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Chemist Resume: Templates, Examples & Essential Skills
Have you ever wondered what a chemist does? In general, chemists analyse organic and inorganic compounds to develop new chemical products while ensuring safety at the same time.
Employment for chemists is expected to grow over the next ten years by about 6%. Job opportunities for fresher chemists and chemistry-major students vary from academic researcher, clinical scientist, forensic scientist, or even a toxicologist. On the other hand, those pursuing a master degree in chemistry land jobs that are more specialized, such as chem-informatics and forensic nanotechnology.
The promising future of pursuing a chemistry degree consequently results in a competitive job hunting field. Standing out has never become as important as before. This is where crafting your own chemist resume plays an important role.
You'll learn:
How to write a resume for chemists?
Step 1: Know that a chemistry CV and a chemistry resume are not the same!
This is a typical problem seen amongst freshers; they mistake a chemistry CV and chemistry resume to be alike. Too often hiring managers can tell apart between an undergraduate chemistry resume from those more experienced.
Four important aspects that differentiate a chemistry CV and a chemistry resume:
- Your chemistry CV aims to land an academia position especially in the STEM field whereas your chemistry resume has a different purpose. A chemistry resume would be more appropriate when applying for a more common job.
- A chemistry CV is more descriptive and commonly in paragraph-form, whereas a chemistry resume, be it an organic chemistry resume, or an analytical chemist resume, are more straight-forward and generally in a bulleted form.
- When creating your chemistry CV, include academic achievements and/or certifications that go way back in time. On the other hand, add only relevant and recent achievements and skills onto your chemistry resume. If you have a handful of experience, consider making a separate chemistry lab skills resume.
- Keep your chemistry resume short, whereas your chemistry CV is more flexible in length.
Step 2: Choose the right resume format for chemists.
Four different types of resume format for chemistry freshers to consider:
- Chronological resume format: Requires you to list the most recent accomplishments and experiences first.
- Functional format: Focuses on a certain set of skills. A functional resume format for fresher chemists usually highlights qualification, certification, accomplishment. According to your set of skills, you might want to specify your chemistry resume. For example, an analytical chemist resume, quality control chemist resume, or organic chemistry resume would require different sets of lab skills.
- Combination resume format for chemists mixes the aforementioned chronological and functional format. It takes into account both your most recent chemistry skills and working experience.
- Targeted resume format: Modified particularly for a job position or a company.
Step 3: Look up for chemistry resume templates and chemistry resume examples online for reference.
Writing your own chemist resume from scratch, especially upon graduation, would be too challenging. That is why chemistry CV templates are the solution to your problem.
🔎 Search for “chemistry resume samples” or “chemistry CV examples” online to help you have an idea of how your own resume should turn out. Remember, there is no right or wrong chemistry resume.
Step 4: Customize your chemistry resume for the job position you desire.
We know that creating a single chemist resume for multiple jobs openings is what most job seekers would do. However, it is important that you modify your chemistry resume so that companies know precisely your expertise.
Step 5: Make your chemist cover letter.
Adding a chemist cover letter will greatly boost the company’s first impression on you. A chemist cover letter is highly important to showcase a distinct connection between your knowledge, experience, capabilities to meet the needs of the company.
📝 Note: Refer to chemist cover letter examples online for reference.
Step 6: Proofread.
Make sure that you always proofread your chemist resume; you do not want to look less credible with a few grammatical errors.
What to put on a chemistry resume?
1. Resume Profile (Personal Information)
The first item on your chemistry resume profile should include your personal information, including:
- First and last name
- Phone number
- Email address
- Relevant personal websites, for example, LinkedIn profile
2. Chemist Resume Headline
A catchy headline for your chemistry resume is crucial to attract recruiters. An example of a chemist resume headline would look something like this:
Example of a chemist resume headline:
- Highly experienced chemist with over seven years of laboratory work in chemical compound synthesis.
- Professional quality control chemist with an expertise in measuring lab materials according to standard procedures of an industry.
3. Profile summary for a chemist resume
A resume summary is necessary to help you stand out amongst the other applicants. A professional chemist resume summary emphasizes your skills right from the beginning and this is a huge advantage to capture the attention of recruiters.
Example of a profile summary for a B.Sc chemistry resume:
Detail-oriented entry-level chemist with experience in the formulation and design of chemical products. Familiar with operation of analytical instruments like GC, HPLC, and conduct of titration experiments.
Profile summary for a M.Sc chemistry resume:
Detail-oriented analytical chemist with expertise in the chemical formulation of beauty products. Have over 10 years of experience operating analytical instruments like GC, HPLC, FTIR Spectroscopy, and NIR Spectrometer.
4. Career objective for a chemist resume
A chemist resume objective shows the goal of the job that you aim for.
Example of a resume objective for your reference:
Experienced chemistry lab assistant with experience in handling chemical product development. Looking for a lab environment that is highly innovative and active with product research.
