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Junior Scientist skills for your resume and career

Updated January 8, 2025

5 min read

Quoted Experts

Katina Lillios,

Peter Erickson Ph.D.

Below we've compiled a list of the most critical junior scientist skills. We ranked the top skills for junior scientists based on the percentage of resumes they appeared on. For example, 17.7% of junior scientist resumes contained lab equipment as a skill. Continue reading to find out what skills a junior scientist needs to be successful in the workplace.

15 junior scientist skills for your resume and career

1. Lab Equipment

Here's how junior scientists use lab equipment:

Performed the validation tests for lab equipment, maintained the inventory of chemicals, equipment, and laboratory supplies
Manage bi-weekly resources schedule for lab users and utilize lab equipment efficiently and effectively.

2. Literature

Here's how junior scientists use literature:

Assembled materials from specialized literature, interviews and government documents
Participated in journal club and literature meetings.

3. Data Analysis

Here's how junior scientists use data analysis:

Managed information and time to contribute data analysis and scientific writing to 2co-author publications within an 8-month period.
Generated data analysis and prepared executive summaries used towards publications and presentations.

4. GMP

GMP stands for Good Manufacturing Practice. It is a system that ensures that all products like food, beverages, and medicinal drugs that are produced comply with the quality standards. It helps in minimizing the risks and hazards that cannot be eliminated after the testing of final products.

Here's how junior scientists use gmp:

Program Coordinator at GMP facility for Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients laboratory.
Performed Granulation, extrusion, Spheronization, Blending and Tablet compression Including Set-up and Operation under GMP environment.

5. Experimental Design

Experimental design is the process of researching in an objective and controlled manner to maximize precision and draw specific conclusions about a hypothesis statement. It is a concept used to efficiently organize, conduct, and interpret the results of experiments to ensure that as much useful information as possible is obtained by conducting a small number of trials. This minimizes the effects of the variables to increase the reliability of the results.

Here's how junior scientists use experimental design:

Experience with all facets of research: proposal writing, protocol development, experimental design, analysis and implications of results.
Managed investigations from incident to CAPA closure including experimental design, collaboration with team members, and organizing and reporting results.

6. Cell Culture Techniques

Here's how junior scientists use cell culture techniques:

Trained laboratory staff and scientists in several laboratories on adult stem cell isolation, cell culture techniques, and cells banking.
Used cell culture techniques to maintain various cell lines.

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7. PCR

PCR stands for Polymerase Chain Reaction, a tool to make millions of copies of a target part of DNA. Polymerase chain reaction involves the process of heating and cooling. The process takes place using a machine, which helps in heating and cooling off the substances. The purpose of heating exists to separate the DNA into two single strands.

Here's how junior scientists use pcr:

Performed mutation analysis using PCR and Gel electrophoresis.
Research included optimization of emulsion PCR, sequencing by ligation, and development of novel mate-paired library construction methods.

8. R

R is a free software environment and a language used by programmers for statistical computing. The R programming language is famously used for data analysis by data scientists.

Here's how junior scientists use r:

Identified systematic errors in electronic medical record using a combination of SQL queries and R visualizations.
Designed R-statistical algorithms and wrote R codes to develop numerical regression.

9. Molecular Biology Experiments

Here's how junior scientists use molecular biology experiments:

Design and execute molecular biology experiments including detection miRNA and mRNA from tissue and cell cultured samples using qRT-PCR method.

10. JR

JR -- short for junior -- denotes the son of a person who's still alive and has the same name. It's used after a man's name to differentiate him from an older family member with the same name.

Here's how junior scientists use jr:

Conducted test method training for Jr. Scientists or newly hired scientists.

11. Gene Expression

Gene expression is a process whereby function products like proteins get synthesized by human DNA, making it easy for cells to adjust to external and internal factors.

Here's how junior scientists use gene expression:

Used RT(q)-PCR and immunoblot techniques to study gene expression.
Key Achievements Gene Expression, Construct Design, Protein Purification and Optimization.

12. Protein Expression

Here's how junior scientists use protein expression:

Analyzed histological changes and protein expression in newt brains following limb amputation and cardiac resection during the regeneration process.
Constructed HA, Flag-tagged AKT for protein expression and purification.

13. QC

Quality control is a set of instructions or procedures to ensure a manufactured product or a service is up to the highest quality standards. This set of quality control criteria are either defined by the clients or the company itself.

