How to Master Your Job Interviews to Attract Top Pharma Talent

How to Master Your Job Interviews to Attract Top Pharma Talent

The pharmaceutical and life sciences industries are racing forward in 2025, with breakthrough innovations in biotechnology, personalised medicine, and digital health. But as the science leaps ahead, companies face fierce competition for top talent.

Recent research shows the sector is 35% short of the required talent, a gap expected to widen. In the U.S. alone, 87,000+ roles remain unfilled in life sciences. This talent crunch means that every interview counts – a clunky or impersonal hiring process can cause top candidates to walk away.

At the same time, recruiting technology has evolved rapidly. AI and automation are becoming more common in pharma recruitment, promising to speed up hiring and find hidden gem candidates.

So how can you as a pharma recruiter harness these new tools without losing the human touch that candidates crave? What do today’s life sciences candidates expect from the interview experience? And what best practices do recent studies recommend for conducting interviews and engaging candidates?

Leveraging AI and Automation (Without Losing Your Soul)

Automation has become a recruiter’s ally in 2025, especially in pharma where hiring volumes and specialised skill needs are high. The highest rated employers in recent benchmark research tend to use AI in their recruiting tech stack. But what does this look like in practice?

Interview Scheduling

Coordinating interviews is faster and easier with AI tools. Conversational chatbots and tools like Cronofy can offer candidates open time slots and automatically schedule interviews, even across global time zones. In fact, 37% of candidates want more automation specifically to speed up interview scheduling. By letting an AI assistant handle the back-and-forth of finding a meeting time, you can free up hours each week.

Candidate Outreach and FAQs

Pharma candidates will have questions throughout the interviewing process, and AI chatbots – much improved from their clunky, early versions – can answer common questions 24/7 and even guide them through the next steps. Modern AI chat interfaces feel more natural and can use familiar channels like text messaging, giving candidates quick info and on their own terms. This on-demand communication keeps candidates engaged and informed.

AI-assisted should never mean AI-only. Automation is amazing for efficiency, but recruitment in pharma ultimately hinges on personal connection and judgment. As one talent advisor put it, “the more we rely on automation… the more we get separated from relationship building.”

Use AI to handle repetitive tasks and data-crunching, not to replace human interactions.

Keeping the Human Touch in a High-Tech Process

Despite all the new tech in hiring, candidates in 2025 still prefer live, human interactions during interviews, with candidates saying they feel most disrespected when dealing with impersonal steps like recorded video Q&As or one-sided phone screens. 81% of candidates also say that having a human point of contact is vitally important in the recruitment process. The takeaway? Even tech-savvy candidates want to know there’s a real person on the other end who sees their value.

Many pharma recruiters have learned this first-hand. Virtual interviews became the norm during the pandemic and remain popular for early screening. But life sciences leaders are also returning to in-person interviews for final rounds because they recognise the value in face-to-face meetings. Although saving time, virtual interviews make it harder to gauge a candidate’s enthusiasm, body language, and interpersonal chemistry, and also for the candidate to immerse themselves in the working environment. Those deeper connections can be vital for a collaborative industry like the life sciences.

How to stay human-centred, even if your process used automation:

• Opt for Live Interaction Whenever Possible: If distance makes in-person meetings tough, try live video over sending candidates one-way interview prompts to help build rapport.
• Personalise Your Communications: Don’t let automated emails be the only voice candidates hear. A quick, personalised note or call at key stages goes a long way.
• Humanise the AI: When using chatbots or automated schedules, introduce them as helpers alongside your team. For example, you could let candidates know, “Our virtual assistant will help schedule your interview – but feel free to contact me anytime with questions.”
• Train AI with Empathy: Ensure any AI-driven communication is worded in a friendly, respectful tone. You set the tone that the tech delivers. For instance, a short, personalised rejection with a kind note is far better than a cold form letter – you can automate it, but craft it thoughtfully.

Staying human-centred isn’t just feel-good fluff, it’s tied to results. Organisations that think of candidate experience like consumer experience see higher applicant satisfaction and less ghosting.

Engaging and Attracting Top Life Sciences Talent During Interviews

In a competitive talent market, an interview is not just an evaluation – it’s your chance to impress and woo the candidate. Think of it as a two-way street: the candidate is evaluating your company as much as you’re evaluating them. You can make your interviews engaging and appealing to top talent by…

Coming Prepared and Showing Genuine Interest

It sounds basic, but it’s crucial. Too often, interviewers skim a CV minutes before a call or ask very generic questions – and candidates notice. Preparation is key! Understand their background and tailor some of your questions to their experience, demonstrating respect for their time and interest in them.

