AVANIPATEL–8980077

CAREER MANAGEMENT-CDEV8130/8131/8132
Clinical research
Level 2
Career Management- CDEV8130/8131/8132
ASSIGNMENT 2: MY COVER LETTER AND RESUME PART 1

Conestoga College - Academic Year 2023- 2024

ASSIGNMENT 2: MY COVER LETTER AND RESUME PART 1

Assignment 2 is Worth 25% of the Final Grade and comprises two parts.

Individual Assignment
Due: Part 1 of this assignment is due by the end of module seven and will be worth 10%

Part 2 of this assignment is due by the end of module 9 and will be worth 15%

See the Instructional Plan for exact due dates.

Submit to: Assignment 2, part 1 submission folder.

Submission folders can be accessed by selecting Course Tools and then Assignments on the course navigation bar.

Description
This assignment will be divided into two parts.

The first part of the assignment asks you to carry out several activities. First, you will be identifying networking contacts
who you might conduct an informational interview with. Secondly, you will be looking at ways to determine if a job
posting is from a valid source. Thirdly, you will identify a valid employment opportunity from your first-choice industry
(used in assignment 1) and conduct an analysis of the job posting. You will use the analysis to tailor your cover letter and
resume to that job posting in part 2.

The second part of this assignment asks you to prepare your cover letter and resume using the same job posting and
incorporating the key elements for both documents.

This assignment is part 1.

Rationale
Your polished cover letter and resume will serve to market your skills to employers. To write a strategic cover letter and
resume, you need to have a good understanding of your industry and how to make professional connections through
networking. The ability to analyse job postings successfully and identify employment scams, is equally important.

This assignment will evaluate the following course learning outcomes:

3. Develop networking strategies to meet new contacts, build relationships and uncover the hidden job market.

4. Create properly formatted and grammatically correct self-marketing documents (cover letters, resumes, etc.) that can
be tailored to specific job opportunities.

How Your Assignment Will be Graded

A rubric has been created and can be found attached to the submission folder. Submission folders can be accessed by
selecting Course Tools and then Assignments on the course navigation bar.

Late Policy - The School of Interdisciplinary Studies Late Policy states that you will be deducted 10% per day for each day
your assignment is late. After 7 days, you will be assigned a 0% for the assignment. See the School of Interdisciplinary
Studies Late Policy for further guidelines.

IMPORTANT NOTICE: Artificial Intelligence (AI) Assessment Statements for Students

Use of any form of generative artificial intelligence (AI) is strictly forbidden throughout all stages of this assessment,
including brainstorming, idea generation, outline formation, etc. This includes your cover letter and resume.
Generative AI may include (but is not limited to) chatbots, coding tools and image/art generating tools, or other
technologies that produce work for you. Using AI in any capacity throughout the assessment process will be in violation
of Conestoga’s Academic Offences policy under the category of Unauthorized Aids and Assistance (Cheating) or Copying
from Others or Self Copying. The consequence of this violation is that an academic offence will be filed, with the severity
of the penalty dependent on previous offences. In cases where you are unsure if something is considered generative AI,
always ask your professor before using.

List of Activities
MODULE 6: NETWORKING, THE HIDDEN JOB MARKET AND SCAM ADVERTISEMENTS

Networking
An important aspect of labour market research and networking is identifying persons who have valuable experience in
your industry. Talking with these persons can provide insight into what working in that profession truly entails. This
aspect of field research is called an informational interview.

Complete the table below to identify who you might contact from you direct and indirect network. What would be your
strategy to contact these persons to gather labour market information about your industry? What questions might you
ask?

For this activity, select one individual from your personal network and one individual that you do not know but who you
are either referred to or would contact by other methods (social media, calling the company). Both persons must have
experience in your industry of interest. Complete the table below.

Direct Contact (person Name of the contact: Vishwas Patel

you know) Position title of the contact: Medical Laboratory Technologist
The company they work with: Life Labs, Sudbury

How do you know, or how did you meet this person?

I came to know Vishwas during my postgraduate studies in Medical Laboratory
Technology. We did a few projects together and kept in touch.

Write 4 questions you wish to ask this person, which would provide valuable insight
into your understanding of the industry, opportunities for gaining access to the hidden
job market, and next steps in pursuing your career.

