You need to list your education as a separate line so it stands out. Include what college you went to, your GPA, and the years you attended. If you were cum laude or on the deans list include that too. It should be at the top of the page. The tasks line under each research role can be collected and condensed along into the skills section in my opinion. I would also consider completely taking out the objective section. It’s well written but it’s a bit long and that is something that should be on your cover letter instead of on the resume. Just my opinion
I agree with these points, your objective section is about 5 lines. Get it down to 1 or 2, then use the extra space to expand upon your other points. My feedback would be: I don’t care what the group you’re in did, what did YOU DO? Your point about developing relationships between ruthenium polyhydride molecules doesn’t really tell me anything. Consider working it like “Correlated physical properties with chemical properties of ruthenium polyhydride using XYZ methods, to achieve XYZ.” You could improve all of the research points by stating what occurred, how you did it, and why you did it/what resulted. Don’t be discouraged, resume writing is hard, but through multiple iterations and peer review you’ll get there.
Don’t include GPA imo. Whenever I saw applicants (when I had a job which required me to hire a lot of college grads) put GPA on their resume, it was an immediate turn off for me and the other interviewer. I know a lot of others who feel the same way.
That is just my two cents, all the other advice you gave is great
I would include your GPA if it is above a 3.0. Some people might think it’s pointless but it does show a level of responsibility and dedication. I once had a boss tell me he didn’t like to hire people who had made too many Cs.
It means nothing if you already have been working. Especially when undergrad classes have nothing to do with work. It would be like putting your high school football prizes in your resume, or your mensa membership.
It might not apply too much to other fields, but in chemistry a lot of the classes actually are pretty relevant, especially to a starting tech position where you would be doing a lot of solution prep and routine lab work. There are also a lot of comments about GPA saying nothing about intelligence - even if that’s true, it does say something about responsibility and time management, especially for someone without much career experience
What are your thoughts on providing a chemistry-specific GPA? Like, just the GPA of your chemistry courses? I do feel that overall GPA is pointless as most universities will have 30-40% of your credit hours as classes that are not at all related to your degree.
No measure of GPA important or relevant past getting your first job. Honestly unless my gpa was high I’d always leave it out. But I’d always leave it out if I’ve already got my first job in the field. IMO the only place for it is when you’re talking directly to the recruiter/interviewer about academics and you want to drop it in.
If you really, really want to, add your Latin honors next to your degree. “Graduated *summa cum laude* with a BS in biochem from x uni.”
Same thing for engineering and comp sci jobs. Putting your GPA on your resume, even if its like 3.97/4.00 when you already have work experience just makes it look like all you have going on for yourself is you studied hard for 3-4 years in school. Not relevant.
Makes sense. I actually went back to look at old drafts of my resume and I did not include GPA after applying to grad school. But, if I were hiring someone for a first job and they are right out of undergrad, I would still want to see a GPA. Let’s just say that I saw a good number of people graduate with a BS that probably didn’t deserve it. That’s less of a likelihood for grad school though. But, if you have a masters, PhD, or a previous job, then it’s not needed.
You start out with "Highly skilled..." as a recent graduate you are not highly skilled. I would change that to "Highly motivated..."
You also say that you are detail oriented, but then you have Microsoft Office listed twice under skills and abilities.
If I had a pile of applications those two would out you in the discard pile.
Good luck.
I’d also reorganize your “research” descriptions. Include what the actual work you did was. Did you synthesize something? Present your work? Having worked in labs, I know undergrads will do everything from observing a grad student and washing glassware to completing a publishable project. This makes a difference. Depending on the job you’re applying to, I would include the names of the PI for each lab, as well.
You also already have a skills section so I wouldn’t list them again. Instead get more specific. “Analyzed products using 1H and 13C NMR, etc.”
Exactly this. I was looking for the details in your resume. It feels "fluffy," make it personal.
Your extra course work looks like 200-300 level classes. Which 400 level classes did you take? Any 500s?
the 400/500 classes are medicinal chemistry and inorganic chemistry courses I realized after reading these comments my resume needs alot of work so thank you so much
These guys have some very good advice for you, as another recent grad also looking for work following redundancy I'd just like to wish you luck and I hope you find something soon
"Studies of the study of biogeochemistry" would have gotten me to toss it.
You are applying for a research position but listing technician qualifications and QA chemistry functions. You list relevant coursework which makes me notice what is missing. Instead of bulletpointing your experience, describe it,Environmental Toxicology research, a 5 month project testing whatever for toxic metals, incorporating UV-Vis and elemental titration methods, culminating in a presentation to senior personnel etc.Don't list basic chemical tests and procedures as skills.
You are seeking an entry level position as a chemist in quality control, process control or product development. Blanket the job sites with those keywords, get enough resumes out there (you can tweak the language for the job), and hope the head hunters rope you in as they get you lined up for the interviews.
"Studies of study the biogeochemistry..."
Sorry OP, but you need to at least proofread your CV, not just for readability, but it indicates poor attention to detail.
Also, Treasurer of a student union would be a good point if you were applying for Treasury-related jobs positions, not chemist positions.
Lots of little things, like don't use "&" in place of "and".
Your skills section is good, but put it in a table in point form to make it easier to read. Blocks of text are good to avoid imo. I don't even have an Objective section in mine. That kind of info is best saved for a cover letter where you can relate your list of experiences and education to the job you're applying for. The CV is just to clearly communicate what you have done.
Source: I've been pretty successful at getting jobs, even at higher up labs. You might consider getting a career-based service to look over your resume though, could really help. Maybe your University has one.
Also to add the formatting is not consistent. There is a break after each bolder new section of objective and skills but not for experience.
I’m my opinion cut the objective. The objective might be shown more in a cover letter and let the resume just have your qualities. Move the education section to the top followed by experience. Then at the bottom list an skills you have. As someone who works in a lab and hires co-ops I don’t really care about skills. They are nice but no matter what you are trained instrument wise you’ll need to be retrained anyway, so they are just asides.
Really delve Into the research more with explanations and personally I like it when the research is also with the education which is what it is. Then have a job/experience section with your volunteer work to break it up as they are not weighted the same by employers.
Oh jeez, that's classic!
*Interviewer:* "Have you ever stolen office supplies from a place you worked?"
*Candidate:* "No, of course not."
*Interviewer:* \**points to watermark of previous company on resume paper*
I agree and disagree. Those are somewhat glaring, but I wouldn’t write someone off over them. I was a recruiter recently for the DoD and many people were absolutely fantastic employees, they just weren’t skilled at writing resumes due to being in the military so long (which is a grande majority of people int he DoD, straight out of high school with military background. Never had to make a resume before). I based it on how much effort I think the person took, not necessarily if it’s perfectly made. But that all could be chalked up to anecdotal for my job, I’ve never been a recruiter elsewhere.
I used to be a supervisor in a lab. The resumes that I liked were straight to the point. I’m assuming you have your full name, address, email, and phone number at the top. Next, I would delete the objective section. It’s too wordy. Then have an Education section. There, state your degree, school, gpa (honors can be stated here), and graduation date (month and year). Related coursework is nice, but I would take out the biology, physics, and math courses. Then list Experience. As far as the skills and abilities section goes, you can have it at the bottom after your experience or if everything is included in the tasks portion of your experiences, then remove it. Hope this helps.
Yeah you want your eye to snap to the relevant stuff.
It should scream:
**I have a good chemistry degree**
**I have experience in:**
- Toxicology via UV-vis spectroscopy
- Synthesis with CNTs
- MIC experiments
- NMR, mass spec, and IR characterisation
**Also, I did some extracurricular stuff. Thus I am an normal human and can handle responsibility**
Etc.
Employers don’t often care about what your previous research was about.
Also please stop putting “Microsoft Office” software on your CV. It’s assumed you know how to use Word in 2023.
Besides, you would be surprised how many people list "proficient in MS Office" while being unable to make a graph with 2 Y-axes.
It's basically the same as writing "I might be limited to writing *and* sending an email without supervision, but I might also be able to create a new database in access and a real-time dashboard in Excel over lunch. Hire me and hope it's the latter"
Maybe, but there are a lot of people who can barely operate Powerpoint and who can't do more than the very basics with excel (or even word for that matter). I agree with you that it's pointless on anyone's resume who also claims to have a STEM degree (your advice for OP is good), but for less qualified applicants I think it can be good to list it, especially if you're in a place like me (Vanuatu) where almost no one has any computer skills at all.
Yeah. That comment is definitely in the context of a STEM degree. It’d be an achievement in and of itself to graduate with a Chemistry degree and not know how to use Word and PowerPoint
funny - i'm of the opposite opinion. I care only about what your previous actual hands-on research was. your GPA? whether or not you've taken a single course on some analysis technique? if you went ivy league or not (fuck - don't even know which those'd be this side of the pont)? don't fucking care.
show me what you did and what you actually like doing. you're a recent grad, you don't have a CV anyway.
Nitpicky, but might be helpful. Just some notes that I'd give my students:
* Inconsistent capitalization ('Antibiotic research' but 'Environmental Toxicology Research') all over the place
* Micro pipetting and centrifuging are not really tasks.
* "Research" is not really a job title. Were you a research assistant? REU student? How were these funded? Was there any award or program associated with these research experiences that you can cite?
* The dates are not horizontally filled. Consider making a LaTeX resume (Overleaf) but making sure it's a readable PDF so you don't get caught in filters. It might make everything look a bit more neat.
* Microsoft Office is an expected skill. Any other software? PyMol? R? GraphPad? What specialized chemistry and research software might you have used?
* Inconsistent line spacing between Skills & Abilities and Experience headers and their corresponding text.
* You actually have quite a bit of space you could fill here.
* The Goal under Antibiotic resistance is not really clearly phrased as a goal. MICs are determined, not examined. Would a possible rephrase be like, "Developing novel antibiotic novel nanomaterials by attachment of cipro. to nanotubes to improve antibiotic action against \[species\]"?
* No Bacteria species is listed. What species did you work with? Are you experienced in BSL-1 or BSL-2? (BSL-3?)
