What a certification signals
Certification can signal professional knowledge, commitment and credibility to employers and clients. Its value in hiring or freelance work depends on how the credential is understood and on the holder's ability to deliver good work.
Credibility and professional commitment
Professional development can form part of a medical writer's marketing plan, with graduate study, life-sciences editing certification and association certificates offering ways to expand credentials and credibility with employers and potential clients.
In 2015, the issuer of the Medical Writer Certified credential proposed three benefits of earning it:
- Increasing an employer's or client's confidence in the holder's credibility and medical writing knowledge.
- Demonstrating commitment to continued professional development.
- Increasing marketability and opportunities for career advancement.
AMWA also recommended the new credential to writers wishing to demonstrate skills to potential clients or document professional growth. Supporters saw certification as a means of advancing the profession's standing as well as validating individuals' knowledge, skills and attributes.
In 2019, AMWA's president, herself an MWC holder, regarded the credential as a professional standard and part of her promise of value to clients and colleagues. She had seen job advertisements stating “MWC preferred”, although she did not yet know how much competitive advantage it would bring her. Association leaders also described credentialed members as more likely to be seen as leaders, follow standardised practices, serve as association officers, renew membership and hold an advantage over colleagues without credentials.
Employer responses
An editor who pursued BELS certification voluntarily had to explain its meaning to her employer; afterwards, that employer preferred to hire BELS-certified editors. In 2009, she also reported seeing increasing numbers of job advertisements seeking certified editors.
A survey conducted in November and December 2009 obtained responses from 15 individuals in 13 pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, all among the industry's 50 largest. Certificates or certifications from medical communication organisations were considered valuable by 92% of respondents hiring editors and 79% of those hiring writers. Many respondents said credentials could tip the balance between otherwise equally qualified candidates. Such credentials can indicate a commitment to professional excellence.
Informal discussions with recruiters and hiring managers suggested that credentials from programmes with stronger validation were taken more seriously.
Freelance clients
Freelancers differ in how much value they attribute to certification. An experienced BELS-certified editor reported in 2011 that years passed before a potential client asked about her certification, and that she often had to explain that ELS did not mean English as a second language. She retained the letters out of pride but did not think they attracted clients, especially after her work shifted toward writing; she attributed attracting and keeping clients to experience, reputation and good work.
A freelancer without certification argued that it could distinguish reliable writers from other strong candidates by signalling seriousness, commitment to quality and continued learning. Another freelancer considered certification more likely to help attract clients early in a career than in an established practice, while retaining clients still depended on doing the work well. She also expected certification to benefit the profession.
A medical marketing communications writer reported that clients had not cared about her journalism master's degree or AMWA certificate and thought certification might matter more for scientific freelance writing. A freelancer intended to take AMWA's planned examination because she expected the process to improve her writing and service to clients, rather than directly attract or retain them.
Certification and demonstrated competence
Certification's ability to establish credibility is disputed. A medical communication specialist argued in 2016 that certification could not provide credibility without superior skills and might backfire if certified writers could not perform substantially better than untrained writers. His objections were that the BELS examination had been compiled unsystematically, that AMWA's examination wrongly pooled the characteristics of three writing specialisms, that neither examination had been validated or publicly identified its tested subjects, and that both assessed knowledge about writing and editing rather than performance of those skills.
A medical writing department leader in 2022 identified education, apprenticeships, certification and continuing education as possible benchmarks for professional competence and quality, while calling for action to demonstrate writers' distinctive skills. A freelance medical writer favoured separate certifications for different kinds of medical communication, arguing that regulatory writing and writing for patients and the public require different skills and mindsets.