Who We’re Hiring At…IQVIA

Katherine Keith
Early Talent Recruiter
2013 NC State alumna

A multinational company with two facilities in the Triangle, IQVIA works to combine data science with human science to provide solutions that enable healthcare companies to innovate.

What qualities are you looking for in the student of the future?

We are definitely looking for people with good communication skills — whether that’s written or oral. IQVIA is technology focused and data-driven, so we look for people who are technologically savvy. You don’t necessarily have to be a statistical programmer to be considered, but somebody who is familiar with it is a plus.

We always appreciate a go-getter attitude: We’re looking for people who are going to ask for help and provide value to the business. We look for that in the interview — so we’re probing them to see what kind of projects and things that they’ve seen or have been involved in. As recent grads, we realize they might not have a ton of work experience, but we want to know what they’ve done in the classroom that relates to what they could do here.

What makes a resume stand out?

Grammar and formatting is always very important. Nowadays having something on one page really isn’t that big of a deal because we’re looking at the resumes online now and not printing them out any more. But we don’t want to see fluff.

We’re also looking for any certifications or projects they’ve worked on and work experience, whether it relates or not. This helps to show us that they were staying busy and that they had to show up somewhere on time – to be there and commit to something. Were they involved, and did they have responsibilities outside of just doing homework, etc.?

What are the important things CALS can do to build the future employees you need?

Because I’m the intern coordinator, a lot of times our interns come to me with issues related to office etiquette. A lot of times, these are issues where they could be going higher up in the organization and they’re a little bit nervous about approaching them. More coaching on how to approach different situations within an office environment would be helpful — whether it be an issue with a timecard or a project or a desire to challenge themselves more.

It would also be good to work more with their LinkedIn presence and how people in the workplace utilize it. A lot of new grads don’t know who they should be connecting with or if it is OK to be connecting with people that they had met one time. Making connections on LinkedIn is different than sending a friend request on Facebook.

The last piece of advice I would give would be encourage them to get involved in as many things as possible. When they’re here for an internship, it’s really a 10-week or 12-week interview process. So it is very important for them to get involved as much as possible. For recent grads who are coming into a full-time position, it is important to make a name for themselves by speaking up, joining projects and networking as much as possible.