r/MedicalWriters

The topic of salary comes up quite frequently - this was posted by a recruiter.

Has anybody in the history of CERs ever written that the benefit-risk ratio was not favorable? I've never had to write that and don't think a company would ever insinuate that their product should be taken off the market. What happens if data genuinely suggest that? That hasn't happened to me yet but I'm guessing that it'll eventually happen.

Senior medical writer here (UK). I’m planning on quitting my job and travelling for a few months. I’m polishing up my cv so I can apply for jobs whilst I’m travelling. I’ve been looking at current job postings on LinkedIn out of interest and notice that a lot of SMW and PMW roles have 50-100 ‘people who have clicked apply’. I’m wondering what would make a cv stand out against a crowd of equally qualified applicants. At SMW/PMW level we have likely all had the same kind of responsibilities and created the same kind of content. So what is it that would make a recruiter pick CV A over CV B.

Any thoughts would be helpful, thanks! Particularly interested to hear from people who have been on hiring teams

Has anyone applied or got a job there and can give any helpful tips?

Hi everyone. I'm reaching out for some perspective and a reality check.

Based in Spain (EU), I am a Psychologist with a Master's in Research, currently in my first year of a Pharmacy degree. I've been volunteering with hospital research groups for a while, doing medical writing, literature reviews, database management, and statistical analysis of clinical data (RWD, Jamovi, SPSS). I also just recently got my ICH-GCP certification.

I am passionate about clinical research and want to continue on this path, but I need to start earning an income. I'm considering looking for a junior role, internship, data entry, or medical writing position in pharma, a CRO, or a MedComms agency.

My main issue (and my actual question): Studying Pharmacy requires many hours of in-person classes and wet labs. Because of this, I strictly need a position that is 100% remote and with very flexible hours (or part-time).

I've been looking at job postings, and almost all entry-level/junior roles require a full-time (40h) commitment or on-site presence/travel (like CRAs). Do you think my needs fit the industry profile right now? Are there part-time or freelance positions for junior profiles in Data, Clinical Outcome Assessments (COA), or Medical Communications, or is my idea unrealistic until I finish my Pharmacy degree?

Any advice, harsh reality checks, or ideas on where to look would be greatly appreciated. Thanks a lot!

I am posting in here a lot at the moment. Sorry for those who are already familiar with me 😂

I just wondered if negotiating pay is seen as a positive or negative thing? The AMW pay for the role I am interviewing for is £9K lower than some companies. I have a BSc, MRes and nearly a PhD, so do I have some power to negotiate the salary? I just don’t want to ask for one, annoy them and then they try and rescind the offer or get irritated.

Thanks!

I recently had an interview experience that left a bit of a bad taste in my mouth, and I’m wondering how common this is.

I interviewed with a major life sciences company in the RA dept. that posted a clear salary range for the role and required applicants to enter a desired base salary in the application. I listed a number roughly in the middle of the posted range, about $35k below the top end.

During the interview, the recruiter asked whether there was “wiggle room” on my number, which already felt a little odd given where it fell within their stated budget. They then explained that the budget for the role had apparently changed quite a bit and that they wanted to go back to HR with a “more reasonable” number as the lower end of the posted range is closer to what they were looking for.

I was honestly a little perplexed. Presumably the salary range was approved before the role was posted, so it felt strange to suddenly be negotiating against an entirely different range after the fact. I did move forward to another interview stage, and I wasn’t looking to be argumentative in the moment, but the whole interaction felt a little…icky? Almost like the goal was to get candidates in the door with one range and recalibrate expectations later.

Another thing that stood out to me was how aggressively they were trying to move the process along. There seemed to be a lot of urgency around hiring quickly, and I was immediately asked back for a second round interview which happened the very next day. I wasn’t sure whether the speed was genuine urgency or part of trying to get candidates emotionally invested and moving fast before they had time to really step back and evaluate things.

I had the complete opposite experience with another company interviewing for a nearly identical role. During the first-round conversation, the recruiter asked about my salary expectations and I gave essentially the same number and they actually responded with something along the lines of, “Got it, so more like XYZ,” and adjusted it upward by about $10k.

Again, relatively new to this so just trying to understand if that first company is a red flag or if that is common before my third round interview. Thanks!!

Recent Biology graduate from Case Western Reserve University trying to break into healthcare/regulatory/scientific writing roles. I’ve been applying to positions like regulatory associate, medical writer assistant, clinical documentation, grant writing, and healthcare communications roles, but I’m having trouble figuring out whether my resume is actually competitive for entry-level positions or if I’m missing something major.

I’d really appreciate honest feedback:

• Does this resume make me look employable?
• What kinds of jobs do I realistically qualify for right now?
• What are the biggest weaknesses?
• Is the issue my experience, resume wording, job targets, or current job market conditions?

I’m especially interested in feedback from people working in biotech, pharma, CROs, healthcare admin, medical writing, or regulatory affairs.