Structuring the Interview

A well-structured interview isn’t rigid – it’s focused. Research consistently shows that structure interviews with a set of standard, job-related questions and clear criteria are far more predictive of job success than unstructured chats. They also feel fairer to candidates.

In pharma, where roles are specialised, prepare a mix of behavioural and situational questions targeting key competencies, asking each candidate the same core questions to level the playing field. You can still have a conversational tone, but a common structure ensures every gets an equal chance to shine.

Incorporating Relevant Challenges or Assessments

Top scientific talent often enjoys a good challenge, as it allows them to showcase their skills. Rather than abstract brainteasers or personality tests, consider a brief skills-based exercise related to the job. For example, a scientist candidate might review a short dataset or outline an experiment approach.

Candidates actually tend to view this positively when it’s relevant, with one study finding that candidates were more likely to accept an offer if the interview included a skills test, and less likely if it included a random IQ/personality test. Just be sure any assessment is reasonable in length and clearly tied to the role!

Showcasing Your Company Culture

An interview shouldn’t feel like an interrogation; it should feel like a conversation and a glimpse into working at your organisation. Give candidates opportunities to meet potential teammates or cross-functional colleagues. Talk about exciting projects in the pipeline (within confidentiality limits) and what day-to-day life is like.

72% of jobseekers say they need to fully understand the work culture before accepting an offer, so use the interview to convey your culture authentically. If innovation and collaboration are part of your identity, let that shine through in how you engage the candidate. For instance, some pharma companies involve a casual team lunch or a lab tour as part of on-site interviews, which can help candidates to visualise themselves in the environment.

Making It a Two-Way Dialogue

Encourage candidates to ask questions and voice their career aspirations. Top candidates will appreciate an interviewer who listens and provides thoughtful answers, rather than one who dominates the conversation. You might ask, “What’s most important to you in your next role?” and then actually address how (or if) your company meets those needs.

Many recruiters make the mistake of overselling or giving canned pitches. Instead, tailor your discussion to what genuinely matters to the candidate, and if you don’t know an answer, say so and offer to follow up.

Given that 63% of jobseekers will reject an offer due to a bad candidate experience, investing in an engaging process pays off when attracting and securing talent.

Avoiding Common Interview Pitfalls: The Mistakes Even Seasoned Recruiters Make

Even experienced recruiters can fall into some classic traps when interviewing candidates. Here are some common mistakes in the interviewing process, and how to avoid them.

Failing to Follow Up Promptly

This is arguable the #1 complaint from candidates. Recruiters may conduct a great interview, express interest, and then… radio silence. From the candidate’s perspective, no news is bad news. Avoid this by setting clear expectations with candidates about your timeline, and stick to it. If there are delays, drop them a quick email to keep them updated, showing respect for their time and keeping candidates from drifting away to other offers.

Overselling or Misrepresenting the Role

It’s tempting to paint the rosiest possible picture to win a hot candidate, but if it’s not 100% true, this will backfire. Overselling the job or company culture sets up mismatched expectations, and if your ne hire feels duped and decides to leave, you’ll be back at square one.

Be honest about both the pros and cons of the role. Great candidates respect candour, so emphasise the exciting aspects, but also share real challenges. This honesty ensures the candidates who join are truly prepared and well aligned, leading to better retention.

Pressuring or Overscheduling Candidates

In the eagerness to fill a role, some recruiters push too hard – nudging candidates to take interviews or offers they’re unsure about or scheduling excessive rounds of interviews that exhaust the candidate. This can make them feel like just a ‘butts in seats’ solution, and top talent with options won’t stick around for that.

Of course you should express enthusiasm and move swiftly, but if a candidate needs a few days or has other interviews, give them reasonable space.

Using Jargon, Buzzwords, or Cliché Lines

Phrases like “we’re a dynamic organisation seeking rockstar marketeers” or overused salesy pitches can come off as insincere. Candidates are quick to spot fluff, so avoid this by being straightforward and specific in your language. Instead of “game-changing opportunity,” you might say, “This role will allow you to lead a new gene therapy project from scratch – a rare chance to take full ownership.”

Real, concrete descriptions beat buzzwords, as does talking like a human. It’s fine to be enthusiastic about the role, as long as you can back it up with substance.

Marrying Science and Humanity in Hiring

Recruiting for the life sciences is often called both an art and a science – and that’s never been more true than in 2025. The science side is evident in the data-driven tools and structure techniques now available, but the art side – the human side – remains just as crucial. Building trust, sparking excitement, and truly understanding a candidate can’t be automated.

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