Microbiologist Resume: Templates, Examples & Top Tips

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What does writing a resume and biology have in common? They’re all about the little things! While creating a microbiologist resume might not be quite as technical as microbiology itself, it’s the little details that will make the difference between getting hired and landing in the rejected pile.

But luckily, just like your professors in all the lecture halls, your buddies at ResumeGiants are here to teach you the ins and outs of resume building.

In this guide, we’ll cover all the essential microbiologist resume-writing tips, including: 

• How to write the best possible resume for a microbiologist position.
• Creating an engaging microbiologist resume objective or summary.
• Filling out your resume experience and education sections.
• Adding relevant microbiology skills and publications/achievements.

We’ll also add plenty of tips and examples to help you get a visual idea of what you might want your resume to look like. 

If you are ready to start writing your resume, check out our free online resume builder. There are plenty of templates for you to choose from. Just pick the template that best fits your style, fill in your information, and you’ll be ready to apply to jobs in no time.

Don’t forget, if you are going to be working in the academic and research field, you might be better off submitting a CV rather than a resume. Always check the job listing details.

However, if you want to do a little more research before diving in, keep on reading!

Just like any good lab test, it helps to base your experiment on previous research. Here’s an example to demonstrate what a good microbiologist resume looks like:

resume Example

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[Spencer Ecimens]

[Microbiologist]

[Kailua-Kona, HI | 808-555-8469 | sp.ecimens@email.com]

Summary

Passionate microbiologist with PhD and 7+ years of experience using bioinformatics methods to perform microbiological research at both a cellular and molecular level. Highly skilled with data compilation, environmental monitoring, and mapping excursions to determine the validity of results against testing protocols.

Experience

Hi-Tech Labs, LLC | Kailua-Kona, HI

Microbiologist

2018 – 2022

• Identified and monitored microorganisms in a variety of environments, including leptospirosis and staphylococcus.
• Maintained and monitored laboratory facilities and equipment per GMP, GLP, and ISO regulations with a 100% compliance score.
• Utilized a variety of instruments to complete experiments, including high-powered microscopes, slides, inoculation loops, incubators, and laminar flow hoods.
• Identified microorganisms using VITEK Automated Identification System.
• Conducted Bioburen testing to recover native organisms in environments.
• Assisted in validation, establishing, and writing specifications, along with conducting QC assays.

Big Island Pathology Labs | Kailua-Kona, HI

Quality Control Microbiologist

2015 – 2018

• Performed and documented lab investigations and maintained appropriate metrics.
• Developed gowning training for clean room areas throughout the facility.
• Conducted hands-on training for up to 15 QC staff members.
• Environmental monitoring in manufacturing and microbiology facilities to ensure teams met all sampling requirements.

Education

University of Hawaii at Manoa | Honolulu, HI

Doctoral Degree in Microbiology

2016 – 2018 

University of Hawaii at Manoa | Honolulu, HI

Master’s Degree in Microbiology

2015 – 2016 

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill | Chapel Hill, NC

Bachelor of Science in Biology

2011 – 2015

Skills

• Attention to detail
• Problem solving

• Analytical skills 
• Environmental monitoring
• Quality assurance

• Research protocols
• GMP/GLP/ISO compliance
• Diagnostic testing and data analysis

Certifications

• Certified Quality Auditor (CQA) – American Society for Quality (ASQ)
• Registered Microbiologist with the National Registry of Certified Microbiologists (NRCM)

Publications

• Published article – The spread of leptospirosis in Hawaiian ecosystems, American Society for Microbiology (ASM) Journal (2020)
• Guest speaker on This Week in Microbiology podcast (2019 – 2022)

Just like microorganisms come in all shapes and sizes, so do microbiologist resumes. Therefore, there isn’t a single “best” resume format to use for every occasion. It all depends on what best showcases your skills and experience — and your personal style.

So, here are a few time-tested resume formatting guidelines you should always follow:

• Use reverse-chronological order for your experience and education sections.
• Leave plenty of space between sections for a clean appearance.
• Limit your resume to one page (unless you absolutely can’t help it).
• Use bold headings over sections to make the information easy to scan.
• Choose a professional font like Calibri, Cambria, or Arial.
• Select an easy-to-read text size around 13-15 for headings and 11-12 for body text.
• Save your resume as a PDF to prevent formatting issues.

Although you can change what order the sections come in, the main idea is to put the most important information at the top of your resume. That makes it easy to wow potential employers right away. 

Next, with all these tips fresh in your mind, let’s take a look at how to write each section of a microbiologist’s resume in a bit more detail — put them under the microscope, if you will!

The first section on your resume should be your personal information (but no photo). Since we hope you already know that information, let’s jump to the microbiologist resume summary or objective.

First things first: What’s the difference between a resume summary and a resume objective? 

• Resume summary – A quick overview of your professional experience.
• Resume objective – A rundown of your overall career goals.

