Hi Reader

Firstly, a big hello to everyone I met in person at last week's 'Working in and around #MedComms' event at Heathrow! It was so great to be part of such a vibrant and diverse group.

If you weren't able to attend, I'm sure there will be follow-up webinars and other online events coming along, so keep an eye on the MedComms Networking website and follow Peter Llewellyn on LinkedIn to hear all the latest news.

I love attending events like that, and contributing to webinars or discussions. On Friday 22nd September, I joined Lisa Baker from Freelancers in Pubs for a webinar about how freelancers can take control of their careers. We had a lively session, where we co-created ways that freelancers can overcome keys barriers that can get in the way of building a sustainable freelance career and you can watch the recording here.

I'm also planning to build on the discussion with a series of videos about overcoming a broad range of barriers that can add challenge to freelance careers on my YouTube channel over the next few months, so look out for them!

The most recent YouTube video is also for freelancers, but tackling a controversial topic – should freelancers do medical writing tests? There isn't an easy answer, but I'm hoping this video will help you make the right decision for your individual situation.

I explore the nuances, including the ways that a test can be a great idea for freelancers in some situations, while on the flip-side, it may not always give the agency team the information they need to make a decision about freelance resource. You can download the free PDF summary here and see what you think. I'd love to hear from you about your experiences of tests for freelancers and any reactions to my suggestions!

Creating these free videos and summaries, and attending events like Heathrow or the Freelancers in Pubs webinar, is great fun. Also, sharing my experience via free events and resources is very important to me, but obviously these things require a significant investment of my time and money. If you find them useful, and are in a position to do so, please consider supporting me with a tip. Your support will go towards creating future free resources, and I will be very grateful!

And if you're not in a position to give me a tip, the best thing you can do to support my work is send over your ideas, questions or feedback. I want to make sure that everything I produce or am involved in is as useful as possible. I love a bit of constructive criticism, but I also adore questions. Just reply to this email and let me know what's on your mind. Thank you!