If you're applying for roles in the pharmaceutical industry—whether in R&D or commercial functions—your resume needs to do more than check boxes. It needs to stand out in a competitive, highly specialized field where your audience understands nuance and expects precision. That's where the RAS method comes in.
RAS stands for Result – Action – Scope. It's a strategic framework for writing resume bullets that not only show what you accomplished, but also how and why it mattered. Most resume advice tells you to “focus on results,” but in pharma, results without context are like data without interpretation.
Here's the breakdown:
Result – What was the outcome?
Action – What did you do to drive the result?
Scope – What was the scale, complexity, or organizational impact?
In short: Don’t just tell me you did it. Tell me how and why it mattered.
Pharmaceutical companies—especially mid to large ones—are matrixed, risk-averse, and metrics-driven. Whether you're applying for a clinical operations role, a regulatory function, or a commercial launch position, your resume needs to convey not only what you achieved, but how well you understand the broader picture.
Let’s look at how the RAS method applies to both R&D and commercial functions.
Before (generic “result-only” bullet):
Improved patient enrollment in Phase III clinical trial.
After (RAS format):
Increased patient enrollment by 35% in a Phase III oncology trial by optimizing site selection strategy across 10 countries, accelerating database lock by 6 weeks.
Why it works:
This version doesn’t just say what happened—it shows how the candidate drove the result and the operational scope of their impact. A hiring manager can now visualize the scale, complexity, and strategic thinking involved.
Before:
Supported launch of new diabetes product.
After:
Spearheaded regional marketing strategy for launch of novel GLP-1 diabetes treatment, generating 15% above forecasted uptake across 3 priority markets within 6 months post-launch.
Why it works:
This bullet shows commercial ownership and quantifiable success, but it also places that success in a market-driven context. It demonstrates business acumen and understanding of launch dynamics—critical in pharma commercial roles.
Even high performers often fall into these traps:
Only listing tasks: “Managed regulatory submissions” doesn’t show effectiveness or complexity.
Skipping scope: “Led a team” leaves out how many people, what functions, or what stakes were involved.
Assuming results speak for themselves: A 20% increase means different things in a $1M vs. $100M market. Context is everything.
Start with the result, but don’t stop there.
What changed, improved, or succeeded because of your work?
Explain the action.
What levers did you pull? What strategy, tool, or method did you use?
Quantify the scope.
How many patients, countries, dollars, stakeholders, trials, SKUs?
Tailor it to your audience.
Hiring managers in regulatory affairs care about precision and compliance. Medical Affairs wants scientific rigor. Commercial leaders want market impact. Adjust language accordingly.
In the pharmaceutical industry, technical knowledge and business savvy go hand in hand. Whether you're in a lab, managing trials, or leading market access strategy, your resume needs to communicate more than accomplishments—it needs to reflect how you think.
By using the RAS method—Result, Action, Scope—you’ll craft resume bullets that demonstrate not just what you did, but the scale of your impact and your understanding of the organizational or patient value behind it.
And that’s what gets you noticed.