A research assistant, also called a Research Coordinator or a research administrator refers to that person who assists the other person in writing and research work. To work as a research assistant, you first have to submit a resume. Therefore it is essential to have an impressive resume to create a good first impression. So, in this article, we will show you various research assistant resume examples along with the ideal writing guide to increase your chances of selection. let us know about that the Research Assistant Resume Examples.
Guide to writing a good research assistant resume:
Understanding what to write in each section:
A research assistant’s resume consists of six to seven sections and it is crucial to know what to write and what not to write in each section. So here’s a list of what all sections you have to include and what all you have to write in respective sections:
Contact information:
The first part of the resume is your contact information. You have to make sure that the contact information is correct because they will contact on these credentials only. The things that you should include in contact information are your full name, address, Phone Number, Email, and LinkedIn Id. The email address should be professional and must not include any funny name or character. Address plays a very important role when you are applying for a foreign job. Therefore you should include that.
Profile Summary:
The next and crucial section of the resume is the profile summary. It acts as an introduction and a summary to all the following sections. You have to make this section impressive to create an impact on the recruiter. A good profile summary will include who you are, your experience, skills relevant to the research assistant job, etc. Keep it three to four lines but try to include all the requirements of the job offer in a precise manner.
To write a good profile summary, start with the number of years that you have spent in this industry. For example, A research assistant with five years experience in this field…. You can pick the words from the job letter and include them wisely in your profile summary. For example, possesses excellent administrative skills, good research skills, organizational skills, etc.
Lastly, mention the degree in the field. For example, I completed my Master’s from XYZ University with a good GPA.
Example of a good profile Summary:
A dynamic Research Assistant with experience of five years in researching possesses excellent knowledge of all the researching techniques, experiment designing, research document preparation, and other soft skills like the ability to work under pressure, teamwork, etc. Completed Ph.D. In Biology from XYZ University and published three papers in reputed journals.
Research Experience or work experience:
Experience gives you an edge over a beginner. Therefore you must present your experience and the work that you have previously done vividly. Start from the recent employment and include all the companies, institutions, Universities, etc. that you have worked in.
Don’t use large paragraphs to talk about the work. Rather use short sentences and bullet points. Various relevant jobs that you can mention in your research assistant resume are research assistant jobs in academia, in the scientific field like laboratories, medical field like hospitals, assisting the publications’ authors, etc. You can also talk about relevant research experience that you have gained in your academics. One example can be the research and the investigations undertaken by you for completing your academic projects.
Skills and core competencies:
Next, you will talk about the relevant skills that make you a good candidate for the job. For this, the job offer letter would come in handy. Read the details of the job and all the requirements. Based upon that, pick the relevant keywords and include them in your resume. In this way, you will be able to craft your resume according to the job at hand.
Educational qualifications:
The education section must also be presented in an organized manner. Firstly mention all the academic qualifications you have i.e. the degree you possess like Bachelor’s degree, master’s degree, Ph.D., etc. Don’t forget to add the GPA you have scored if you got more than a 3.5 score. Then you can mention the additional courses or certifications that you have acquired in your journey. The seminars and workshops can also be mentioned if they are relevant to the job profile.
Tell about your knowledge of much-required technical tools and skills for the field. You can also include this section in the skills and core competency section under the name of ‘technical skills. The examples are report writing skills or course, well versed with the management of research databases, the know-how of assimilation software, etc.
Highlight the important things to grab the attention of the recruiter:
Once you have completed all the above-mentioned sections, the next task is to highlight the relevant part. Since the recruiter has to go through several resumes for making the selection, it is vital to make his task easy by highlighting a few important terms, skills, experience, and other keywords. This will also help you pass the ATS if relevant keywords are highlighted properly. To understand what exactly you should highlight in your resume, you can look at the following factors:
The exact field or department that you are applying for:
Research work is done in almost every academic field. It can be scientific fields, law department and law reviews, sociological subjects. Therefore it is crucial to understand the field or department you are working in and applying for. The requirement varies for different fields.
For instance, if you are applying as a research associate in the scientific field, you will be asked to possess and accordingly highlight your proficiency in lab tools, a degree in scientific subjects, and other such things that show your scientific knowledge. But if it’s a legal field, you will not be asked to show lab skills. Rather, it would be the knowledge of case laws, the issue presentation, argument analysis, etc. Thus the exact field of research is crucial to understand the requirements and highlight the relevant part.
Even if you have researched in some other field, you can highlight the common requirements:
Although the researching requirements for different subjects and disciplines indeed vary, few skills are common in researching work. So even if you have worked in a different academic field, you can highlight common skills. These include the ability to assist properly, knowledge of databases’ operation, organizational skills for proper recording of research pieces, ability to draw proper conclusions, command of the language, etc.