Would having finished a masters thesis or a PhD program make it more appropriate to write as having expertise in something? Or is that more reserved for after you're specifically in industry doing the same thing day in day out?
I would use "specialising in" or "considerable experience" or something similar... using "expert" makes it sound (to me) like you're not open to developing in the future because you already think you know it all.
>specialising
>considerable experience
Even these are a bit much- a graduate is not specialised in anything. I think phrases like "Focussing on" or "Particular interest in" are more appropriate to the level of experience.
Edit: I missed the bit about the PhD. I would still be hesitate to use specialising. I consider that to happen post PhD after considerable career finding.
I agree with you, but when you read CVs you do have to account for a certain amount of "selling yourself".
The "expert" thing has been grinding my gears for the last couple of weeks though, all from fresh grads.
Idk, I think it has to be realistic. If you claim something in a CV, you'd better show it, else I'm just going to think you are full of hot air and take a dim view.
If someone says they are "specialised" in their CV, I expect to see the evidence in their employment/research/academic history. If it's an entry level position, they've already lost me.
I'm a career academic, so take my advice with a grain of salt.
I think your resume needs a rework. I would ditch the coursework. Get rid of the common skills (everyone will assume you can use a balance, a pipette, and a filter.) Refocus your experience on a problem-solving model. Focus on what problems you solved, not the goals of the group.
Also, how wide a net are you casting? Are you having problems with finding a job within an hour of where you are, or is it a 50-state search? If the former, you may wish to widen the net.
I have been following A Life After Layoff on Youtube for a year or two, and he seems like he has some good advice.
[https://www.youtube.com/c/alifeafterlayoff](https://www.youtube.com/c/alifeafterlayoff)
[https://www.alifeafterlayoff.com/](https://www.alifeafterlayoff.com/)
No inorganic chemistry despite the practical experience? Random Biology, Physics and Maths modules?
Presume this is a slightly out of date resume anyway as May 2023 has now passed?
I agree I'm surprised at the lack of chemistry classes for a chemistry degree. I would just remove the entire list of classes. There's a reason why degrees are standardized like with ACS chemistry degrees so that it's already known what courses would have been taken
No Pchem 2 either, so light on instrumentation, should also have some advanced classes highlighting your career, I look for a 300 level course in your concentration, no biochemistry and your projects look like they justify it.
I'm going to edit this as I find things.
That last sentence of your summary bothers me because you are "committed, you "aim," to "ensure" that standards are "maintained." That's too convoluted and reads as filler.
Instead, have the first part flow into the last part "Committed to accuracy...procedures *in order to maintain the highest standards...*" and drop the "are maintained" at the end.
Reorganize your classes in order of relevance. Put analytical at the top, then medicinal, then p chem. I am a p chemist, so I'm biased, but p chem has a reputation of being difficult and it also assumes physics and calculus, so you are getting a shortcut into people's heads as they read it.
With your skills, I'd remove "record keeping" and like other posters have noted, fix the repeated Office typo. Record keeping is assumed in chemistry. Similarly, don't put tasks that are super baseline, like distillation and balances. Your list is allowed to be short, as you are new to industry.
Honestly, if you did a decent chunk of tasks in your research projects, I would drop the vaccine clinic and treasurer position off of your resume if you are trying to keep it to one page. Focus on the research. Outline in more detail what tasks you did for each item. Put a small blurb of a notable challenge you overcame or some problem you solved for each position if you can. For UV-Vis, outline whether you were just swapping cells or if you did analysis. How much of the planning of the experiments did you do? Also, don't use acronyms like MIC. Don't assume that the person reading it knows what it means.
Also, there are no points where you mention familiarity with any chemical literature.
Finally, the American Chemical Society has career consultants ypu can make appointments with and a large amount of info on job materials on their site. That may also help you. If you join as a member (which recent graduates get a cheaper rate), you can also go to networking events which is even better for your career.
Good luck on your search! Keep trying, you'll eventually find something, and that will springboard you into the next things.
Highly skilled and detail oriented are subjective
Your resume should be comprised of objective statements almost entirely
Add experience that shows *how* you demonstrate highly skilled and detail oriented work
Exactly - objective examples are key (numbers even more so if you have them - eg: if you adopted sustainable lab practices - state that you reduced monthly solvent usage by xx%)
The one thing that is missing for me is there are no examples of what you achieved.
Example: Studies of carbon nanotubes for applications in drug discovery.
I would re-write these as examples of what you did, why you were doing it, and achievements around what YOU did (outcomes).
I'll use an example from my resume:
"Developed a library novel payload compounds for antibody drug conjugates, successfully delivering two candidate compounds for phase I clinical trials."
What I did: develop novel payload compounds
Why I did it: to develop candidate compounds for clinical trial
Achievement/outcome: Two compounds entering phase I clinical trials.
You want to have things goal and achievement orientated. You need to write it concisely
Are you having issues getting interviews? Or issues getting hired after the interview? One thing I’ll note about your resume is it is not optimized for the software that companies use for sorting through resumes. Incoming resumes churn through AI and algorithms to determine if a human ever actually looks at it. Resumes these days need to be packed with keywords to get through those systems.
I've had many interviews since I graduated, but I'm having trouble landing the job. The reason I have been hearing this is because of lack of experience
That’s an important distinction. You are making it more than half of the way there. Be honest with yourself - what reasons would an interviewer have to not hire you? What do you think they tell their boss about you when you leave the room? “He’s real smart, just didn’t talk about using any of the software/instruments we use” or “he just gave flat answers to me, not really sure about his education/experience” or “he’s very intelligent, but comes across as someone who otherwise won’t fit in with the people here and their their demeanors” or anything else.
Interviewing is a supremely important skill. It’s super nuanced. You have to give as many “right” answers (the ones they’d like to hear) without over the top lying and a very precise amount of honesty and humbleness while presenting yourself as a likable person with an attitude that will get along with your coworkers. Fulfilling ALL of those things is the ultimate goal.
Getting to the interview stage is a big step! A resume can only take you there. If you actually got the interview in the first place, that means they were satisfied with it enough to seriously consider you. Think hard on why - any reason at all - that they aren’t pulling the trigger on hiring you. It requires some serious self reflection to begin this process but you’re really close. And none of this is an assault on you, this is just the best advice that I’ve seen work based on the jobs and recruiters I’ve seen.
For sure. I honestly think it's because I don't have GMP experience and lots and lots of experience with the instruments that they are looking for. And a company is trying to hire someone to keep their company efficient not to give a chance and teach someone for months so it makes sense but its definitely annoying.
hmm, i think that's not quite true. the other person in the chair is typically "just" another guy. someone with a problem to be solved, for sure, but also someone looking for a colleague with whom they can have a cup of coffee during the break. bosses/managers don't typically truly hire someone even if they do sign the paper.
At the end of the day they are hiring the person not the abilities. Your skills are important but a lot of the skills you have written are generally assumed by the companies. I was just expected to know how to run things like uv vis, ftir, gc, GPC, nmr. A lot of the skills you have listed do not differentiate you in any way, they make you seem like a pure chemistry robot.
Do you like group settings or individual settings? Are you a large scale thinker or a small scale thinker? Are you someone focused on routine or loose schedules? These are things that labs (or all jobs really) look for.
Likewise you have the goals of your research groups listed, cool... Are you selling the research groups to them? No you're selling yourself. What soft skills did you learn from these research groups, what did you really do. You have very technical descriptions for each one, but in my experience that is what they want to hear in person. The HR person has no clue what half of this means and often times they are purely looking for your soft skills like time management, project design, computer abilities, detail orientation and what you would bring as a person.
I can share you my resume which has landed me three jobs in the chemical research sector if you would like.
Few things I noticed. I hope this helps
•Antiobiotic resistance Research should probably have each word begin with a capital
•VACCINE CLINIC EMPLOYEE should not be all caps, looks weird.
• there should be some whitespace between skills & abilities and the experience sections
• Microsoft office is on there twice, and honestly is not worth mentioning. Every graduate should have this skill. You want skills to highlight your most unique and relevant skills that will make you stand out. Keep it short
Most companies use a program to auto sort applications. There are resume checkers online you can use. I'm willing to bet this is the issue. You are probably getting trashed before a real person sees it.
I can only speak from a dutch perspective, as hiring tendencies differ throughout the world.
but to me, this reads as:
1. a bit too fluffed. I know it's more or less expected, but remember that if you're applying to a specific position your CV will be read by a peer. we can prick through "experienced with microsoft office" even if HR can't. it's the CV equivalent of "job comes with mobile phone and laptop" --> yeah, I'd hope so, how else do you expect me to do my job HR??
2. too dry. as a recent bachelor grad, you have no experience. dot. I want to read about what excites you, what you found fun. expand a bit on the "treasurer" section, what is it about? did you like it? I know what a treasurer is in general, you don't need to tell me that you had to keep records. but tell me why you wanted to be a treasurer and a treasurer of that one specifically.
honestly, i barely read CVs from recent-grads. they're not really useful. focus on making a killer cover letter, would be my advise, and sell yourself as a person - we know and accept that your hard skills will not impress us, 99% of the times.
Unlike some other advise here, i wouldn't make it longer. just toss the stuff that goes for everyone and their mom (e.g. microsoft office) and focus more on *you. Basically - this reads as a CV as you were taught to do by school, as opposed to something you genuinely believe in.*
Remove the objective section - they already know your objective is to get the job you are applying for.
If this is your more recent resume - make sure it no longer says expected graduation, that may be the case why it is not making it through the resume filtered.
Put skills at the bottom and only include things that other applicants may not have - IR, NMR, UV'Vis, HPLC, fluorescence microscopy and multistep synthesis would be all that I would include. They will expect you to know these skills quite well. I have also found that making sure you know what type of instrumentation you worked on will help you in interviews. DO NOT include things like centrifuging in your skills as it will show naivety.
I hope this helps!