1. What has been the most satisfying and problematic part of being a Medical Laboratory
Technologist at LifeLabs to you?

2. How did you plan your career to land in what you are doing today, and what steps will
you advise one entering now to take?

3. Is there a unique ability or certification that you think holds great value in our
industry?

4. Is there anything about a hidden job market or maybe unadvertised positions within
the medical laboratory setting, or even plain networking?

Why did you choose these questions?

These questions are designed to solicit specific details about the contact's personal
 experience in their role and practical advice regarding career advancement. They are
designed to elicit, from the position, information on the challenges and rewards of the
job, which skills are essential as well as which certifications are required, and methods to
access and compete for jobs that are not publicly advertised.
Indirect Contact Name of the contact: Sanjeev Shaw
(person you do not Position title of the contact: Clinical Research Coordinator
know) The company they work for: Cliantha Research Limited, Mississauga

What method(s) would you use to contact this person?

I would primarily use LinkedIn to contact Sanjeev Shaw. I would send a connection
request with a personalized note mentioning my background and my keen interest in
understanding the clinical research industry. Otherwise, if it does not work out, then I
would have the option to send an email or call using the contact information provided by
the company.

Write 4 questions that you would wish to ask this person, which would provide
valuable insight into your understanding of the industry, opportunities for gaining
access to hidden job market, and next steps in pursuing your career.

1. What made you choose clinical research as a career, and what has been the
professional path so far?
2. From experience, which particular ability and skills are critical to success as a
Clinical Research Coordinator?
3. What approaches do you use to keep yourself current with new developments
and emerging trends in clinical research? Do you have any particular resources to
stay current?
4. How would you counsel one in searching for 'unposted' job opportunities or
perhaps in building one's network of professional contacts within the clinical
research community?

Why did you choose these questions?

These questions would also help in understanding the professional background, factors
influencing career decisions of the contact, contradictions of critical skills and abilities,
essential resources for industry news, and advice about networking and tapping into the
hidden job market in clinical research.

In module 6, you also learnt about the hidden job market, and how informational interviewing can be a path to
accessing these opportunities. You also reviewed the dangers of employment scams and how to determine if you are
accessing valid job opportunities or false advertisements. In the table below, indicate 3 ways you can determine if a job
posting or advertisement is from a valid employer, or is an employment scam. Explain your reasons for each.

1. Verify the Employer's Contact Information

Reason: Legitimate job postings often include easily identifiable and verifiable contact information that consists
of a company email address, frequently based on the company's domain, a telephone number, and a street
 address. Scammers usually use generic email addresses, like Gmail or Yahoo, and often will not provide a phone
number or physical address.

Explanation: Verifying contact details allows you to check the authenticity of the business. You can verify this
information from their official website or call them for more information about the job opening.

2. 2. Evaluate the Professionalism of Writing—Language and Structure

Reason: Real job postings are smooth and normally well-written, without spelling and grammatical errors. Scam
ads have numerous typos and grammatical errors, with unreasonable promises of high returns for no work.

Explanation: It should be professional, neat, and clean in layout to give the impression that it is an actual job
posting from a good company that takes its recruitment process seriously. Poor language and overblown perks
within a job posting serve as telltale signs of a possible scam.

3. 3. Look for Online Company/Job Posting Info

Reason: Researching the company and the opportunity in job postings online can prove its validity. Check if the
posting is listed in any of the popular job boards, has an official website, and has employee reviews or feedback.

Explanation: The reason is that, generally, reputable companies have an online presence and tend to attract
positive reviews. Therefore, if you find negative feedback that a given firm is a job scam or find nothing about the
firm, it strongly indicates that the job posting could be a scam.

MODULE 7: MY JOB POSTING AND JOB POSTING ANALYSIS CHART

My Job Posting
Copy and paste your selected job posting in the space below. Using the highlighter, highlight as many key words as
possible or phrases that indicate what the employer is looking for. Paste directly into the space below. Do not paste the
link. The job posting content is required.
My Job Posting (paste the full text of the job posting here):

Research Coordinator II - Clinical Trials Navigator

Victoria Hospital

3.7out of 5

London, ON

Temporary, Part-time

Victoria Hospital

211 reviews

Read what people are saying about working here.

Profile insights
Here’s how the job qualifications align with your profile.

