Consultancy: Principles and Profits

As a PhD student and Post-Doc there has often been someone mentioning going into consultancy. Usually in the guise of 'why should I take THAT job when I could get 30+K doing consultancy' or ' I know a friend of a friend who's earning double what I earn doing consultancy for <insert name of company here>. So it seems to be the generally held consensus that it’s a job you can go into with a PhD and earn a lot of money. Naturally, my interest was piqued. I recently attended a number of presentations on different forms of consultancy and I thought I'd share what I found out. 

Fundamentally, consultancy firms give advice to big companies or sometimes the government in order to fix a particular problem. My initial question was 'Why would a pharmaceutical company employ an outsider to help them rebrand after a merger?' or ' Why would HSBC seek the opinion of non-bankers on how to streamline their online banking?’

The perfect situation for these big companies would be if they had a group of people poised and waiting to answer important questions whenever they occurred. But, what would those people do when there are no big mergers to rebrand, no new products to launch? It’s simply not affordable to keep people on the payroll just in case someone in the organisation has a problem. That's when the consultants come in.

They ARE waiting for the next big question to arise. And, when one company is done with them they fill their time by answering the questions from another company, and so on and so forth. In this way consultancies gain expertise in particular areas such as green initiatives, mergers, stock handling etc. and they can use their experiences gained from one company when working for the next. Professional research firms are somewhat similar to traditional consultancies. They are paid to research a particular problem or sector.

So, that’s consultancy. Now, how does it work in practice?

The first thing you should be aware of is that there are broadly two types of consultancy. The first are those firms that advise on matters of principle and what you might call Worthy Causes. These consultants might advise on environmentally sound practices, sustainability or social initiatives. Sometimes these firms are inline with a political party and can be called 'Think Tanks'.  The second type of consultancy gives advice on matters of profit and efficiency. It probably won't shock you to learn that it's the latter guys that tend to make more money and it is this career that people are referring to when they lament their wages compared to what they could be earning in 'consultancy'.

There are hundreds of think tanks and NGOs, dozens of large corporate consultancy forms and a few guys in between and I'm not about to list them all here. What I will do is highlight some of the glaring differences that I noticed from the seminars I attended. I'm going to refer to the two sectors as the 'principles' and the 'profits' camp. I'm not saying this to suggest that the principles camp are never interested in the bottom line (although they are often not-for-profit), nor am I suggesting the latter have no principles. I just need a word to divide and describe these two type of practices.

First things first, all of the seminars I attended were after work, during the week and all who attended were very grateful to the presenters for giving up their time to speak to us. I've often lamented the lack of alternative career advice for those in academia and the current programme at KCL is very welcome. More information can be found on the KCL Graduate School blog, look for posts by the Careers Consultant, Kate Murray. 

Ethos and atmosphere.
The seminars followed one another, week after week, so it was very easy to compare them. The very first thing I noticed was the atmosphere and general feel of the room. The difference was quite striking:

-The ‘principles’ consultancy was always presented by women who were confident but laid-back and approachable. The presenters all spoke of their embedded interest in societal change, sustainability or politics (the areas their consultancies/research companies worked in). They had all worked or researched these areas before they got the job and they spoke with great passion about why they felt their work was important. 

The ‘profit’ guys, and they were guys, were completely different. Upon arrival, the presenters greeted most attendees in person, they seemed to be on first name terms with most of the room. They did their PhDs at KCL so they probably did know a lot of people there, but they were super-confident, giving away freebies and arriving with leaflets. They weren't imposing or scary but they were completely self-assured and supremely comfortable speaking in this room. You really got the impression that they could chat to strangers all day long. They were very passionate about their company and how well they were looked after.

From what I could gather, the way consultancies get business is largely the same. Sometimes companies approach them, other times they approach the company, but it is always to solve a problem that the company does not have the in-house resources for, be that people, research capabilities or sector knowledge. 

What kinds of questions do the companies answer?

This is very different depending on the type of firm and will often have nothing to do with you degree. 

‘Principles’

How can we ensure the growing tea industry remains sustainable?

Can we approach the shipping sector as a whole to bring it inline with international guidelines?

Can smaller institutions like the women's institute or the local church help in changing communities’ attitudes to energy consumption?

Can small countries be used as a model for ours?

What is science telling us now about what we need to be looking towards in the future? 

Would our society benefit from a shorter working week?

