about it. It’s a skill that comes easier to some people than others, but it’s a skill you should develop nonetheless.
GPA
Let me clarify something: GPA does not matter. So many students freak out about what their grades are and I cannot emphasize enough that almost no program actually cares. I know of exactly one fellowship that has ever asked about GPA and even then, I have no idea why they asked. Obviously do well in school and learn the material because that’s the whole reason you’re going 6 figures in debt, but don’t stress over that C in infectious disease unless you’re already barely floating at a 2.5. No job, fellowship, interview, or anything has ever asked for my transcript. Rho Chi has no power here.
When I was a student, I got paired with a conference buddy at AMCP Annual. She was a managed care residency program director who straight up told me “I couldn’t care less about your grades. At the end of the day, I know you graduated from a doctoral program. You have shown the ability to learn and that is what I care about. Beyond that, it’s about your extracurriculars, leadership, and personality. Grades mean nothing to me as long as you have ‘PharmD’ after your name.”
Picking your APPEs
As a P3, you’re going to need to pick your APPEs for P4 year. Obviously, you want to get as many industry ones as possible. I know most/all schools have a cap on how many non-clinical ones you can get and that usually leaves space for 2-3 industry APPEs if you can afford it.
Order matters. I can't say this enough. Make sure you complete at least 1 of your industry APPEs prior to fellowship applications (i.e. before December, preferably before October). This gives you the opportunity to get a LOR from your mentor and gain valuable industry knowledge/experience before it’s too late. If you absolutely cannot get them before fellowship apps start, still take them after in case Plan A doesn’t pan out and you need a backup plan.
As far as industry APPEs go, I only know of BMS, Xcenda, and FDA having public applications for APPE students. Outside of that, it’s up to you to reach out to the network that you’ve been developing over the past few years to see if any of them are willing to take you on as an experiential learning student.
For the other non-industry APPEs, you want them to be oncology-focused, immunology-focused, rare disease-focused, or any other area that is a big hot topic in industry. Really anywhere that has a lot of research going on right now. Remember: your value as a PharmD is your clinical knowledge, so brush up on it and really know the ins and outs of the disease states you’re going to be applying for. This is especially important for clinically-relevant functional areas like medical affairs or pharmacovigilance. You also want to try to pick APPEs that are relevant to the field you are applying for. You want to go into medical affairs? Pick a drug info APPE. You want to go into clinical development? Pick a research one.
Year 4
This is where all the stress comes in.
Timeline
The timeline for fellowship season is going to vary a little bit for everyone depending on things like their APPEs and personal drive. This timeline is not going to fit everyone. For some people, it starts way too early. For others, it starts way too late. It’s just here to give you an idea of things you should consider. The AIFA (the alliance between most of the big fellowships schools, like Rutgers, MCPHS, and NEU) have announced that no fellowship offers are to go out before December 7th.
Note: Timelines are moving up faster and faster each year. A few years ago, FIND was in November. This year, it’s in August and September. It’s important to look up each program and find out when their actual deadlines are.
May
Functional Area: You’ll probably begin your first APPE here. By now, you need to really start picking what functional area you are going to apply for. Ideally, you have already chosen that throughout P1-3 so you can start gathering relevant experience but if you haven’t, now’s the time.
June & July
Travel: If you’re going to Midyear, book your flights and hotel room. You can always do it later, but getting all that stuff 6 months out will save you a lot of stress and money since no one else besides you fellowship nerds will be preparing for this and the rates will be cheaper. Sign up for Midyear whenever that opens too.
Brochures: Now is the time that you can/should start looking at previous years’ brochures to figure out what programs you want to apply for. Some people might say it’s a bit early, but remember that you’re also doing APPEs at the same time. You don’t want to screw yourself over by being swamped with work later and no longer have the time to do what you need to. The sooner you can knock this simple stuff out of the way, the sooner you can start prepping for the hard stuff. Some programs, like RPIF, take down the brochure from their direct website. To circumvent this, simply look up what programs they have involved for their current year and Google or LinkedIn “RPIF [program] 2021 brochure” and it should pop up. Some of them do get deleted, though. If you’re a P3 reading this and are already looking at brochures, save them so you can look at them later.
August
Cover Letter: You won’t know what programs you are applying for yet, but you’ll have an idea and can start drafting your cover letter for each program. They’re all going to be roughly the same minus a paragraph and a few lines give or take that make it unique to the program. Start early because things are going to start getting really hectic in the next few months, especially if you’re doing some of the more intense APPEs.
