Today we will review how to write a professional industry resume for biotech, biopharma, and medtech. Keep in mind that different industries have different practices and standards. What works in one field of study may not work similarly in others.

If you make it to the end, I have a template that you can use.

Let’s get started.

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There are 5 Elements of an industry resume

1. Header (2 lines)
2. Summary (1 line + 3-5 bullet points max)
3. Education (1 line)
4. Skills (only value-add)
5. Experience (most important)
6. Peer-reviewed Publications (least important)

Note: The guidelines above are for standard 8.5x11 pages. This newsletter has narrower margins for ease of reading, so 1-line will look like 2-lines. We also want to make our resume automatic tracking system (ATS) compatible, so we are going to keep our formatting simple

What it looks like

Here's an image of what the resume formatting looks like. All instructions that follow will reference this template reference image

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1. Header

Template Reference

Your name should be in big bold font at the top of your resume and it should say Ph.D. after it. Even if you have not defended yet, if you have a defense date set, put Ph.D. on there.

In smaller font next to your name, put your phone number, the city / state (country if applying international), and your email address.

Things to avoid: hard to read font, your address, an email with “.edu” suffix, cute graphics

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2. Summary

Template Reference

This section should contain one line describing you, followed by 3-5 bullet points. Each point should be 1-3 lines max.

Bullet points should highlight major accomplishments that you are proud of, that are relevant to the business world. Quantify when possible.

Avoid: publications, your dissertation, grant awards, teaching, academic awards, things you have “participated” in

Bad bullet point:

• Developed assays to identify novel small molecules for the inhibition of PARP-1

Good bullet point:

• Developed high-throughput screening program, reducing small molecule library of 700+ compounds to 9 small molecules over course of 7 months, resulting in one patent.

In this case, the good example is longer than the bad example, but the extra space taken up provides important context, so it is worth it.

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3. Education

Template Reference

State the name of the university, the location, the years you attended, and your degree. Include PhD, MS, BS.

Avoid: name of dissertation project, high school, GPA, honors, or awards.

Good Example:

2012- 2017: Ph.D. Medical Sciences, Texas A&M Health Science Center, Bryan, TX.

2009- 2012: B.S. Biochemistry. California State University, Chico. Chico, CA.

Note: If you have done a postdoc you can call the header “education and training” and list your postdoc here as well.

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4. Skills

Template Reference

Only include skills that you can defend with examples to highlight your depth of knowledge.

If you spent 5 years doing flow cytometry, put down “flow cytometry”. If one-time you ran a flow cytometer based on a protocol that somebody else wrote, do not put “flow cytometry”.

Avoid descriptive attributes like “flexible” or “team player.” These are things that everyone says and they end up taking space without adding value.

Be cautious about using words that have a very specific meaning in industry.

For example, “project management” does not mean you managed your own project. In industry “project management” means you have PMP certification and have extensive knowledge of project management tools.

Bad Example:

Skills: Research, statistics, data analysis, networking, communications, leadership, business, scientific method, logical reasoning, public speaking, teaching, writing, problem-solving, consulting, organization

Good Example:

Skills: Flow Cytometry, Immunohistochemistry, Formulation, Cell Culture, Multiplex Immunoassay, High-throughput Screening, Experimental Design and Troubleshooting, Data Analysis

Note: You can also include a section on software, but avoid listing common software like Word, Excel, or PowerPoint.

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5. Work experience

Template Reference

This is the most important section of your resume. State your title, the company/university, and the dates you worked there. Then make a bullet point list and quantify relevant accomplishments, not activities.

How to craft relevant bullet points:

Quantify when possible

• How many targets were in the assay?
• how long did it take?
• Did you manage a budget? How much?
• What was the result of the benefit?
• Was there a reduction in workflow turn-around time?
• Did you supervise anyone? How many?

Use verbs that show ownership

Avoid: participated, generated, reviewed, helped

Use: managed, executed, designed, developed, responsible for, etc.

Discuss topics that matter

Avoid: publications, teaching, grant awards, honors, posters, presentations, mechanisms

Use: budget, patients, patents, patent applications, therapeutic use, diagnostic use, methods, design, troubleshooting, creating, conceiving

Bad Examples:

• Training in scientific method, participated in experimental design and data analysis; Presented data at several professional conferences
• Collected and analyzed data for clinical trials; Isolated pathogens from human tissues and submitted for DNA sequencing

Good Examples

• Design, execution, troubleshooting, and analysis of 8 color flow cytometry focusing on B and T cell subsets in secondary lymphoid tissues (BD FACSCanto II)
• Acquired biopsies from 20+ patients in clinical trial, isolated pathogen DNA, designed/executed qPCR experiments to quantify pathogen load, and verified efficacy of therapeutic compound tested.

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6. Publications

Template Reference

Publications are not critical, but if there are some that are relevant to the job you've applied for, it is a good idea to include them. If you are low on space, you can always include a link to your NIH publication list, so hiring managers can click on it if they are curious.

If you don’t know how to do this, I will be creating an instructive carousel on that topic soon.

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Making it easy

I hope this post has helped you come up with new ideas and approaches for your industry job applications. Do some experiments and see if you get a better hit rate on your interviews.

Oh, and if you want to make your life easier, you can download the reference template that I created here for free. You will be taken to a landing page with instructions on how to download.

Resume Template

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