‘Profits’

What's the best way for a newly merged bank to carry out it's internet banking?

How can a big pharmaceutical company keep track of its international stock?

What's the best way to demonstrate to a GP that drug 'X' is better than drug 'Y'?

What does the current market for arthritis drugs look like - who's leading the field? 

Entry level

Whilst all companies were keen to point out that skills gained during a degree, such as research, communication and problem solving, were key to success in this field, there was a major difference in the backgrounds of the people that presented. All of the people that worked in ‘principles’ consultancy had prior experience in their field. They had worked in 3^rd world development, NGOs and government schemes whilst the ‘profits’ men had next to no business background. In fact, one of them stated that working for a big consultancy firm was like a cheap way to get an MA. You learn a lot about business and you’re paid to do so.

Transferable skills
There are a number of transferable skills that you can take from your degree and/or PhD but there are some differences in how you'll apply them.

What else do I need on my CV

For 'principles' companies it was apparent that it would be best if you could demonstrate an interest in their sector. I got the impression that of you haven't belonged to a society or relevant organisation before you apply, you are unlikely to be considered in this competitive market. A lot of people simply have done these extra things and you need to demonstrate your passion to get yourself to the top of the list. Think about doing some volunteering or getting involved in societies if you haven't already. The 'profit' companies want drive, ambition and intelligence. If you can get past the tough selection process you're doing well!

What is expected at interview.

Demonstrate motivation, passion and commitment to the specific sector that each company consults on.

For the big 'profits' companies, the interview process is arduous and usually comprised of several different sections and online tests. Check out the website of the bigger companies: they usually describe their interview processes in detail. Expect online tests (which you can practice on-line beforehand), 'stress-days' - where they check how well you can prioritise by bombarding you with emails, face-to-face interviews with partners and high competition. 

If I get the job, what will I actually do?

This depends on the company and it's budget but most of time is spent researching, with some time spent talking to clients. The wealthy companies will tend to send you overseas, the small companies will tend to video conference! You will work quite independantly on your part of a project but usually as part of a larger team.

Key points to think about when deciding if this is the career for you

- From the beginning you will probably be expected to be customer facing, as well as doing research, are you ready for this?

- Some companies come up with the ideas but don't hang around to implement them, think about what you want before you apply to a company. For example, are you interested in the research and advice or in seeing a project through to its outcomes?

- The ‘profits’ companies invest a lot of time and money in your training with intensive courses and defined progression and development over the first few years. The ‘principles’ consultancies tend to let you learn on the job and training is much more ad hoc - Think about which is best for you.

If you want to look into consultancy then there are online lists you can look at but there are literally hundreds of firms out there. Use LinkedIn to see if you know someone (who knows someone) who is at a consultancy firm and see if you can get some advice on the inner workings of the company.

The consultancies and research firms that were discussed at KCL and formed the basis of this post were Deloitte, McKinsey, The New Economics Foundation, Social Pharma, Forum for the Future, Centre for Economic and Social Inclusion (CESI). I'm sure you can work out which camp each belongs to...

Updated 24-02-14:You can also get unpaid consultancy experience as a PhD student/graduate by working with Oxbridge Biotech Roundtable. They provide opportunities to get some work on your CV but the assignments are sometimes quite time-consuming and they aren't paid. I replied to a job advert for 10-15 hours a week that, in reality, was as much as 20-30 hours in weeks with big deadlines. Nonetheless, I think it's worth checking out if you can commit the time and want to get some experience. 

Dealing with rejection

We've all been there. You're sure it can work but you are getting mixed signals from them. You wait for them to get in touch and then, it happens. 

        

"We regret to inform you that we will not be progressing your application further. We have received applications from other candidates who more closely match the requirements of the position"

Balls.

It’s genuinely a coincidence that I’ve gotten around to writing a post on rejection on Valentine’s day but it seems fitting and I hope that this will be more useful than the shit you’ll find today in Grazia, Closer and <insert-name-of-magazine-that-promotes-self-loathing-here>.

I’ve been pretty open about the number of jobs I’ve applied for (nearing 50 now, if you’re wondering) and my success rates (two interviews, one spectacular job offer that I turned down). A few people have told me that I should keep it to myself, but I feel compelled to tell people the reality of my situation. It’s a bit like when someone compliments me on a particular piece of clothing and I am compelled to tell them how old, cheap or ‘from TK Maxx it is’.*

Anyway, this is not going to be a tale of woe and gnashing of teeth. Yes, it’s crappy when companies don’t reply. Yes, it’s a bit worse when you actually get a rejection. Job applications are not easy. Two or three in a week is exhausting and I have no ‘positive-control’ so I’m working in the dark most of the time.

