Do you have the right research skills to pursue the role of a research assistant? With the right expertise as a research assistant, you would obviously expect to find a lucrative and promising place of employment. However, you would need research resume examples to understand how to grab the attention of employers and active researchers.
On the other hand, it is quite an uphill journey when you have to create a resume, especially when it’s your first time. If you are involved in significantly dominant research tasks in pursuing your passion for research, then you need something more.
The competition for the role of a research assistant is also another prominent reason for complexities in preparing a research assistant resume. Many other talented, ambitious, and highly qualified candidates would also apply for vacant positions of a research assistant. Therefore, it is important to notice how the process of creating your own resume can present daunting challenges.
In this discussion, we shall cover the essential pointers that can help you turn the attention of employers towards your resume. The tips to create your resume for the position of research assistant have been organized into different headers for convenience.
Choose the Best Format for Your Former Resume
Without the suitable format for your resume, you could easily reduce your chances of becoming a research scientist to zero. If you are trying to shift careers into the domain of research with limited experience, then you are less likely to benefit from a chronological resume. On the other hand, if you have profound work experience in the field of research already, then a chronological resume would work just fine. Let us find out some helpful tips to select the ideal format for your resume as a research assistant.
Understand the Different Resume Formats
The first pointer for creating your resume from research resume examples directly points out a detailed understanding of the common resume formats. The basic resume formats include functional, chronological, and combinational resume formats.
Functional resume formats emphasize on skills of candidates rather than their work history or past employment. Functional resume formats classify related skills and achievements into distinct categories alongside placing them prior to work history description in a resume.
Chronological resume formats focus particularly on the previous employment of candidates. The dominant highlight of chronological resume formats is the outline of work history at the beginning of the resume.
The third resume format used commonly for research assistant resume examples is combinational format. The combination resume brings the advantages of both functional and chronological resume formats. It focuses on the abilities of candidates as well as their complete job history. Furthermore, combination resumes offer better flexibility for emphasizing skills and strengths of candidates. At the same time, combination resume formats can also enable the use of searchable keywords at the beginning of the resume.
Ask Questions before Selecting the Format
As a matter of fact, any aspiring research assistant should try to ask one important question to select their resume format. Candidates should ask whether they have in-depth experience in the field of research. Experienced candidates can opt for the conventional chronological resume format. On the other hand, the chronological format would not outline any experience or work history for a beginner.
Therefore, applicants without in-depth experience in research could opt for functional or combinational resume formats. With a functional resume format, candidates can showcase the transferable skills that make them ideal candidates for a job. Most important of all, candidates can arrange their skills into groups that align perfectly with the skills described in the job posting.
Functional resume formats can be great options among research resume examples as you can add elements such as performance profiles, qualification summaries, related skills summaries, and career objectives. Furthermore, applicants could also add new sections for showcasing their knowledge and the varying circumstances in their resume.
However, the functional resume features certain critical setbacks. Employers assume functional resumes as indicators of the fact that candidates are hiding some information. In such cases, you should choose the combinational resume format. A combination resume allows candidates to showcase their achievements and skills with self-awareness.
A combination resume generally features a professional profile or career summary for complementing the skills, accomplishments, and traits of an applicant. In addition, applicants can also outline their job objectives, positioning statement, and the targeted job role. Combination resume formats are great alternatives to showcase your achievements and experience that are relevant to your targeted job role.
Get Employer Attention with a Resume Summary
Generally, the average length of a professional resume is around 369 to 489 words in length. Therefore, it is reasonable to assume that research resume examples would also be small and succinct documents. According to a study by Ladders, recruiters are more likely to select a two-page resume over a one-page resume. So, it is clearly evident that a longer resume is not going to play foul with your job prospects.
On the other hand, data from the Jobvite 2019 Recruiting Benchmark Report and Talent Works around 10% of job applications qualify for interview invites on average. Furthermore, only 20% of the interview invites are considered eligible for the job. It is clearly evident that your resume is your best instrument to land up a job. However, it is important to grab the attention of employers in a small document. How can you do that?
Catching the Eye of Employers
The answer to this question will subsequently draw you towards another important factor. What is the one part of your resume that employers pay attention to? Recruiters are likely to review various sections of a resume before finalizing a particular applicant for a specific job role. In this case, it is important to find out the important sections that draw the attention of employers. In a study by Ladders, the summary section is one of the top traits in resumes that are more likely to be noticed by employers. Now, many of you might be wondering about the uniqueness of a resume summary.
Using Summary Statements
It is important to note that you cannot afford to waste precious space on your research assistant resume. At the same time, you cannot compromise on aesthetic appeal of your visual brand in the resume. Therefore, it is advisable to stay away from the usual outline of objectives and turn towards the summary statement. Summary statement provides a targeted overview of how your knowledge or skills can work perfectly with concerned job vacancies. The summary statement helps a candidate position themselves in accordance to the needs of employers rather than the job.