Spreadsheet: Brochures start to come out for each fellowship. Do a comprehensive search for all your prospective programs and start your fellowship spreadsheet to keep track of all their details. Include obvious things like what the program is and who they are affiliated with, but also write down things that make the program different from other programs and why you want to pursue it. When you interview, they’re going to ask why you want that specific program, and you better have a solid answer. The more details you have for each program, the better. It’ll help you a lot when you write your cover letter for each program as well as the actual interviews themselves. You'll thank yourself when you have back to back interviews with only 5 minutes in between. Also, add all the due dates for each stage (CV, LOR, LOI, etc.). Some programs’ documents are all due on one day, others are due across multiple dates, and some of them are synced up. It's on you to stay organized. What you use doesn’t have to be a spreadsheet. Some people use Word documents, some people use flashcards. Some psychopaths even use PowerPoint. Use whatever works for you. Below is an example of a spreadsheet:
CV: From now until December, you should be beefing up and constructing your CV for industry. Ideally, you’d have been doing this a couple times a year with each new experience that you go through in school, but now is when it gets serious. Make your CV, organize it, and get it reviewed multiple times by multiple people. You want to do this early to give your CV reviewers ample time to read it and leave feedback. Remember that they are busy and might take a couple weeks to get back to you. As with most things in this process, the more eyes you can get on it, the better. Also, don’t reach out to your entire CV-reviewing network and get them to do it all at once. You want to send it out in waves. Not everyone will want to read your CV multiple times, especially people you don’t have a close relationship with. Get your CV reviewed in waves. Send it to 1-2 people first, get their feedback, make changes, and send it to the next wave of people. That way, you can constantly make corrections and get a better and better draft. If you send your first draft CV to your entire network at once, you’ll only get edits for one draft of your CV.
Mock Interviews: Same thing with the CV. Start your interviewing prep. Reach out to your network, ask them for mock interviews, and get as many as you can in. Something I want to highlight here is that mock interviews are NOT for you to memorize all the questions that exist and regurgitate an appropriate answer for them. The point of mock interviews is to familiarize yourself with your story and become flexible with answering different types of questions. It’s to teach you adaptability in being able to tell your stories. There is no way you are going to memorize every single question out there. You’re going to get a question you’ve never heard before and it’s going to through you off guard. Getting good at mock interviews teaches you to think on your feet so you don’t get stunned when this happens and you can shape your stories as needed.
Letters of Recommendation: Now is the time you want to ask your letter writers to start prepping a letter for you. The final deadline for letters isn’t usually until after the whole interview process (again, program dependent), but you want to give them ample time to write one for you. Keep in mind some programs require the letter of recommendation during the initial application. Check that. An old preceptor of mine recommended that I ask each letter writer to focus on one or two details about me to make it easier for them. So for my project-heavy APPE, I asked my preceptor to write about my project management skills and the quality of my deliverables. For my internship where I had more time with my boss, I asked for a more holistic letter, including character. You also want to give them details about the programs you are applying to as well as some details about yourself to make their job easier. School affiliations don’t matter, but functional areas that you are applying to are useful for them to know. For details about yourself, they should know enough about your personality and all of that from having worked with you, so send them your resume/CV for a little more background info on stuff they may not know. As mentioned in the spreadsheet section, deadlines may vary across programs while others are more similar. It's on you to ensure your letter writer submits the LOR on time. Follow up with them mid-November to ensure everything is going well or send them a compilation of the program deadlines. Below is an example of a spreadsheet:
Informational Sessions/Webinars: Each program has an informational session or webinar that opens up right about now. Register for them and FIND out as much information as you can about each fellowship (ha, get it?). Use them to network, but also use them to get as many important details you can get about the fellowship. NIBR focuses on tropical diseases? Ask the fellows about how that process is different from your typical disease states, remember that, read up on it more, bring it up during the interviews. Show you did your work. During the information session, there will be a Q&A portion at the end. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE read up on fellowships and the details about them before you ask a stupid question. There are too many people that ask inane things like “what is the difference between a fellowship and an APPE” or “can I finish my fellowship in time before residency starts?” If you are one of these people and you ask that in my program, I would find your application and personally set it ablaze.
August & September
Brochures part 2: Now the official brochures come out. See what changes they made, reach out to the current fellows, and start setting up one on ones with them to ask about the program. Don’t waste their time and ask things you can find yourself by doing a simple Google search. Ask things that only they would know about their program. Questions like “now that you’re a second year fellow, how does what you’re doing differ from what you did as a first year fellow? What was the learning process like and what is the management style of your bosses?” Generic, kinda, but it’s so much better than asking “do you like it?” TL;DR ask good questions, don’t waste their time. Go to the “Picking Your Fellowships” section for more details on these 1:1s.
September
Informational sessions: Attend them.
Applications: Initial applications start opening and you need to sign up for an interview with each company. Depending on where you apply, you will need to apply to each program on a different portal. If they like your application, they will reach out to you regarding a phone screening. APPLY EARLY. You want your application in that first week or even the first couple of days. Anything beyond that and you’re putting yourself at a disadvantage.
Gear up: Get your supplies together. Print your CVs (use actual resume paper), get your business cards (might have to do this a few weeks earlier to have it ready for any in-person interviews you have), get your paperclips, thank you cards, everything.
October & November
Phone Screenings, Interviews, and On-sites: You’ll start off with the phone screens which are quick, 15-30 minute phone calls where the fellows will call you and just get a quick overview of who you are as a person. They won’t ask any super tough interview questions. Think of it as an HR screening: they’ll ask you to tell them about yourself, why you want to apply for that position, maybe one or two behavioral questions, and then finish it up with some time for you to ask questions. Pretty simple, straight forward. It’s mainly to gauge that you did your basic preparation for fellowships and that you’re not a complete sociopath. If they like you, they’ll invite you to interview for further rounds. Then the real fun begins. You should have all your interview prep done before October.
December
If you’re going to Midyear: Midyear is typically the first week of December. Depending on which program you are applying to and whether you attend Midyear in-person or virtually, you may be having on-sites at this time. However, if you have applied to any of the programs affiliated with AIFA, you should expect to receive a final offer on or around December 7th.
Offers?