What I wanted to write about this week was an answer to a question I get asked a lot: How do you deal with all the rejection? I’ll be honest, there are days when I’m really tired of it all. When I feel that if I had more time to write the bloody applications then maybe I’d get one of the jobs, but I’m so busy doing extra things to bolster my CV, maybe I’m spread too thin. Then, sometimes, I have a little cry. I’m quite fond of a good cry so this is not necessarily a bad thing. Anyway, we’re heading down the ‘tale of woe’ route but I just wanted to say that I’m not impervious to feeling crappy about it all. However, what I’ve done recently has really helped.

I have simply decided to do ‘new stuff’.

I guess it started by writing this blog, something I never thought I’d be able to do. It turns out, it wasn’t that hard and I’ve found out that I like doing it. You might think blogging is a complete exercise in narcissism and it is a bit, but it’s been a tremendous boost to my confidence to actually DO something. Something I thought I couldn’t do before.

Then, just before Christmas, bolstered by a bit of jealousy of my sister-in-law’s skills, I learnt to knit. I’m not great (the curled edges below probably show my tension is too tight) but it’s been really rewarding to learn the lingo, the patterns and to create something. I used to paint, draw and sketch a lot but, as messy hobbies, my one bedroom flat sort of vetoed them in fairness to my long suffering husband. It’s been very therapeutic to do but it also really made me proud. I could do something by the end of a week that I couldn’t do before. It didn’t cost much and I’ve found it really helpful to remind myself that I can do things.

Can you guess what I'm making? 

I also made a truly inedible pizza. Honestly, I’ve NEVER thrown something that I’ve cooked in the bin. I even froze an under-whipped tiramisu rather than chuck it out, once. This time, I thought to myself, I’d like to try and make a pizza. Yes, it was bloody awful. It was good to try though.

You can see where I tried to cut the dough in half
with a scissors to see if it was cooked. It wasn't

On the plus-side, the scraped off topping made
quite a nice pasta dish 

Last week, I got on a pair of skis for the first time in nearly 20 years. I’m not one of those Northern European ex-skiers who learnt in the womb either. I was hardly drawing on years of latent experience! In the end, I wasn’t half bad!  I was convinced I’d be appalling but, after just a couple of days, I was fine.

Look at me! Doing sport!

I decided the best way to combat the cold was to ensure
NONE of my skin was exposed.

This might seem like a completely pointless list of achievements but it’s important to remember that when you’re getting lots of rejections, you also did lots of other things too. 

Try a new hobby, start that book you’ve been meaning to read, dig out your old running shoes/bike/chess-set. I’ve found that by filling my meagre spare time with a couple of new things, the forefront of my mind isn’t dominated with ‘I got a rejection again this week’ but ‘how do I do a kfb purl stitch again?’** Remember that applying for jobs is just one of the things that your doing. Fill the rest of you time with things that will keep you positive and try and keep those in mind, too.

Maybe you got your son to finally eat with a spoon or trained the dog to sit. Maybe you worked out just how to make the perfect lasagne but, most of the time, if you have a little think, there’s usually something that worked. And, if not, try making a pizza. Apparently, it’s really easy. ***

*FYI: All my clothes are from TK Maxx or made by my Nan and most of them are over 5 years old. Some, over 15. I never grew.

** That’s for the knitters. God, I’m so cool.

***During the proof-reading of this blogpost, I got another rejection. I wonder if I could learn bridge?

In the next few weeks I'll be summarising seminars that I've been to on consultancy, patent law, science writing and think-tank research. I told you I've been busy, didn't I?

How to secure a job after your PhD

The lovely people at jobs.ac.uk recently staged a live Google hangout entitled 'How to secure a job after your PhD'.

For those who haven't taken part in a Google hangout, it's effectively like eavesdropping on someone else's Skype chat. 

In this hangout, five careers experts chatted about what they think are key recommendations and obstacles for jobseekers. If you were signed in you could ask them questions or use the Twitter hashtag #jobsq (worth a look) to interact and steer their conversation. I, for one, found it really useful and thought that a lot of their points were transferable to anyone who's looking for a new job, not just those who are doing, or have done, a PhD. 

