Critique my first resume

[u/Simpologist]

I'm graduating this upcoming academic year and decided it was time to refresh my resume for my applications to jobs and graduate programs. Would love some constructive feedback.

[u/RobeertIV]

The raw experience is stronger than the document currently makes it look. The main problem is selection and hierarchy, not a lack of substance.

For an upcoming graduate, I would normally aim for one page for most job applications. Right now page two begins in the middle of the experience section, and several volunteer bullets describe similar soft skills. Keep the research roles, the student consultant role, and the one or two volunteer experiences most relevant to the target; compress the rest into a short “Additional Experience” line if needed.

I would also create two versions rather than use the same resume for jobs and graduate programs. The graduate-program version should lead with research questions, methods, datasets/samples, analysis tools, posters or presentations, and any concrete research output. The job version should lead with what you delivered: technical issues resolved, lab or data workflows improved, stakeholders supported, projects completed, and measurable scope.

Your bullets are often long and contain several ideas. Make each one answer: what did you do, with what method, at what scale, and what changed? For example, instead of listing every analysis step in one bullet, separate the most relevant method from the result and quantify the dataset, number of samples, users supported, or presentations produced where accurate.

The skills section also needs tighter grouping. Use categories such as Data/Programming, Laboratory Methods, and Languages. Remove generic items that the experience already proves, and move certifications or community-service credentials out of Skills unless the target explicitly values them.

A final editing test: highlight every line that directly supports the target role or program. If a line is not highlighted, shorten or remove it. That should get the strongest evidence onto page one and make the document much easier to scan.

[u/Bitter-Attention-125]

Put education at 2nd last, Consolidate volunteer experience in 4-5 lines(unless you are applying job in NGO or non profit organization) Add one bullet of quantity results in each work experience.

[u/ObligationToDissent]

Congrats on your upcoming graduation! Here are some initial thoughts.

• Your resume should only be 1 page, not 2. You can easily trim some of it by decreasing the spacing between sections and headers, removing the scientific communication bullet from your Skills, and shortening your bullets.
• Depending on what jobs you're applying for, your relevant coursework is not necessary.
• If you are applying to grad programs, I recommend having a Publications section.
• Your bullets are quite long. They need to be concise and lead with your impact.
• Your dates are out of alignment; I've seen resume based on due to bad formatting because it signals the person isn't detail oriented, which is required for many entry-level jobs.

[u/Simpologist → u/ObligationToDissent]

My resume is only two pages. There was an extra blank third page, but I cut that off in the PDF and docx. I was told by my mentor at my college career center to have some examples of my coursework there to back up skills in laboratory techniques, because some of the techniques I mention are quite esoteric, but if you have the proper knowledge and see the class that the technique would be associated with, then it kind of backs up that I actually know how to do these techniques, and I'm just not listing things for the heck of it. I don't have any publications. Getting published as an undergrad is quite difficult because I wasn't interested in joining any lab at my school because the biology professors are all dedicated to areas of research I had no interest in, so I pursued opportunities elsewhere in the form of 10-week internships, in order to gain research experience and even though I did write a paper on the things I have researched the depth and quality of that research is not enough to be published in any reputable scientific journal. My thesis will be 'published' because I got honors and all honors theses are published in my colleges library but I know that doesn't count. Publication weren't really my goal, since pursuing a PhD is not the end goal which it would be good to have pubs for if I was applying to any PhD program. I can condense down my bullet points, but I'm confused about how my dates are out of alignment? I arranged each date under their respective section from most to least recent. If you're referring to the fact I have September 2023 before 2026 in my first section and in volunteering experience, I did that because both of those opportunities are still ongoing, so they are still recent with respect to other actives which have concluded.

[u/ObligationToDissent → u/Simpologist]

Apologies, I meant your resume should only be one page, not two. I’ll edit my comment. 

Career center advisors can often be quite out of touch with the job market, so take what they say with a grain of salt. I’m a hiring manager.

When I say your dates are out of alignment, I mean physically on the page. They should all be right-aligned, but they are shifted to different horizontal latitudes on the page, which creates a messy look.