By Patrina Pellett, PhD (Follow me on LinkedIn)

One of the most frequently asked questions that Tom and Sarah get is how to land an MSL role without experience?

Sarah always points out that 100% of MSLs start without experience. So many aspiring MSLs hear that they "don't have experience" and it's really frustrating. It can feel like you need to have experience to get experience. 

To help aspiring MSLs overcome this barrier Tom and Sarah hosted a webinar on How to Land an MSL Role Without Experience. Watch it here. 

Here is a quick overview of the major themes that emerged in the webinar to help aspiring MSLs land a role without experience. 

How To Land An MSL Role Without Experience Webinar Summary

Tom right off the bat addresses the one big secret of becoming an MSL: watching the MSL Talk podcast 🤣. In all seriousness, the MSL Talk podcast is an AMAZING resource that everyone in the Medical Affairs community should be leveraging. But there is no secret sauce to becoming an MSL. It requires having a good strategic plan and a well thought out series of actions. 

In the webinar, 3 common barriers were addressed. These are where Tom and Sarah see aspiring MSLs make the most impact:

1. Highlighting transferrable skills
2. Avoiding automatic resume rejections
3. Building confidence

1. Highlighting transferrable skills

Showcasing your transferrable skills is the most effective way to land your first MSL role. However, many aspiring MSLs feel like they don't even have the chance to do this because they do not get interviews. It was pointed out you need to learn how to highlight your transferrable skills on your CV/resume. Tom and Sarah provided a list of do's and don'ts when it comes to identifying and highlighting transferrable skills. 

There is also a great story from a PhD in the Aspire MSL program. He was a great fit for the MSL role and had all the required skills, but they were not coming through on his CV/resume. Once he cracked the code on this, his breakthrough happened. 

2. Avoiding automatic resume rejections

We have all received automatic resume rejections and it feels terrible. It's so discouraging when no one even looks at your resume. Tom and Sarah emphasize the importance of not having a general resume and mass applying. This isn't going to work. They provide great stories of how aspiring MSLs got a job search strategy and stopped wasting their time on this approach. It made all the difference. 

Definitely watch the webinar recording for the keyword tips!

3. Building confidence

This is the biggest area of improvement that most people overlook. Confidence is something we all struggle with. Check out my article on if you have what it takes to be an MSL. Tom and Sarah share inspiring stories of how they helped aspiring MSLs build their confidence. Building confidence was the breakthrough for them! 

My favorite tip was on the don't list: don't wait for it to get easier because it won't. Tom and Sarah provide actions to take to improve your confidence. 

Conclusions: How to land an MSL role without experience webinar summary

Tom and Sarah shared so many valuable tips and tricks to landing your first MSL role, but in my opinion, the best part was hearing the stories of real aspiring MSLs. To hear the issues that they were having and then how they worked together with Tom and Sarah to overcome those challenges was so inspiring! 

What was your aha moment from the webinar? Reach out to me on LinkedIn to let me know or comment on the MSL Mastery LinkedIn page.

Watch the How to Land an MSL Role Without Experience Webinar here.

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