Skills

• Research
• Organizational skills
• Microsoft Word
• Microsoft Excel

Education

• Master's degree
• Bachelor's

Job details
Here’s how the job details align with your profile.

Job type

• Temporary
• Part-time

Location
London, ON

Full job description

Posting Period

Open: June 19, 2024

Deadline: July 2, 2024

Non-Union

Job Summary

Lawson Health Research Institute (Lawson) is the research institute of the London Health Sciences Centre and St.
Joseph’s Health Care London. As one of Canada’s top ten research institutes, we are committed to furthering
scientific knowledge to advance health care worldwide.

Supported in part by the 5-year CIHR grant, RareKids-CAN will provide mentorship and guidance and oversee a part-
time clinical trial navigator (CTN) at each of the 17 participating Clinical Trial Consortium sites.

Reporting to the local clinical research leadership, the CTNs will be critical in ensuring RareKids CAN can build
child/family-centric research, clinical trials, and education capabilities focusing on rare diseases.

Rate of Pay: To commensurate with experience

Hours of Work: Temporary Part Time - Up to 23.5 hours/week

Duration: 1-year contract with the possibility of extension

Responsibilities:

• Serve as the local point of contact for RareKids-CAN for all pediatric rare disease clinical trial inquiries.
• Liaise with local investigators/study teams to initiate a timely and efficient study start-up for rare disease
pediatric clinical trials.
• Assist with industry-sponsored rare disease feasibility assessments.
• Coordinate data collection locally to support quality improvement and performance metric initiatives to
capture study start-up timelines and other measures of success, such as the total number of rare disease
clinical trials taking place and the total number of investigators involved in pediatric rare disease clinical trials.
• Participate in mentorship and training opportunities, connecting with other research institute CTNs
nationwide to build local capacity and expertise.
• Attend and participate in monthly meetings hosted by RareKids-CAN to share best practices and lessons
learned about pediatric rare disease clinical trials.

Qualifications

• Education required - B.Sc, B.MSc, or B.HSc or other related field required, or relevant experience
• GCP and IATA training an asset
• Minimum three years of clinical research experience is preferred, and a medical research background is
encouraged.
• Experience in Rare Disease Clinical Trials
• Experience with REDCap, EDC, and IWRS preferred
• Knowledge and experience with study start-up and feasibility assessments
• Experience in multi-site clinical trials
• Experience in trials of all phases 1-5 an asset
• A working knowledge of LORA, REDA and WREM
• Strong communication and problem-solving skills
• Ability to work in a team environment as well as independently
• Detail-oriented with strong organizational skills
• Proficient time management skills, ability to meet tight deadlines
• Responsible and Self-motivated with the ability to take initiative in an environment with limited supervision
• Strong work ethic
 • Ability to follow instructions and complete assignments on time
• Available to work a flexible schedule
• Proficient in Word and Excel
• Experience with Research Ethic Board submission and correspondence, both local and central asset
• Working knowledge or prior experience in Human Research Ethics, Tri-council policy, Good Clinical Practices,
Health Canada, and FDA regulations an asset
• Excellent communication skills, both verbal and written
• Experience with manuscript preparation as an asset
• Demonstrated knowledge of and commitment to patient and staff safety at LHSC
• Demonstrated ability to attend work regularly

If interested in this role, please apply with a resume that outlines all current and previous experience relevant to the
position.

We are committed to providing a safe, healthy, inclusive work environment that inspires respect. LHSC is committed
to employment equity and diversity in the workplace and welcomes applications from equity-denied groups,
including Indigenous people, racialized people, women, persons with disabilities, and 2SLGBTQIA+ persons. LHSC is
also committed to ensuring an accessible and inclusive recruitment process. Upon individual request, we will
endeavor to remove any barrier to the hiring process to reasonably accommodate candidates, including those with
disabilities, while maintaining a fair, consistent, and equitable recruitment approach. Should any applicant require
accommodation through the application, interview, or selection processes, don't hesitate to contact Recruitment
Services at 519-685-8500, extension #34321, or recruitment@lhsc.on.ca.

Applicants may be required to complete an examination or test as part of the selection process. Please be advised
that a reference check may be conducted during the selection process.

Your interest in this opportunity is appreciated. Only those applicants selected for an interview will be contacted. As a
condition of a job offer, successful candidates would be required to provide a satisfactory police information check
(original document) completed in the last six months.

