Research Scientist Resume Examples And Tips
The average resume reviewer spends between 5 to 7 seconds looking at a single resume, which leaves the average job applicant with roughly six seconds to make a killer first impression. Thanks to this, a single typo or error on your resume can disqualify you right out of the gate.
At Zippia, we went through over 13,685 Research Scientist resumes and compiled some information about how best to optimize them. Here are some suggestions based on what we found, divided by the individual sections of the resume itself.
See More Example Resumes
Five Key Resume Tips For Landing a Research Scientist Job:
1.
Relevant Experience
Make sure that the jobs, experience, and accolades that you do include are relevant to the position you’re applying for.
2.
The Right Skills
This is a great time to run wild with those keywords found in the job description. If they’re looking for someone with Analytical Methods, be sure to list it as a skill.
3.
Quantifiable Achievements
Achievements and awards relevant to the position speak louder than a high GPA, especially if you can quantify your achievement with a number.
4.
Your Unique Qualities
Recruiters and hiring managers are looking at hundreds of resumes. Let yours stand out, and try not to sound too boring.
5.
Strong Content
If you’ve had a lot of jobs, this shouldn’t necessarily be a list of all of them. This is a document designed to market you to a potential employer, so choose the strongest content.
How To Write a Research Scientist Resume
1
Contact Information
Do you wont to know more?
How To Write The Perfect Resume HeaderName
First things first — employers only spend about six seconds looking at resumes before they decide to keep them or throw them away, so you should definitely let them know whose it is.
Address
Commute and relocation are things that employers take into consideration when sifting through candidates, so provide your current address in your resume header so that employers have an idea of where you are in relation to their office.
LinkedIn Profile
If you feel that a link to your social media profile could further your standing as a candidate, go ahead and include it. This doesn’t mean you should throw in a link to your hilarious Twitter profile, but instead provide your LinkedIn profile.
2
Professional Summary (Objective)
Are you a recent grad?
Read our guide on how to write a resume summary statementCareer objective statements are one of the most overlooked pieces of otherwise stellar resumes. It’s not that every Research Scientist CV out there needs one — it’s just that the ones that really do need them typically never think to include them.
The goal of this section is simple: to summarize the resume in a few short sentences. Through your resume summary you enable employers to quickly learn whether you are a good match for the job. Here are a few things to keep in mind when writing a professional summary:
Keep it short: it should be 4 sentences max
Highlight your most impressive skills or achievements
3
Skills
Not sure which skills are really important?
3 Big Tips For Listing Skills On Your ResumeMake sure to only include your hard skills on your resume. In addition,
include the most in-demand research scientist skills. Below we have listed the top skills for a research scientist :
The more keywords your resume can “match,” the more likely it is that your resume will be selected for review by human eyes.
Top Skills for a Research Scientist
Source: Zippia.com
Analytical Methods, 10%
Cell Culture, 10%
Lab Equipment, 9%
Protein, 7%
Data Analysis, 4%
Other Skills, 56%
See All Research Scientist Skills
Here are a few key points of to keep in mind while writing your skills section:
Include between 6 to 12 skills
Make sure to only include hard skills
Highlight your most impressive skills or achievements
4
Experience
Don't have any experience?
How To Show Your Experience On a Resume... Even When You Don't Have AnyWe compared 13,685 resume examples and job offers and found that the average
experience required for a research scientist job required by employers is 3.1 years.
How much work experience do employers want to see?
The average research scientist job listing asks for 3.1 years of work experience.
How much work experience does the average research scientist candidate have?
The average research scientist resume contains 6.0 years of work experience.
Write your work experience section in a way that embraces your research scientist skills.
Sounds easier said than done? Take a look at how other people have done it. Below are real
examples from research scientist resumes that people have included in their work experience
section to demonstrate their knowledge of key skills:
Candidate Info
4
Years In Workforce2
Years As a Research Scientist
- Project Summary: RNA splicing plays a fundamental role in human biology.
- Group leader: Robert Pomeroy, PhD.
- Investigated neural activation of Unfolded Protein Response (UPR) genes after anesthesia or hypoxia.
- Designed a multilayer-structured transfer printing system for transferring devices, specific for microactuators.
- Combined quantum Monte Carlo (QMC) with density-functional theory (DFT) to address layered systems with strongly correlated electrons.
Candidate Info
29
Years In Workforce2
Years As a Research Scientist- Applied knowledge of developmental psychology and human development.
- Elucidated the role of the uncharacterized human gene C5ORF42 in Joubert syndrome and cilia biology using a mouse model.
- Mentor and provide training to new hires and other colleagues as they learn new formulation and QC assays.
- Performed geotechnical liner installation oversight and inspection at DRPI Landfill in New Castle, DE.
- Developed investigative cases and problem-based learning cases at Emory Taught biology lectures to college students at Emory partnership college.
Candidate Info
8
Years In Workforce2
Years As a Research Scientist- Assisted students in the performance of their experiments, while emphasizing aseptic technique and other microbiology principles.
- Lectured one semester for Introduction to Finite Mathematics.
- Used statistical strong contrast theory for calculating the material s microstructure correlation functions and effective electric conductivity.
- Extended Peridynamics theory for two-dimensional elastic solids.
- Assisted professors with the teaching of Social Psychology courses
Candidate Info
12
Years In Workforce2
Years As a Research Scientist- associated with urinary tract infection (UTI) using microbiology and molecular biology methods.
- Conducted research on membrane-based separation and purification processes for liquid and gas applications.
- Applied discrete event modeling and simulation of dynamical systems to manufacturing lines and material handling systems to understand and optimize performance.
- Attend senate and house committee meetings to provide support for legislative tracking.
- Programmed new LabView modules to connect into Oracle and developed software to extract and transform data.
5
Education
As a research scientist, you may wonder exactly how your education section should look.
Research Scientist roles often require a Post-Doctoral Training degree or higher, so the majority of
research scientist resumes that we looked at contained a post-doctoral training degree.
Based on our analysis of research scientist resumes, the most common major for research scientist candidates is Chemistry,
but other majors made their way in as well.
Biochemistry, Biophysics, Molecular Biology, Biology and Physics were relatively common.
Majors
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As shown above, the Education section can be very brief. However make sure to include the following:
The name of the school you attended
The year you attended
Your major
Your GPA
The level of education you attained
Research Scientist Salary
Did your resume land you an interview? Be prepared to talk salary.
How To Answer "What Are Your Salary Requirements"When you are ready to send your resume to employers, it's important to be aware of the current market conditions for Research Scientists. Salary can vary based on factors such as location, company, and industry. Check out our detailed salary information for Research Scientists to learn more.
Average Employee Salary
$81,000
$51,000
Min 10%
$81,000
Median 50%
$127,000
Max 90%