The hangout was chaired by Aimee Bateman, who is a commercial recruiter running a careers organisation called Careercake, helping jobseekers through advice, training and interactive events like the Google hangout. 

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Sharing their thoughts were: 

Dr Chris Humphrey who runs jobs on toast - a site/blog dedicated to helping people get fulfilling careers after their degree, PhDs etc.. Chris has done the PhD, PostDoc route and has ended up in non-academic project management - he wants to show the full range of career options open to qualified people and help them to identify their 'transferable skills'. 

Claire Jones, a Careers Professional at Nottingham University who works with researchers. She opened with 'PhDs are talented people with a range of attributes' - She's generally surprised at their lack of confidence.

Dr Ioanna Iordanou, a teaching fellow at Warwick Business School. She left academia but went back and now loves it - she has seen both sides of the story. 

Dr Nadine Muller, a lecturer in English Literature at Liverpool John Moores who got her academic post straight after her PhD

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The hangout kicked straight off by answering questions submitted before the event. Here is a summary of what was discussed:

How do you show an industry that you're interested if you've spent the last x years in academia?

This question is relevant for anyone looking to make a career move in to a new sector.

Advice followed the lines of thinking of yourself as a broad professional rather than your specific area of expertise. For example, you are a professional scientist, rather than a virologist. You are an expert in communication with a broad range of individuals, rather than a teacher. The pace and deadlines in different sectors will be different and you need to make sure that the employer knows you are aware of this and can manage the difference. 

Ultimately, you need to show awareness of the sector you want to work in. You can gain this through following key performers in any given market on Twitter or via contacting people on LinkedIn. Get this awareness into your cover letter and that should make you stand out.

Another key recommendation was 'Don't be defined by your qualifications'. The discussion focussed on the fact that people are more than the letters after their name. Build on (professional) relationships on-line and in person and this will help make the job search easier. One suggestion was to surround yourself with people who are doing what you want to do and see how they work. By taking time to establish relationships with people in a given sector you show your enthusiasm and drive, whilst learning a lot and getting new contacts

What are employers looking for?

This came from a number of people trying to work out what to prioritise in their work. In most jobs, including the PhD, there are opportunities to do 'extra' things. The problem is deciding which are worth making time and sacrifices for.

Try to understand what are key activities in the discipline, institution or sector you want to work in. For example, in the humanities and subjects like politics, books and chapters of books can carry a lot of prestige, but in research science, journal articles are usually favoured. Ultimately, they are both publications that required project management and communication skills. If what you've done doesn't perfectly fit what they require, sell the skills you gained by doing the project, rather than the project itself.

If you can't fulfil some of the criteria that an employer wants yet, you can also show how you plan to meet those targets in the future. Again, this shows planning, ambition and drive. 

Specifically for academia, Claire Jones recommended publishing regularly and in increasingly 'better' journals, whilst Nadine Muller suggested that it's worth keeping some work 'in the bank', especially if you can increase it's impact with more research. This is also something you can include on your plan.

If you know in advance that you will be looking for a job soon, look at the requirements for roles beforehand and see of you can tick off any of them, with a little bit of extra work, between now and when you have to apply.

This brought the conversation onto the always popular topic of...

Transferable skills

Employers are 'buying' the person, not your CV, so make sure that you show them how valuable you are! This can be difficult after a rejection (or ten) but as Aimee Bateman said 'You're value doesn't decrease just because someone failed to see it. (If anyone manages to stay positive immediately following a rejection, let me know how you did it!)

To identify your value, Chris Humphrey recommended doing a 'Skills Audit' with a friend or colleauge. You will have varying levels of around 20 skills from practically every job and qualification you have. Work out what these are by asking others if you are not sure. This can be awkward, so try asking for specifics. Don't just ask 'What am I good at? but, instead 'What kind of problem would you come to me to help you fix', 'When have I helped you in the past?' You can then add these comments to LinkedIn or even directly to your CV.

Examples of transferrable skills you may have:

Project management - delivering your thesis, research project (or wedding) to strict deadlines, with good planning

Management of people - student supervision, getting people to work in a team etc., childcare

Computer skills - manipulation of text and images for reports, as well as the use of more niche programmes specific to your role

Organising events - conferences, presentations, meetings.  