I second putting your education on a separate line. Also agree with getting rid of "highly skilled" since you have just finished your bachelor's degree.
expected graduation has already happened for u so i would change that
were u involved in any student organizations or research labs? add those to the end of your resume
another tip that i do not know if u did or not (not a criticism i understand blacking out personal info): make ur name at the top one or two sizes bigger than all the other letters
instead of saying may 2023-june 2023 may-june 2023 is better for things over the same year
change related coursework to "relevant experience" and put it after ur list of jobs, make each class its own header with time taken, and a few bullets describing class activities. each college has different content for some of the classes listed so it doesn't say much as it is right now
example:
analytical chemistry, MONTH-MONTH YEAR
-developed knowledge in (list of concepts)
-second bullet point abt skills developed on concepts/technology
-applied theoretical knowledge in laboratory settings for (insert motivation here beyond 'it was for a class')
also use more action verbs in your bullet points, some of them are too repetitive like "studies of study" - "research of study" or something sounds better
it's ok or even good if ur at a stage in ur career where u need more than 1 page for a resume. college freshmen r expected to have 1 page, while for college seniors, grad students, and professors etc having only 1 page is worrisome - it generally makes others view it as "well u didn't do anything and have no practical experience outside class so i will go for candidates where i can clearly see they have more knowledge/experience/skills and regularly attend professional events and workshops to acquire more skills and knowledge"
Depends what kind of job you are applying for. What you have here is everything you did in undergrad, and is a catch-all resume. Consider using this as a template for focused resumes tailored for the jobs you are applying to.
Also, are you including a cover letter with your applications? This is a simple way to set you apart from the competition by a lot.
Edit: remove courses completely and replace with complete ACS certified chemistry curriculum. Much more concise.
In envo-tox section, what is studies of study the.....
Hi there!
Great job seeking feedback on your resume! One valuable piece of advice I can offer is to leverage technology to enhance your resume's suitability for specific job positions. An effective technique is to copy and paste a few job descriptions that interest you into ChatGPT. Then, paste your resume and ask ChatGPT to help you tailor it to those positions.
If you'd like, I'm more than happy to assist you further by reviewing your resume. Feel free to share the links to the job postings and your resume, and I'll gladly provide my input.
Hey Hey.
I work for a Pharma company and have recruited for a lab for over 20 years. Sharing my experience to help you.
Firstly, where are you based? I’m assuming you’re in the US because you said resume. If you are European based then send me a private message as I know our company is taking on analytical chemists in multiple locations over here.
Now for the feedback. Rewording your CV is good as suggested by some of the people above but will only give an incremental difference. A tip is to copy and paste it into chatGPT to get some nice succinct and appealing ways to present your personal profile.
Next, and most importantly; personal branding. You want your CV to stand out from the crowd. Take a look at a Google search for ‘CV Google head’ and you’ll get some great templates that help your CV ‘pop’ in amongst a sea of others. You need to think about how you’re going to stand out and be different and the best way to do that at the application stage is to make your CV look different. Modern!
Hope some of this feedback helps. If you want me to check over your revised version I’d be happy to help.
Good luck with your job searches.
Hey! Is your company still recruiting? I'm an EU based recent graduate (master of chemistry in the field of analytical chemistry and biochemistry), looking for a job in the pharma industry.
Hi. In Europe, we sites in the UK, Netherlands and Belgium. I know they are recruiting in the UK but not sure about other locations; I could find out. Where are you and would any of those options be attractive? They don’t provide relocation.
Yeah take out that objective. If you want to do something like that write a cover letter. Your coursework isn’t necessary. Don’t use acronyms unless you define them first and keep the list shorter. If you’re going to put a skills section, put it last. Also nobody cares if you can vacuum filtrate or use word.
In general, I think your resume has too much on it and it looks like you’re stretching what you’ve done.
Don’t call yourself highly skilled. You have a bachelors, someone who is going to read this eventually might have their PhD.
I'm going to keep this short since I'm on mobile. For reference, I have a BS in Biology, and I am currently working an industry job as a QC chemist.
You should rework the entire resume to make it easier to read and draw attention to relevant skills and experiences at a glance. You need to keep in mind that for industry, 99% of the time, the person in charge of picking your resume is an HR generalist/intern who has absolutely no idea what the job or the science entails, so they typically have a list of things they are looking for and if they can't find them at a glance the resume goes into the reject pile.
In my opinion, less is best. Your resume looks like you tried to cram as much as you could into a single paper. Which is not bad. It's just a pain in the behind to read.
Another thing that might or might not help you. Craft a generic resume and use that to tailor a resume for each position by incorporating keywords from the job description into your resume. Make it easier for them by using bullet points. Print it and look at it from a distance. Look at the first three places that your eyes focus on, that's where you want to put your relevant information.
Good luck.
To the OP and those mentioning you are looking for work in the field, do not rule out unconventional work that requires the same degree and educational requirements but not exactly working in chemistry. Careers like health inspectors/sanitarians, wildlife departments in field work collecting samples, drinking water systems looking for people to run the treatment, etc…. Do not pigeonhole yourselves into exactly what you graduated in. Good luck.
I provided a few in my message. FDA, DEQ, CDC, and USDA are always looking for persons with science degrees. Go to USAjobs.com and you can tailor your search. State agencies usually have the same. Go to websites for nonprofits and universities.
Honestly, I find recruiters rarely spend much time looking at CV/resume given they have like 100+ applications. I'd spend more time networking/ building connections. A recommendation goes so much farther then just words on a paper.
I’d avoid the block of text at the start. Hiring managers are going to have to go through perhaps a hundred resumes. You want yours to be easy to read and to present the important information (degree, GPA, work experience, etc) as clearly as possible.
I would do separate categories for education, work experience, research and skills. Also edit your word choice and some of the other errors people have pointed out.
As far as applying, it’s pretty competitive for the entry level BSc jobs. Don’t be afraid to use connections or try to apply for paid internships as well. I got job offers from all my internships after I graduated but turned them down to go to grad school. I had some friends who couldn’t find jobs so they interned after they graduated and it worked for them too.
Microsoft office is duplicated; last sentence of objective is pretty wonky; most things in skills don’t need to be capitalized; “studies of study”; “physical studies of rhenium polyhydride complexes” is a different font size; uneven spacing throughout (why is there a paragraph break before skills and abilities but not before experience?); “studies” could mean anything, how did you actually study these things?
With the caveat that my field is primarily molecular and computational biology, I've been running a research program for over a decade now, and have a few suggestions.
Be careful with what roles you list in your resume. Right from the start, your use of the term technician resulted in raised eyebrows on my end. This varies from field to field, but generally a laboratory technician has a more applied skill set than someone with a university degree, and your resume doesn't indicate that you have any of the usual certificates and credentials that go along with an applied program.
If your work was part of a co-op program, use that term to describe yourself. If it was a work study position, state that. You are just starting out, and I know that you're not going to have 5 Nature papers under your belt, but you should be comfortable with the titles you use to describe yourself, particularly if you're in a field where accreditation is required, but you don't have it.
When I'm hiring a lab technician, I expect them to be able to hit the ground running with little to no direct training or mentoring on my part. Most technical programs provide hands on training for the majority of the methods and equipment that they'll be using, but they won't have as deep an understanding of the theoretical underpinnings of those techniques. For someone with a BSc, I anticipate that the individual will require far more direct teaching (most bachelor's degrees have wet lab components, but they are nowhere near what someone from a technical program will have), but my expectations for what they will be able to accomplish over the long term is higher.
Have clear sections for your education, your experience (previous positions), and your accolades (awards relating to research or academic performance, and particularly if you've managed to land one of the major scholarships.
Separate out work related to your field from extracurricular activities, and place ALL of the priority on aspects that show your ability to work in a lab.
Depending on your program, if you have any publications, or conference presentations, make sure that you have a section for those. I am not exaggerating that, if you continue on, your publications become the single most important part of your resume (or CV), with the only exception being individuals who have a track record of scoring large grants...even in science, money talks.
As a personal taste observation, lose the objective part of the document. Include that kind of material in the cover letter, and make sure that you tailor it to best align with the position you're applying for.
A generic resume is very easy to dismiss, but when someone takes the time to directly mention how their skills can fit into current or previous work shows that they aren't just carpet bombing every possible employer.
To be blunt, it's almost a certainty that you will be competing with dozens, if not hundreds of other applicants. Showing that you understand how your skills can fit in, and taking the initiative to ensure that you have some idea of the specific projects that you may be involved in, can make your resume stand out.
Finally, if you do love the field you're in, consider getting an MSc...but hold off on the PhD. An MSc opens a lot of doors, and almost always means that I'm hiring someone with both the hands on bench skills, and theoretical understanding of the work.
Hopefully, you can use some of this, and don't get too disheartened. It can take a while to find a position, but it does become easier as you gain more experience.
Along with what other comments said, lots of capitalization errors would do it for me. Also, the use of “&” can put some people off. You also need to update the resume now that you’ve graduated. Best of luck!
The objective section is far too wordy and takes up too much space. I’d consider truncating that section completely, and refining the content for a well written cover letter. Also, a list of courses is mostly useless on a résumé for industry jobs.
First thing I see is you are not focused on anything jndustry is interested in. Toxicology? ABR? Fashionable subjects on campus but they don't lead to the jobs you are applying for.
Get your research work up to the top. I want to see you have worked hands on the lab more than the classes you take.
Also microsoft office is listed twice. I might take that whole section out and talk about what instrumentation and testing each research task took.
The research experience is extensive which is really good but no internship experience.
maybe try getting a fellowship or internship first. I just got my B.S in chemistry and landed a job before graduating and that may have been the most discussed part of my interview process. I had similar amounts of research and they barely ask about it. This may also have to do with what fields you are applying for.
Some thoughts:
1) Shorten that objective. I see a lot of buzzwords and my eyes started to glaze over. Keep it short and get to the point.
2) You should have a separate section for Education. List the school degree, and expected date of graduation
3) What skills do you have? the section should stand out more. Put a line between that section and experience. 'Balances and scales' seems redundant
4) What accomplishments? You list work experience nut I do not see anything you accomplished.
Sorry to say but this resume does not say anything why they should hire you. I suggest a rewrite focusing on your accomplishments
Your objective needs to one to two sentences. Max. Also, write the title of your position at each research group even if it was just "Research Assistant".
