Five Steps to Writing a Laboratory Technician Resume

Chris Daniels reports:

"As a lab technician, you perform the day-to-day procedures that keep research and medical labs running. Expertise in scientific techniques is the key requirement for being a lab tech. In addition, your resume for technician positions needs to highlight your ability to aid in lab management and communicate well with the other scientists you will be working with. Aim to keep your resume to a single page, focusing on the experience most relevant to the position at hand...Include your name and contact information clearly at the top of your resume to make it easy to get in contact with you. Include your e-mail, phone number and mailing address. Use a personal or school e-mail, but not an e-mail at your current employer. Similarly, use your personal or mobile phone number rather than a work phone number, and, if you are not available at all hours to take a phone call, indicate the hours that you will be able to discuss the positions you have applied for...Lead with a concise statement of the position you are applying for, the number of years of experience you have in laboratory work and the methods you have the most expertise in. If particular methods are mentioned in the job posting, be sure to emphasize those that you can do without help or with minimal training. A principal investigator, senior scientist or lab manager may be screening dozens of resumes and will only give you a few seconds to make the case that she should read further...Follow your strong lead statement with a summary of your lab technician experience. List the institution, principal investigator, name of the position and dates of employment for each position. Include as bullet points methods you performed and brief explanations for each project...Include a short section on further relevant skills and methods you have that are relevant to the position at hand. Place non-laboratory experience here to demonstrate your experience in management, communication and organization. Include methods that are relevant to the [position] that are not highlighted in your Professional Experience section...Conclude with an Education section listing the degrees you have earned or are expecting to earn. Include the college or university, location, degree and the date the degree was conferred or is expected. List honors, awards, theses and other recognitions in bullet points below each degree listing...Adjust the order of your experience to reflect which accomplishments are most relevant to the position you are applying for, with the most relevant coming first...Be wary of including lab methods that you only have minimal experience in to list more methods. For instance, if you've only performed the method once or twice in a course lab a few years ago, it probably does not merit a place on your resume."