January and on
If you don’t have an offer yet, don’t fret. Some programs not with AIFA may be offering later. This timeline is only a general timeline and does not cover all programs. Continue to keep an eye out for other programs with later application cycles and ones that open up throughout the year.
Maximizing your APPEs
Not every APPE is going to be relevant to industry. In fact, most of them won’t be. You have to make them relevant to your career goals so that when interview season comes, you have things you can talk about.
If you’re interested in PV, ask for med safety projects. If you’re into medical affairs, get as much clinical information in as possible and see if there are any projects that the other HCPs need help with (but don’t be a nuisance). If you’re interested in reg, do some guidance-focused or hospital regulations sort of work. If you’re interested in clin dev, see if you can spend some time in the IDS department of a hospital. For almost every functional area, there are projects that you can focus on relevant to industry.
Editing your CV
I highly recommend you read the industry guide if you need help creating better descriptions.
Everyone’s CV will be different. There is no one perfect way to structure a CV because every person will like it a different way. Some people have a little blurb at the top summarizing who they are and what they’ve done. I personally hate it, but others absolutely love it. It’s all personal preference. Here is what I recommend a CV should be structured as, in order:
Education. Include Master’s degrees and your expected date of graduation. Some people say you don’t need it at the top since pretty much everyone applying is at the same educational status, but I would just play it safe and keep it at the top.
Industry-relevant Experience. Not everything you do in school will be directly relevant, but you definitely want to highlight the ones that are. Because of the way the traditional reverse-chronological CV order goes, it’ll be harder to bring these experiences to the top, so having a separate industry section really helps here. This can include your internships, industry APPEs, work experience if it’s relevant, special projects, really anything that would benefit a career in industry. This should be the very first thing the reader sees besides your name and education.
Research Experience. The core of pharma is research. If you can show you’ve done it, show it.
Publications/Presentations. No matter what field you go into, you’ll have to present some time.
Other work experience.
Leadership. Some companies put a lot of weight on leadership roles and place it higher than research experience, such as VSF. This can be swapped with bullet 5 - all up to you.
Don’t bother including things that aren’t relevant like volunteering, irrelevant certifications, or honors and awards unless you won the Nobel Prize or, even better, first place in the national P&T competition. Even then, they should be somewhere else on your CV where it’ll be better highlighted. Keep in mind that most readers will only look at the first page, maybe the second page. Anything beyond that is filler material.
Writing your Cover Letter/Letter of Intent
Personally, I hate cover letters. A lot of people don’t ever even read them, but some will and it’s a requirement for most fellowships. A good cover letter won’t secure you an interview, but a bad one will definitely prevent it, so tryhard on it regardless.
The structure of a cover letter has a pretty set format. You can honestly Google “How to write a cover letter” and get some good responses from that. The general structure should be:
An introduction paragraph that has a 3-4 sentence blurb explaining who you are, what program you are applying to, and why you are applying to it.
A body paragraph or two that talks about your credentials. Talk about what you did during pharmacy school, why you did it, what you learned, and how it applies to the functional area you are applying to. This should be the meat of your LOI. If your intro is the same length or longer than your body, than you need to fix that.
A conclusion that summarizes your experiences and how you can contribute to the company. You can also add a point about growth and what you expect to gain from this program.
The hardest part is making it unique to yourself and translating all your relevant experiences in only a few lines of text.
Some tips:
This is a NOT a college essay. That means do not focus on the pathos aspects or talking about how growing up, you’ve always wanted to be a pharmacist after seeing your grandma have to take 18 tablets for her water-filled legs every day. This should be professional and objectively-driven.
This is also NOT a re-write of your CV. Talk about your relevant experiences, yes, but do not focus on that. Instead, focus on how these experiences led you to your path, what you learned from them, and how they translate to a fellowship/career in your functional area with an emphasis on the second two points.
For the intro, the focus should be on why you are applying to the program. A lot of applicants take this as a way to spout about all the different aspects a program/company has and why they’re the best thing out there. Don’t do that; the program already knows why they’re great. Instead, use this space to talk about how these connect to your professional goals and how they would benefit you in your career.
a27p has a great template that can be found here:
Picking your Fellowships
When choosing what fellowships to apply for, you want to look at a variety of things that are important to you. Because it’s all personal preference, I won’t say what’s good and what’s not (ex. Some people like the teaching component while others want nothing to do with it. Some people like rotations and some people just want to do their one function forever).
Exits: One thing that everyone should factor in is the typical fellow’s exit. An exit is the average job a fellow will exit to post-fellowship. Do they get retained? Do they go to another company after? What’s the average title they exit at? If most of the fellows are exiting to big pharma companies at senior manager level, it’s more than likely a good fellowship. If most of the fellows are exiting at associate level or going to vendors and CROs, it’s more than likely a crappy one. When looking at exits, keep in mind the functional area as well. For medical affairs, the average exit nowadays is senior manager/MSL. For the other functions, the average exit is still manager. Do your research and look up past fellows on LinkedIn and see where they went after they finished.
