Reading Between the Bullet Points: Questions UK MedComms Candidates Should Ask Before Interview

A recruitment advert is a piece of persuasive writing, and UK medical communications agencies are unusually good at persuasive writing. That is not a criticism. It does mean, however, that a candidate reading a job description should treat it the way an editor treats a draft: read for what is stated, notice what is omitted, and ask about the gap.

The questions below are designed to be asked before interview, usually by email to the recruiter or hiring manager. Framed as curiosity about the role rather than suspicion of the employer, they yield far more useful information than the interview itself, where everyone is on their best behaviour.

Start with the phrasing, not the salary

Pay matters, and it is covered elsewhere. But most dissatisfaction in medical communications roles traces back to workload, unclear review expectations or a lack of visible progression — three things an advert can obscure without ever stating anything untrue.

"Fast-paced account handling"

This can mean a genuinely busy but well-resourced team, or it can mean chronic under-staffing covered by goodwill. The wording itself does not tell you which.

Ask: How many deliverables would I expect to be working on in a typical month, and how does the team plan for peaks around congress season? Then: When someone is at capacity, what happens? The answer reveals whether there is a resourcing conversation or an expectation of evening work.

"Flexible hybrid working"

Flexibility is rarely defined. Two days in the office can mean two fixed days, two days of your choosing, or two days that quietly become four.

Ask: Which days are anchor days, and are they contractual or customary? Follow with: How does the team handle client meetings that fall outside core hours? A team that has thought this through will answer without hesitation.

"A self-starter who thrives in ambiguity"

Sometimes this signals genuine autonomy. Sometimes it describes an absent line manager.

Ask: Who would I report to day to day, and how often would we have a scheduled conversation about priorities? If the role is new, ask whether it has existed before and what happened to the previous holder. That question is entirely reasonable and surprisingly rarely asked.

"Competitive salary, dependent on experience"

Adverts omit ranges for many reasons, not all of them sinister. Still, entering a four-stage process without knowing the band wastes everyone's time.

Ask: Could you share the salary band for this role so we can confirm the fit early? Recruiters with a defined band will usually share it. Persistent evasion is itself an answer.

"A small, close-knit team"

This may describe a supportive environment or a team where one person's departure leaves a hole. It may also mean every member juggles three functions.

Ask: How is work divided across the team, and which functions would sit with me? Then: Has the team grown or contracted in the past eighteen months?

"Opportunity to work across multiple therapy areas"

Breadth can be developmental or simply a symptom of chaotic allocation.

Ask: Would I have a defined primary therapy area, or is allocation fluid? and How much time is protected for learning a new therapeutic area when I pick one up?

"Occasional congress and weekend support"

Occasional is doing a great deal of work in that sentence.

Ask: How many congresses did the team support last year, and how is the out-of-hours time recognised — time off in lieu, overtime or included in salary? Get the answer in writing if you proceed.

"Unlimited holiday"

Unlimited policies vary from genuinely generous to practically unusable, particularly where client deadlines dominate.

Ask: What is the average number of days the team actually took last year? and Is there a minimum? A policy with no minimum and no tracking often means fewer days taken, not more.

Testing the review culture

Medical communications is a review-heavy profession, and the quality of review shapes the quality of daily life more than any other single factor. Adverts almost never describe it.

Useful pre-interview questions include:

• Who typically reviews my work, and is there a defined medical review step?
• How is feedback given — tracked comments, a review call, or both?
• What is the usual number of review rounds on a standard deliverable, and what happens when a client asks for more?
• Is there a named editorial lead, or does review sit with the account team?

A team with a settled review process will describe it fluently. A team without one will describe individuals instead.

Testing progression

Progression in agency environments can be structured or entirely dependent on circumstance.

Ask: What does progression from this role look like, and are there defined criteria? Then: Can you give me an example of someone who moved up in the last two years and what changed for them? Specific examples are far more informative than frameworks.

Asking without sounding adversarial

Tone does most of the work here. Position the questions as practical planning rather than due diligence on the employer's honesty:

• Bundle three or four questions into a single email rather than sending a barrage.
• Use "so I can prepare properly" as the frame.
• Ask about the role, not about the employer's past failures.
• Accept that some answers will be partial, and note which ones were.

A short, well-mannered email of this kind tends to be received well. Recruiters frequently report that candidates who ask precise questions are easier to place, because the eventual match is more likely to hold.

What to do with the answers

Write them down, and compare them across the roles you are considering. Two patterns are worth watching. First, answers that are fluent and specific usually indicate a team that has thought about how it works. Second, answers that are warm but vague tend to be reproduced verbatim at interview, which tells you something about how the team communicates under pressure.

Finally, remember that you are assessing fit in both directions. A well-written advert with evasive answers is a mismatch. A plain advert with clear, unglamorous answers may be the better job.