Associate consultant at CHR (Cambridge healthcare research)

Five days of silence is totally normal. Don't stress about it. HR people are busy, and "we will look into it" is just a polite way of saying "noted." It is not a promise to get back by a specific date.

Wait until Thursday so it has been a full week. Then send a short, friendly follow up. Something like, "Hey [Name], just checking in on our chat from last week. Still very interested, happy to share anything you need." That is it. Don't overthink it, don't write a paragraph.

Now, the prep part.

Your biochem MSc with distinction and your time at CHR give you a strong base. But here is what matters. Life science consulting firms don't just want someone who knows the science. They want someone who can take a messy business problem in pharma or biotech and think through it in a clear, structured way. Your science gets you noticed. Your thinking gets you hired.

If there is a case interview, it will probably be something like a new drug launch, a pricing decision, or whether a company should acquire a biotech asset. You will naturally understand the context better than most candidates. But the trap I see all the time is people going too deep into the science and forgetting to stay structured. The interviewer does not care if you know the mechanism of action. They care if you can break the problem down logically.

For the behavioral interview, have two or three tight stories ready from your time at CHR. Stories that show you had real impact on a client, dealt with unclear or messy situations, and worked well with people outside your technical bubble. Keep each story under two minutes. Situation, what you did, what changed.

Also, be ready to explain why you want to move. You are already doing something consulting-adjacent. So they will ask, why us, why now? Have a simple, honest answer. It does not need to be fancy.

And one last thing. Don't wait around for just this one opportunity. Look at LEK, Putnam, ClearView, IQVIA Strategy, even the healthcare practices at MBB. The more conversations you have going, the less one slow reply will bother you.

Feel free to reach out if you want help prepping your stories or thinking through your approach.

It’s easy to stress when you get the "we’ll look into it ASAP" line, especially when you’re motivated and the silence feels deafening. Here’s the reality of how these processes run: "ASAP" in recruiting often means "as soon as I clear my desk of priority candidates and required admin," which can easily be 7 to 10 business days. Four days is genuinely nothing in this context. The recruiter was likely being polite and ensuring your profile didn't get immediately binned by the ATS, but your application is now in the queue being reviewed against dozens of other candidates. Do not follow up until at least the end of next week.

The signal from your background—MSc Biochem with distinction and relevant industry experience—is excellent for life sciences consulting. Your technical fit is not the concern. When you finally get that interview invite, the firm will be testing how you think, not what you know.

Use this downtime to pivot immediately into interview prep. Since you are transitioning from a specialized background, you need to prove your quantitative rigor and, more importantly, your ability to structure ambiguous business problems. You should be spending 80% of your time on casing: specifically, drills on core profitability issues and market sizing, focusing intently on the clear, MECE frameworks and flawless math execution. Your goal is to move beyond the technical expertise and demonstrate the polished, logical approach the top firms demand.

All the best!

It means absolutely nothing.

This is a perfectly normal timeline to not receive an answer in. 

Sometimes you will have to wait for weeks before you get an answer.

What I would recommend instead is that you start thinking about the application process as a portfolio you are managing rather than trying to work on individual applications. 

You can read more about this here:

• Expert Guide: Build A Winning Application Strategy

Also, I've worked with multiple candidates pivoting into life sciences consulting, so if you need any help during the process feel free to reach out directly. 

Best,
Cristian

Hi there,

I suggest you wait for another week before following up and asking whether there's a timeline regarding recruitment.