How many: A common question I’ve heard a million times on the Discord and in real life is “How many fellowships should I apply to?” Just like everything else regarding fellowships, there is no hard-defined answer. The general rule of thumb is that if you’re competitive, 5-7 fellowships is good. If you’re not, 10-15 is good. This year, Rutgers is only allowing you to apply to 10 of their programs which may factor into how many you apply to. Also remember that there is a huge luck component too in regards to personality and company-fit. You could be the best candidate and apply to 5 companies and get all of them because you happen to have a great fit with them. Conversely, you could get 0 of them simply because you don’t match their personality, which leads me to my next point…
Gauging fit: Schedule 1:1s with the fellows. Starting August, you want to reach out to the current first year and second year fellows and have a 30-minute chat with them. Ask them things you cannot find online, their brochure, or their informational days. These calls have two primary purposes:
Answer any questions you may have about the program.
Gauge their personality and see if you can mesh with them.
The first one is a given. The second one I cannot emphasize enough. This is your first glimpse into what kind of person they are. If they are super boring and dry, and you’re a social butterfly whose face should never play poker, chances are you won’t be a good fit. If you’re just reading the brochures, every other company is going to look great because they advertise autonomy on projects, exposure to leadership, great exits, in-demand therapeutic areas, the whole nine yards. Your list is going to be long. These conversations will help you narrow down to your top choices. However, keep in mind, just as you are gauging whether the fellow and company would be a good fit, the fellow is likely doing the same. Note: When talking with the first-year fellows, remember that most of them started in July. If they don’t seem like they know a lot, it’s because they don’t. Don’t ask them hard hammering questions like what have you accomplished and done. Use the opportunity to gauge their personality, mentoring style (if you get the fellowship, they’ll be your guide), and understanding of why they applied to the program.
Other factors:
1-year vs. 2-year: Both have their pros and cons. 1-year programs let you get into the field faster and are pretty well known to hire on full-time after. The tradeoff is you can only learn so much in one year; even in FTE roles, the first few months are onboarding, training, getting familiar with the programs and teams, and learning your role. If you’re doing a rotational fellowship, this shortens your time in any area even more. 2-year programs let you get more experience, have longer guard rails, and really practice what you learn during that first year. A lot of former fellows say that the first year is all about learning and familiarizing whereas the second year is where you really get to apply what you learned and work independently/lead your products. Plus, if you feel ready for full time positions after your first year and are itching to get out there, you can always start the discussions with your boss about getting converted. Or you can just apply externally to other companies if you don’t mind burning that bridge. ADP’s take: 2-year > 1-year, but 1-year programs are still very good depending on which one it is. The most important thing is to look at their exits and multi-year trajectory to really gauge how good the program is.
Rotational vs. non-rotational: A lot of PharmDs going into industry are people who started off clinical or retail and realized they want something else in their life. How do you know you’ll like your chosen FA for life? Rotational experiences let you get a taste of the other areas to see if you like them more. It’ll also make you more of a holistic professional who knows the different aspects of pharma. No matter what part of pharma you’re in, having experience in each distinction within your own FA (e.g. ad/promo vs. reg strat vs. writing) as well as outside your FA (e.g. regulatory affairs vs. medical affairs vs. commercial) is helpful. That said, some people really know they like their FA and want to become the expert in it, so non-rotational is better for them. ADP’s take: Rotational >>> non-rotational.
Affiliated vs. non-affiliated: Affiliated has a better network whereas non-affiliated doesn’t. RPIF had ~300 fellows in 2021. MCPHS had ~120. NEU had ~100. Even the smaller programs, like UNC, had ~25 fellows. That’s an easy network you can rely on whenever you’re looking for new jobs in the future. The tradeoff is that because it’s school-affiliated, the school takes a cut of the paycheck. The average pay for an affiliated fellowship is around $55k. Non-affiliated fellowships have a bigger range, but are almost always more than an affiliated program, looking around the $70-80k range. ADP’s take: Affiliated > non-affiliated. The network you get from affiliated programs has so much more value than a $15k paybump this early in your career. If you’re sweating over $15k this early, you aren’t looking at the long-term potential of your career.
Pharma/Sponsor vs. Vendor/Agency/CRO: Sponsor company. Always. A vendor is a company that supports pharma companies but does not sponsor trials themselves. Examples are Medpace, PPD, ECIR, IQVIA, Medval, and Parexel. Sponsor companies are the actual pharma companies that you’re probably familiar with, like Pfizer and Novartis. They allow you to work directly on projects that you will be doing in the future, have better exits, offer you a larger network, give you greater exposure to the other functional areas in pharma, and have (generally) better hours among other benefits. Additionally, it can be difficult to exit from a vendor to a sponsor company. I’m sure there’s some vendor fellowship or opportunity that will beat a sponsor company, but 9 times out of 10, sponsor is better. That isn’t to say vendors are bad; any industry experience > no experience, but if you have the option, take the pharma company. ADP’s take: Pharma/Sponsor >>> vendor.
The Interviews
There is so much to cover about interviews, but I’ll try to make this as comprehensive as possible. I’m bound to forget something, so I strongly encourage you to go to any fellowship informational sessions/fellowship prep sessions that your school has to offer.
Before I begin this section, I want to remind you all to be respectful and courteous to the other candidates. They’re going through the same torture that you are. You might even make some friends out of the shared misery. I met a handful of good friends that I still keep in touch with years after we went through this war crime of a process. They’re your competition, yes, but they may also be your coworker or even boss in the future. Don’t burn bridges and just be a human with a heart.