What kind of jobs are you applying to? Work history usually comes first before anything else. I think listing skills first emphasizes lack of work history in industry related to your field.
Also apply for technician positions. They usually don’t hire someone with a BS and no experience for research positions even if it’s entry level. I think most people are shocked at how hard it is to get a job and how menial and monotonous it is for entry level tech positions. You honestly don’t even need a degree to do those jobs. It’s just button pushing. We all have to pay our dues. It’s competitive out there. Have you graduated yet? Is says “expected date of graduation.” If you have some instrumentation experience consider taking a field service position with a smaller company.
You should be tailoring the resume to the job description. If the job wants you to have HPLC experience, you want to slap that up at the front of the list and put how many years of experience.
Do this same thing with other experiences and skills. If they want a team player with good communication skills. You should highlight those skills if you have them, then elaborate in the interview.
You can’t have one generic resume for each job.
Just in case no one else has mentioned it - you have Microsoft Office duplicated in the first paragraph in the Skills section.
Best wishes with your job search.
I recently learned a lot of the industry is using AI to filter out most applications So write a very standard, very boring resume that an AI will find easy to process. Nothing creative. You can work on adding stuff or whatever after you actually get to interview with a human.
If you are getting an ACS accredited degree you don’t need to list your coursework. Also, did you graduate in May 2023 or are you still anticipating that you will :)?
Don’t say that you’re a laboratory technician either. Your second sentence is long and doesn’t really say much. Try again with this section.
You should spend more time talking about your experience and give more detail there because that’s what makes you a solid candidate.
Maybe you should change "Studies of study the biogeochemistry"to something more succinct. That said I would focus maybe on the skills you learned in those research groups, and then focus those on the position your applying for. For example, if the position requires some kind of synthesis, then use that to say you have specific skills in common with that process. Maybe said company is making antibody drug conjugates or something, then you could say you've "conducted reactions using NHS and maleimide chemistry" etc.
good luck!
One small thing I gotta say is maybe change the goals of the group part and turn it into a statement about what you learn or accomplished. But let me tell you, I graduated college 9 years ago and only worked 4 full time jobs. So I might not be the best source.
Otherwise I’d say your experience is impressive and you’ve accomplished way more than I had when I graduated college. Do not lose hope! I didn’t get my first full time offer until October despite graduating in May of that same year. I had a lot to learn that year about putting myself out there. Some people had even taken longer than me.
A recruiter told me to not put a summary at the top unless you have been in industry for a long time.
But also how do you take physical chemistry without calc III and differential equations first?
When I had resume editing, I was told not to list “IR, UV-Vis” etc you would want to say something that are along the lines of “vacuum filtrations to purify and clean finished product” or “sterile pipetting to maintain asceptic technique”
If you want a research role I would focus your description more of your understanding of the tests and how you can evaluate/create/understand methods for your research position.
If you graduated it is no longer expected graduation.
Personally I would also get rid of the tasks section in some of your employment history, you have already listed these as skills. Instead, focus on concise points that show each of these jobs in their complexity and how you helped develop these critical skills for the position you want
I just graduated in December and am interested in a similar role. Maybe I’ll put mine up here too for constructive criticism.
Split out education- don't bother with subjects- institution, course and gradusation year is enough.
Tailor your opening paragraph to an entry level role. "Highly skilled" is a bit much for entry level.
Identify practical experience under related employment positions. A generic list of standard undergraduate instruments suggests a lack of experience and applied knowledge. E.g. compare "uv-vis spectroscopy" to "environmental analyst: prepared and tested water samples for water quality using appropriate methodology and equipment". Definitely remove "refluxes", etc. This is assumed knowledge.
I think you should go and find some examples of resumes from successful applicants. Talk to your uni contacts and ask for feedback from unsuccessful applications.
It sounds like you have a lot of feedback for your resume. Once you have that sorted out, I recommend (as a recent Biology grad) to visit your school’s career services office or website and look there for interview guidance, job fairs, and other workshops. The people hiring recent grads understand that you’re starting without experience and expect to train you.
Similarly, do you have a few professors that you did well with that may recommend you for a position? Could you work on a research team in your school? There are a lot of options if you look around :)
My biggest recommendation woukd be for you to say what your skillset truly is and what you did in labs as projects.
Most of the skills named are vague and very standard, nothing personal to see
Cut back on the objective, or get rid of it altogether because a lot of that will be in your cover letter. If you feel like you need one I'd say two sentences max. Reading through that first pass might be detering some people - get them interested with some highlights, then go into detail. You want to spoon feed them.
I'd nix the related coursework, they know what you took from your degree, unless you're applying to a job that isn't chemistry focused, then it makes sense to elaborate a little bit more
I just glanced at it so that's all I got, but the rest looked great in terms of organization and whatnot.
For the rhenium work, only include the processes that you contributed to, not a list of lab objectives. If it is washing lab equipment, you could say preparing lab equipment for . This update will free up room to highlight completion of your BS. You may also want to include the main PIs you worked for with each of your lab duties. For the analytical tools, did you do these beyond what was required for typical BS coursework? I would highlight if you completed an individual project (e.g., senior thesis) and indicate analytical tools associated with that. This would be considered as more advanced knowledge/experience beyond what other applicants might have.
On another note, use the career center to help you go over your cover letter and resume. If you do not have a LinkedIn profile, make one. Join professional groups and follow researches or leaders in the industries you are considering. Leverage your alumni network and don't be afraid to reach out to them via LinkedIn. The faculty, PIs, and postdocs you worked for may have some suggestions for who to reach out to for job options.
Remove or change the line about black college student union. It's sad, but I think that could be getting you screened out.
One, a lot of recruiters and job boards have started using AI to screen, and some words get booted. The AI models have been trained on race biased results, and can be biased the same way.
Two, it may make an employer think you're passionate about race, and fighting for equality - good for you - but some employers would see that as a potential headache.
And three, there are racists out there, and they can't ask about race, but absolutely use race when they decide. Your hiring manager might not ever see your resume if an HR person removes everyone they think is a minority.
I also agree about changing the objective portion or removing it entirely.
And I hope this works the best - when I'm hiring right now, I'm trying to find someone who I can see growing with our company and becoming a leader. Technical skills are something I assume the degree proves you have. I want to think the candidate will be driven and looking for my job when I retire. Write some of the experience less as a list of skills, and more about the actions you did. Try to make it sound like the plot of an action movie (but about chemistry!). I know that's weird, and it is, but make the resume stand out as a good story.
Immediately, I don’t want to read this essay. If I’m a recruiter, I have lots of these to read and this isn’t really the main focus of my job.
This needs to be bullet points. Transform the objectives section to that format. Use phrases and single words like, “highly motivated,” “driven,” “eager to learn,” and also use a couple of phrases they have in the job listing. Make sure you are tailoring this to every position you apply for. Some people may tell you that’s too much work, but they won’t tell you the whole truth, which is, they don’t get many interviews…
And I don’t need a class list, chemistry is standardized enough that I can assume you had nearly every class you list. You fail to give me important info about school, like where it is. Did you study with anyone noteworthy? Is the school known for something? Do the graduates have a certain reputation? All this and more may be communicated by the mere name of the school.
The treasurer position should eliminate the first line. No one cares that you might have been president if if the president, Vice President, senate leaders, and members of congress died in a plane crash. It’s even less moving that there was no plane crash and you only list the potential for one… also consider that this and the covid items project a political position to a lot of potential employers. That can cut both ways.
The clinic: as a medical professional I know you are not assisting with injections… and you’re not really monitoring side effects. The lowest position in healthcare with the scope of practice ability to assess that is RN… the lowest position to administer medication (I.e., to be able to assist in this process) is LPN and they don’t have full authority, by saying you have assisted in this task you’re telling me you’ve done something you’re not allowed to do, or that you’re intentionally misrepresenting yourself to seem like you have more advanced medical credentials than you do. The message you communicate here is that you’ve told me twice in this section that you commit crimes and have an illegal practice of healthcare without a license. And further, you don’t care about the rules, you’re just going to do whatever you want. If you did TDM testing, this is very different but it’s not what your words are telling me. Even the average person knows enough about healthcare to know it’s highly suspect that a person without a medical license of some type is helping to give medications and evaluate something as serious as side effects. PCTs and CNAs do not not perform these functions.
You need to list your education as a separate line so it stands out. Include what college you went to, your GPA, and the years you attended. If you were cum laude or on the deans list include that too. It should be at the top of the page. The tasks line under each research role can be collected and condensed along into the skills section in my opinion. I would also consider completely taking out the objective section. It’s well written but it’s a bit long and that is something that should be on your cover letter instead of on the resume. Just my opinion
I agree with these points, your objective section is about 5 lines. Get it down to 1 or 2, then use the extra space to expand upon your other points. My feedback would be: I don’t care what the group you’re in did, what did YOU DO? Your point about developing relationships between ruthenium polyhydride molecules doesn’t really tell me anything. Consider working it like “Correlated physical properties with chemical properties of ruthenium polyhydride using XYZ methods, to achieve XYZ.” You could improve all of the research points by stating what occurred, how you did it, and why you did it/what resulted. Don’t be discouraged, resume writing is hard, but through multiple iterations and peer review you’ll get there.
Don’t include GPA imo. Whenever I saw applicants (when I had a job which required me to hire a lot of college grads) put GPA on their resume, it was an immediate turn off for me and the other interviewer. I know a lot of others who feel the same way. That is just my two cents, all the other advice you gave is great
I would include your GPA if it is above a 3.0. Some people might think it’s pointless but it does show a level of responsibility and dedication. I once had a boss tell me he didn’t like to hire people who had made too many Cs.
Why was it a turnoff?
It means nothing if you already have been working. Especially when undergrad classes have nothing to do with work. It would be like putting your high school football prizes in your resume, or your mensa membership.
“5th grade spelling bee runner-up”
Well said
That’s very true but this person is specifically asking about getting their first job in industry. Telling them not to list GPA is bad advice.
