R&D Regulatory Affairs

What to expect in the assessment centre

27 February 2013 | By: Tatjana

Congratulations to those who have made it to the next round in the recruitment process! To be one of the few chosen ones for the telephone interview among almost 7000 applicants is already a big achievement! Within the next couple of days you will receive an answer if you have made it to the assessment centre. Fingers crossed!

The assessment centre. There is a fascination about the recruitment centre that makes applicants curious about it, already before they have even started writing their motivational letter. I remember very well fearing and at the same time wondering about what will happen in those two days. Only the fact that it lasts for two days terrified me to the extent that I locked myself up in the library in order to learn Novo Nordisk’s financial statement by heart. In retrospect, this was pretty ridiculous. But I did not want to leave room for taking chances. I am not saying you should not prepare the details, do whatever makes you feel confident. However, in order to shed light into the dark, I will give you in the following an overview of what to expect in those notorious two days (based on last years recruitment centre).

The first day starts off in our headquarter in Bagsvaerd, close to Copenhagen. You will meet around 120 other applicants from all over the world. Everyone is incredibly nice and thus new acquaintances are easily made. What follows is an impressive introduction to the company. At the latest at this point you will realize how exciting it must be to work for Novo Nordisk and how valued graduates are within the company.
After the introduction and some mingling with the other applicants, you will go to the conference centre, where the assessment for the following two days takes place.

What follows are numerous different activities to assess your:
1. personal fit to Novo Nordisk
2. people skills
3. presentation skills
4. team player skills
5. your motivation for Novo Nordisk and the program you applied to
6. analytical and critical thinking

Group exercises: You will be doing couple of group exercises in which you have to solve non real life problems within your group, either under time pressure or solution oriented, or both. I remember the group exercises as very challenging but at the same time as a lot of fun. Personally, this was my favourite part of the assessment centre.

Interview: You will have interviews with the recruiters. The interviews are very program specific and accordingly focus areas might differ. You can expect however that no matter to which program you applied your personality is focal point.

Presentation: You might be asked to prepare a presentation on a specific topic which will be presented to one or more of the recruiters.

Case Study: Last year we received a case based on a real life challenge of a pharmaceutical company. In a group of applicants from the same program you have to come up with tangible solutions to the case which will be presented to all other groups and recruiters.

Throughout the assessment centre current graduates will be present to answer all your questions and to get to know you better. At the end of the first day you can look forward to a very nice dinner in one of Copenhagen’s fantastic restaurants. Don’t stay up too long though, the second day is by no means more relaxed than the first.

All in all, the assessment centre is extremely intense but at the same time a lot of fun. You get to know many like minded, interesting people. But what is more, you also get to know yourself better which makes the graduate assessment centre a truly rewarding experience.

For tips on how to succeed in the recruitment centre, please read these posts by Elin and Antti.

I hope to have clarified some concerns about the assessment centre. And I very much look forward to meet you there!

Best,

Tatjana

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Key takeaways from the RA Graduate program

7 February 2013 | By: Tamara

Category: Business Processes Corporate Finance Global Marketing Product Supply R&D Global Development R&D Regulatory Affairs Uncategorized | (0) comments

I have finished the RA Graduate program, but doing the blog has forced me to step back and really re-evaluate the last two years and I have realized that there were a few key things that I learnt from the graduate program:

You have no idea what you are capable of.

When I was chosen for the graduate program, I felt that whatever happened I would only be challlenged work wise, since I knew what it was like to be in a new place and make new friends and adapt to a different country. That was proven wrong in my 2nd rotation

I was alone, in Brighton, in winter, while my workplace was undergoing a restructure. I knew no one and the people at work were more concerned about their jobs (and rightfully so!) than starting up the new graduate. Also minor detail but I didn’t have a TV or working internet in my apt. But, through this experience I found a drive within myself that I would not have figured out otherwise, and I proactively volunteered to shadow all the clinical trial monitors in the department, even though it was not the most interesting thing to do every day, I looked at it as a learning experience. I learnt a lot about the different trials and products since I was accompanying any monitor willing to have me along :). I also signed up for social clubs in Brighton and eventually met a few fun people. My proactive shadowing became very useful in the last 2 months of the rotation when 2 of the monitors resigned, and since I was now ‘experienced’ I was asked to cover their trials. So I ended up getting real monitoring experience, but if I had not been proactive I may not have been granted that chance!

