Taking your CV under the knife (operated on by life science recruiters)
5 Ways to drastically improve your CV and to land a job in life sciences (including free CV Template)
As a leading life science recruitment agency we have seen over a million CVs (not really a million, but it feels that way). Let me tell you, even the most senior people make common mistakes that could easily be avoided. Today we want to put a stop to that!
Let me start off by telling you a secret recruiters don’t want you to know: It takes a majority of us only 10 seconds to assess your CV.
Why? Because we know exactly what we are looking for.
Based on the job description, tasks, and responsibilities listed in the job listing, we know which professional and educational background you need, so we’ll fly over anything else that doesn’t give us that exact information.
This is where our first recommendation comes in:
1. KISS (Keep it Super Simple)
Focus on the essentials!
This can’t be stressed enough. With CVs, less is more. Read the job listing you applied for and tailor your CV towards the requirements for the job. Write about what you have (even if you’re missing a year of work experience, that’s ok) because there’s a one-in-a-million chance that you have the perfect profile for any position. If you can back up the skills that you do have with either certificate, a reference, award, etc. you’re good to go.
Here is an overview of the essential elements you will need for a recruiter to positively assess you (template included below) :
- Executive Summary (more in section 4)
- Personal Information
- Work Experience (including start date, company name, name of the position, responsibilities with bullet points
- Education (Start-End Date, Degree Earned, Name of Uni, City, Country, Main Skills Covered
- Trainings and Courses
- Professional Skills (languages, communication skills)
Organisational managerial Skills - Job-Related Skills
- Computer Skills
- For Academic Positions: Publications
Freebie for your next application:
Download our CV Template with all the elements seen above right here
2. Highlight your Life Science Skills
For Life Science positions, especially if you are going to work in a lab, make sure you highlight all of your skills.
Methods you use on a daily basis such as for example chromatography, which you know in and out should be as prominently emphasized as possible.
Relevant knowledge of specific software used in your field and/or expertise in scientific methods is the most important aspect of your CV.
Actionable Advice to Increase your Chances: List your core competencies and all the things mentioned above in the executive summary. Use the “bold” feature in docs or word to highlight the most important ones.
3. Check your spelling!
For life science jobs, detail orientation as a skill is key. A lot of people also list it in their CV as a job-related skill.
However, more often than not, we find spelling mistakes everywhere. Even though it’s frustrating to proofread your CV several times (especially if you adapt every single one to the job you are applying for), we recommend you still do so.
No respectable life science recruiter is going to throw away your CV because of one or two spelling mistakes. Nevertheless, if there are consistent spelling mistakes all across your CV, it may shine some doubt on:
- whether your application was one of 100 (meaning you might not be motivated to work for that specific company, but you only want to find some kind of job)
- whether you can be trusted with writing complex or sensitive documentation or communicating fluently with stakeholders
- …
I could list a lot more, probably unfounded reasons for questioning your skills and capabilities, but I should not have to.
Don’t give recruiters a reason to doubt any information they see on your CV. The best way you show them that you mean business is having a spelling-error free CV.
Field-Tested Advice: Use free applications such as Grammarly to ensure the correctness of what you wrote. When in doubt, ask a friend or family member to double-check.
4. Include an introductory section (with skills)
An introductory section a.k.a an executive summary is extremely helpful if done right. To write an exemplary intro section, start with this question: “If you only had 5–7 sentences you could write on why you are the ideal person for that position, what would those be?”
In short, what core competencies, professional and personal skills do you believe are necessary for this position.
Here is a great real-life example of an executive summary we got from one of our candidates:
Highly skilled in a broad range of laboratory techniques, including advanced CRISPR/Cas9 and drug screening. Fascinated by biological sciences with a strong expertise in cancer research. My last research focused on the biological and pharmacological investigation of the unfolded protein response in models of breast cancer. I am currently searching for opportunities within the life science field.
To Summarize: Keep the KISS technique as well as your spelling in mind when writing your introductory section, as this is the first thing that recruiters will see.
5. Secret Tip: Technology is your friend!
Lastly, use technology to your advantage. There are a lot of applications out there that can drastically improve the way recruiters (as well as their recruitment software) see your CV.
Here are some tools you can use to stay one step ahead of our tactics:
Spelling and Grammar:
grammarly.com
Grammarly is an easy-to-use software for mistake-free writing using advanced AI-powered technology. It is free to use and includes premium features for different subscriptions.
Beating the Applicant Tracking System: https://resumeworded.com/upload-resume.php
Simply upload your CV to see how an automated software (used in larger companies) sees your CV. Have a look at the action points you can change and re-upload until you receive a satisfactory score. It is free to use and includes premium features for different subscriptions.
Make your CV Sparkle: Canva.com
Don’t like the design of our template? We understand… If you want your CV to have a little more “pizzazz” or “sizzle”, you can use the free templates offered by Canva.
Don’t forget to follow the structure in section 1 for the best results.
Super-Duper-Secret-Pro-Tip: Change the CV’s main colors to those of the Corporate Identity of the company you are applying for. Most larger companies like Roche publish their brand color profiles directly on the website: https://brand.roche.com/our-identity/what-you-see/our-design/colours.html
If you can’t find them on the website, or by googling, take the closest color to it. If you know how, go to inspection mode in your browser and check the hex color codes in their CSS.
Make sure you use the same colors for titles, subtitles, links, etc. as the company you are applying to does.
It is free to use and includes premium features for different subscriptions.