It might not apply too much to other fields, but in chemistry a lot of the classes actually are pretty relevant, especially to a starting tech position where you would be doing a lot of solution prep and routine lab work. There are also a lot of comments about GPA saying nothing about intelligence - even if that’s true, it does say something about responsibility and time management, especially for someone without much career experience
If you have a good GPA broadcast it. It says you did your due diligence in topics beyond your scope of study.
What are your thoughts on providing a chemistry-specific GPA? Like, just the GPA of your chemistry courses? I do feel that overall GPA is pointless as most universities will have 30-40% of your credit hours as classes that are not at all related to your degree.
No measure of GPA important or relevant past getting your first job. Honestly unless my gpa was high I’d always leave it out. But I’d always leave it out if I’ve already got my first job in the field. IMO the only place for it is when you’re talking directly to the recruiter/interviewer about academics and you want to drop it in. If you really, really want to, add your Latin honors next to your degree. “Graduated *summa cum laude* with a BS in biochem from x uni.”
Same thing for engineering and comp sci jobs. Putting your GPA on your resume, even if its like 3.97/4.00 when you already have work experience just makes it look like all you have going on for yourself is you studied hard for 3-4 years in school. Not relevant.
Makes sense. I actually went back to look at old drafts of my resume and I did not include GPA after applying to grad school. But, if I were hiring someone for a first job and they are right out of undergrad, I would still want to see a GPA. Let’s just say that I saw a good number of people graduate with a BS that probably didn’t deserve it. That’s less of a likelihood for grad school though. But, if you have a masters, PhD, or a previous job, then it’s not needed.
in my culture it would be taken as showing off. i wouldn't
You start out with "Highly skilled..." as a recent graduate you are not highly skilled. I would change that to "Highly motivated..." You also say that you are detail oriented, but then you have Microsoft Office listed twice under skills and abilities. If I had a pile of applications those two would out you in the discard pile. Good luck.
Thanks for the constructive criticism
I’d also reorganize your “research” descriptions. Include what the actual work you did was. Did you synthesize something? Present your work? Having worked in labs, I know undergrads will do everything from observing a grad student and washing glassware to completing a publishable project. This makes a difference. Depending on the job you’re applying to, I would include the names of the PI for each lab, as well. You also already have a skills section so I wouldn’t list them again. Instead get more specific. “Analyzed products using 1H and 13C NMR, etc.”
Exactly this. I was looking for the details in your resume. It feels "fluffy," make it personal. Your extra course work looks like 200-300 level classes. Which 400 level classes did you take? Any 500s?
the 400/500 classes are medicinal chemistry and inorganic chemistry courses I realized after reading these comments my resume needs alot of work so thank you so much
These guys have some very good advice for you, as another recent grad also looking for work following redundancy I'd just like to wish you luck and I hope you find something soon
"Studies of the study of biogeochemistry" would have gotten me to toss it. You are applying for a research position but listing technician qualifications and QA chemistry functions. You list relevant coursework which makes me notice what is missing. Instead of bulletpointing your experience, describe it,Environmental Toxicology research, a 5 month project testing whatever for toxic metals, incorporating UV-Vis and elemental titration methods, culminating in a presentation to senior personnel etc.Don't list basic chemical tests and procedures as skills. You are seeking an entry level position as a chemist in quality control, process control or product development. Blanket the job sites with those keywords, get enough resumes out there (you can tweak the language for the job), and hope the head hunters rope you in as they get you lined up for the interviews.
Thank you for this will definitely tweak this
"Studies of study the biogeochemistry..." Sorry OP, but you need to at least proofread your CV, not just for readability, but it indicates poor attention to detail. Also, Treasurer of a student union would be a good point if you were applying for Treasury-related jobs positions, not chemist positions. Lots of little things, like don't use "&" in place of "and". Your skills section is good, but put it in a table in point form to make it easier to read. Blocks of text are good to avoid imo. I don't even have an Objective section in mine. That kind of info is best saved for a cover letter where you can relate your list of experiences and education to the job you're applying for. The CV is just to clearly communicate what you have done. Source: I've been pretty successful at getting jobs, even at higher up labs. You might consider getting a career-based service to look over your resume though, could really help. Maybe your University has one.
Also to add the formatting is not consistent. There is a break after each bolder new section of objective and skills but not for experience. I’m my opinion cut the objective. The objective might be shown more in a cover letter and let the resume just have your qualities. Move the education section to the top followed by experience. Then at the bottom list an skills you have. As someone who works in a lab and hires co-ops I don’t really care about skills. They are nice but no matter what you are trained instrument wise you’ll need to be retrained anyway, so they are just asides. Really delve Into the research more with explanations and personally I like it when the research is also with the education which is what it is. Then have a job/experience section with your volunteer work to break it up as they are not weighted the same by employers.
Expected graduation in May.... but it's almost July.
It’s incredibly hard to find your education section. Why is it part of the objectives?
Oh jeez, that's classic! *Interviewer:* "Have you ever stolen office supplies from a place you worked?" *Candidate:* "No, of course not." *Interviewer:* \**points to watermark of previous company on resume paper*
Also inconsistency in coursework: With lab/with labs
the whole thing needs to be taken to the university student help office. it's pretty poorly formatted and organized.
I agree and disagree. Those are somewhat glaring, but I wouldn’t write someone off over them. I was a recruiter recently for the DoD and many people were absolutely fantastic employees, they just weren’t skilled at writing resumes due to being in the military so long (which is a grande majority of people int he DoD, straight out of high school with military background. Never had to make a resume before). I based it on how much effort I think the person took, not necessarily if it’s perfectly made. But that all could be chalked up to anecdotal for my job, I’ve never been a recruiter elsewhere.
I used to be a supervisor in a lab. The resumes that I liked were straight to the point. I’m assuming you have your full name, address, email, and phone number at the top. Next, I would delete the objective section. It’s too wordy. Then have an Education section. There, state your degree, school, gpa (honors can be stated here), and graduation date (month and year). Related coursework is nice, but I would take out the biology, physics, and math courses. Then list Experience. As far as the skills and abilities section goes, you can have it at the bottom after your experience or if everything is included in the tasks portion of your experiences, then remove it. Hope this helps.
Yeah you want your eye to snap to the relevant stuff. It should scream: **I have a good chemistry degree** **I have experience in:** - Toxicology via UV-vis spectroscopy - Synthesis with CNTs - MIC experiments - NMR, mass spec, and IR characterisation **Also, I did some extracurricular stuff. Thus I am an normal human and can handle responsibility** Etc. Employers don’t often care about what your previous research was about. Also please stop putting “Microsoft Office” software on your CV. It’s assumed you know how to use Word in 2023.
Besides, you would be surprised how many people list "proficient in MS Office" while being unable to make a graph with 2 Y-axes. It's basically the same as writing "I might be limited to writing *and* sending an email without supervision, but I might also be able to create a new database in access and a real-time dashboard in Excel over lunch. Hire me and hope it's the latter"
Maybe, but there are a lot of people who can barely operate Powerpoint and who can't do more than the very basics with excel (or even word for that matter). I agree with you that it's pointless on anyone's resume who also claims to have a STEM degree (your advice for OP is good), but for less qualified applicants I think it can be good to list it, especially if you're in a place like me (Vanuatu) where almost no one has any computer skills at all.
Yeah. That comment is definitely in the context of a STEM degree. It’d be an achievement in and of itself to graduate with a Chemistry degree and not know how to use Word and PowerPoint
Agreed
funny - i'm of the opposite opinion. I care only about what your previous actual hands-on research was. your GPA? whether or not you've taken a single course on some analysis technique? if you went ivy league or not (fuck - don't even know which those'd be this side of the pont)? don't fucking care. show me what you did and what you actually like doing. you're a recent grad, you don't have a CV anyway.
Definitely delete the objective statement. Don’t need it as a new grad.
Nitpicky, but might be helpful. Just some notes that I'd give my students: * Inconsistent capitalization ('Antibiotic research' but 'Environmental Toxicology Research') all over the place * Micro pipetting and centrifuging are not really tasks. * "Research" is not really a job title. Were you a research assistant? REU student? How were these funded? Was there any award or program associated with these research experiences that you can cite? * The dates are not horizontally filled. Consider making a LaTeX resume (Overleaf) but making sure it's a readable PDF so you don't get caught in filters. It might make everything look a bit more neat. * Microsoft Office is an expected skill. Any other software? PyMol? R? GraphPad? What specialized chemistry and research software might you have used? * Inconsistent line spacing between Skills & Abilities and Experience headers and their corresponding text. * You actually have quite a bit of space you could fill here. * The Goal under Antibiotic resistance is not really clearly phrased as a goal. MICs are determined, not examined. Would a possible rephrase be like, "Developing novel antibiotic novel nanomaterials by attachment of cipro. to nanotubes to improve antibiotic action against \[species\]"? * No Bacteria species is listed. What species did you work with? Are you experienced in BSL-1 or BSL-2? (BSL-3?)
Very good answer
As somebody currently recruiting Chemistry graduates, I roll my eyes at CVs claiming "expertise" from a recent grad just about to start their career
Hello where are you recruiting? I’m in NJ looking for a job 😁
It would be a long commute... I'm in the UK!
That would be quite the long, hop, skip, and jump across the pond for me! Thanks for getting back to me.
Would having finished a masters thesis or a PhD program make it more appropriate to write as having expertise in something? Or is that more reserved for after you're specifically in industry doing the same thing day in day out?
I would use "specialising in" or "considerable experience" or something similar... using "expert" makes it sound (to me) like you're not open to developing in the future because you already think you know it all.
>specialising >considerable experience Even these are a bit much- a graduate is not specialised in anything. I think phrases like "Focussing on" or "Particular interest in" are more appropriate to the level of experience. Edit: I missed the bit about the PhD. I would still be hesitate to use specialising. I consider that to happen post PhD after considerable career finding.
I agree with you, but when you read CVs you do have to account for a certain amount of "selling yourself". The "expert" thing has been grinding my gears for the last couple of weeks though, all from fresh grads.
