It’s easy to find medical writing work online if you know where to look! In general, the more people you contact/network with, the better your chances of finding medical writing jobs that will sit well with you.
We recommend you start with these 7 places to find medical writing jobs. If you are looking to become a medical writer and want more advice, take a look at our medical writing courses made by real medical writers.
1 LinkedIn
Our top pick has to be LinkedIn. Start reaching out to people who work at companies or brands you want to work with. You can also volunteer your skills to a charity organisation to get a testimonial from them.
Build your LinkedIn profile properly
Your best chance for success on LinkedIn will be how well you build your profile on LinkedIn. We’re talking about the page that people will land on when they click your name.
Make sure you fill in your “About” section and “Featured” section so you have writing samples for people to look at, and people know what you are good at plus what you are looking for.
Post, comment and like on LinkedIn for visibility
Post on LinkedIn about what you do and, even better, start posting your testimonials if you have any. A testimonial will be a recommendation from a previous client, colleague, or person you have worked with to say you can do a good job.
Comment on other people’s posts and like posts to improve how often people see you on LinkedIn. If people see you are active and you like or comment on posts they like, it’s a great excuse to connect and check out your profile.
Use search and the LinkedIn jobs page
Search for recruiters on LinkedIn using the search bar and the jobs page (click the briefcase icon in the menu bar at the top). The LinkedIn jobs page has filters so you can look for freelance work, remote work and part-time or full-time work.
Company pages on LinkedIn
Look at the “people” tab on company pages on LinkedIn. This is a huge opportunity, you have to be brave and put yourself out there to speak to people (especially direct messages).
Join groups and network with other medical writers
Network with other medical writers so they can give you any of their “extra” work if they’re fully booked. You’ll also be part of a friendly community that wants to help you – it’s all about helping each other, and paying it forward.
I get all my work through LinkedIn pretty much!
2 UpWork
UpWork is where Hass and I (Virginia) both started as freelance medical writers. Hass even reached the top 50 medical writers in the world! He made sure he included a video on his profile, samples of his work in the portfolio section, and bid on work regularly.
To have the best chance of success on UpWork you need to buy connects and bid on work. It’s a small investment and pays off to help you find your first few clients and get those all important testimonials to show off on your website or on LinkedIn (or anywhere else!)
You want to keep your clients on UpWork as they provide payment insurance – so if you work and keep track of your hours, but your client does not pay you, then UpWork will pay you.
3 YunoJuno
YunoJuno is a place where big corporate clients like Ogilvy and DDB look for medical writers. You need to create a profile, have portfolio samples, and get your previous work history validated. Then you need insurance (professional liability and business insurance). And then clients can find you or you can start to bid on work.
They also run free events and have a well managed Slack channel for freelancers (around 5000 people at the time of writing).
4 Facebook
Love it or hate it, Facebook is full of people from all over the world looking for writers. Hass and his friends use this a lot to get all kinds of writing work. Simply go to writing groups and look for posts where people are looking for writers. Then contact them through an email – be sure to include your portfolio of writing samples (health writing or medical writing) or even a link to your blog with examples of your work.
You can connect with people on Facebook and exchange direct messages too.
5 Company websites
Directly email companies through their website “contact me” page, or look up their “about me” page and find those people on LinkedIn and message them.
Most company websites will also list freelance positions or permanent medical writer positions. You might want to try medical editing or being a content manager (this is how Virginia got started).
6 Newsletters
Sign up to newsletters (either free or paid with a subscription) that send you an email when a client is looking for a medical writer or medical editor.
I’ve got a long term client out of this which is amazing – you do not need to chase every opportunity here, try to think about what you will be good at and if you can really deliver what the client needs. It’s important to be selective, otherwise clients will no longer advertise on the newsletter.
7 Job boards on websites
There are plenty of job boards to choose from online, and some are medical writer specific (such as the one on the EMWA – European Medical Writing Association – website). Search for keywords like health writer, medical writer, medical editor, and associate medical writer or scientific writer.
Be sure to use the filters on job boards to get really specific with your searches to increase your chances of finding medical writing work you want.