What to Bring
Because most of the process is virtual this year, this part isn’t as useful. But if the program you are applying to does require you to go to Midyear or you’re going to the on-site interview, here is what you’ll want to bring:
5 paperclipped copies of your CV for each program that scheduled you for an interview. You might need to bring more depending on how many interviewers show up to each interview. I recommend laser printing because you don’t want smudged CVs.
A professional bag to carry your stuff in. You could bring a backpack, but you’d look like a dork.
Your laptop
A printout of your notes for each program in case your laptop dies or you have some technical problems
Thank you cards. Somehow, it became a “requirement” to write thank you cards and give them to each interviewer after each interview.
Professional interview attire
Snacks because you will be hungry and might not have time to get food
The Interview Process
This is arguably the most important thing because the fellowship application process is pretty much just one big interview. Leading up to the main interviews, you’re going to have gone through the general application process, the phone screening, and invitation scheduling. The actual interview process is broken down into several parts:
The first round interview. This is usually with the fellow, maybe with the fellowship director. They’ll ask you all the basic interview questions (see below). Some companies also ask about the company’s values and motto, so prepare for it by seeing how your stories tie into their values.
The second round interview. Usually with the fellowship director and/or the expanded team. They’ll ask you the same questions as before, but now they might add on some more difficult, situational questions. Something like “what would you do if X submission needs to be completed by the end of the day, but you don’t know what documents go into it and your project lead is out of office?”
The third round interview. Not many companies go this far, but some do. It’ll basically be the same as the second round but this time it might be with a VP or someone higher up in the company. It might also be if they just want a few more details about you that they didn’t have time to get during the second round.
The reception. All you can eat finger food and drinks! They’ll invite you to a reception where you talk with everyone else at the company who attended Midyear, including the fellows from the other functional areas and their other program directors. A lot of receptions are virtual this year, so this will look a little different.
The onsite. They fly you out to the company’s offices and you’ll go through a day-long interviewing process.
Each interview will be roughly 30 minutes. Keep in mind that they can ask any question at any point of any interview. What I listed is just an example of how it may go. After each round of interviews, if they like you, they’ll invite you to the next round. If they don’t, you probably won’t get a response at all. The number of people they take to each step can go something like this:
First round: 30 candidates
↓
Second round: 15 candidates
↓
Third round: 12 candidates
↓
Reception: 7 candidates
↓
Onsite: 3 candidates
↓
Offer: 1 candidate
It’s highly variable from company to company and will depend on how many interviewers the program has, how many applicants they received, and how good or bad the pool is among other factors.
The Interviews
Every interview will be slightly different, but almost every single one will have the same core structure:
Tell me about yourself. Keep it short and simple. This answer shouldn’t be more than a minute, 1:30 tops. How you approach this question is unique to you, but you should be able to talk about why you are applying to that specific program, why you are applying to that specific functional area, and a couple experiences that make you stand out. If you don’t mention why you are applying to that program or area, some interviewers will be lenient and ask you why later on. Others won’t and you are going to look like a big idiot if you never bring it up.
Why this company, program, and functional area. Have a solid answer for each one. This is where that spreadsheet will come in handy so you can look up specific details about each company and keep track of what makes them “unique.” Make sure you have a solid reason for each. If you apply to Merck and say you applied because they put patients first, you won’t make it to the second round. Every company puts patients first. But if you look into their pipeline and products, talk about how they dominated the oncology landscape with Keytruda and have forever changed the cancer treatment paradigm, your chances will be much better. Just word it better than I did. Another big thing to focus on is why. When we ask you why medical or regulatory affairs, don’t tell me what medical affairs does. We already know that. Tell me why you are interested and why it resonates with you.
Behavioral questions. If you are not familiar with them yet, look up the STAR method of behavioral interviewing. Simply put, it stands for Situation, Task, Action, Result. If you’re going to read anything about this guide THIS IS THE IMPORTANT PART TO READ BECAUSE THIS IS WHERE MANY STUDENTS MESS UP. Too many students focus on building up the story (situation and task) when the main focus should be on why that story is even relevant (action and result). The interviewer doesn’t care about how your P&T team fell apart because they struggled to build a tornado diagram. They want to see what you did about it to fix it and how it changed you as a person. Talk about what you did that shows initiative, creativity, leadership, flexibility, and/or anything else that is relevant to succeeding in a fellowship. We also cannot read your mind. Show us your thought process. What did you have to think about when you executed your strategy? What considerations did you have to make due to your audience’s background? Remember: as a fellow, you are essentially a (mediocrely) paid student. Show traits that a teacher wants in their student. The other part I like to add to this is T for Translatability. The action and result are important because it shows what you did and what actually ended up happening, be it good or bad. What you also want to show, though, is how this whole experience is translatable to the role you are applying for. This is how anyone with zero industry experience can get a fellowship or even a full-time role: by explaining how their work is translatable to the job at hand. What value can you bring to the company? What creative aspects can you bring to the table that will develop into a new strategic approach the company can dabble with? How will the work that you have done be useful to finishing the tasks that X functional group has to deal with? Don’t stop at STAR. Begin with START™.
Situational and Technical questions. Depending on the functional area and program, a lot of companies like to ask situational questions. This could be specific to the functional area (ex. regulatory affairs might ask how you would collaborate with a variety of stakeholders, medical affairs might ask you how you would approach interacting with KOLs, BD might ask about the competitive landscape of one of their lead brands). Come prepared and do your research. Know the company pipeline (just a few of the products, don’t have to know everything), products (just a few), competitors, and recent trends/news of your functional area.