Here's how junior scientists use qc:

Validated materials in QC and documented all relevant data and presented results.
QC'ed and documented all starting and final samples using internal and industry-standard SOPs.

14. Electrophoresis

Here's how junior scientists use electrophoresis:

Performed a molecular sub-typing technique, pulsed field gel electrophoresis (PFGE), for the identification of food borne pathogens.
Developed laboratory protocols for genetic extraction/gel electrophoresis.

15. Research Projects

Here's how junior scientists use research projects:

Maintained oversight of multiple research projects including Carbon adsorption and natural gas separation research.
Supported research projects in collaboration with universities and industrial partners.

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What skills help Junior Scientists find jobs?

Tell us what job you are looking for, we’ll show you what skills employers want.

What skills stand out on Junior Scientist resumes?

Katina Lillios

Professor, Department Chair, The University of Iowa

While the precise skills that are desired depend on the job, there are some that all graduates from an Anthropology program should work on developing. These include experience contributing to group projects, collaborating with diverse communities, strong communication and writing skills, versatility, and mastery of a specialized skill, such as GIS, a foreign language, statistics, and other digital technologies.

What hard/technical skills are most important for Junior Scientists?

Peter Erickson Ph.D.

Professor, Extension dairy specialist, University of New Hampshire

Our students need to apply their science and math skills to practical farming operations. Animal Science combines husbandry, management, microbiology, biochemistry, immunology, economics, and mathematics.

What soft skills should all Junior Scientists possess?

Drew Conroy Ph.D.

Professor of Animal Science and Sustainable Agriculture and Food Systems, University of New Hampshire

In my UNH CREAM course survey, where 46% of alumni responded on a survey about a course that requires a lot of soft skills, I found that the five highest-ranked interpersonal skills were teamwork, group decision making, oral communication, leadership, and initiative. Alumni strongly agreed that CREAM's experiential strategies were effective, provided an understanding of the dairy industry, and agreed that the flipped classroom approach was an effective teaching strategy. In addition, alumni agreed they were required to problem solve on the farm and that the course had an impact on their career, and the program was recognized by graduate and veterinary schools.

What Junior Scientist skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?

Dr. Neal Palmer Ph.D.

Chair, Associate Professor, Christian Brothers University

The answer to that question likely won't change from pre- to post-pandemic. Southern cities such as Nashville and Memphis were booming before the pandemic, and that will likely continue. These are good places to find jobs because the cost of living is relatively low, there are vibrant culture and entertainment, and there is not as much college-educated competition for jobs as in larger cities.

What type of skills will young Junior Scientists need?

Alice Deckert

Professor, Allegheny College

You might be better off asking employers this question. From what I have read, they are looking for people with good problem-solving skills, good teamwork skills, and good communication skills. These are all skills that we emphasize in all of our course work (not just Chemistry) at Allegheny College.

What technical skills for a Junior Scientist stand out to employers?

Dr. Joey Neilsen

Assistant Professor, Villanova University

I think programming skills and data analysis/statistics are especially valuable right now, while data science is so big. Our students take a year of Computational Physics in Python, and we integrate Python into some of our upper-level courses and labs as well. Our recent graduates, both in academia and the private sector, report using those skills on a regular basis. Two other skills that US Physics graduates report using regularly are technical problem solving and technical writing. This makes lots of sense from an employer perspective: you want to hire people who can identify and solve problems and then clearly explain the solution to your team. This is a great reason to let those lab reports shine!

Do you want to know more?

List of junior scientist skills to add to your resume

The most important skills for a junior scientist resume and required skills for a junior scientist to have include:

Lab Equipment
Literature
Data Analysis
GMP
Experimental Design
Cell Culture Techniques
PCR
R
Molecular Biology Experiments
JR
Gene Expression
Protein Expression
QC
Electrophoresis

Research Projects
Clinical Trials
Cell Lines
HPLC
GLP
Blood Samples
Data Collection
Elisa
Lab Procedures
Experimental Data
Tissue Culture
GC
Blot
PI

Independent Research
Computer System
Stem Cells
Genotyping
Animal Models
Medical Devices
Western Blotting
NMR
DSC
NIH
Tissue Samples
Biomarkers
FDA

Updated January 8, 2025

Zippia Team

Editorial Staff

The Zippia Research Team has spent countless hours reviewing resumes, job postings, and government data to determine what goes into getting a job in each phase of life. Professional writers and data scientists comprise the Zippia Research Team.

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