Video transcript
Medical writing tests are a MedComms rite of passage. Every medical writer has to do one to get their first medical writing job. Tests are also part of the recruitment process for medical writing jobs throughout a writer’s career. So maybe you’re watching this video because you’re an experienced Medical Writer applying for a job in a new agency, but you haven’t passed their writing test. Either way, this video is for you.
I’m Eleanor Steele, and I am the MedComms Mentor.
I passed my first writing test back in 2004, more by luck than judgement, I think, considering how little I knew about MedComms at the time. Since then, I have marked hundreds of tests, and created the tests and interview activities at several different agencies.
I want to share my insights from all of these perspectives to help you pass your next test. If you submit a test and then don’t get the job, don’t worry. You’re not alone. This isn’t a sign that you should give up unless the whole experience made you think that MedComms isn’t for you, which is a legitimate position. But if you’re watching this video, I suspect that’s not the case.
Getting your first MedComms job isn’t necessarily easy, and there are a lot of people who aspire to become a Medical Writer and as MedComms is kind of niche and mysterious, it’s not always clear what you need to do to show off your skills and get that role.
Don’t worry, I am here to help and I have six microtips to help you move on from a failed test and hopefully get your MedComms career off to a flying start or launch you to new levels.
1. Celebrate your achievement
Failing a test may not seem like a cause for celebration, but it is. You submitted a test. That means that you were asked to submit a test, and that’s a very good sign.
At least one agency thought that your application was good enough that they wanted to see what you could do. Depending on the agency, that might have been after an initial interview or maybe a recruitment day. By being asked to do a test, you have overcome at least one, if not several, of the hurdles that you need to jump over to get that first MedComms job. OK, you didn’t get over all the hurdles, but that doesn’t mean that you can’t do it.
Also, you actually submitted the test. You didn’t look at the brief and think, “Ugh, that looks like hard work,” and wander off to watch Netflix. You did the work. You got a taste of medical writing. And that is another achievement worth celebrating.
Reassure yourself. It’s not easy. You probably don’t know how close you were to passing or how many people you were up against. Medical writing tests are pretty variable too. There isn’t a standard test or a standard standard that all companies use.
Maybe the one that you took just didn’t suit your writing style and that is good to know, because tests generally reflect the kind of work that you would do at that company. It’s better to move on and maybe find something new that would suit you better than being upset that you didn’t get the job at that company.
Now, I don’t know about you, but I love a podcast, and one of my favourites is How to Fail with Elizabeth Day. At the beginning of each episode, she introduces the guest by saying, “Learning how to fail teaches us how to succeed better.” It might be worth listening to a few episodes to put your failure into perspective and also get inspiration from her guests about how to move on from failure and use it to your advantage. But let’s think about this test in particular. What can we learn from it?
2. Ask for feedback
Most agencies don’t give feedback on tests. I know this is kind of rubbish. How are you supposed to improve if you don’t know where you went wrong? Feedback is the cornerstone of how Medical Writers learn the job, but if you don’t get feedback on your test, it can be hard to actually get that job.
So, ask for feedback. Send a short, professionally worded email asking for feedback on your test so that you can improve your skills and have a better chance of passing your next test. Make it easy for the person that you’re contacting to give you that feedback by focusing your questions.
Ask for specific details about things that you did well because people often focus on problems when giving feedback, but it’s actually really useful in this context to hear about the things that you should keep doing in the next test because you’re already doing them well. These are your natural strengths and honing them way easier than building up areas that you find harder. You should also ask for areas where you didn’t meet their expectations though, so that you can create some strategies to do better next time.
Even if you ask though, they may not actually send you any feedback. They’re busy. The people who mark tests are probably managing an internal team and multiple client projects. They probably really want to give you feedback. It just might not be feasible.
If you don’t get feedback from the agency, you could potentially ask a friend, preferably somebody who works in MedComms or a related industry because you’re more likely to get constructive feedback from them that you’re actually going to be able to use in future tests. They will understand what the general expectations are, and may have industry specific observations that would help you next time.
Alternatively, you could ask me. There’s a link in the video description below giving you all the details about how you can submit a writing test for my feedback.