Each one should be about two-to-three sentences long and showcase your most important skills and experience. Then, make sure to include only the most impressive information with some details to set you apart from the other applicants.

Microbiologist Resume Summary Example

As mentioned previously, a resume summary is simply a summarization of your resume; describing your professional experience in about two or three sentences. 

To illustrate what you should aim for, here’s an example of a good microbiologist resume summary:

What makes this microbiologist resume summary so good are the details. Not only does this applicant just say they have professional experience, but they list specific details about their skills and background. Of course, that helps set them apart from the other applicants and stand out to potential employers.

What about a Microbiologist Resume Objective?

If you don’t really have a resume to summarize, a resume objective might be for you! The aforementioned resume objective is a quick statement (about two to three sentences) describing your overall career goals and a few of your most impressive, relevant skills.

Just like a resume summary, you want your resume objective to be short, concise, and full of specific details.

This applicant might not have professional experience to talk about, but they do mention their specific skills and what they want to use those skills to accomplish in their career.

As any microbiologist knows, there’s a big difference between understanding the methods behind a test and actually performing an experiment. Moreover, your experience section shows that you can handle yourself in real life, which is exactly what employers want to know.

In order to write an effective microbiologist resume experience section, there are three key pieces of information employers want to know:

• Work history
• Key accomplishments
• Responsibilities

Limit your resume’s experience section to about 3-7 of your most impressive and relevant examples — and try to keep it to one page!

As you compile your experience section, keep these proven resume-writing tips in mind:

• Firstly, use concrete statistics and numbers.
• Then, customize your work experience to fit the job you’re applying to.
• Thridly, keep all information concise and to the point.
• Finally, remember to include keywords from the job description.

In general, any microbiologist should know the world is built around the survival of the fittest! Make sure your resume experience section makes you look like the “fittest,” so you survive the application process and pass through to the interview stage.

Microbiologist Resume Examples: Experience

Now that you know what goes into a great microbiologist resume experience section, it’s time to look at some examples.

All the other applicants probably have experience “performing experiments and compiling data.” That’s why it’s important to use specifics and power words to set you apart. Not only did this applicant maintain a safe and efficient workspace, but they did so taking specific GMP/GLP/ISO regulations into account. Much more impressive to potential employers!

Education is an important part of being a microbiologist, but employers really just want to know three things about your education:

• Where you went to school
• Dates of attendance
• Title(s) earned

If you have more than one degree, as many microbiologists do, then remember to put them in reverse-chronological order with the most recent education experience at the top.

Microbiologist Resume Education Section Example

Here’s how a good microbiologist resume education section might look:

You’re also welcome to add your GPA or any academic achievements to your education section, but remember, you’re in a field full of academics. Make sure any additional information you include is impressive and relevant to the position!

🌟Featured Content: Since most microbiologists have college experience, you can leave out your high school education experience. If you have high-level college degrees, it’s generally assumed you graduated high school. Save the space for more important information.

A skills section is great for putting all your relevant skills into one, easy-to-find section for potential employers to quickly scan for information.

For the purpose of your resume, your skills can be divided into two categories:

• Hard skills – Concrete, learned, measurable skills.
• Soft skills – Universal, personality-type, harder-to-define skills.

You want to look well-rounded, so it’s a good idea to include a healthy mix of both hard and soft skills on your resume. 

However, in scientific fields, hard skills are a bit more important. Here are just a few of the skills that look great on a microbiologist resume:

Other sections, or “extra” sections, are devoted to specific information that might not fit anywhere else, like certifications, conferences, or publications. In fact, this could be the space to add your published research and papers.

Whatever sections you choose, make sure they’re relevant to the position you’re applying to.

Microbiologist Resume Sample Extra Sections

Here are some of the most common extra sections that employers love to see:

Certifications

• Specialist in Microbiology certified by the American Society for Clinical Pathology (ASCP)
• Certified Quality Auditor (CQA) – American Society for Quality (ASQ)
• Registered Microbiologist with the National Registry of Certified Microbiologists (NRCM)

Publications

• Published article about the spread of leptospirosis in Hawaiian ecosystems in the American Society for Microbiology (ASM) Journal (2020)
• Guest speaker on This Week in Microbiology podcast (recurring 2019 – 2022)

Your new resume-writing knowledge coupled with your mastery of the “little things” means you’re finally ready to create the perfect microbiologist resume. As you’re writing, just remember to keep these time-tested resume tips in mind:

• Personalize your resume to fit the job description.
• Use plenty of specific details about your background and experience.
• Match your experience and skills to the position you’re applying to.
• Include concrete numbers and statistics.
• Choose a clean and easy-to-read layout.
• Use a professional font and format.
• Save your resume as a PDF.

Looking for a little inspiration to get started? Check out some of the professional resume templates on ResumeGiants. There are dozens of templates you can browse. Then, simply fill it in, download the file, and you’ll be ready to apply to your next microbiologist position.