Various types of communication - influence, negotiation and clear explanations 

Ultimately, employers will be interested in HOW you did the things on your CV and not just what you did. You should always value the breadth of your experience. In research, you have the opportunity to learn new things, so try not to focus on the end target, the degree, the research, or the articles, but on the skills you developed in the process. This can help you focus on the things you actually liked doing and sell your skills to the employer.

How do you balance the job search and the job?

Fundamentally don't get 'lost' in your job (the PhD) and understand your priorities. If your priority is an academic post then you need to plan your papers. If your priority is a job in industry then it's worth networking BEFORE you leave. 

Try not to think 'I have to find a job' as this is a bit daunting, think 'I need to build a relationship with someone who could help me understand the job better'. This will make you a much better candidate when it comes to applying and can actually be enjoyable!

One great bit of advice was, with all business relationships, give something to the other person three times before you ask for anything from them. This might seem a bit contrived, but if you send someone a paper, a recommendation or a job advert they might be interested in then, by the time you ask for advice on applying to their company, you're more likely to be thought on favourably. Nobody wants to be the guy who got in touch just to ask for a favour the first time.

Alternatively, if you're not ready to apply for a job yet, try practicing your application. Get a feel for how long it takes to just prepare your CV each time!

How do you convince an employer you are not over qualified?

If you have a degree or PhD and you want to move field, then you will often have to go for a junior role. However, how do you show an employer that you are not over-qualified and just using the post as a stepping-stone. Remember that the fear of being over-qualified can be in your own head and you need to show them that, in fact, you are perfectly qualified. Show that your other skills demonstrate you are an ideal fit for that role. 

In your cover letter, talk about why you are applying and why you want to work for them. Don't make it sound like you've filled in five applications and this just happens to be one of them. Fundamentally, they want to give the job to the person who wants it the most - make sure it sounds like that is you!

Don't make it sound like you don't care about the company, either - You will have to fit into the wider organisation as well as just the immediate team.

Don't start your cover letter with why they should pick you, start with why you picked them. Use something personal, not something you found on the website mission statement because anybody could use that. Find an article on-line or a blogpost that shows you've gone the extra mile.

How do you stay positive and motivated when filling out job applications?

If you apply for a lot of different jobs, your enthusiasm for each application can start to drain. Learn to value yourself during your PhD, degree or job and when you value yourself you can see that it's worth the time and effort to find a job you will enjoy! Take time to remind yourself what you're good at. Remind other people you work with that they are good at certain things (if they are) and this positivity should come back to you. 

Employers of all kinds rarely tell their people how valuable they are - try to remember your personal value, rejection doesn't mean you're rubbish - The right job will be the one you actually get! 

Should you take things off your CV?

Whether you take your PhD off your CV for a temp job, or take temping work off your CV for an executive job, the general response from the experts was a resounding 'No!'

Think of your time at university as a 3-4 year job. Talk about running a research project to deliver x number of papers or a patent. Employers may not realise that the time spent in your PhD is much like a (long hours and poorly paid) job. Repackage it and include it in your employment history.

When it comes to temporary jobs or low-skilled work, these positions show that you are willing to do something that is not perfect in order to reach goals and targets. This can simply be working in a bar in order to pay the rent while you look for your perfect job. It is a rare employer that would prefer to someone who sat on the sofa eating biscuits to someone who took a temporary job.

Ultimately, don't EVER devalue yourself. 

Final thoughts on embarking on a new career

Don't think of yourself as inferior because your early in any career path. Just because you haven't reached a certain target, you could sell that you plan to reach this target whilst working for them. 

You shouldn't feel you are begging for something your not entitled to! 

A PhD is a wonderful asset and you managed it on your own - Communicate and understand the value of your PhD, or any experience, to yourself and then you'll be able to communicate it to others.

Use any resources you can, such as libraries, careers advisers or any other colleagues that could give you advice and suggestions. 

Have a story that explains why your entering this new field - You're not 'chopping and changing', you've fulfilled one challenge and now you're now ready for the next opportunity. 

When looking for a new job, remember that all jobseekers are in the same boat - try not to behave as competitors or enemies, use each other as a network.  

Start building quality relationships as soon as possible and the whole process should be much easier!

You can go to #jobsq on Twitter, as well as jobs.ac.uk, for any further discussion of these topics but  (CHEESE ALERT) don't give up, keep at it and value yourself!

Some people say I'm chatty...