Finding a job you love, figuring out what you like and don’t like…

Choosing a graduate program is a key indicator that you are not entirely sure what you would like to focus on in a career! However after 3 different rotations you learn a lot about what you like. This time to figure out what you really enjoy in a job is priceless, and maybe the greatest benefit of a program like this!

In my case, I realized that I would not enjoy a career as a clinical trial monitor. I also realized that while I enjoy regulatory affairs, I like more the coordination and LEANing of processes than navigating through guidelines. This was forged in my 2^nd rotation in India where I was a project manager and set up a new process that is being used by all our regulatory submissions going forward. This rotation made me realiZE my ideal job after the graduate program. I am a Project Coordinator within Labeling Development and Launch, which is a department in Regulatory Operations. It is project based, and I have to coordinate with graphic designers, marketing, regulatory affairs and production, as well as affiliates, and many more. It is still new to me since I started at the beginning of the year, but every day brings some new challenges and something interesting to learn!

A network..people you can also have fun with J

The network you build while in the program is one of its biggest advantages. You have your year of graduates, as well as the year before and after you, and then the colleagues from the different departments just as a start. However while this network is a great work asset, it also helps you find a social group when you move to Denmark. Most of the graduates have a lot of business dinners and team events within their program and also tend to spend a lot of time together outside of work.

Within the RA graduate program, we have had many dinners and a few team building events and have experienced multiple seminars and conferences. I guess we are lucky we all liked each other, cause we did end up spending a lot of time together! :)

I posted just a few pictures of our fun times in the graduate program. It has been an incredible journey and I have learnt and experienced more than I could have imagined when i was writing my application.

If you haven’t applied as yet, the deadline is soon! Remember to highlight why you are interested in RA in your cover letter and what separates you from the other applicants, keep it interesting and let us see what you are passionate about!

Good luck with the applications!!!

Tamara

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What is the World Diabetes Day and how is it celebrated in South Africa, China, United Arab Emirates and Brazil?

4 February 2013 | By: Thomas

Over the course of each year several of the ~34.000 Novo Nordisk employees around the world takes part in activities to create awareness about diabetes and support the people living with the disease. One of the major activities takes place on the 14. November each year, namely the World Diabetes Day.

Each year on this date, Novo Nordisk partners with the International Diabetes Federation (IDF) in support of the United Nations Resolution on Diabetes. On this day employees, partners, people with diabetes and the general public are united to change diabetes. The date, 14. November, was chosen as it is the birthday of Frederick Banting who, along with Charles Best, first conceived the idea which led to the discovery of insulin in 1921. Since the adoption of the United Nations (UN) Resolution on diabetes in December 2006, World Diabetes Day has become an official United Nations World Health Day.

This special day is usually celebrated with various activities in countries all over the world. To give you an impression, here follows testimonials from me and my fellow Corporate Finance graduates around the world.

Name: Adam Bo Petersen

Country: Johannesburg, South Africa

Current rotation: Finance, South Africa Affiliate, Business Area Africa Gulf and India (BAAGI)

Past rotations: Corporate Controlling and Strategic Finance (HQ DK), Insights and Forecasting (HQ DK)

How did you/your area celebrate world diabetes day: The affiliate celebrated the world diabetes day by having all employees dressed up in the same Novo Nordisk t-shirt. We had a great presentation by an internal speaker with interesting perspectives and videos from the world diabetes foundation. The national cycle team sponsored by Novo Nordisk South Africa also visited the office and after the visit we enjoyed a nice South African lunch together.

Name: Jeannine Hethey

Country: Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Current rotation: Finance, Legal and IT, BAAGI Dubai Office

Past rotations: Management Support, Business Assurance (HQ DK), Business Assurance India (GSC Bangalore, India)

How did you/your area celebrate world diabetes day:

They organized different awareness events – including:

- A Diabetes Day at a school where we (most of my colleagues from the office and I) also went to participate on the 14 Nov. This included some games about Diabetes and healthy lifestyle for the students as well as some educational session for the parents and a group picture after a short walk with all the students.