5. Chemistry skills for resume
The right skills are important to showcase your unique strength. However, most freshers confuse what chemistry lab skills to put on a resume or in general, what chemistry skills for resume are necessary.
Chemistry lab skills to put on your resume:
- Analytical chemistry
- Organic chemistry
- Process chemistry
- Physical chemistry
- Documentation & reporting
- Lab equipment operation & maintenance
6. Work experience for chemist resumes
A chemistry student resume without work experience is definitely incomplete as work experience highlights your suitability for the job opening you have applied for.
Examples of transforming your resume for chemist fresh graduate into a professional one:
Lab Assistant for Organic Chemistry Lab | Jakarta, 06/2020
- Prepared lab equipment and reactants for organic chemistry lab class
- Calibrated lab instruments weekly and performed regular maintenance
- Graded test papers and engaged in tutorial discussions with students weekly
Lab Researcher in Polymeric Materials Lab | Taichung, 11/2020
- Joined Professor Wu’s polymeric materials lab as an undergraduate researcher
- Assisted in the generation of PLGA microfluidic devices
- Conducted various quality control tests to ensure stability of the polymeric materials
7. Education
Some important features to add onto the education section of your chemistry resume are your:
- Degree
- Major
- Year of graduation
- School
- Honors and awards
8. Additional information
Besides the items mentioned above, if you have any relevant projects, publications, or certifications, you can always add it onto your chemist resume.
Tips for a professional entry-level chemist resume
#Tip 1: Customize your chemistry resume for the job.
Mentioning your most recent experience that is suitable for the job position would upgrade the quality of your chemist resume.
#Tip 2: Use keywords.
It is important to use keywords in your chemistry resume. Skills and qualifications from the description can be directly added to enhance the visibility of your resume. You might want to consider several chemistry lab skills to put on your resume as mentioned above.
#Tip 3: Quantify results on resume.
Instead of only using descriptive writing, adding numbers and statistics to quantify your achievements would greatly boost the credibility of your chemistry resume.
#Tip 4: Choose an ATS-friendly chemist resume format.
Several big companies use software (ATS) for the first stage screening process. It is better to adopt an ATS-friendly resume format for chemists.
#Tip 5: Adopt resume action words.
Action words make your chemistry resume more impactful, more concise, and easier to understand.
#Tip 6: Include any license and/or certification on your chemist resume.
License and/or certification can help prove your credibility in the field and hence, impress recruiters. The chemistry lab skills to put on your resume now have validity.
How to write a chemist job cover letter?
Below are parts to include in your chemist cover letter:
1. Contact details
Include your full name, email address, mobile number, personal websites (if any).
2. Introduction
A short introduction specifically addressed to your hiring manager would boost your chemistry resume, as it shows you have done your research!
3. Motivation
Highlight the reason why you are applying for the job position.
4. Qualification
This is the most crucial part of your chemist cover letter. You list all chemistry-related skills and achievements with linking numbers and statistics.
5. Closing
End your chemist cover letter by appreciating hiring recruiters.
Chemist Resume Sample (text format)
Marcellino Romero
Qualified analytical chemist with over 20 years of lab experience
+6173182309
linkedin.com/in/romeromarcellino
Professional Summary
Detail-oriented M.Sc analytical chemist offering in-depth experience in titration methods and operation on technical machines, including HPLC, GC, elemental and thermal analyzers.
Work Experience
IMicro Chemical Industry
Chemist
Sep 2016 - May 2018
- Entry level chemist responsible for R&D of analytical testing projects.
- Performed back-end titration, GC, and HPLC to ensure chemical constituents are free of impurities.
G-The Lab
Accounts Receivable ClerkSenior Analytical Chemist
Sep 2020 - Present
- Senior analytical chemist in the main lab with colleagues reporting lab results on beauty product development daily.
- Focused on formulation and chemical synthesis of applicable chemical products while following quality control policies for computerized and manual cash batch, data entry and sale journal.
Education
2010– 2013, Bachelor of Science in Chemistry
University of British Columbia
- GPA: 3.85
- Research: Bioconjugation in substance chemistry particularly in nanoparticles-based drug.
- Honors: Received the Marco Polo Scholarship award for top achievers throughout all four years of the undergraduate program.
2013– 2015, Masters of Science in Chemistry
National Taiwan University
- GPA: 3.90
- Research: Received the government grand from the MOST budget to conduct research on analytical and forensic chemistry.
Skills
Hard skills:
- Superb lab equipment handling
- Detailed calibration
- Experienced in Origin
- Multilingual (Spanish, English, and Chinese)
- Proficient in JavaScript
Soft skills:
- Determination
- Meticulous
- Excellent logical reasoning
- Detail-oriented
- Communication skills
--- Originally written by Felicia Diparahardja ---
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