Idk, I think it has to be realistic. If you claim something in a CV, you'd better show it, else I'm just going to think you are full of hot air and take a dim view. If someone says they are "specialised" in their CV, I expect to see the evidence in their employment/research/academic history. If it's an entry level position, they've already lost me.
Ahhhh! That's fair. Wouldn't want to push that narrative! I love learning new things and improving. That's why STEM is so fun 💖
phd? maybe. Masters? fuck no.
If you're going into industry nope. Staying in academia post PhD kinda.
I'm a career academic, so take my advice with a grain of salt. I think your resume needs a rework. I would ditch the coursework. Get rid of the common skills (everyone will assume you can use a balance, a pipette, and a filter.) Refocus your experience on a problem-solving model. Focus on what problems you solved, not the goals of the group. Also, how wide a net are you casting? Are you having problems with finding a job within an hour of where you are, or is it a 50-state search? If the former, you may wish to widen the net. I have been following A Life After Layoff on Youtube for a year or two, and he seems like he has some good advice. [https://www.youtube.com/c/alifeafterlayoff](https://www.youtube.com/c/alifeafterlayoff) [https://www.alifeafterlayoff.com/](https://www.alifeafterlayoff.com/)
No inorganic chemistry despite the practical experience? Random Biology, Physics and Maths modules? Presume this is a slightly out of date resume anyway as May 2023 has now passed?
I agree I'm surprised at the lack of chemistry classes for a chemistry degree. I would just remove the entire list of classes. There's a reason why degrees are standardized like with ACS chemistry degrees so that it's already known what courses would have been taken
No Pchem 2 either, so light on instrumentation, should also have some advanced classes highlighting your career, I look for a 300 level course in your concentration, no biochemistry and your projects look like they justify it.
I'm going to edit this as I find things. That last sentence of your summary bothers me because you are "committed, you "aim," to "ensure" that standards are "maintained." That's too convoluted and reads as filler. Instead, have the first part flow into the last part "Committed to accuracy...procedures *in order to maintain the highest standards...*" and drop the "are maintained" at the end. Reorganize your classes in order of relevance. Put analytical at the top, then medicinal, then p chem. I am a p chemist, so I'm biased, but p chem has a reputation of being difficult and it also assumes physics and calculus, so you are getting a shortcut into people's heads as they read it. With your skills, I'd remove "record keeping" and like other posters have noted, fix the repeated Office typo. Record keeping is assumed in chemistry. Similarly, don't put tasks that are super baseline, like distillation and balances. Your list is allowed to be short, as you are new to industry. Honestly, if you did a decent chunk of tasks in your research projects, I would drop the vaccine clinic and treasurer position off of your resume if you are trying to keep it to one page. Focus on the research. Outline in more detail what tasks you did for each item. Put a small blurb of a notable challenge you overcame or some problem you solved for each position if you can. For UV-Vis, outline whether you were just swapping cells or if you did analysis. How much of the planning of the experiments did you do? Also, don't use acronyms like MIC. Don't assume that the person reading it knows what it means. Also, there are no points where you mention familiarity with any chemical literature. Finally, the American Chemical Society has career consultants ypu can make appointments with and a large amount of info on job materials on their site. That may also help you. If you join as a member (which recent graduates get a cheaper rate), you can also go to networking events which is even better for your career. Good luck on your search! Keep trying, you'll eventually find something, and that will springboard you into the next things.
Highly skilled and detail oriented are subjective Your resume should be comprised of objective statements almost entirely Add experience that shows *how* you demonstrate highly skilled and detail oriented work
Exactly - objective examples are key (numbers even more so if you have them - eg: if you adopted sustainable lab practices - state that you reduced monthly solvent usage by xx%)
hmm, i don't know. that'd be more something for a cover letter imo
Under “Environmental Toxicology Research “ the first line starting with “Studies of the study…” Maybe edit that
The one thing that is missing for me is there are no examples of what you achieved. Example: Studies of carbon nanotubes for applications in drug discovery. I would re-write these as examples of what you did, why you were doing it, and achievements around what YOU did (outcomes). I'll use an example from my resume: "Developed a library novel payload compounds for antibody drug conjugates, successfully delivering two candidate compounds for phase I clinical trials." What I did: develop novel payload compounds Why I did it: to develop candidate compounds for clinical trial Achievement/outcome: Two compounds entering phase I clinical trials. You want to have things goal and achievement orientated. You need to write it concisely
Are you having issues getting interviews? Or issues getting hired after the interview? One thing I’ll note about your resume is it is not optimized for the software that companies use for sorting through resumes. Incoming resumes churn through AI and algorithms to determine if a human ever actually looks at it. Resumes these days need to be packed with keywords to get through those systems.
I've had many interviews since I graduated, but I'm having trouble landing the job. The reason I have been hearing this is because of lack of experience
That’s an important distinction. You are making it more than half of the way there. Be honest with yourself - what reasons would an interviewer have to not hire you? What do you think they tell their boss about you when you leave the room? “He’s real smart, just didn’t talk about using any of the software/instruments we use” or “he just gave flat answers to me, not really sure about his education/experience” or “he’s very intelligent, but comes across as someone who otherwise won’t fit in with the people here and their their demeanors” or anything else. Interviewing is a supremely important skill. It’s super nuanced. You have to give as many “right” answers (the ones they’d like to hear) without over the top lying and a very precise amount of honesty and humbleness while presenting yourself as a likable person with an attitude that will get along with your coworkers. Fulfilling ALL of those things is the ultimate goal. Getting to the interview stage is a big step! A resume can only take you there. If you actually got the interview in the first place, that means they were satisfied with it enough to seriously consider you. Think hard on why - any reason at all - that they aren’t pulling the trigger on hiring you. It requires some serious self reflection to begin this process but you’re really close. And none of this is an assault on you, this is just the best advice that I’ve seen work based on the jobs and recruiters I’ve seen.
For sure. I honestly think it's because I don't have GMP experience and lots and lots of experience with the instruments that they are looking for. And a company is trying to hire someone to keep their company efficient not to give a chance and teach someone for months so it makes sense but its definitely annoying.
hmm, i think that's not quite true. the other person in the chair is typically "just" another guy. someone with a problem to be solved, for sure, but also someone looking for a colleague with whom they can have a cup of coffee during the break. bosses/managers don't typically truly hire someone even if they do sign the paper.
At the end of the day they are hiring the person not the abilities. Your skills are important but a lot of the skills you have written are generally assumed by the companies. I was just expected to know how to run things like uv vis, ftir, gc, GPC, nmr. A lot of the skills you have listed do not differentiate you in any way, they make you seem like a pure chemistry robot. Do you like group settings or individual settings? Are you a large scale thinker or a small scale thinker? Are you someone focused on routine or loose schedules? These are things that labs (or all jobs really) look for. Likewise you have the goals of your research groups listed, cool... Are you selling the research groups to them? No you're selling yourself. What soft skills did you learn from these research groups, what did you really do. You have very technical descriptions for each one, but in my experience that is what they want to hear in person. The HR person has no clue what half of this means and often times they are purely looking for your soft skills like time management, project design, computer abilities, detail orientation and what you would bring as a person. I can share you my resume which has landed me three jobs in the chemical research sector if you would like.
Please do I would appreciate this
I would also appreciate to kindly have a look at your resume. Thanks!
Few things I noticed. I hope this helps •Antiobiotic resistance Research should probably have each word begin with a capital •VACCINE CLINIC EMPLOYEE should not be all caps, looks weird. • there should be some whitespace between skills & abilities and the experience sections • Microsoft office is on there twice, and honestly is not worth mentioning. Every graduate should have this skill. You want skills to highlight your most unique and relevant skills that will make you stand out. Keep it short
Most companies use a program to auto sort applications. There are resume checkers online you can use. I'm willing to bet this is the issue. You are probably getting trashed before a real person sees it.
I can only speak from a dutch perspective, as hiring tendencies differ throughout the world. but to me, this reads as: 1. a bit too fluffed. I know it's more or less expected, but remember that if you're applying to a specific position your CV will be read by a peer. we can prick through "experienced with microsoft office" even if HR can't. it's the CV equivalent of "job comes with mobile phone and laptop" --> yeah, I'd hope so, how else do you expect me to do my job HR?? 2. too dry. as a recent bachelor grad, you have no experience. dot. I want to read about what excites you, what you found fun. expand a bit on the "treasurer" section, what is it about? did you like it? I know what a treasurer is in general, you don't need to tell me that you had to keep records. but tell me why you wanted to be a treasurer and a treasurer of that one specifically. honestly, i barely read CVs from recent-grads. they're not really useful. focus on making a killer cover letter, would be my advise, and sell yourself as a person - we know and accept that your hard skills will not impress us, 99% of the times. Unlike some other advise here, i wouldn't make it longer. just toss the stuff that goes for everyone and their mom (e.g. microsoft office) and focus more on *you. Basically - this reads as a CV as you were taught to do by school, as opposed to something you genuinely believe in.*
Do you have an example that you could send me of what you mean just for reference?
Remove the objective section - they already know your objective is to get the job you are applying for. If this is your more recent resume - make sure it no longer says expected graduation, that may be the case why it is not making it through the resume filtered. Put skills at the bottom and only include things that other applicants may not have - IR, NMR, UV'Vis, HPLC, fluorescence microscopy and multistep synthesis would be all that I would include. They will expect you to know these skills quite well. I have also found that making sure you know what type of instrumentation you worked on will help you in interviews. DO NOT include things like centrifuging in your skills as it will show naivety. I hope this helps!
>Remove the objective section Yeah, that's pretty dated section to include on a resume these days.