Some others would go for 'bloody annoying' and I do occasionally wonder, particularly after meeting someone for the first time, if I really had to tell them their tie/socks/t-shirt were nice and where did they get it? Have they been to that really great tie/sock/t-shirt shop in McNowhere? Do they prefer ties to, say, the cravat? Where are they on the neckerchief?

Anyway, you get the idea, I hope. I like talking to people, finding out about them and increasingly often nowadays, telling them about my job/science or how they can do things in the lab.

This got me thinking that maybe I could use this as part of my job. I was recently advised to think of something I'd do anyway and find a way to get paid for it. So yeah, it makes sense to get paid for talking to people if, like me, you do it automatically and like doing it.  I also like to think I'm good at it. I don't mean that the way I talk is particularly good, it can be unintelligible when I get excited, tired or angry and my Welsh accents gets (even) broader. What I mean is that I think I can talk to most people about most things with a bit of enthusiasm. Even if it it's something I know nothing about, sometimes especially then - I like talking things over with people.

So, what's the point...

Well, I'm going to spend a considerable amount of time over the next few weeks looking into an area of science called 'Scientific Communication'. Scientific communication has become a 'catch-all' term to describe the relay of science between different people and covers a multitude of jobs.

Traditionally, in my view scientific communication has usually meant science fayres and festivals, possibly Outreach* schemes run by institutions and science journalism. There are a lot of roles in this area that I'm really interested in and I'll be scouring sites for posts that involve organising events related to science, as well as being the scientist that does the explaining and sharing what I've learnt with you lovely people. Fundamentally, I'm going to be looking for roles in scientific communication  that involve putting into practice the transferable skills we learn from our degrees that we hear so much about - communication, organisation, independence, decision making, prioritising, perseverence, people skills, time-management, the list goes on.

On the subject of an actual job, I'm writing this blog in order to 'precipitate' my thoughts (check out my science-pun, a must have for these sorts of blogs), get some practice at 'communication' and promoting my stuff and to see if I actually like doing it. I'd recommend you do the same if this is something you think you might be interested in. There's also a vast amount of scientific communication that goes on on-line and I'd suggest getting on Twitter and checking out the blogs to see how others are doing it.

If you want to get an inside line on what's getting 'communicated', and by whom, then check out the next blog where I'm going to start a more formal list of blogs/tweeters on sciencey stuff. I'll include a synopsis and my opinion of each source (much as that matters) and try to keep it up to date as I go. I started something similar a few weeks ago but I've come across many more and thought a regularly updated list would be more useful - watch this space. Literally. It'll be in this space.

By the by, four more jobs applied for this week, I'll let you know.

*Another 'catch-all' to cover any event where an institution 'reaches-out' to people -Often prospective students. The students learn about science and (by proxy) the institution, the institution gets exposure to a wider audience and the person carrying out the activity gets bombarded with enthusiastic questions that they often can't answer.

So, you want to be a medical writer...

If it’s not writing the leaflet that goes inside medication – what IS medical writing? 

If we turn to a higher power, e.g. Wikipedia…

 

                        ….well that’s much clearer. Or not.

At the Nature Jobs Careers Fayre 2013, I spoke to EnvisionPharma and Oxford PharmaGenesis about the details of medical writing and I've also squeezed info out of friends via facebook and the like. They were generally enthusiastic about their jobs and had worked on writing the 'copy' (pointless word for 'words') in many varied types of project.

Projects included:

- Leaflets for doctors (to explain a prescription regime for a particular medication),

- Whole books on a particular disease

- Papers describing a pharmaceutical company’s or biotech’s clinical trials.

- Information for patients who are taking part in clinical trials

- Congress reports
- Posters

So it seems like there are a lot of ways to ‘medically' write and I think it can take some time to find your 'niche'. For example, even if you decide you like medical writing, you may well change project types if you find you're better at manuscripts than patient leaflets.

What kind of skills do you need?

If you go in as a Junior, then there is a lot of training provided on the job, so don't worry if this is not something you're formally 'qualified' for. For example, taken directly from a vacancy as a Junior Medical Writer at Envision Pharma, I've added some comments in red...

As a medical writer you will need:

— To demonstrate sound scientific understanding and analytical skills
    as you will be required to explain complex concepts and data to a
    wide and varied audience

By the time you’ve graduated, and then carried out your PhD (and possibly PostDoc) you’ve probably had ample opportunity to discuss your work with people and know if you’re any good at it.