Please be advised that if you are seeking employment on a temporary work or study permit, we recommend
reviewing work permit restrictions as they apply to healthcare organizations in Canada. As per the Government of
Canada, LHSC is considered a hospital/healthcare organization, even if an employee functions in a non-patient-facing
role. Individuals on a work or study permit seeking employment in this sector may be required to complete additional
steps, including but not limited to a medical exam, which may also apply to employees looking to renew their work
permits. It is the employee’s accountability to ensure they adhere to their specific work permit restrictions, and we
encourage all candidates and LHSC employees to be proactive and review restrictions as soon as possible, as it could
be a lengthy process.

Immunization Requirements:
Before beginning employment at LHSC, all new hires will be required to:

• Provide vaccination records or proof of immunity against measles, mumps, rubella and varicella (chicken pox),
Hepatitis B, Tetanus/ Diphtheria/Polio; and Meningitis;
• Provide documentation of the Tuberculosis skin testing (two steps);
• Provide proof of Health Canada-approved COVID-19 vaccination reflective of Ontario Health’s current
definition of being fully vaccinated

For more information, visit https://www.lhsc.on.ca/careers/health-review-requirements

Apply now
MY SKILLS AND QUALIFICATIONS MATCHED TO THE JOB POSTING
Using the job posting you selected, add three of your own examples (post-secondary experience, volunteer experience,
transferable skills from any job experience) which show how your skills and abilities align with what the employer is
seeking in their new hire. For each example, write a corresponding accomplishment statement that will be used in the
resume.
My examples that are relevant to the job Accomplishment statements that demonstrate each example.
responsibilities: 1. Led a collaborative research project with 250 patients,
1. Post-Secondary Experience: Contributed to a analyzed comprehensive data, and presented it in a thesis. This
research project worked on for my dissertation as helped me strengthen my research methodologies and broaden
part of my Master's studies on the effectiveness of my professional network.
glycated hemoglobin in metabolic syndrome.
2. Put into motion an optimized sample processing system that
2. Volunteer Experience: Volunteered in a hospital led to improved turnarounds with minimized errors. This led to
laboratory setting, working closely with recognition for operational efficiency and quality control in
pathologists to streamline sample processing patient care.
procedures.
3. Learned multiple techniques in a cutting-edge work setup,
3. Transfer Skills from Work Experience: Acquired collaborated with others for freer workflow during peak hours,
competence in all laboratory techniques while and mastered advanced techniques from seniors for the team's
working as a Medical Laboratory Technologist. productivity and better test results.

In this table, indicate what qualifications you have that meet or exceed the requirements for the position. Provide at
least three examples.

My examples that are relevant to the job qualifications required:

1. Bachelor’s degree in microbiology: I employed basic microbiological techniques emphasizing accurate diagnostics
and supporting research activities in healthcare settings.

2. Master’s degree in medical laboratory technology: Applied specialized laboratory testing skills significantly
contribute to the diagnostics and research aspect of the healthcare setting.

3. Clinical Research Knowledge: Broadened expertise on clinical trial processes, research methodologies, and
regulatory compliance to furnish critical support for clinical research and development within the healthcare
industry

From the examples mentioned above, what keywords do you think would be important to include in the cover letter
or/and resume (review the words you highlighted in the job posting). Identify at least 5 keywords. For each word,
indicate why you selected it.

Keywords from the qualifications and responsibilities section of the job posting that I would include in the cover
letter and resume and why it was chosen.

1. Metabolic Syndrome: Engagement in metabolic syndrome research experience speaks to one's indulgence in
relevant and impact-driven healthcare studies, thereby speaking towards your credibility and expertise.

2. Therapeutic Interventions: Informed about the therapeutic strategies required for the roles dedicated to the
progress of healthcare through research and treatment.
3. Diagnostic Techniques: This keyword highlights the diagnostic techniques that are fundamental in a job setting
requiring patient care and research activities within a healthcare setting.

4. Regulatory Compliance: It underlines knowledge of the regulation at the end of clinical trials and health care
research. It is an important skill to ensure that research or clinical trials run within the boundaries of the law and
ethics.

5. Clinical Research: This term underlines your expertise and focus in clinical research, which is critical to the
clinical trials and healthcare industry. It also relates to your current graduate certificate program in clinical
research.