Resume and Cover Letter Preparation Tips

By Janaina Cruz Pereira

As scientists, we are familiar with writing scientific reports, papers, and posters. However, scientific writing is very different from writing a resume or a cover letter for job applications. Fortunately, a career expert from Rutgers Graduate Student Career Pathways, Dr. Rudrani Gangopadhyay, recently hosted a webinar on “Resume and Cover Letter Preparation Tips”. This article summarizes the key takeaways from Dr. Gangopadhyay’s presentation, highlighting ways to make your resumes and cover letters clear and concise while customizing your experiences to the job application.

Resume Writing Tips

According to data from Rutgers Career Exploration and Success, recruiters only spend 6-8 seconds reviewing a resume. Therefore, your resume must be 1-2 pages, well-organized, and error-free. A typical structure of a biomedical resume should contain:

1. Header (name, contact information, LinkedIn link, and optional personal website)
2. Summary (2-3 lines highlighting specialization, years of research, and strengths)
3. Experience (relevant research/industry work, leadership, or communication roles)
4. Education
5. Presentations
6. Selected Publications (if relevant to the job)

Your resume should have a clear layout with logical formatting, listing the most critical information for the job at the top, incorporating ample white space, and bulleting work experiences in reverse chronological order. Keep the formatting consistent by using the following guidelines:

• Font: Serif (Times New Roman, Georgia, Garamond, Cambria)
• Size: 10-12 pt. (16-20 pt., bold for your name)
• Length: 1-2 pages

Fig 02: Science Resume Examples & Template

Using Fig 02 as an example, your resume should have the following sections:

1. Header

This section should include your full name, address (if local), phone number (with a professional voicemail), professional email address, and LinkedIn URL.

2. Summary or Executive Summary

Briefly introduce your top qualifications tailored for each application by referencing keywords from the job posting.

                        Do:

• Mention years of experience, technical and soft skills
• Use job-specific language

Don’t:

• Be vague or generic
• Use first person language
• List everything

3. Experience

Include a mix of experiences, including research, internships, part-time/full-time jobs, volunteering, academic projects, military service, etc. Group them into categories such as related experience, educational experience, community involvement, and leadership experience. The experiences you choose to include should be tailored to the job. For example, if you are applying for a management position, leadership experience should be the focus of the session. Or if you are applying to a non-profit organization, community involvement experiences should be prioritized. Do not include many work experiences outside of these categories if they are not appropriate for the job application.

The format of this session should include the employer's name and location (e.g. New Brunswick, NJ), job title, and dates of employment (e.g. 06/2025). It should also include a description of responsibilities and accomplishments in bullet points. Avoid personal pronouns or articles ("I" or "me"), use the present tense if currently employed, and the past tense if no longer employed. Start each bullet point with a strong action verb to highlight transferable and soft skills and provide a concise summary of the work you did. Each bullet point should be able to answer the following questions:

• What did you do in the position?
• How did you do it? 

• Why or for what purpose? 

• What were the results of your actions?

One popular method to get on track with experience section on your resume is the CAR method:

• CONTEXT: What was the problem or setting?
• ACTION: What did you do?
• RESULT: What was the measurable outcome?

Another strategy that also helps with AI filters is adding relevant terms from the job posting that match your experience, such as "flow cytometry," "CRISPR," and "clinical assay development". It is desirable to focus on impact and quantify where possible. For example, "Investigated receptor pathways in cancer cells” can be changed to: “Led a 2-year project on EGFR inhibitors, optimizing compound synthesis and reducing assay variability by 20%.” This leaves a stronger impact on the reader by quantifying your time and impact.

4. Education

 The following information must be in the education section:

• Institution Name, City, State
• Degree and Major (e.g. PhD, Biomedical Sciences)
• GPA (if 3.0 or higher, optional)
• Graduation date or expected date

Additional Optional Information:

• Relevant Coursework
• Academic Awards/ Scholarships
• Certifications

AI Tools

Dr. Gangopadhyay discussed AI writing tools such as ChatGPT and Google Gemini as a helpful tool in the process of creating cover letters and resumes. However, always review and personalize the output to ensure it reflects your voice and experience accurately.

Common Resume Mistakes

1. Irrelevant information: In some regions such as Europe and South America pictures a common in resumes, however, in the United States pictures are considered irrelevant information and should not be added to the resume. Other irrelevant information includes marital status, citizenship, fun facts and logos/graphics/images.
2. Outdated information: activities you participated in during high school
3. Casual language: slang or colloquialisms
4. Military experience that is difficult for civilians to understand
5. Spelling/grammar errors
6. Long narrative bullet points

Curriculum Vitae (CV) vs. Resume

Unlike resumes, CVs are used for academic roles or graduate school applications, have no page limit, and often include the last 10 years of work. The main sections in a CV include:

1. Personal Information
2. Education
3. Honors/Awards
4. Relevant Work Experience
5. Teaching Experience
6. Full Publications
7. Presentations/Conferences/Seminars
8. References
9. Optional: Skills, Grants, Professional Association