The main duties that you performed:
One thing that you should highlight is the main work that you have done in previous jobs. Based on what you have done previously, the recruiter can know of your efficiencies. You can list various things and highlight them like recruitment and selection of volunteers for the research work, studying the given set of samples, proper data collection, and organization, proper verification of facts, etc.
You can mention some supporting duties like raising funds, preparing reports, making presentations, cleaning of lab material and other research tools, proofreading the articles and the written work, printing of various reports and written pieces, etc.
If you have some know-how of blogging and social media management, you can also list that. These things can help you because, in the present pandemic situation, internet knowledge has emerged as a crucial skill for all businesses. It helps in reaching the target audience and get some professionals for additional help.
Create a separate section for your publications and blogs, if any:
It’s always advised to show some sample work that you have done. So if you have published some papers in your previous role, you can create a separate section for that and list them all. In this section, you can mention the presentations, the fellowship programs you have done, the conferences where you were a speaker besides publications and blogs in the given field. This creates a sense of credibility and looks very impressive.
To list the publications properly, write:
- Your last name, first and middle name, or initials
- The topic or the title of the research paper, blog, or article. Along with this write the journal, website, or magazine name where it was published.
- Then mention the year of publication
- Next, write the issue number and volume number along with the URL (if it’s an online publication).
Example: Gates HW ‘Space laws and their interface with environment laws’ YAMA Space laws journal 2021, 3rd edition, pg. 13-20, www.yama/space.com
To list the conferences, seminars, or presentations, you will write
- Whether you were speaker or attendee
- The name of the topic or the title of your paper
- The name of the conference or the organization where you gave the presentation
- Date and location of the conference.
Example: 2nd Speaker, ‘Importance of plastic waste management for the environment’ ‘NAA Environment Institute’s conference on ‘Understanding the different aspects of environment protection’ 2020, Online medium (at Cisco Webex).
Additional things that you can add to a resume:
Besides all the above-mentioned things, you can also add some other things to the resume. Firstly, you can write about your preferred work settings like if you are comfortable working in a field or a controlled environment. Then you can talk about the duration of the job i.e. whether you want to do it as a part-time job or a full-time job. Also mention the number of hours that you can take out for the job.
If the job profile requires extensive traveling, you can mention your driving license (if you have it). Lastly, you can include the additional languages which you know like French, Spanish, German, etc. These things can also give you an edge over other applicants.
Use facts and figures to make the resume stand out:
To add emphasis to your work and accomplishments, you should try to add facts and figures. When you write numbers you get an opportunity to look different from your peer candidates. Compare the two statements: Performed lab work and maintained records. The statement is all right and shows your work experience but it is simple and not different from other resumes.
Now look at this second statement: Assisted in almost 10 different scientific experiments and ensured addition of 50-100 records in the database after every project. The second statement adds credibility to your work and helps you stand out from the crowd.
You should use action words while describing the work in your previous jobs:
Rather than using the same words while describing the job duties like responsible for, working as, managed, etc., you should include other action words too. This will help you to make your resume impressive and stand out. Various action words that you can include are: designed, conceptualized, drafted, determined, originated, launched, formulated, introduced, spearheaded, etc.
Other formatting related things to keep in mind while making a research assistant resume:
- Margin: Keep a one-inch margin on all sides of the resume
- Font type and font size: Use a professional font like Cambria, times new roman, Garamond, etc. Don’t use a single font size for the whole document. For headings, you can increase the font to 14 or 16, and for other bullet points use font size 12. Use bold, italics, underline, etc. to highlight important keywords
- Line Spacing: To make the document legible, use line spacing of 1.0 or 1.5.
- The total length of the resume: It’s always advised to keep the resume only one page. This is because the recruiter has to read several resumes. Therefore you have to keep it short but cover all the points.
Sample Research Assistant Resume:
ABC (Full name)
Address, email id, contact no.
Profile (Objective summary)
An enthusiastic Research Assistant, with experience of 2 years and a Ph.D. degree, and proficiency in various researching tools like surveys, experimental and doctrinal research, etc. research designing and proper documentation. I have published almost six papers in the last two years.
Work experience (Employment experience):
Research Assistant at XYZ Hospital (2020-Present)
- Authored two research papers published in reputed journals.
- Organized and performed lab operations
- Supervised lab students and imparted necessary skills
- Participated in national level healthcare as a key speaker
- Represented the institute and applied for research grants.
Research Assistant at QPR University (2018-2020)
- Contributed to the research of important articles by researching various multidisciplinary topics.
- Created analytical data to support various study results and write them in the research papers.
- Transcribe certain foreign language audios in English for better knowledge to local masses.
- Supervised the material used in research work and ensured that the stocks are properly maintained.
- Maintained the research library properly to ensure the easy finding of relevant books, research papers, and journals.
- Responsible for the maintenance of the database
- Assisted the college staff in various research projects.
Educational qualifications
- Ph.D. In Biology (ABC University) 2018- 2019
- Bachelor in Biological Sciences (2014-2018) XYZ University.