- A diabetes awareness quiz running all week – with a presentation of in-depth answers by the end

- A step-counting competition running for about two weeks

- A session with a local diabetes doctor

Name: Jan Iser

Country: Tianjin, China

Current rotation: Finance & Business Strategy,

Past rotations: Product Supply Financial Planning (HQ DK), Corporate Tax (HQ DK)

How did you/your area celebrate world diabetes day: We had a “Diabetes walk” around both production plants. Parents received a game “Healthy beast and Moody monster” for their kids, that should help them distinguish between healthy and unhealthy food. We could also take a diabetes themed photo at some stalls and sign up for “Take Action” (Novo Nordisk internal initiatives allowing employees to volunteer in activities such as diabetes awareness campaigns, fundraisings, diabetes youth camps, collections, walkathons, local community activities and much more), where we have a partnership with an orphanage.

Name: Thomas Flemming Thorsen

Country: Sao Paulo, Brazil

Current rotation: BALAT Finance, Business Area Latin America Regional Office

Past rotations: Risk Office (HQ DK), Finance Projects (HQ DK)

How did you/your area celebrate world diabetes day: On the 14^thof November, the entire office was decorated with awareness posters and balloons, and all employees were wearing the same t-shirt to help create awareness. During the week, there were several activities taking place around the office. I participated in a voluntary activity together with my girlfriend, helping out a local Diabetes organization handing out brochures and guiding people to professional nurses where they could get their bloodsucar tested and receive guidance on what to be aware of.

If you are interested and want to know more, you can read more about the World Diabetes Day here: Link

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New adventures as an RA Graduate

10 January 2013 | By: Tamara

Category: Business Processes European Finance Product Supply R&D Global Development R&D Regulatory Affairs | (10) comments

Hello again! I am super excited to be blogging for the RA Graduate programme again this year!

Since I have already touched on the how to apply and what we are looking for in an application in my previous post and Mian one of the RA graduates that started in 2012 has also written about how to write an awesome cover letter, I have decided to tell you more about my life as an RA Graduate.

In one of my previous posts ‘what does a regulatory affairs graduate do‘ I had mentioned that I was in my 2^nd rotation as a Clinical Trial monitor in the UK and I was enjoying the new experience. However, within 2 months of my rotation, it was announced that the EU offices would undergo a huge restructuring, particularly in the UK and German offices. As a result of this announcement, my rotation manager understandably was busy dealing with the affect it would have on the department and there was less time to train me and set me up as an independent trial monitor.

The situation seemed dire until my graduate manager called me and asked if I would like to move to India for a few months since they needed help setting up a new process in the RA Global Service Centre in Bangalore. I jumped at the opportunity to embark on a new challenge!

Bangalore was a fantastic experience, professionally and personally. I was given the responsibility as a project manager to set up the process and the team that would do a technical check of all our regulatory files for future submissions. It was very different from the other tasks I have had and again it was a steep learning curve, this time on the publishing and compiling processes involved in a regulatory submission to the Health authorities. It was a life changing experience to get this large task as a graduate and it taught me a lot about LEANing a process, contingency planning and getting a team to work.

India was also a fascinating place. From the rickshaws and the temples, to the tea plantations and food it was a constant adventure. In the beginning there were as expected funny miscommunications but taking the time to understand the culture and interacting with my colleagues, made things easier. I even held a workshop to better the communication between India and Denmark, and the cultural and communication knowledge I have gained will be useful in any future career in a global workplace.

The experience also helped me decide what career to pursue after the RA Graduate programme, but that’s a story for another day :)

I am always open to questions about applying and the RA Graduate programme so please do not hesitate to contact me!

Good luck applying!

Tamara

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Tips on writing your cover letter to the RA graduate program

4 January 2013 | By: Mian

Category: R&D Regulatory Affairs | (46) comments

Many of you asked me the question – ’How to stand out from the candidate pool in the initial screening process for an Regulatory Affairs (RA) graduate position?’

My suggestion would be write a good cover letter.

Every year Novo Nordisk receives a large number of applications from all over the world. There are many candidates with qualifications that fulfill our basic requirements for the program, namely, an advanced science degree, good grades from school, no more than 2 years of work experience, and international experience living or studying abroad. In this case an excellent cover letter – or let’s call it more appropriately a motivation letter, allows you a great opportunity to distinguish yourself from the crowd. And it’s no secret that the recruiting manager cares A LOT about the motivation letter.