Now, this is to help you understand how you can improve your skills to pass future tests rather than to get my feedback before you submit a test. After all, I won’t be able to give you feedback on all your work once you get a medical writing job, so you’re better off doing the actual test yourself. And I won’t have the mark scheme or the specific criteria that the agency used to mark the test. The feedback that I give will be based on my experience of MedComms and what agencies are looking for in tests. If you don’t get any feedback from the agency, my feedback will definitely be better than nothing though.
3. Look through your submission with fresh eyes
Whether or not you’ve had feedback on your test, go back to your submission. Read through the brief. Then read through the content that you developed. Think about it from the perspective of the person marking it.
Does it make sense? Did you do all of the tasks outlined in the instructions? Have you spotted any silly mistakes?
Don’t worry if you see things that make you cringe. This is perfectly natural. Tests are stressful. Deadlines add to the pressure and you’re only human. People make mistakes and that’s OK.
Whenever we go back to something that we wrote a while ago we will inevitably find mistakes or things that we would do differently now and it’s hard to see them when we’re working on the document because we’re too familiar with the content, and also in the time since you did the test, you’ve carried on reading other content. Maybe you’ve done other tests too. You’ve almost certainly written other things, even if it’s just messages to friends or family, but you’ve probably done other work. That means that you will possibly have learned more about writing and developed your craft. You’ve moved on since the person you were when you did that original test.
As writers, we’re always developing. I’ve been a professional writer since 2004, and I am definitely still learning and honing my craft. It’s often easier to find problems in our work when we look back at it, but don’t stop there.
What did you do well? It’s just as important to find things that worked, that we want to carry on doing, or that we really enjoyed as part of that test, because those aspects can help us remember why we wanted to do the test in the first place, why we want to do the next test, and ultimately why we want to get the job that we’re applying for. They’re the foundation that you’re building on basically.
It can be hard to find those positive things when we’re looking at something that we know has been rejected though. So if you’re struggling, my next microtip might help you find something to cheer you up.
4. Look at similar content
What did you actually have to do on the test? Classic activities include writing an abstract for a paper or submission to a congress, creating a short slide deck for a presentation on data, or designing an infographic to show some data visually. But each agency has a slightly different spin on what they want, and there are lots of other possibilities too.
Whatever kind of content you had to create, try to find some similar examples. Maybe abstracts for papers in the journal that your paper was published in, or in the same therapy area. You can find abstracts online from lots of different congresses, and some also have open access presentations, so you can see the way slide decks are presented there too.
Infographics and other visual forms of data are also all over the internet. There are lots of different options out there. Some great, some quirky, and some that really don’t work. All of these kinds of examples are so useful. You can compare what you did with the examples that you found and see where you had a similar approach and where you handled things differently.
Now, remember, there isn’t one single approach for most MedComms projects, so if you did something differently from an example, that doesn’t mean it’s wrong. It’s good to notice it, though, and think about it.
What can you learn from that difference and maybe bring into your work the next time when you tackle something similar, whether it’s another test or some content when you’re actually working as a medical writer.
I’ve got some key things you could look out for. When you are considering these examples and firstly, the language in the example. So what kind of terminology did they use? What level of detail? How much explanation was there? These kind of linguistic choices are a key part of medical writing because they help us make the content appropriate for the audience that we’re writing for.
Another important aspect to consider is data visualisation. Medical writing isn’t just about words. We have to make a lot of our content very visual, not just the figures and tables in a published paper. This can be tricky if we’re more used to simply using words. So again, finding examples and focusing on how the data are presented, what kind of visual aspects are drawn out, and how the audience would interact with them.
Is it something that needs to be accessible to patients or caregivers or is it to be used by busy healthcare professionals to help them understand new data or how to use a new drug?
As medical writers, we can work on a huge range of types of content with very different visual requirements and looking at examples is a great way to understand how we can present information appropriately for that type of content and for that particular audience.
Once you’ve looked at some examples of similar content, it’s time to make use of what you’ve found.