Skills:
- Good researching skills
- Proper knowledge of various research techniques
- Management skills for managing the work-related pressure
- Organizational skills to keep the databases updated and proper sorting of required material
- Teamwork
- Ability to assist others and teach students.
Publications and conferences:
- ABC ‘Understanding the nuances of augmented reality, Journal for AI and related research, 3rd edition, 2018
- Key speaker, ‘How plastic waste management can help us overcome the harsh future’, How we can create a better tomorrow Webinar by center for environmental studies 2021, Cisco Webex.
Additional details:
- Valid Driving license
- Proficiency in Spanish and French language.
- Able to work on weekends also (overtime work).
2nd Sample:
ABC (Full name)
Phone no.:
Address:
Email id:
Linkedin:
Profile summary (Career summary):
Efficient Research assistant with 3 years experience in scientific research and analysis, completed Ph.D. in molecular biology from XYZ University and gained insights on various researching tools, techniques, and methodologies, participated in various conferences and published five research papers in reputed journals, translated several research pieces with proficiency in Spanish and french. Proficiency in field survey, volunteer recruitment, and organization of data.
Work experience:
Research assistant, ABC University (2020- present)
- Performed various administrative and operational tasks
- Assisted Professors and Scientific directors to perform various experiments
- Updated the records and supervised sample handling.
- Managed the research material and ensured that they are returned timely by students.
- Supervised students while performing project research.
- Ensured that the research materials are in full stock.
Research assistant in XYZ University (2018-2020)
- Maintained research library and properly organized all the research material
- Contacted various human resources professionals and ensured timely updating of the research database.
- Research on various topics and themes and used a multidisciplinary approach for better results.
- Responsible for the recruitment of volunteers and recording their responses for the research work.
- Translated various research papers.
Education:
2017- 2019 Ph.D. in Bioscience, ABC University
Name of the thesis
GPA:
2016-17 Master’s degree in Marine biology, UVW University
GPA
2014-16 bachelor degree in Biology
GPA
Extra-curricular activities (relevant to research assistant job).
Technical Skills:
- Analytical skills for proper analysis of statistics
- Integration of data and fact verifying skills
- Speed reading
- Publication skills
Soft Skills:
- Active listening skills
- Problem-solving skills
- Writing and speaking skills
- Detail-oriented approach
- Hard-working
- Interpersonal and communication skills and meticulous approach.
Final words:
A research assistant job gives you a great opportunity to research various aspects while earning a handsome income. But to get a good position, it’s crucial to create an impressive resume. So, use these tips and create a good first impression by using the tips above.
FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions)
Q1: What kind of certifications and qualifications can be mentioned on the Research Assistant resume?
Ans: you can mention various qualifications and certifications like:
- Associate degree in various disciplines like psychology, scientific academics, etc.
- Project management diploma
- Professional development course in analytical skills and statistics organization
- Advanced MS Office proficiency course
- CRA (Clinical Research Associate) certificate.
- Masters degree and Ph.D. in various disciplines of science.
Q2: how to write a good biology Research associate resume?
Ans: To write a good biology research associate resume, you can follow the steps given above. The only difference will be in work experience. You can mention various job roles of a biological research associate or assistant. An example is given below:
Lab. Research associate, ABC hospital (Duration)
- Prepared genomic samples from DNA
- Monitored cells and tissues and appreciated for 99% accuracy in analyzing the records.
- Complied with the safety guidelines issued by supreme health authorities
- Supervised 3 lab workers and ensured proper lab maintenance
Ques 3: How much time does one require to become a research associate?
Ans: There is no fixed tenure for becoming a research assistant. You can become a research assistant even if you have only a high school diploma. But with a high school diploma, it would become extremely difficult to achieve higher positions and get a job. Therefore one has to complete a two to a four-year degree course with a good GPA to become eligible for different jobs. You can take up any field that interests you like biology, physics, chemistry, psychology, sociology, law, etc. with the required experience, qualifications, and skills you can earn almost 47510 USD annually according to the US Bureau of Labour Statistics.
Ques 4: How to write a good cover letter for the post of research?
Ans: Including a cover letter in your application further helps you to increase your chances of selection. To create a good cover letter, you can follow the below-mentioned steps:
- Start with the credentials of the receiver of the email.
Example: To
The Manager,
Company name
Company address
Dear (name of the manager)
- Opening Paragraph: You will highlight the purpose of the cover letter. You will tell them why you want to apply for the job in the present company. You can talk about better exposure, growth and learning opportunities, etc.
- Second paragraph (where you will talk about how you are fit for the job): Then you can write about the relevant skills and qualifications, relevant for the job.
- Closing paragraph: in the last paragraph, you will mention the points that were missed in the main body. Conclude by saying that I hope to hear from you soon or I hope you would find a suitable candidate for me. End with yours sincerely or best regards.
