by Jim Gardner » Fri May 05, 2006 3:06 pm
Minal,
Once upon a time (ending a little over 4 years ago) I was a medical writer at a large pharma company. My department was primarily engaged in clinical/regulatory writing (like clinical study reports, summaries for NDAs, investigators' brochures, etc.) I was quite successful in my job and was often called upon to interview and evaluate job applicants.
The first thing I would look for on a resume would not be the content at all. I would look at how well you summarized things. I would look carefully at how you organized the resume. I would look for typos and grammatical errors. If the resume and/or cover letter was disorganized and littered with errors, I would suggest to my boss that we not bother interviewing the candidate. If the resume was in good order, I would then look for writing experience (a few papers, abstracts, grant proposals and such were sufficient for an entry-level position) and make sure that the candidate had a solid scientific background.
The reason why I would scrutinize resumes, cover letters, and e-mails so carefully is that I considered them to be "pure" examples of the candidates writing ability that were less likely to have been co-authored or heavily edited by others. The major journals employ editors that can substantially "enhance" the texts that they receive. As mpb rightly pointed out--errors like the ones you made in your original post would definitely count against you.
I also liked to look for project management and leadership skills in potential new writers. You can have a fine career as a writer without exceptional skills in these areas--but if you really want to excel and get the best assignments and promotions and such--these skills really help. Writers often have to act as project managers to get their documents completed. They need to keep a diverse team (that will often include physicians, statisticians, programmers, Reg Affairs associates, managers, etc.) on the same page and timeline despite conflicting priorities for team members. For example, it may not be among the official goals and objectives of your project physician to finish study report XYZ-001 on time, but it will be among your goals and objectives. Without true managerial authority how do you influence this physician, who may already be working overtime, to give you her/his input and reviews in a timely fashion? From a large pharma company standpoint, the ability to successfully deal with such team dynamics separates the adequate writers from the very good writers.
OK, I've blathered on long enough. I hope this helps.
Good luck!
Jim