Questions for the interviewers. At the end of every interview, they will almost always ask if you have any questions for them. You should always have questions lined up for them. The hard part is that if you really like the program, have done your reading on the program, and spoken with the fellows already, and this is the third round interview, you’ve likely had most/all of your questions answered. Ask questions that you genuinely want to know, but make sure they aren’t things you can easily look up (stuff in the brochure) and make sure they aren’t overused (what’s your day to day look like?). Some people recommend that you ask questions that you can follow up with and show how you exemplify that (ex. Ask what traits they look for in a good candidate, respond with how you have shown said traits). Others say that it is very cheesy. All personal preference.
Other interview tips:
Know your story and be able to speak to it. Don’t talk about your path in pharmacy school and how you didn’t know industry existed until P8 year. Talk about your experiences and how you pursued them to be a better [insert functional area] professional and how they translated as such.
Be active in your career, not passive. Don’t say “I’m pursuing PV because I had a bunch of patient safety experiences.” Say “I pursued patient safety experiences because I wanted to better myself for a career in PV.”
Focus on the actions and results of your STAR interview.
Demonstrate your knowledge of the space. Don’t be generic in what you say. If you’re interested in HEOR, don’t just say “I like health economics and outcomes.” That’s obvious and in the name. Talk about what it is specifically about the field you enjoy and show you understand the intricacies of the field and not just the bare minimum.
Don’t be stiff - be conversational. Treat the interview like it’s a conversation with someone you met at a bar (while still being formal, of course) and not like your life is on the line if you mispronounce one of their products (which you shouldn’t btw).
Record yourself and listen to it. If it’s too long, look at each sentence you’re saying and make sure it has impact. If you’re using too many filler words, remove them. If you’re rigid, be a normal human being.
The Reception
The purpose of the reception is to show that you’re not a freak of nature and you know how to talk with people in a casual setting.
This section is semi-outdated since most or all receptions will be virtual. I’m leaving it in here in case there are any in-person ones. Scroll down to the virtual section to get better information for this year.
The reception area is usually a restaurant or a rented out gallery room where there are finger foods, snacks, and drinks. This is where your networking and small talk skills will come in. Do not talk about work, interview stuff, any of that. If it comes up organically, sure, you can, but this is not the purpose of the reception. You are here to show who you are outside of work. Talk with them about your hobbies, interests, and what you do in your spare time. Talk about real world events (-5 points every time you ask a cliche quarantine question). Talk about the new remake of Gossip Girl and how they butchered it. The main purpose of the reception is to see if you fit with the company personality-wise. If all you do is talk about work, work, and work, you won’t be invited to the onsite. Also, make sure you meet with everyone and talk with them for at least a few minutes. You want everyone at the program to know you and remember you in a good light.
One of the big challenges here is that if you’re an overall good candidate, you’re going to have trouble balancing going to every reception you are invited to. Most receptions are 2-3 hours. If you get invited to even just 3 receptions, you’re going to realize you won’t be able to spend time at all of them. You want to spend at least an hour at each reception that you have strong prospects about. Be strategic with it. Figure out which receptions are around the same time and nearby each other, and map out which one you’re going to at each hour and how long you’re going to be at them. You might even realize that one reception is way out of the vicinity of the other ones and you have to decide between that one and the others. Weigh out your chances and do what increases your odds of getting a fellowship.
In terms of etiquette, do not be that person who dominates the conversation and knocks everyone out of the circle. You want to be known, but not as that guy. Honestly, just be a normal, social, outgoing, polite person and talk about what you enjoy. And while it may be tempting, limit the number of drinks you have.
The Onsite
Congratulations, you made it to the finals. If you nail this part, you will officially be the next fellow.
The onsite is, as the name implies, an interview at one of the company’s sites. When they extend the invitation can vary. Some companies offer it right after the reception. Others can take a week to get back to you. Keep an eye on your emails, spambox, texts, and phone calls because it could show up anywhere. Onsites usually occur in January with the final decision made by February.
The company will book a flight and hotel for you where you will arrive the day before the interview. Some companies even give you a personal chauffeur to pick you up from the airport. Along with the interview, they will usually have a company dinner where they take you to a nice restaurant and eat $40 appetizers to complement the $70 filet mignon. Who is at the dinner depends on how the onsite is structured. I’ve had onsites where they invited all the candidates at one time and there is just one big dinner with the fellows and program directors. I’ve had onsites where they interview one candidate at a time and the dinner is just you and the current fellows. Again, it all depends on the company (are you sensing a pattern yet?). The main point of this dinner is to get to know you. Treat it just like the reception: no interview talk, no behavioral questions. Just normal people conversation.
The next day, they will have you come to the company’s offices where you will partake in a day-long process of interviews. Think of it as fellowship apps part 2 where you are just getting back to back to back interviews and you have to answer the same question five times, but each time to a different person. This time, however, the questions will be a little bit more holistic and will gauge your personality. They want to make sure you’d be a good fellow who can contribute to the company, but they also want to make sure that you’d be a coworker that they’d want to take out to happy hour every now and then. You’ll be interviewing with project leads, managers, directors, even HR - really anyone you weren’t able to meet during the previous interview but will work with during the fellowship. You might also even interview with the director of the entire fellowship program (shoutout to Dr. Orr-Skirvin for buying me a water bottle that one time). Your goal is to show your entire character at one time to each and every person you meet. Show your experiences and qualifications, but also sprinkle in your personality. I had one director say she read my CV and knows it is good enough, so instead we’ll spend the entire interview talking about real-life things, like family and values. It was hands down my favorite interview.