If you can use resume summary properly, then you can have better chances of landing up your dream job. Therefore, it is beneficial to have a detailed impression of best practices to use resume summary. First of all, applicants should place a resume summary immediately beneath the resume heading. As a result, it would be the first thing that an employer lays their eyes on while reviewing your resume. The next important pointer regarding resume summary in research resume examples refers to the format of summary statement. Applicants can go for a single paragraph or bullet points and even a combination of text and bullets in some cases.
Add Experience Section Resume
If you have professional research experience, then you could easily improve your research assistant resume. In some of the common resume examples, such as this one, the experience section is always the prize-winner. Any employer would love to see how much time you have been devoting to research and the projects you have worked on while considering your resume for the post of research scientist. Therefore, it is important to follow the best practices for adding details of your experience in the resume.
Find the Trick for Adding the Experience Section
Many candidates applying for research assistant jobs are often confused about the information they must present in the experience section of their resume. The best solution for this problem would be to follow a structured approach. Most important of all, you can get an appealing experience section in research resume examples by outlining your accomplishments and achievements rather than shedding light on your responsibilities and duties. Here are the notable pointers that can help you add an experience section to your resume.
Begin the experience summary with existing or the latest research job you have worked on.
Add details of the previous job positions while including the position name, research institution, and timeline of working for each position.
Provide at least five bullet points showcasing your achievements in the role of a research assistant. Remember to keep your best achievements for the end, where you can outline them in a ‘Key Achievements’ subsection.
Select some phrases from the job advertisement and point them out to them in the experience section of your resume. Applicants should tailor their resumes to target the job and showcase elements of their experience that can help the employer.
Applicants should also focus on quantification in research resume examples. You should try to showcase your achievements in terms of numbers. Most important of all, maintain a focus on using action verbs in the work experience section.
Including Your Education
With the right amount of experience in research work, you can definitely craft a good resume. However, completely new beginners would have to depend prominently on the education section. If you don’t have any experience, then you need to show your qualifications for ensuring your selection. So, what are the best practices for including your educational qualifications in a research assistant resume? Let us take a look at some of them.
Know What to Put
The foremost doubt in the mind of applicants while creating their resumes points out the content of the education section. You must start with an outline of your major subject along with any minor subjects you might have. Subsequently, you must specify your date of graduation or the expected date alongside the name of your institution. In addition, applicants should also present correct and accurate information about their GPA on the resume. All these factors are vital additions in all research resume examples. However, applicants can also include other information such as significant academic achievements and favorite areas of study.
Certifications and Awards
Candidates applying for the position of research assistant could also include information about their certifications and awards in the education section of their resume. You don’t have to pick up mountains for adding your certifications and awards to your resume. Just create an additional section in research resume examples for showing potential recruiters how your abilities have been recognized and awarded by others. With the ‘extra bit’ in your professional resume, employers can’t help but notice your resume above others.
Summary/FAQ Section
Creating the perfect resume from research resume examples isn’t a cup of tea unless you have the right tools and resources with you. The process of creating a resume for the job of research assistant can be quite challenging, especially with the profoundly competitive labor market. At the same time, it is also important to notice the feasibility of adopting best practices for creating a resume that would catch the attention of research recruiters.
Starting with the selection of proper format for your resume alongside preparing the ideal resume summary, applicants could easily find their way through best practices for creation of a research assistant resume. Furthermore, applicants should also have a clear impression of the ideal approaches to include information related to their experience, education, and accomplishments in the resume.
FAQ Section
| Question 1 | Should I make my resume one page or two-page?
It depends on the experience and accomplishments you have to show in the resume. If you have extensive experience and many awards and certifications, then you can go for a two-page resume. |
| Question 2 | Is it necessary to include my GPA on my research assistant resume?
Educational qualifications are an important part of any resume. So, GPA is an important indicator of academic achievements of students who cannot be skipped from a resume. |
| Question 3 | What are transferable skills?
Transferable skills are the talents that you can acquire in a specific area of work and apply to a specific job for which you are applying. Transferable skills are important, particularly in cases where you are changing careers. |
| Question 4 | Is it reasonable to use a professional resume service?
Yes, if you are trying to move higher in your desired field of work, then you should use professional resume services. With the help of professional resume builders, you can have the advantage of tailoring your resume to specific needs for perfection. |
| Question 5 | Do I need different resumes to apply for different jobs?
Yes. Applicants can have better chances of success when they have prepared their resumes with the concerned job description in mind. |
| Question 6 | What are the common issues in creating a resume?
The common issues in creating a resume include excessive length, lack of clarity, typographical errors, illegible format, and dependence on templates. |
