Current Agency
CMC Connect, McCann Health Medical Communications
My qualifications
BA Hons Fashion Promotion CMI Certificate in Management
My career path
DS.Emotion, Leeds – Marketing and branding agency
Gardiner-Caldwell Communications, Macclesfield – Medical Communications
Oliver Wyman Leadership Development; Leadership, change management and employee engagement specialists
McCann Health Medical Communications, Macclesfield
My first healthcare communications Agency role
Project Assistant at Gardiner-Caldwell Communications. The medical communications industry provided the perfect opportunity to build on my previous PR and advertising experience. I left this role and moved into management consultancy, where I picked up valuable skills in programme management, as well as various aspects related to learning and development, before returning to agency life.
My typical week
Each week brings its own priorities and deadlines, whether they are internal or client driven, and always includes a mixture of project and financial management tasks linked together with a lot of calls, meetings and teamwork.
What advice would you give someone looking to join a healthcare comms Agency
It can be a huge benefit coming to a healthcare communications agency with experience from different industries. Don’t be put off applying for a position just because you don’t tick all of the boxes, but be realistic about the amount of time it will take to develop the core skills and experience needed to progress within the medical communications industry.
My proudest moment
Definitely supporting my line reports in achieving their career objectives, as well as watching their personal development. I find learning and development fascinating; and in particular, I find people development a very rewarding part of my role.
My greatest challenge or frustration
Projects for which the brief continually evolves and the deadline doesn’t change are always among the most challenging for a team to deliver, although I do try to remember that challenging projects often become the projects that you learn the most from.
What 3 skills do you think are most important in your role?
Communication, organisation and resilience.
Where do you want to be in 5 years’ time?
I’d like to continue my career path in medical communications and hope to be in a position where I am able to expand on, and extend the reach of my people development skills.