Some companies will also require you to make a presentation. Depending on the company, it will either be completely up to you or they will give you a prompt. If it’s completely up to you, try to make it relevant to the audience you are presenting to. I know some fellowship directors like to learn something new about the candidate and want to use the presentation as an artistic medium where they talk about dancing or wilderness hiking, but most people prefer it to be at least somewhat relevant to the audience. The program will notify you ahead of time about what the presentation will be about. If you get a chance, during one of your industry APPEs, try to have one of your projects be a presentation that isn’t company specific but relevant to your field. That way, if you get the option of presenting a topic of your choice, you’ll kill two birds with one stone.
The Virtual Process
Fortunately, most companies are allowing applicants to choose whether or not to attend Midyear in-person. Candidates who choose NOT to attend Midyear do not need to register for ASHP or PPS (obviously). Application requirements may differ based on the specific company, but students should expect to apply through the company portal and may be contacted to schedule virtual interviews at a later time.
Virtual Interviews
Before the interview:
Organize your notes.
Usually, you will be informed about who will be conducting your interview. Know the names of your interviewers and their positions in the company. LinkedIn stalking is ok.
Refresh your memory on the company’s mission statement & values, main therapeutic areas, and products/pipeline (know a few drugs).
Equipment/computer:
Test your video, microphone, and speaker/headphones beforehand. Use a headset if you have one.
I recommend downloading the desktop version of the program if you don’t already have it. Don’t rely on the web browser version.
Close out of unnecessary tabs/windows beforehand, especially if you’re sharing your screen for a presentation.
Background:
Check that your background is neat and clean. If it is distracting, use the blur feature (an option in Zoom & MS teams) or upload a simple background.
Check that the lighting is bright enough. If you are backlit, your face may look extremely dark.
Attire:
Wear appropriate business professional attire, full suit and all, even if it’s not completely visible on camera. Realistically, I know many people are not going to follow this advice, but I’d advise you not to wear regular pants and not your PJs or gym shorts. There was one interview where I had to stand up to adjust my set-up because of sudden tech issues, and I was sure glad that I was appropriately dressed.
Phone:
Put your phone on silent prior to your video interview.
Do not put your phone on silent/do-not-disturb before your phone interview and end up missing the call. I know this is obvious, but I’ve accidentally done it before (yup, one of my not-so smart moments. Luckily, they didn’t seem to count that against me too much, as I still made it to the final round).
Make sure your voicemail isn’t full.
During the interview:
Don’t forget to smile when meeting people! Make eye contact with the camera when you are speaking. Try not to keep looking at yourself on the screen.
Do not read off the screen when you are answering questions. I know it’s tempting, but you wouldn’t whip out your notes during an in-person interview, so if you prepared thoroughly, you should not have to do this for a virtual interview, either.
After the interview:
Post-interview notes
As soon as you end the call, grab your pen and paper and jot down your impression as well as anything you learned from the interview/Q&A. Later you’ll be thanking yourself for doing this.
Thank you emails:
Rather than cards, be prepared to send a lot of thank you emails. If you don’t already know the email of your interviewer, ask for it at the end of the interview.
If there is a panel, I’ve been advised that it’s fine to send one email to everyone on the panel, but you should still address everyone in the greeting.
Do not go over the top, aka do not write a whole essay. I won’t go in-depth about what to write because you can just Google what to include.
It is recommended that you mention something specific from the interview (“thank you for explaining xzy”). This is where your post-interview notes come in handy. It shows that you paid attention and that you’re not spamming a generic email to every program.
Virtual Receptions
Not all programs will have a virtual reception, and for those that do, the format will vary by program. I’ll mention 3 kinds that I either attended or heard about from last year:
A casual video call with a small group of current fellows and applicants.
A large group video call with fellows, directors, and many applicants. Some programs might utilize breakout rooms; others might keep everyone together and take turns talking.
A virtual imitation of a reception hall where you move a picture of yourself close to other people’s photos in order to have a conversation with them.
It might be awkward, might be weird, might be fun. Whatever format it is, try to embrace it and get to know the people that you may be working with in the future!
Frequently Asked Questions
General Advice
Before I get into the FAQs, I want to give two pieces of advice. Something I’ve noticed these past couple years are that you bunch are an anxious lot. You worry about when you’re going to hear back. A week after application deadlines close, you start panicking because you haven’t heard back from X company.
General tip #1: If whatever you are questioning does not impact your gameplan, stop overthinking it. “I haven’t heard back within a week; did I get axed? What does it mean if the fellow looked at my LinkedIn? One of the preceptors laughed at my joke and the other didn’t. Am I screwed?” None of the answers to these questions matter. No matter what the result is, you’re still going to interviewing, fixing your mistakes, researching companies, and going through the application process. You’re going to stress yourself out and psych yourself out before your journey has even begun, so knock it off. SupernovaSunset sent this great diagram. I’m going to staple it on your guys’ foreheads if you don’t stop panicking.