5. Reflect on what you could do differently next time
Firstly, consider how you could use any feedback that you’ve received. Now, it can be hard to hear feedback, even if it’s presented in a really constructive way, but getting used to this and finding ways to use feedback, even if you don’t like hearing it, is absolutely crucial.
Feedback is fundamental to how Medical Writers learn the job and it’s the cornerstone of on-the-job training. So, look at any feedback and think about what it means for future projects. What should you keep doing or build on? What should you change? Is there anything that you need to practice or get some training on?
Now, whether or not you got any feedback, reflect on what you found when you looked back at your test with fresh eyes. Which bits made you smile or feel proud when you look at them? Which bits did you enjoy doing? Which aspects seemed difficult at the time but were actually really satisfying?
On the flip side, was there anything that you look back at and think, “I did not get that right!”? And what can you do next time to make sure that you nail that aspect of the test?
Reflecting on your feedback and your own observations on the test and the similar examples that you found will help you make a proactive plan. Write this plan down. Maybe in a notebook, maybe a Notion page, whatever works for you.
But record it so that you’ve got something to refer back to next time you do a test or when you start working as a medical writer. It’s so easy to think, “I’ll definitely remember that!” when we’ve just had a revelation about something. But chances are, when some time has passed and we’re doing something stressful, like another test, all those bright ideas just vanish. So, do your future self a favour and write it down.
What if you found an issue that you’re not sure how to fix? That’s where my next microtip comes in.
6. Get some training
First of all, I want to highlight that training isn’t necessarily something that you have to pay for. All my YouTube videos are available for free, and this is not my only video about medical writing tests.
My very first video gave you my top five tips to make your medical writing test stand out, and it has a free PDF summary that you can download and use when you’re actually doing a test. If you use those tips, if you weren’t already, you will definitely do better next time.
I’ve also contributed to a webinar all about medical writing tests with some MedComms legends hosted by Peter Llewellyn back in August 2023, and you can watch that for free.
And the other contributors also have resources and support around tests and other aspects of getting your first MedComms job. But you might want something with a bit more support and the potential to get individual feedback. You can sign up to attend my training on how to ace your writing test via the link in the description below.
There are options for attending a live session or to get access to self-paced content depending on your availability, and the way that you learn best. Whichever version you sign up for, you’ll get the same content.
I’ll introduce the different types of tests that agencies generally use and give my insights on what the people marking them are looking for. You’ll get checklists for completing different types of tests effectively and a brief for a practice test, including several different types of activity that you can do after the session. There will also be a Q&A component to both types of training, so you can get my answers to any questions that you have. If you sign up for a live session, it will be recorded so that you can go back to it later.
As an optional extra, you can also sign up to submit your practice test to me and I will mark it and give you individual feedback to help make sure that you’re ready to ace any test when you’re faced with the real thing.
Download the PDF summary
Failing a medical writing test can be a massive disappointment, but the only reason to give up at that point is if you hated doing the test. After all, the test is likely to be based on the kind of work that you would do if you got the job. If you hated it, fair enough, move on. There are plenty of other career options, but if you still want to become a medical writer, then celebrate your achievement.
Not everyone gets asked to submit a test, and you will have learnt important things from the process. Ask for some feedback so you can understand what you should keep doing in future tests, but also the areas that you can work on to give you a better chancing of passing next time. Then, look through your submission with fresh eyes to see what else you can learn from the content that you developed.
Find examples of similar types of content to examine their linguistic choices and the way that they present data to be appropriate for the target audience. Once you’ve taken these steps, reflect on what you’ve uncovered and write down a plan so that you don’t forget what you’ve learned from the process.
And if you need more support, get some training, whether that’s from free resources like some of my other YouTube videos, or by joining my training on how to ace your writing test.
You can download a free PDF summary of all of these tips from the video description below, and it includes links to everything that I’ve mentioned.
Please do like and share this video if it’s been useful. And if you have a question or a topic you’d like me to cover in a future video, please just pop it into a comment and I’ll see what I can do. And you can also send me a tip via a link in the description below, which will help support future free content like these videos and the PDF summaries, and you will also have my eternal gratitude.