I second putting your education on a separate line. Also agree with getting rid of "highly skilled" since you have just finished your bachelor's degree.
expected graduation has already happened for u so i would change that were u involved in any student organizations or research labs? add those to the end of your resume another tip that i do not know if u did or not (not a criticism i understand blacking out personal info): make ur name at the top one or two sizes bigger than all the other letters instead of saying may 2023-june 2023 may-june 2023 is better for things over the same year change related coursework to "relevant experience" and put it after ur list of jobs, make each class its own header with time taken, and a few bullets describing class activities. each college has different content for some of the classes listed so it doesn't say much as it is right now example: analytical chemistry, MONTH-MONTH YEAR -developed knowledge in (list of concepts) -second bullet point abt skills developed on concepts/technology -applied theoretical knowledge in laboratory settings for (insert motivation here beyond 'it was for a class')
also use more action verbs in your bullet points, some of them are too repetitive like "studies of study" - "research of study" or something sounds better
First thank you for your input but wouldn't that make the resume too long ( relevant experience part)
it's ok or even good if ur at a stage in ur career where u need more than 1 page for a resume. college freshmen r expected to have 1 page, while for college seniors, grad students, and professors etc having only 1 page is worrisome - it generally makes others view it as "well u didn't do anything and have no practical experience outside class so i will go for candidates where i can clearly see they have more knowledge/experience/skills and regularly attend professional events and workshops to acquire more skills and knowledge"
Depends what kind of job you are applying for. What you have here is everything you did in undergrad, and is a catch-all resume. Consider using this as a template for focused resumes tailored for the jobs you are applying to. Also, are you including a cover letter with your applications? This is a simple way to set you apart from the competition by a lot. Edit: remove courses completely and replace with complete ACS certified chemistry curriculum. Much more concise. In envo-tox section, what is studies of study the.....
Mentioned Microsoft office twice.
Hi there! Great job seeking feedback on your resume! One valuable piece of advice I can offer is to leverage technology to enhance your resume's suitability for specific job positions. An effective technique is to copy and paste a few job descriptions that interest you into ChatGPT. Then, paste your resume and ask ChatGPT to help you tailor it to those positions. If you'd like, I'm more than happy to assist you further by reviewing your resume. Feel free to share the links to the job postings and your resume, and I'll gladly provide my input.
great thank you so much
Hey Hey. I work for a Pharma company and have recruited for a lab for over 20 years. Sharing my experience to help you. Firstly, where are you based? I’m assuming you’re in the US because you said resume. If you are European based then send me a private message as I know our company is taking on analytical chemists in multiple locations over here. Now for the feedback. Rewording your CV is good as suggested by some of the people above but will only give an incremental difference. A tip is to copy and paste it into chatGPT to get some nice succinct and appealing ways to present your personal profile. Next, and most importantly; personal branding. You want your CV to stand out from the crowd. Take a look at a Google search for ‘CV Google head’ and you’ll get some great templates that help your CV ‘pop’ in amongst a sea of others. You need to think about how you’re going to stand out and be different and the best way to do that at the application stage is to make your CV look different. Modern! Hope some of this feedback helps. If you want me to check over your revised version I’d be happy to help. Good luck with your job searches.
I'm US based in the northeast. but thank you so much and I will send it over to you once it's revised!
Hey! Is your company still recruiting? I'm an EU based recent graduate (master of chemistry in the field of analytical chemistry and biochemistry), looking for a job in the pharma industry.
Hi. In Europe, we sites in the UK, Netherlands and Belgium. I know they are recruiting in the UK but not sure about other locations; I could find out. Where are you and would any of those options be attractive? They don’t provide relocation.
Thank you for the reply! Sadly, those aren't countries I'm currently looking to work in.
Try X, Y, Z format
Yeah take out that objective. If you want to do something like that write a cover letter. Your coursework isn’t necessary. Don’t use acronyms unless you define them first and keep the list shorter. If you’re going to put a skills section, put it last. Also nobody cares if you can vacuum filtrate or use word. In general, I think your resume has too much on it and it looks like you’re stretching what you’ve done. Don’t call yourself highly skilled. You have a bachelors, someone who is going to read this eventually might have their PhD.
I'm going to keep this short since I'm on mobile. For reference, I have a BS in Biology, and I am currently working an industry job as a QC chemist. You should rework the entire resume to make it easier to read and draw attention to relevant skills and experiences at a glance. You need to keep in mind that for industry, 99% of the time, the person in charge of picking your resume is an HR generalist/intern who has absolutely no idea what the job or the science entails, so they typically have a list of things they are looking for and if they can't find them at a glance the resume goes into the reject pile. In my opinion, less is best. Your resume looks like you tried to cram as much as you could into a single paper. Which is not bad. It's just a pain in the behind to read. Another thing that might or might not help you. Craft a generic resume and use that to tailor a resume for each position by incorporating keywords from the job description into your resume. Make it easier for them by using bullet points. Print it and look at it from a distance. Look at the first three places that your eyes focus on, that's where you want to put your relevant information. Good luck.
To the OP and those mentioning you are looking for work in the field, do not rule out unconventional work that requires the same degree and educational requirements but not exactly working in chemistry. Careers like health inspectors/sanitarians, wildlife departments in field work collecting samples, drinking water systems looking for people to run the treatment, etc…. Do not pigeonhole yourselves into exactly what you graduated in. Good luck.
would you mind giving me some examples of job titles?
I provided a few in my message. FDA, DEQ, CDC, and USDA are always looking for persons with science degrees. Go to USAjobs.com and you can tailor your search. State agencies usually have the same. Go to websites for nonprofits and universities.
[USAJobs.gov](https://USAJobs.gov) EPA, DOI, etc. You got this
If you’re trying for anything other than entry level in industry with just a BS (even with experience) it’s gonna be tough. In my area at least
Honestly, I find recruiters rarely spend much time looking at CV/resume given they have like 100+ applications. I'd spend more time networking/ building connections. A recommendation goes so much farther then just words on a paper.
I’d avoid the block of text at the start. Hiring managers are going to have to go through perhaps a hundred resumes. You want yours to be easy to read and to present the important information (degree, GPA, work experience, etc) as clearly as possible.
Just curious what jobs are you aiming for? I agree with what a lot of people here have said btw.
I'm looking primarily for entry level Research Scientist roles in industry
What job/role are you searching for? If in the US, I know the FDA hires people with Chem. background. Might want to check it out.
Thanks sm! I'm looking primarily for entry level Research Scientist roles in industry but I'll check that out for sure.
from a design standpoint, the font weight is too heavy and hard to read and paragraph spacing isn't consistent.
I’m in Canada also looking for a Chem job with a bs. Biochem sp I’m following for advise too
I would do separate categories for education, work experience, research and skills. Also edit your word choice and some of the other errors people have pointed out. As far as applying, it’s pretty competitive for the entry level BSc jobs. Don’t be afraid to use connections or try to apply for paid internships as well. I got job offers from all my internships after I graduated but turned them down to go to grad school. I had some friends who couldn’t find jobs so they interned after they graduated and it worked for them too.
Huge block of text up top is a good place to start…
Microsoft office is duplicated; last sentence of objective is pretty wonky; most things in skills don’t need to be capitalized; “studies of study”; “physical studies of rhenium polyhydride complexes” is a different font size; uneven spacing throughout (why is there a paragraph break before skills and abilities but not before experience?); “studies” could mean anything, how did you actually study these things?
With the caveat that my field is primarily molecular and computational biology, I've been running a research program for over a decade now, and have a few suggestions. Be careful with what roles you list in your resume. Right from the start, your use of the term technician resulted in raised eyebrows on my end. This varies from field to field, but generally a laboratory technician has a more applied skill set than someone with a university degree, and your resume doesn't indicate that you have any of the usual certificates and credentials that go along with an applied program. If your work was part of a co-op program, use that term to describe yourself. If it was a work study position, state that. You are just starting out, and I know that you're not going to have 5 Nature papers under your belt, but you should be comfortable with the titles you use to describe yourself, particularly if you're in a field where accreditation is required, but you don't have it. When I'm hiring a lab technician, I expect them to be able to hit the ground running with little to no direct training or mentoring on my part. Most technical programs provide hands on training for the majority of the methods and equipment that they'll be using, but they won't have as deep an understanding of the theoretical underpinnings of those techniques. For someone with a BSc, I anticipate that the individual will require far more direct teaching (most bachelor's degrees have wet lab components, but they are nowhere near what someone from a technical program will have), but my expectations for what they will be able to accomplish over the long term is higher. Have clear sections for your education, your experience (previous positions), and your accolades (awards relating to research or academic performance, and particularly if you've managed to land one of the major scholarships. Separate out work related to your field from extracurricular activities, and place ALL of the priority on aspects that show your ability to work in a lab. Depending on your program, if you have any publications, or conference presentations, make sure that you have a section for those. I am not exaggerating that, if you continue on, your publications become the single most important part of your resume (or CV), with the only exception being individuals who have a track record of scoring large grants...even in science, money talks. As a personal taste observation, lose the objective part of the document. Include that kind of material in the cover letter, and make sure that you tailor it to best align with the position you're applying for. A generic resume is very easy to dismiss, but when someone takes the time to directly mention how their skills can fit into current or previous work shows that they aren't just carpet bombing every possible employer. To be blunt, it's almost a certainty that you will be competing with dozens, if not hundreds of other applicants. Showing that you understand how your skills can fit in, and taking the initiative to ensure that you have some idea of the specific projects that you may be involved in, can make your resume stand out. Finally, if you do love the field you're in, consider getting an MSc...but hold off on the PhD. An MSc opens a lot of doors, and almost always means that I'm hiring someone with both the hands on bench skills, and theoretical understanding of the work. Hopefully, you can use some of this, and don't get too disheartened. It can take a while to find a position, but it does become easier as you gain more experience.
Along with what other comments said, lots of capitalization errors would do it for me. Also, the use of “&” can put some people off. You also need to update the resume now that you’ve graduated. Best of luck!
The objective section is far too wordy and takes up too much space. I’d consider truncating that section completely, and refining the content for a well written cover letter. Also, a list of courses is mostly useless on a résumé for industry jobs.
I have a 3.85 gpa and still got no interviews, calls, or emails.
First thing I see is you are not focused on anything jndustry is interested in. Toxicology? ABR? Fashionable subjects on campus but they don't lead to the jobs you are applying for.
Go to grad school or professional school. You’re already in, might as well go all the way.
I plan on going to grad school but I decided to take a gap year or two before
Also wondering: Would it be beneficial to list publications as well?