Attached below is a picture of my resume.

https://preview.redd.it/a8p4c7tpw41h1.png?width=818&format=png&auto=webp&s=02e06ad105c1f911ae40712f89ec91e0fc9723fd

Hi all, I am an account manager in a medcomms agency in the UK looking to transition into an in-house marketing role.

I was wondering if my experience with work life balance is universal across most agencies.

We work at least 30 mins to 1 hour overtime every day without any time being given back. Any extra hours worked on-site at symposias or congresses are not given back either - time is only given back if we worked on weekends. Even after working overtime, we are supposed to offer help to the rest of the agency and it is frowned upon to clock off without helping someone else, meaning that a lot of people clock off at ~7:30pm.

Timesheets must be 7.5 hours minimum and if we were to take a 10 minute break in between tasks we need to make this up (toilet breaks included!). All the 7.5 hours essentially must be attributed to billable hours too!

We were told that we may have to change our personal pre- and post-work plans to accommodate for client deadlines (i.e. it should be a given that employees cancel plans to meet client deadlines).

My previous agency was nothing like this - management really protected our working hours and I rarely worked overtime. Timesheet entries did not feel like I was being micromanaged to the second.

It’s such a shame as I really enjoy the work itself, but the environment and culture makes it unbearable.

Does anyone have a similar experience or hopefully more positive experiences?

I’ve managed to get past my first medical writing test! I produced a one slide summary of two papers and I’ve got to do a 10 min presentation (+ 5 min Q & A) at interview. I just wanted to see if my thought process was on the right lines.

My understanding is to present the background, results and implications (it was geared to a GP audience) as I did in the task but also weave in my design/layout choices. Does this sound right? The recruiter just said present the results when I asked so this is my take on it. I know for sure it’s not a role play type presentation where I deliver to GPs. So, at this point it’s either present the slide with or without discussing my design/layout choices.

Would be great to hear people’s take on it as you may have been asked to do a similar thing at interview in the past.

I’m currently in med comms at an agency with 3 years of experience focused on Medical Affairs projects and HCP education/DSE. How difficult would it be to pivot into a regulatory role? Is the work completely different, and would it be a challenging transition? Also, what steps would I need to take to become a strong candidate for regulatory positions?

I have worked as a regulatory writer for 2 years and now it's been 1.5 years working in safety writing. I am thinking to go back to regulatory writing but also I can see market of HEOR. There is huge demand for person doing evidence generation and writing SLR, TLR. Which you think is best option as far as AI and Finances and stability are concerned. Please guide me for the same.

I’ve now been rejected twice from Costello Medical for the Analyst role and I genuinely don’t understand what I’m missing.

I have an MSc in Biomedical and Molecular Sciences Research from King’s College London, research experience in IL-6 signalling and fibrosis, experience with data analysis in R, scientific writing, presentations, literature reviews, and I’ve tailored both my CV and cover letter each time. I also have tutoring and ambassador experience showing communication skills.

I know Costello is extremely competitive, but I’m trying to figure out what actually makes an application stand out there because clearly I’m not hitting whatever they’re looking for.

For anyone who got interviews/offers:
- What made your CV stand out?
- How technical was your cover letter?
- Did you focus more on communication/commercial awareness or research experience?
- Are there specific keywords or experiences they value?
- How much do they care about formatting/style?
- Is there anything people commonly do wrong in applications?

I’d really appreciate honest advice because I’m trying hard to improve my applications and break into healthcare consulting/medical communications, but repeated rejections are honestly starting to knock my confidence.

Thanks :)

I have 12+ years of medical writing experience (CME/CPD content, primarily oncology and immunology), but for US clients. Since I am now based in the UK, where CME writing is not much in demand, I am looking to pivot into regulatory writing. I am looking for suggestions to break into the field. Also, would my previous experience be relevant? Would I need to take up a course in regulatory writing?

I have managed to get past CV/cover letter stage for a AMW role and have three writing tasks to do.

Has anyone got any tips when working through these? I have an academic background so have a good grasp of writing, but this is all quite new to be honest. I just really want to pass the test.

I have many years of agency experience and I'm debating whether to go freelance. As you can imagine, my main concern is finding clients.

I'm based in Europe and have many contacts in the UK, and via them contacts in other EU countries. However, I wonder how feasible it would be that a client outside of my country would hire me. A director in one of my old agencies in the UK said that they were only allowed to hire freelancers in the UK. So I just wanted to get insight from others. What is your experience?

As the title suggests, has anyone successfully integrated AI to their work flow? Specifically for regulatory related documents.

Like all companies, management have forced AI to every task. No one in my department has successfully deployed AI to fully develop a document. Management expects us to do just this!!

Interested to hear other people’s stories, some tips to succeed, or a place to rant about senior executives not fully understanding the role of a medical writer (I.e., how AI can’t do it all)…