General tip #2: Don’t use mock interviews to memorize. I said this earlier, but this cannot be stated enough. You shouldn’t be memorizing answers and questions. You should be practicing your flexibility with your stories. If you mock interview and get caught up once or twice, that’s ok. If you notice you are consistently unable to find a story for a question, it means you either haven’t practiced enough or you’re practicing wrong. Rehearse your stories so you can become very familiar with them and tailor them to the question you are getting on the spot. Mocks are meant to teach you to be flexible, and if you’re memorizing questions and answers, you’re being rigid.
FAQs
Q: Do I need industry experience to get a fellowship?
A: I know I answered this elsewhere in the guide, but I really want to hammer this home because so many people ask this and so many people are convinced they didn’t get a fellowship because they didn’t have direct industry experience. No. You do not need industry experience to get a fellowship. What you do need is a good personality, a capacity to learn, and an ability to showcase the skills you’ve developed over the past few years. If an interviewer tells you that you didn’t get a fellowship because you didn’t have experience or they went with someone with more experience, read between the lines and understand they can’t just say you were a sucky applicant. If anyone tells you they didn’t get a fellowship because they didn’t have industry experience, smack them silly for me and tell them ADP sends his regards.
Q: When should we expect to hear back after 1st round/2nd round/reception/etc.?
A: There is no set timeframe. When it was live, they might tell you next steps as soon as you finish the interview. They also might not tell you until the next day. With things being virtual and timelines being expanded, this becomes even more ambiguous. The best advice is to be patient.
Q: On what topic should I present?
A: If you can, present on something relevant to the company and the field. There are plenty of topics out there that are relevant to many/all companies.
Q: How do I know if I got rejected?
A: If you don’t get a response, you more than likely got cut. A large majority of companies will just ghost you. As much as it sucks, that’s just how it is. The fellows and fellowship directors are extremely busy conducting 50+ interviews in just a few days while also balancing their actual job functions. If they have the courtesy to send you a rejection email, consider yourself lucky. This is also the deal with jobs in the real world too. 99% of the time, you won’t get a response if you get rejected. Ghosting is the norm.
Q: How do I balance multiple receptions/multiple offers/multiple anything?
A: You prioritize which one you want to go to. You won’t be able to make all of them for the full allotted time, and no one expects you to either. Pick which ones you value the most, spend the most time there, and move on to the others when you feel like you’ve spent enough time. For anything else: prioritizing and making a choice is something you’re going to use a lot in the real world. Consider this practice.
Q: What if I get multiple offers and have to pick just one? What if I like X program more than Y program?
A: Stop counting your chickens before they hatch. Get a fellowship first and worry about that if that even happens. The most important thing is to make sure you have good interviewing skills, good interview answers, and good explanations as to why you want the company and that function. That should be your priority. Worry about the rest of the stuff later.
Q: Is IPhO good/is it worth it/do I need a leadership role in it?
A: If you’re a student at a diploma mill with 0 industry options and have no way of connecting with anyone outside of your local CVS manager, then it has some value. For most students, it’s just a cash grab by Jim. You absolutely do not need anything to do with IPhO. Their fellowship catalog is nice but it’s free, so don’t waste your money on them. Chances are you don’t need it if you’re reading this guide and making use of the other free resources out there.
Q: Should I negotiate my fellowship salary?
A: No. There is a standard pay for almost all school-affiliated fellowship programs. If you negotiate at this level, you’re likely going to get told no or you may nab yourself an extra thousand if you’re at an un-affiliated. That isn’t worth starting your career as that greedy person who overestimated their value.
Q: Why should I do a fellowship over applying for an entry level position?
A: Aside from what’s written in the main guide, here is a good summary that someone else wrote (thanks McKinsey):
1. Guard rails of being a fellow, e.g expectations and understanding
2. Higher probability of professional development focus
3. Potential for more varied experience/exposure as a fellow
4. Overall trajectory. Likelihood of you landing anything higher than associate/sr associate is low, and most people I see take a year or two to move to manager then another year or two to SM
For other questions, please use your common sense. This guide is meant to help level the playing field for people who don’t have as much industry involvement at school, not a complete 100% answer to everything fellowship. Still don’t have an answer to a question you have? Email me at totallyarealemailipromise@gmail.com and I’ll try to answer when I can.
Closing Remarks
Applying for fellowships isn’t easy. It is extremely competitive. If you don’t get a fellowship, don’t get too discouraged. Take it in stride, take it as a learning lesson. It is ultimately an interviewing and personality game. Not getting a fellowship does not mean you won’t succeed in industry. If you truly want to get into industry and you didn’t get a fellowship, you absolutely still can if you know how to leverage your experiences. Check out the other guide if you need to.
If you have any further questions, feel free to reach out to u/AdenosineDiphosphate on Reddit or email me at totallyarealemailipromise@gmail.com and I can try to answer any questions you may have.
If you’re in industry and disagree with something I said or want me to add anything I missed, message me and I’ll update my guide. I won’t take offense or anything. I’m here to make the best resource I can for people to get into industry, so any and all feedback is appreciated.
Shoutout to Hank and Rick for reading over the guide and giving me feedback. Huge shoutout to Shush for adding in the Virtual Interviews section and Lot for helping me edit for the 2022-2023 cycle.
Other resources:
Fellowship, industry, and other useful pieces:
Industry terminology:
Industry news:
Podcasts:
Syneos Health
Scrip Pharma-Intelligence
PharmExec