VRS Recruitment

Building Your Technical Resume

In this resource, we outline the key components of a scientific resume and answer FAQ.

Please note that this resource has been prepared for applicants to industry jobs in STEM – this is not intended to be a comprehensive resource for all job applicants.

As an overarching rule, it is critical to have someone (or multiple people!) proofread your resume to ensure that the grammar, spelling, and formatting are impeccable.

Happy resume writing!

General – Layout and Length

• The target length for a resume should be 1-3 pages depending on your experience.
• Resume design should be clean and polished to emphasize content; use a classic font (e.g., Times New Roman, Arial, or Calibri) in the size range of 11-12 pt and standard 1” margins.
• Section titles may use larger or emboldened text to stand out.
• Avoid highly stylized or complicated resume templates involving bright colors and pictures. Be careful not to cram as much information on a page as possible. You want to use this opportunity to showcase your ability to be succinct and avoid overwhelming the person reading your resume. Divide the document into approachable sections as outlined below.
• Keep in mind that most resumes are viewed digitally – feel free to incorporate hyperlinks or QR codes as needed.
• Reach out to your recruiter to discuss any questions or resumes sections you are unsure about!

Key Sections

1. Name and Contact

• Your name should be the first text on your resume, followed by your location and contact information.
• It is critical to include the following contact information:
  • • Email address –use a personal email address (please be sure that the username is professional!) rather than an email associated with a current employer or university.
    • Phone number
    • City and zip code – do not include your street address. It is important to include your current location even if you plan to move, though you can note that you are willing to relocate, for example: Beverly, MA 01915 (willing to relocate)
• It is optional to include the following information at the top of your resume with contact details:
  • • Work authorization / visa / citizenship
    • Embedded hyperlink to LinkedIn profile (make sure your LinkedIn is up to date and consistent with your resume!)
    • Embedded hyperlink to Github
    • Embedded hyperlink to Research Gate or Google Scholar link for publications

2. Executive Summary

• This is your first chance to catch your reviewer’s attention – they are often looking over resumes in less than a minute, so you want to use this opportunity to convince them to keep reading.
• This should be a few sentences long at most and can be included as a paragraph and/or bulleted list.
• Your summary should be succinct while articulating your specific expertise, specialization, and accomplishments related to the role at hand. This is not meant to be a laundry list of everything you have done in your career.
• Optional: include a statement of your goal(s) for the next step in your career. This is particularly important if you are making a career or industry transition.

3. Work Experience

• For each experience, list in reverse chronological order and include the span of your tenure (both month and year).
• Include brief summaries of each company included on your work experience section. This can be as simple as a single sentence describing who they are and what they do.
• Include numbers in your responsibility descriptions – quantify your experience as much as possible!
  • • How many samples did you run per day?
    • How many methods did you develop?
    • How many team members did you manage?
    • What percentage did you improve performance by?
    • How much money did you bring into the budget?
    • This is especially important for sales jobs and other commercial roles:
      • • How much new revenue did you bring in each quarter?
        • What was your closing rate?
        • How did your performance compare to your key performance indicators (KPIs)?
        • What is your rank within your sales organization?
        • How many and which awards have you received (e.g, President’s Club)?

• Make sure you use action verbs to describe your work experiences in a consistent verb tense (past or present) for the work you’ve performed (e.g., reviewed, demonstrated, operated, maintained, tested). Avoid repetitive language and use diverse verb choices.
• If you are trying to shorten your resume length, focus on your jobs that are within the last 10 years; for older work experiences keep the main responsibilities less than 4 bullet points or list as additional experience without descriptions.
• If you are just emerging from your graduate program, your research experience may be the main work experience listed. It is appropriate to supplement this with teaching experience, internship work, or customer facing jobs as separate experiences.

4. Education and Other Sections

• If you are a recent graduate, you can include your education section at the top of your resume (above work experience).
• Include your education experiences in reverse chronological order, including:
  • • Institution name and location
    • Degree granted (e.g., PhD, M.S., B.Eng., etc.) with date
    • Department or major
    • Academic honors if applicable
    • Duration of time (month and year) to graduation
    • Optional: thesis or dissertation advisor
• It may be appropriate to include the name of your thesis or dissertation and advisor depending on the role you are applying to
• Do not include GPA.
• Possible sub-sections:
  • • Short list of your most recent and relevant publications – alternatively, add a link to your Research Gate or Google Scholar page at the top of your resume (see Name and Contact section).
    • List relevant completed trainings or certifications in this section, including the date completed and the expiration/renewal date if applicable.
    • Professional memberships and associations.

5. Skills

• Include the technical skills and instruments that you are most proficient with, not every instrument or technique you’ve touched in your career. Ideally, this should not be longer than 10 items or so.
• Include instrumentation (specify models and manufacturers), software, foreign language skills, and specific soft skills if they are highly relevant to the role at hand.
• This is a good spot to use key words and abbreviations to make your resume more searchable.
• If you are in doubt about when to abbreviate, consider your audience; if you are applying for a mass spectrometry or analytical chemistry role, you can assume LC/MS or HPLC is an appropriate abbreviation to use. You may want to define more rare instruments or methods, such as gas chromatography combustion isotope ratio mass spectrometry (GC/C/IRMS).

Technical Resume FAQ

What is the purpose of a resume?

To pique the hiring team’s interest enough to schedule an interview.

What is the difference between a resume and a CV?

Please note that this section refers to applications in the US and Canada.

Should I include personal interests on my resume?

You may optionally include information about personal interests, hobbies, or accomplishments. Avoid polarizing information or associations.

What should I NOT include on my resume?

• Full lists of publications, awards, conferences, presentations, etc.
• References with contact information (these can be provided upon request later in the process)
• Highly stylized formatting (e.g., multiple font colors and styles, borders, detailed graphics etc.)
• Marital status
• Photos / headshots
• Excessive spacing and pages that are blank or only have a few lines of text
• Quantitation of skills or accomplishments using arbitrary scales

Who can I ask to proofread my resume?

Proofreading is a critical process in resume preparation – you may ask for edits or proofreading from:

• Supervisors or advisors
• Peers in your field
• Trusted friends or family members
• Recruiters (for a final draft review)

How often should I update my resume?

You may update your resume when you start a new role, receive a new title or promotion, or begin an application process for new opportunities, or simply decide it is time to update the details!

Do I need to include a cover letter?

When working with VRS on opportunities, you do not need to include a cover letter unless we specifically ask you to prepare one.

For other application avenues, cover letters may be required. If cover letters are optional, it may be beneficial to include one and use the opportunity to sell yourself and make your application stand out.