by Jim Gardner » Mon Oct 11, 2004 1:06 pm
Thanks for the kind introduction, Dave.
Marsha--the level of difficulty depends on your educational level, your geographic region, and the quality of writing samples you will be able to provide interviewers.
If you have a doctorate, and live in an area with lots of large pharmaceutical companies, you're ready to look for a job in regulatory/clinical/medical writing. You just need to have writing samples. Journal articles are good, but it is nice to also provide some "raw" writing material. (Articles almost always undergo lots of editing by coauthors, the journal's editing staff, etc. The writers who will interview you ought to be aware of this.) Throw an abstract or other short summary into the package. It's good to show you have the ability to summarize. Craft your resume and cover letters for writing jobs with great care. They may receive more careful scrutiny than your writing samples.
To get started sans experience at a pharma company, it may be wise to work as a "temp". I started out this way (see my previous post on this forum). Contract Research Organizations (CROs) sometimes have high turnover rates and may be willing to hire you with less education and/or experience. Be sure to look for these opportunities. There are also Medical/Clinical Communications firms that specialize in medical and scientific writing.
If you have neither a doctorate nor experience, it could be difficult to get started. With a masters-level degree you may be able to hook up with a temp agency, CRO, or communications firm. With a batchelors-level degree, you need to find a way to get some experience. At my current company, which has a large writing department, we've had a few writers with batchelor's degrees, but they had substantial experience in the pharmaceutical industry before lateralling into writing positions. If you have a batchelor's degree and no experience and you do not want to go back to school, a good course may be to find an entry-level laboratory, clinical, or QA job to gain industry experience. After establishing yourself in your new position, seek out opportunities to write. In many departments, nobody wants to do the writing-related tasks so you may be able to amass experience and establish a reputation.
Finally, you should network to find unadvertised opportunities and to learn about your local market for writing jobs. Joining AMWA (www.amwa.org) is a good place to start. They have local affiliates that often have meetings and networking events. The membership directory is a useful networking tool as well. If you are still a student you may qualify for a reduced-price student membership.
OK, I've gone on far too long for one post. Post again if you have some specific questions and I'll try to answer those seperately.
Good luck!
Jim