Getting a full time medical writing role (or any writing role) isn’t as easy as it seems, mainly because interview processes are a thing.
Here’s the thing though. Do you actually know what your interview is about?
Do you seriously believe your employer gives a Paul McDougal what you did to make yourself a better team player back in high school? How telling someone to go long in a rugby game constitutes as ‘leadership skills’?
The answer – for the most part – is no (unless you’re applying to med school then, if you’re like me, you probably have some weird Duke of Ed story to share and learn from).
What your interview is (again, for the most part), is an opportunity for your employer to get to know who YOU are as a person, as a team member, and as a potential friend.
Likewise, the job interview is an opportunity for you to get to know who you’ll be working with, what sort of environment you’re going to be in, and what message you’ll be sending across.
So, to improve your chances of landing a medical writing role, stop doing these 5 things.
1. Not knowing who you’re working with
Remember, it’s a role for a company. Not just a random job in an empty office. Get familiar before you go into that room. Look up their values and their mission – do you agree with what they do and can you see the potential for yourself to grow with them?
2. Not asking questions
Your job interview isn’t an awkward Tinder date, it’s your potential future and you need to know if you’re a match. Do you want to invest your time at this company? Ask questions that could well and truly affect your life going forward.
3. Not knowing the medical writing lingo
Like all of us in the healthcare sector, medical writers too love the odd acronym here and there. Learn your SEOs (search engine optimisation) and ABPIs (regulatory writing standards).
4. Not having the credibility to back yourself
You’ve said what you are on paper. Now substantiate your statements with certificates, courses, conferences you’d attended and jobs you have done.
5. Not being aware of time
I literally booked a flight one day half way during an interview (unintentionally) so had to run out. Didn’t get the job. Don’t do what I did. Pace yourself as you speak and try not to ramble either!
These are just 5 common mistakes you can make during your medical writing job interview. There are plenty more that you can make too.
At the Write Clinic we work with you in improving your interview skills to make sure that you don’t run into the mistakes highlighted above.
If you to want to hone your interview skills from experts in the field, then the Write Clinic Fundamentals of Medical Writing Course may be for you.
I help healthcare professionals find remote working roles. Sick of your clinical career? Ditch your scrubs, drop me a email, and I’ll turn you into a scribe.