In order to write a good motivation letter, it is always a good idea to do your homework beforehand. For instance, read about the graduate program, research a bit on what RA is all about and what an RA professional does (if you don’t know it already). Have a thorough self-reflection afterwards by asking yourself: Why am I passionate about RA? Ralph Emerson says ‘Enthusiasm is one of the most powerful engines of success.’ You want to demonstrate your interest in Novo Nordisk, and convince us that you are a motivated individual who holds genuine interest in forging a career in RA. Think through your personal, academic, and work experience, highlight a few things that make you particularly interesting and valuable for us so we need to choose you over the other great applicants.

As for the don’ts – avoid details of your dissertation or laboratory research in the motivation letter, leaving them to your CV. Don’t repeat what’s already stated in your CV. Of course you can highlight facts relevant to the position, but the motivation letter is really the place where you want to provide us with something that is NOT substantiated in the CV and something that adds a personal touch to your CV.

Limit your motivation letter to max 1.5 pages. We want it to be focused and succinct so we don’t spend time hunting your main points.

I hope this entry could help you out there when you write your application. I wish you the very best of luck and we look forward to getting to know you via your application!

Tags: R&D, Regulatory Affairs

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Video post – life after the Graduate Program

3 January 2013 | By: Elvera

Category: Business Processes European Business Management R&D Regulatory Affairs | (0) comments

Hi all,

Ever wondered how life after the graduate program looks like? Or how the graduate program can develop the path for your permanent position in Novo Nordisk?

I have interviewed two ex-graduates who started their permanent position in Novo Nordisk in September 2012, right after the graduate program they started in 2010.

Do you want to learn more about the life after the Regulatory Affairs Graduate Program? Watch the video with Beatrice Yang.

Do you want to learn more about life after the Business Process Graduate Program? Watch the video with Adriana Caruso.

I hope you enjoyed watching! For any further questions, you know where to find me!

Cheers,

Elvera

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An RA graduate’s day outside of office – something different but fun and inspiring

19 December 2012 | By: Mian

Category: R&D Regulatory Affairs | (2) comments

”A mind that is stretched by a new experience can never go back to its old dimensions.” - Oliver Wendell Holmes

A few weeks ago I was invited to facilitate a Novo Nordisk innovation workshop featuring Master students, so I had a small trip to Aarhus, a city up north in Denmark where the workshop took place. It is always nice to have an excuse to travel, especially when the travel is part of my job where business gets combined with pleasure :)

It took me 3 hours of train ride from Copenhagen to Aarhus. On the way the train crossed the Great Belt bridge, the world’s 3^rd longest bridge; passed by the famous Danish writer H.C. Andersen’s hometown Odense; a picturesque town called Vejle by the Vejle Fjord; and endless farmland still in lovely color of green. Denmark is such a country, despite being so modern and wealthy, that people still find tranquillity and harmony easily.

The topic of the workshop was to create an innovative solution to address problems of market access for insulin products in Indonesia. Given the uniqueness of the Indonesian societal culture and the status quo of the country’s healthcare system, student groups there engaged themselves in dynamic discussions. I was fortunate to be there and to help precipitate a potentially implementable solution after a few hours of discussion. What was even better was the solution had elements built in to ensure compliance of business ethics. In the end, I was amazed at how many thoughts a half-day workshop could provoke – How to generate lots of ideas? Where does creativity come from and how to nurture it (if possible)? How to do a prep work ‘sufficient enough’ that enables creation of innovative yet feasible solutions to a problem?

I felt lucky for having helped out at the workshop. I honestly think this is an attraction point of the Novo Nordisk graduate program. By being part of the program, one gets the opportunity to be involved in different activities outside (conventional) work, which in turn will inspire him/her to strive for excellence both personally and professionally.

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Why I chose to pursue a career in Regulatory Affairs?

14 December 2012 | By: Mian

Category: R&D Regulatory Affairs | (13) comments

When I was in my second year in grad school, I started having a lot of thoughts on what I really wanted to do upon completion of my study. Don’t get me wrong – I love science. I enjoy learning about health, studying the molecular mechanisms of diseases, and performing my own research projects in a lab setting. In the meantime, however, my intellectual curiosity extends beyond merely science: public health, healthcare policies, socioeconomic issues, communication and so forth. Moreover, I am very much of an extrovert, a ‘people person’. I like to meet new people and I am a firm believer of the power of teamwork.

