As per their website, you send in your CV and cover letter, and they will contact you in about 2 weeks if you're shortlisted.
Following that, you are given about 2 weeks to read a clinical trial paper regarding a drug from a medical journal and you have to complete an assignment. The assignment is similar to the tutorial questions you would find in a university module related to evaluating clinical trials. This is to test your ability to read and interpret a clinical trial, as well as to understand why certain steps are done / avoided in the clinical trial protocol. They would then take 2 weeks to evaluate your assignment.
If you pass the assignment stage, you would be tasked to read an appraisal guidance regarding a drug. The appraisal guidance is mainly about why the drug should / should not be approved for certain diseases based on pharmacoeconomic principles and clinical efficacy. After reading, you are given 2 weeks to prepare a 10 minute presentation, followed by a 10-20 minute Q&A. The Q&A will be about the appraisal guidance and some pharmacoeconomic concepts. For this stage, they want to test your ability to understand pharmacoeconomic principles in the context of market access, as well as your ability to present and prepare slide decks.
Immediately after the presentation, there will be a 1 hour interview to see if you are a match for the company in terms of culture and values.
Immediately after the interview, you are given a final task which is to proofread a document and edit any errors inside. These errors can include grammatical mistakes, awkward phrasing, inconsistent formatting, spelling mistakes, etc. You are given 45 minutes for this task. This is to see how meticulous and quick you are, as well as how proficient you are in English.
Do take note that you have to do a presentation, an interview, and a proof-reading assignment all in one sitting over roughly 2 hours, so rest well beforehand. Afterwards, they will take about 2 to 3 weeks to get back to you. For me, it was 3 weeks.
For all the tasks above, being proficient in English and being able to express yourself well is important. Try to stay calm during the presentation. The entire process was online for me as I applied during the COVID lockdown periods.
Although it was an entry-level position, do not underestimate the entire process as competition can be quite stiff, especially if you apply during graduation season. The entire process also took about 2 months, so be mentally prepared for it to draw out. You should also be mentally prepared not to get the job despite all the effort you put in over the last 2 months.
Although I was not offered the position, I am thankful for how professional and courteous Costello was throughout the entire process. However, the entire application phase was rather long in my opinion (2 months) with multiple rounds and several assignments to do on top of my other commitments. For an entry-level position, it seems slightly much. Nonetheless, thank you Costello for considering my application.