Cover Letter

Cover letters are not an extended version of your resume since not all your experiences are relevant to every job position that you will apply for. A cover letter should be personalized to the application, connecting your expertise to the employer’s mission, demonstrating your communication abilities, and explaining your motivation for applying to the position. You may follow the 3 Cs method:  clear, concise, and compelling.  Your cover letter should not exceed 1 page. However, Dr. Gangopadhyay suggests creating a master cover letter that includes all your work experience and then editing and tailoring the document to each job position. Cover letters can be organized in the following order:

• Opening Paragraph: State who you are, what you are applying for, and 1-2 key strengths

Fig 3: Example of 1^st Paragraph in a Cover Letter

• Middle Paragraph(s): Highlight specific experiences related to the role (e.g. project management, data analysis, regulatory exposure)

Fig 4: Example of Middle Paragraph in a Cover Letter

• Closing Paragraph: Reiterate your interest and availability for an interview

Fig 5: Example of Final Paragraph in a Cover Letter

If emailing your cover letter, be sure to use a clear subject line, greet with “Dear Ms./Mr./Dr.”, proofread carefully, and avoid slang, emojis, fancy fonts, or colorful backgrounds. The following is an example of a well-tailored cover letter:

Dear Hiring Manager,

I am writing to express my enthusiastic interest in the Scientist I position at Nimbus Therapeutics, as advertised on your website. Currently completing my PhD in Molecular Biology at Rutgers University, I bring over six years of experience in oncology-focused translational research, with a strong foundation in assay development, high-throughput screening, and collaborative team science. Your mission to pioneer treatments for metabolic disease and immuno-oncology deeply resonates with my own research values and career goals.

In my dissertation work, I designed and validated a novel CRISPR-based functional screen to identify key modulators of drug resistance in triple-negative breast cancer. This project, in collaboration with our university’s core facility, led to the discovery of a synthetic lethal interaction that is now being tested in vivo, and I co-authored a first-author manuscript currently under review at Nature Cancer. Beyond the bench, I led a multi-disciplinary subgroup of five researchers, coordinated project milestones across departments, and presented findings at both the AACR and Keystone Symposia. This experience not only honed my experimental rigor but also taught me how to communicate complex findings effectively to cross-functional stakeholders.

I am particularly excited about Nimbus’s integrated approach to target validation and structure-based drug design. With hands-on expertise in molecular cloning, flow cytometry, and RNA-seq analysis, along with proficiency in data tools like GraphPad, Prism, and R, I am confident I can contribute immediately to your oncology pipeline. Moreover, my experience mentoring undergraduate researchers and managing cross-lab collaborations has instilled in me the interpersonal and organizational skills needed to thrive in a dynamic biotech environment. Thank you for considering my application. I would welcome the opportunity to contribute to Nimbus’s impactful research and would be thrilled to discuss how my background and passion align with your team’s needs. I am available for an interview at your convenience and can be reached by email or phone.

Sincerely,

Your Name

Dr. Gangopadhyay’s Advice for FAQs

1. How do I make my resume industry-friendly?

As employers in biotech and pharma care less about the number of publications and more about skills and outcomes, Dr. Gangopadhyay recommends including 1-3 publications in a separate section (if relevant) and focusing more on skills and results. Importantly, highlight collaborative projects demonstrating your ability to work with cross-functional teams. For example, illustrate situations where you partnered with different fields or combined wet lab experience with computational analysis, including your involvement in data analysis, troubleshooting, and regulatory considerations. Detail any specific techniques you've mastered (e.g., CRISPR, HPLC, RNA-seq).

2. I’ve been in grad school for a long time. Is that a problem?

No—if you’ve taken on leadership roles, rotated labs, or have a strong track record of publications/presentations, that experience adds value. However, Dr. Gangopadhyay suggested focusing only on the last 5-7 years of grad school.

3. My experience is very academic—no internships or industry collaborations (yet). How can I show I am “industry-ready”?

Include leadership or service to round up your profile and focus on transferable skills such as:

• Project management: timelines, milestones, data reporting
• Communication: presenting to non-specialist audiences, grant writing
• Collaboration: cross-lab or cross-departmental work
• Problem-solving: designing experiments, adapting protocols, analyzing datasets

4. What if I don’t meet all the qualifications in a job description? Should I still apply?

If you meet around 70% of the qualifications and are genuinely interested, you should apply. Hiring managers know ideal candidates rarely check every box. Therefore, you should focus on tailoring your cover letter to make a strong case for fit, highlighting the skills and experiences you bring, your willingness and ability to learn quickly, and how your research mindset equips you to adapt effectively.

Final Note on AI Tools

Finally, Dr. Gangopadhyay discussed AI writing tools such as ChatGPT and Google Gemini as a helpful tool in the process of creating Cover Letters and Resumes. However, always review and personalize the output to ensure it reflects your voice and experience accurately. Additionally, she shared essential resources available at Rutgers Careers such as: resume and best practices, AI, and Cover Letters.

If you are looking for more information about writing a resume or cover letter, check out the essential resources on the Rutgers Careers website. You can find information about resume and best practices, how to use AI for writing a cover letter or resume, and  general guidance on writing a cover letter.

This article was edited by Junior Editor E. Beyza Guven and Senior Editor Antonia Kaz