What do I want to do for my life? I asked this question to myself many times. After all the self-reflection, I know I wanted to do something where my book knowledge and skill sets can be applied, something that encompasses the broad interests I have, something that brings me personal satisfaction, something that helps realize my full potential, and something that gives meaning not just for me but also for others.

Three months into my work as a Novo Nordisk Regulatory Affairs graduate, I know I made a great choice. I learned about different development projects in the company’s R&D pipeline (meaning exciting regulatory work years ahead!). I used my scientific knowledge to review and to give input on clinical documents. I worked on a few trial applications that involved countries in the midst of the global harmonization effort of regulatory activities (here comes the challenge in guideline interpretation!). I also took part in the New Drug Application (pre) submission phase of two valuable products developed by the company, where I gained hands-on experience in the regulatory procedures of different health authorities as well as how to communicate product values to the authorities.

All in all, I have been happy, challenged, and motivated. For those of you who have a Master’s degree in science or engineering, and if you are also interested in exploring areas interfacing science and other disciplines, Regulatory Affairs may be a very good area to pursue. If you want to hear more about it, feel free to let me know!

Tags: R&D, Regulatory Affairs

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My Journey So Far

24 September 2012 | By: Max

Hi Applicants,

So I have now been part of the graduate programme for just over a year, so thought I would give you an outline of my time so far!

I started by getting into the Business IT Graduate programme and moving to Zürich last September to begin my Journey within Sales & Marketing Applications Development. Whilst there I worked on a medium sized project with a team of 2 other Novo Nordisk employees and at times upwards of 30 consultants. The project was to implement a Sales CRM application on an iPad for Sales reps across Europe and roll it out.

My starting role was Testing and Quality lead and revolved around ensuring that a team of 8 testers and their manager in India were able to test our solution effectively. Along with this came the development of all the documentation for the solution. This became particularly critical as we late in the project had to go through an internal audit. My role quickly evolved and I became involved with training our sales force in the use of the system travelling across Europe to do so. The system is currently in the process of rolling out to over 2000 users across the continent.

After 8 months Skiing and playing with iPad’s in Zürich, I moved to Copenhagen and the other end of our business. I started working with IT in our Production. I currently do this in the role of Project Manager, managing numerous small projects each working with separate production lines across our business. Our team of 5 implement an IT system which measures the efficiency of our production teams and machines giving rise to improvement opportunities. I currently handle production lines in Denmark and Brazil. In this I take responsibility in working with the production staff, our consultants and suppliers as well as the operations team to build plans, ensure communication, allocate resources, and generally do everything to make sure we implement a desired system on time.

I will be finishing this second rotation on the first of September and am currently looking at possibilities for my next rotation. I am thoroughly enjoying the program so far and the level of challenges that I have been given. Should you have comments or questions please leave them below.

Cheers,

Max Andersen

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Blog days are over! Bye, friends!

27 August 2012 | By: Lise

Dear Readers,

Out with the old and in with the new! The time has come for my time as a graduate (and hence also my graduate blogging days) to end.

The Graduate Programme has been a fantastic experience the past couple of years. With three very different rotations, I have had a steep learning curve and gained in-depth understanding of Novo Nordisk and our industry. I have gotten a deep respect for our business, what we do, and for whom we do it – our patients. Last but most certainly not least, I have also gained some of my closest friends through the other graduates.

It’s time for the “real world”, and as many graduates have accepted great jobs throughout the organisation, I am excited to have started my full time position in our Haemophilia R&D unit as Communications Manager.

If you’re a Master student and you are considering applying, I cannot stress enough that you should do it! Applying for the graduate programme was probably one of the better ideas I have ever gotten – I couldn’t imagine a better way to transition from university to business life, and I cannot think of another job that would give me so many opportunities, experiences and leanings as this programme has done.

While I will no longer be on the blog, you are still welcome to contact me with any questions. I leave you here with some memories…

: The best graduate year... The Business Process, Global Marketing and European Business Graduates

: On a learning journey in Istanbul, getting to know the Turkish market by driving with sales reps, and learning about business in the Middle East by meeting colleagues from Iran and Jordan.