— To work independently to research, write, edit, and proof copy to the
    highest scientific and editorial standards across a diverse range of
    educational materials including abstracts, posters, manuscripts, and
    slide kits

For me, I know I can do all of this, but I’m not really a fan of the rigmorale that is manuscripts – would I be employed to continually write othe people’s manuscripts. Forever.(?)

— To be able to manage your time effectively, enabling you to work on
    multiple projects and meet deadlines

If you've managed a lab and/or your research pretty independently, you'll be fine with this.

— A professional and enthusiastic approach to working with both clients
    and physicians

I’d be happy, nay ecstatic, to find some genuine enthusiasm in the workplace

— To be an ‘advanced’ user of Datavision™

No idea what this was – a bit of research reveals it to be a bit of planning software. To be honest, I don’t think they’d expect you to know how to use this when you start, probably something you’d learn whilst there.

If you have graduated with a science degree (preferably a PhD), enjoy writing and have an exceptional eye for detail, and ideally have previous experience in medical writing and editing, please contact us….

Day to day...

A good friend who is now a medical writer gave me a description of what her work entails when writing 'patient recruitment documentation' - information for patients and doctors taking part in a study. I'll try and do her justice here...(any mistakes are my own!)

1. A project is allocated to you based on your experience by your project manager.

2. Timelines and key information to include are provided by the project manager (this normally takes place in a meeting involving other team members). For this area of work the timelines are normally short, i.e. 3-4 weeks rather than months.

3. Read the clinical trial protocol, do any background reading and formulate the information.

4. Written work is checked by a senior medical writer.

5. Material is finalised and sent to the editorial team.

6. Liase with the editorial team to answer questions and fill in any gaps.

7. Document is sent to the client for review.

8. After a few rounds of review (1-3), the word files are then sent to be 'prettified' by a 'source team'.

9. Pictures are added, layout is perfected etc.. As a writer you may be able to request appropriate imagery which is found by the source team and then added.

10. The finished piece goes for a final client review which can involve more, usually minor, changes.

11. Print and distribute.

Anything given to patients must be reviewed by an 'independent review board' who ensure that the materials are not 'promoting' the study and this can add time to the process. There are lots of rules governing patient and public-facing material.

The overall process of deadlines, writing and review by the customer appears similar for most types of documents. However, how and where you get that information from and the guidelines you must follow vary substantially from document to document. For example, for a publication on a clinical trial, a report of all the data is usually received by the medical writer in the first instance. They then contact the author(s) by phone or e-mail to define key points that need to be made. The drafts are compiled and edited internally before being sent to the authors for approval - This usually happens several times before submission to a journal, just like the rounds of drafting (and redrafting) we do with our own manuscripts, I expect. Clinical trial publications have their own set of strict guidelines about full disclosure and author contributions.

There's also promotional writing around a particular medication and researching the market in order to be able to do this - it appears that there is a lot of 'reading around' required in order to be a good medical writer. As a result, medical writers learn a lot about the disease area or trial that they are working on, but, of course, carry out very little science themselves. This could perhaps be a drawback for people who like to be on the ‘business-end’ of the work but I’ve been told it’s very rewarding to turn often incomprehensible data and facts into readable, digestable text. 

Depending on the company and job, it seems that although there’s a lot made of the team-atmosphere,  you are largely working on your own document that you refer to a senior member of staff for 'proofing'. The job appears to be quite flexible and 'family-friendly' - as it is desk-based you should be able to work from home occasionally or adapt your hours to suit your home life, if needs be.

A few quotes (positive and negative) from our medical writing colleagues...

- I am learning lots of different things all the time about therapy areas and the industry in general, and generally speaking I find it less stressful than the lab!

- I would definitely recommend the line of work though, overall it is pretty rewarding.

- ...sometimes feel that it is not 'scientific' enough.

- Sitting at a desk all day is...one of the downsides of the job.

- It definitely wasn't an easy decision to leave the lab, but I don't have any regrets now!

For information on how to start a career in 'medcomms' (as the cool kids call it) try NetworkPharma and MedComms Networking where you can find lots of information on how to get started in medical writing such as a free careers guide, career days and job ads. The site seems to be heavily involved with a recruitment agency called Carys Mills who can be a great help in finding the elusive first post, I've been told. There's also the comprehensive (and more formal) European Medical Writers Association website with details on jobs, conferences and even their own journal. 

As with most jobs nowadays, this appears to be a competitive market but it is actively seeking new skilled people. So, have at it!