Everyone struggles with getting their first job as a regulatory medical writer.

I did for years. I sent thousands of emails, participated in countless networking calls, had dozens of interviews, and worked with multiple industry mentors.

Everything became easier when I came to one simple realization:

Your first job in the industry won't be as a regulatory writer.

And as soon as that clicked, I understood that getting your first job was much more manageable—I was just doing the wrong thing.

Here's what I should have done instead:

Connect with as many established consultants as you can.

These individuals typically work with multiple clients at once and may be willing to take you on as a subcontractor to work on the more administrative aspects of a job (i.e., QC, formatting, reference management.)

After you have done this work for a while, you will have enough experience to take on your own contracts as a regulatory medical writer.

Then you're off to the races.