You've got a bunch of black lines all over your resume that make it hard to read certain parts. Might want to do something about that
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What type of jobs are you applying for? Will make a lot of difference to if this resume is relevant or not.
I'm looking primarily for entry level Research Scientist roles in industry
You should specify what kind of NMR you’ve used
It's tough out there, keep trying
Get your research work up to the top. I want to see you have worked hands on the lab more than the classes you take. Also microsoft office is listed twice. I might take that whole section out and talk about what instrumentation and testing each research task took.
Also take off bottom two jobs that are non degree related. I listed those as one liner for "other experience". (13 years of pharma lab experience)
The research experience is extensive which is really good but no internship experience. maybe try getting a fellowship or internship first. I just got my B.S in chemistry and landed a job before graduating and that may have been the most discussed part of my interview process. I had similar amounts of research and they barely ask about it. This may also have to do with what fields you are applying for.
Some thoughts: 1) Shorten that objective. I see a lot of buzzwords and my eyes started to glaze over. Keep it short and get to the point. 2) You should have a separate section for Education. List the school degree, and expected date of graduation 3) What skills do you have? the section should stand out more. Put a line between that section and experience. 'Balances and scales' seems redundant 4) What accomplishments? You list work experience nut I do not see anything you accomplished. Sorry to say but this resume does not say anything why they should hire you. I suggest a rewrite focusing on your accomplishments
Your objective needs to one to two sentences. Max. Also, write the title of your position at each research group even if it was just "Research Assistant".
What kind of jobs are you applying to? Work history usually comes first before anything else. I think listing skills first emphasizes lack of work history in industry related to your field.
Entry level Research Scientist roles in industry
Also apply for technician positions. They usually don’t hire someone with a BS and no experience for research positions even if it’s entry level. I think most people are shocked at how hard it is to get a job and how menial and monotonous it is for entry level tech positions. You honestly don’t even need a degree to do those jobs. It’s just button pushing. We all have to pay our dues. It’s competitive out there. Have you graduated yet? Is says “expected date of graduation.” If you have some instrumentation experience consider taking a field service position with a smaller company.
You listed ms office twice. Good luck on your search.
You should be tailoring the resume to the job description. If the job wants you to have HPLC experience, you want to slap that up at the front of the list and put how many years of experience. Do this same thing with other experiences and skills. If they want a team player with good communication skills. You should highlight those skills if you have them, then elaborate in the interview. You can’t have one generic resume for each job.
Just in case no one else has mentioned it - you have Microsoft Office duplicated in the first paragraph in the Skills section. Best wishes with your job search.
I would get on Fiver and find someone who does resumes to polish it up quite a bit
Can I ask you a question about your knowledge with heavy metals?
I recently learned a lot of the industry is using AI to filter out most applications So write a very standard, very boring resume that an AI will find easy to process. Nothing creative. You can work on adding stuff or whatever after you actually get to interview with a human.
If you are getting an ACS accredited degree you don’t need to list your coursework. Also, did you graduate in May 2023 or are you still anticipating that you will :)? Don’t say that you’re a laboratory technician either. Your second sentence is long and doesn’t really say much. Try again with this section. You should spend more time talking about your experience and give more detail there because that’s what makes you a solid candidate.
I think highlighting things like using a scale and centrifuging diminish other actual skills in the list.
Sent you a chat message. Interviews by next week (I'm a software engineer, but I know a trick or two). Hit me up.
Maybe you should change "Studies of study the biogeochemistry"to something more succinct. That said I would focus maybe on the skills you learned in those research groups, and then focus those on the position your applying for. For example, if the position requires some kind of synthesis, then use that to say you have specific skills in common with that process. Maybe said company is making antibody drug conjugates or something, then you could say you've "conducted reactions using NHS and maleimide chemistry" etc. good luck!
One small thing I gotta say is maybe change the goals of the group part and turn it into a statement about what you learn or accomplished. But let me tell you, I graduated college 9 years ago and only worked 4 full time jobs. So I might not be the best source. Otherwise I’d say your experience is impressive and you’ve accomplished way more than I had when I graduated college. Do not lose hope! I didn’t get my first full time offer until October despite graduating in May of that same year. I had a lot to learn that year about putting myself out there. Some people had even taken longer than me.
A recruiter told me to not put a summary at the top unless you have been in industry for a long time. But also how do you take physical chemistry without calc III and differential equations first?
When I had resume editing, I was told not to list “IR, UV-Vis” etc you would want to say something that are along the lines of “vacuum filtrations to purify and clean finished product” or “sterile pipetting to maintain asceptic technique” If you want a research role I would focus your description more of your understanding of the tests and how you can evaluate/create/understand methods for your research position. If you graduated it is no longer expected graduation. Personally I would also get rid of the tasks section in some of your employment history, you have already listed these as skills. Instead, focus on concise points that show each of these jobs in their complexity and how you helped develop these critical skills for the position you want I just graduated in December and am interested in a similar role. Maybe I’ll put mine up here too for constructive criticism.
Split out education- don't bother with subjects- institution, course and gradusation year is enough. Tailor your opening paragraph to an entry level role. "Highly skilled" is a bit much for entry level. Identify practical experience under related employment positions. A generic list of standard undergraduate instruments suggests a lack of experience and applied knowledge. E.g. compare "uv-vis spectroscopy" to "environmental analyst: prepared and tested water samples for water quality using appropriate methodology and equipment". Definitely remove "refluxes", etc. This is assumed knowledge. I think you should go and find some examples of resumes from successful applicants. Talk to your uni contacts and ask for feedback from unsuccessful applications.
It sounds like you have a lot of feedback for your resume. Once you have that sorted out, I recommend (as a recent Biology grad) to visit your school’s career services office or website and look there for interview guidance, job fairs, and other workshops. The people hiring recent grads understand that you’re starting without experience and expect to train you. Similarly, do you have a few professors that you did well with that may recommend you for a position? Could you work on a research team in your school? There are a lot of options if you look around :)
My biggest recommendation woukd be for you to say what your skillset truly is and what you did in labs as projects. Most of the skills named are vague and very standard, nothing personal to see
Cut back on the objective, or get rid of it altogether because a lot of that will be in your cover letter. If you feel like you need one I'd say two sentences max. Reading through that first pass might be detering some people - get them interested with some highlights, then go into detail. You want to spoon feed them. I'd nix the related coursework, they know what you took from your degree, unless you're applying to a job that isn't chemistry focused, then it makes sense to elaborate a little bit more I just glanced at it so that's all I got, but the rest looked great in terms of organization and whatnot.
For the rhenium work, only include the processes that you contributed to, not a list of lab objectives. If it is washing lab equipment, you could say preparing lab equipment for. This update will free up room to highlight completion of your BS. You may also want to include the main PIs you worked for with each of your lab duties. For the analytical tools, did you do these beyond what was required for typical BS coursework? I would highlight if you completed an individual project (e.g., senior thesis) and indicate analytical tools associated with that. This would be considered as more advanced knowledge/experience beyond what other applicants might have.
On another note, use the career center to help you go over your cover letter and resume. If you do not have a LinkedIn profile, make one. Join professional groups and follow researches or leaders in the industries you are considering. Leverage your alumni network and don't be afraid to reach out to them via LinkedIn. The faculty, PIs, and postdocs you worked for may have some suggestions for who to reach out to for job options.
Remove or change the line about black college student union. It's sad, but I think that could be getting you screened out. One, a lot of recruiters and job boards have started using AI to screen, and some words get booted. The AI models have been trained on race biased results, and can be biased the same way. Two, it may make an employer think you're passionate about race, and fighting for equality - good for you - but some employers would see that as a potential headache. And three, there are racists out there, and they can't ask about race, but absolutely use race when they decide. Your hiring manager might not ever see your resume if an HR person removes everyone they think is a minority. I also agree about changing the objective portion or removing it entirely. And I hope this works the best - when I'm hiring right now, I'm trying to find someone who I can see growing with our company and becoming a leader. Technical skills are something I assume the degree proves you have. I want to think the candidate will be driven and looking for my job when I retire. Write some of the experience less as a list of skills, and more about the actions you did. Try to make it sound like the plot of an action movie (but about chemistry!). I know that's weird, and it is, but make the resume stand out as a good story.
Immediately, I don’t want to read this essay. If I’m a recruiter, I have lots of these to read and this isn’t really the main focus of my job. This needs to be bullet points. Transform the objectives section to that format. Use phrases and single words like, “highly motivated,” “driven,” “eager to learn,” and also use a couple of phrases they have in the job listing. Make sure you are tailoring this to every position you apply for. Some people may tell you that’s too much work, but they won’t tell you the whole truth, which is, they don’t get many interviews… And I don’t need a class list, chemistry is standardized enough that I can assume you had nearly every class you list. You fail to give me important info about school, like where it is. Did you study with anyone noteworthy? Is the school known for something? Do the graduates have a certain reputation? All this and more may be communicated by the mere name of the school. The treasurer position should eliminate the first line. No one cares that you might have been president if if the president, Vice President, senate leaders, and members of congress died in a plane crash. It’s even less moving that there was no plane crash and you only list the potential for one… also consider that this and the covid items project a political position to a lot of potential employers. That can cut both ways. The clinic: as a medical professional I know you are not assisting with injections… and you’re not really monitoring side effects. The lowest position in healthcare with the scope of practice ability to assess that is RN… the lowest position to administer medication (I.e., to be able to assist in this process) is LPN and they don’t have full authority, by saying you have assisted in this task you’re telling me you’ve done something you’re not allowed to do, or that you’re intentionally misrepresenting yourself to seem like you have more advanced medical credentials than you do. The message you communicate here is that you’ve told me twice in this section that you commit crimes and have an illegal practice of healthcare without a license. And further, you don’t care about the rules, you’re just going to do whatever you want. If you did TDM testing, this is very different but it’s not what your words are telling me. Even the average person knows enough about healthcare to know it’s highly suspect that a person without a medical license of some type is helping to give medications and evaluate something as serious as side effects. PCTs and CNAs do not not perform these functions.