You can make even the most complex medical topics accessible through your writing, so why does creating a resume feel so tough?
The good news is, if you’re looking for your next medical writing role, we can help.
In the guide below, we’ll share all our top writing tips, along with a medical writer resume example to help you overcome your writer’s block.
Guide contents
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Medical Writer Resume Example
This Medical Writer resume example gives you a good idea of how a good Medical Writer resume should look and read.
The information is presented professionally, and the content is well structured to ensure that time-strapped recruiters and hiring managers can find the important skills and knowledge quickly.
Refer to this example as you write your own resume.
Medical Writer resume layout and formatting
If you want to get noticed in the job market, you have to pay attention to the format and layout of your resume.
Essentially your resume needs to look highly polished, and provide hiring managers with an easy reading experience.
Use these resume formatting tips to get a head start on this.
How to format your resume
- Length: Recruiters often see hundreds of resumes per day – so keep yours under 2 pages in length, if you want to ensure it gets read in full.
- Font & text: Nobody likes to read huge unbroken paragraphs of text – and recruiters are no different. Break your resume text up with bullet points and use a clear simple font.
- Design & layout: Go with a resume design that looks good, but also allows for easy reading and navigation for employers. Ensure the page is clearly split up into sections by adding large font headings and dividing borders. Keep the color scheme simple and don’t overcrowd the page.
- Photos: You are not obliged to add a photo to your resume in the USA, but it can be a nice way of adding some life to the document.
Quick tip: Achieving a professional look for your resume can be difficult and time-consuming. If you want to create an attractive resume quickly, try our quick-and-easy Resume Builder and use one of their eye-catching resume templates.
Resume layout
Include the following sections when you write your resume.
- Name and contact details – Make it easy for employers to contact you, by putting these at the top.
- Resume summary – An intro paragraph sitting at the top of your resume, summarizing the reasons why you should be hired.
- Skills section – A short snappy list of your most important skills, that can be quickly digested
- Work experience – Reverse chronological list of your previous jobs – voluntary work and college placements can be included if you have no paid experience.
- Education – List your qualifications and professional training.
- Additional info – An optional section for things like hobbies and interests.
Here’s what you should include in each section of your resume.
Resume Contact Details
Add your name and contact details to the very top of your resume, making it easy for recruiters to get in touch
- Name and profession title
- Cell phone number – or another number you can answer quickly
- Location – Add your local area such as San Diego or New York – not your full address as that will take up too much space.
- Email address – Use your name or close variation – no nicknames from high school.
You can add a link to your LinkedIn profile if you have one – you do not need to include personal details like date of birth or marital status.
Medical Writer Resume Summary
Your resume summary is like your introduction to the recruiter or hiring manager – it should grab their attention and leave them eager to read more about you.
Achieve this by writing a snappy overview of your skills, knowledge and what value you can bring to an employer.
3 tips for creating a resume summary that will get noticed:
- Keep it concise: Aim for a short punchy paragraph of 4-7 lines. This is just enough info to showcase why you’d make the perfect hire, without going into excessive detail and overwhelming busy recruiters at such an early stage in the resume.
- Tailor to target jobs: Tailor your resume to your target jobs by studying the job description and adding as many matching skills as you can.
- Don’t use cliches: Recruiters always see cringey cliches like “hardworking guru who works well in a team or individually” – they don’t mean much to anyone, so focus your summary on tangible skills and experience.
Example resume summary for Medical Writer
What info to include in your Medical Writer resume summary?
- Summary of experience: What kind of companies have you worked for in the past? And which jobs have you carried out?
- Relevant skills: Highlight your skills which are most relevant to Medical Writer jobs, to ensure that recruiters see your most in-demand skills as soon as they open your resume.
- Vital qualifications: Showcase your level of education with a quick mention of any qualifications that are essential for the Medical Writer roles you are applying to.
Quick tip: Choose from hundreds of pre-written summaries across all industries, and add one to your resume with one-click in our quick-and-easy Resume Builder. All written by recruitment experts and easily tailored to suit your unique skillset and style.
Core skills section
Next, you should create a bullet pointed list of your core skills, formatted into 2-3 columns.
Here, you should focus on including the most important skills or knowledge listed in the job advertisement.
This will instantly prove that you’re an ideal candidate, even if a recruiter only has time to briefly scan your resume.
Top skills for your Medical Writer resume
Medical Communications – generating publications which are designed to stimulate awareness, discussion and procurement of new medical devices, drugs and treatments.
Editing and Proofreading – carefully checking for errors and appropriately amending copy before it is published or shared.
Scientific Content Standards – ensuring all publications confirm to the Scientific Content Standards.
Clinical Study Reports – writing complex reports which summarize clinical study objectives and results, including safety findings.
Regulatory Document Filings – submitting time-bound documents required for submission to relevant regulatory authorities across jurisdictions.
Quick tip: Our quick-and-easy Resume Builder contains thousands of in-demand skills for every profession that can be added to your resume in seconds – saving you time and greatly improving your chances of landing job interviews and getting hired.
Resume work experience section
Once you’ve hooked the hiring manager with your summary, you can really blow them away with you work experience.
List your previous jobs from newest to oldest to show the impact you made at each organization.
If you have years of experience, you can leave out some of the older jobs, and if you have little/no experience, you can bulk this section up with voluntary work and college placements.
Structuring your job descriptions
Resume job descriptions contain lots of information, so its crucial to structure them well.
Use the structure below to ensure hiring managers can consume the information easily.
Job outline
Each role description should begin with a qucik summary of the job and company, along with how the job fits into the strucuture of the organization.
Key responsibilities
Then delve into the detail of your job by listing out easy-to-read bullet points which show how you apply your skills in the workplace.
Tailor these bullet points to focus on the skills and knowledge that are required in the jobs you are applying for.
Key achievements
Finish each role by highlighting some impressive achievements you made whilst in the role.
Anything that benefited the employer can be included from making financial savings, to winning new customers.
Quantify your achievements with facts and figures if you can, e.g. “reduced call wait time by 10%”
Example job for Medical Writer resume
Outline
Write accurate and clear documents for an award-winning global medical communications agency that works alongside 1K+ pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies on some of the most innovative global healthcare products from early development through to post-launch.
Key Responsibilities
- Interview doctors and other healthcare professionals about their experiences with various treatments, therapeutic, and surgical procedures, as well as clinical trials.
- Use scientific materials to translate medical research into easily understandable language patients use before undergoing surgery or treatment plans.
- Draft research stories using evidence-backed medical terms/references to assure information is credible.
- Add graphics to support texts/illustrate points, format content to ensure suitability for targeted audiences, and proofreading final drafts before publication.
Quick tip: Create impressive job descriptions easily in our quick-and-easy Resume Builder by adding pre-written job phrases for every industry and career stage.
Education section
Towards the bottom of your resume, add your education section.
Here you should list your professional qualifications and academic record, such as high school diplomas or college degrees.
If you have lots of work experience, you can keep this section brief (because recruiters will be more interested in your career. If you have little/no experience then you should bulk this section up with plenty of detail.
Additional information
The bottom of your resume is a place to add any “additional info”
Any other info that didn’t fall into any of the previous sections can be added here.
If you have hobbies that are related to your profession or any awards or publications – add them here.
Writing your Medical Writer resume
A winning Medical Writer resume should look great, read well, and sell your skillset to hiring managers.
If you follow the steps above, you should be able to bag yourself a top job in no time.
And don’t forget you can use our quick-and-easy Resume Builder if you want to save time and ensure your resume contains the very best content.
Good luck with your job search!