Medical Laboratory Scientist Resume Example, Tips, & Tricks

Employers receive hundreds of applications for every Medical Laboratory Scientist, Medical Technologist, and Clinical Laboratory Scientist job opening – each one describing talents for quality control, data interpretation, lab safety, and research. Such fierce competition for open positions means that you need to have a compelling resume to stand out from the crowd when it’s time to get a new job. On top of that, your resume must be customized for each job so that the hiring manager knows what value you have to offer for their team. 

It can be a daunting task, for sure, which is why we have put together this guide full of tips and tricks for creating a stand-out Medical Laboratory Scientist resume. Here, you’ll find a sample resume that you can use for inspiration, along with real-world advice that you can use to wow prospective employers. 

How to write a resume

Since your Medical Laboratory Scientist resume is the first impression that you’ll make on future hiring managers, it’s critical that it be put together properly. You can’t just list the jobs you’ve held and the responsibilities you were required to take care of at each one; you have to go a step further and use format, layout, and language that persuades them to invite you to an interview. Not only that, you have to write for a computer and a human because your resume must get through the applicant tracking system (ATS) before it ever sees the hands of a hiring manager.

Get past the ATS

The ATS is a real thorn in the side of job seekers. When you apply for a job, your resume is passed through a computer scanning system that is programmed to check everything from font size and margins to years of experience and relevant keywords. A whopping 75% of resumes are wholly rejected by the ATS. This means that your resume ends up in a digital la-la land, never to see the light of day.

Because of this rejection, the human beings at the company you’ve applied to aren’t even aware you exist. In fact, this is one of the major reasons that job seekers are ghosted by companies. Therefore, creating a resume that meets the criteria of ATS scans is imperative. 

Impress the hiring manager

After your resume gets past the ATS and into the hands of the human hiring manager, it will be skimmed for pertinent information – the value you’ll add to their team. That’s right! They’re not even reading your resume; they skim through it to find the details they’re looking for. To aid the hiring manager in finding relevant information on your resume, you’ll start by choosing the right format. 

Resume formats

There are three different formats that are widely accepted for you to choose from – the reverse-chronological, the hybrid (sometimes called combination), and the functional. For a Medical Laboratory Scientist, the best option is the reverse chronological.

This format will allow you to emphasize relevant content from your most recent experiences. While it is true that older experiences, those over 10 years ago, were important in getting you to where you are in your career today, prospective employers will focus their review of your expertise on the most recent accomplishments. 

The reverse-chronological resume format is also really easy for hiring managers to follow. It’s what they expect to see and what they’re accustomed to scanning. While it might be tempting to find a modern style, it doesn’t benefit you to produce a resume that makes the hiring manager search for keywords and experiences they want to see. 

The layout

Using a reverse-chronological resume means that you’re presenting details in an intuitive way that makes quick work of locating the value you have to offer. It’s quite a simple layout, too, that organizes your career in a logical way.

• Contact information: This will be the first thing on the page – the information you want hiring managers to use to get in touch with you for an interview. 

• Title and profile summary: The very next thing on the page will be a title that mirrors the job description and a three to five-sentence paragraph that extols your abilities as a Medical Laboratory Scientist.

• Skills and experience: After the profile section, you’ll create a list of 9-12 ATS-friendly keywords and phrases and then type out your work history. 

• Education and extras: Finally, you’ll include the degrees and certifications you’ve earned and any major research projects you think will help you stand out from the crowd. 

Medical Laboratory Scientist Resume example 

You can see all of that put into practice in the Medical Laboratory Scientist sample resume below. You’ll notice that it’s very easy to see at a glance what this person would have to offer a new employer. The sample contains a strong mix of hard and soft skills and some accomplishments in each role that indicate this person is an achiever rather than a doer. 

Feel free to use this example for inspiration in creating your own interview-winning Medical Laboratory Scientist resume. 

Key hard & soft skills for Medical Laboratory Scientist

Be cautious about focusing only on your technical, research, and laboratory skills when writing your resume. You want to let future employers know that you’re also capable of working on a team and collaborating with others to achieve breakthrough discoveries. This is what we meant when we said that the sample resume “contains a strong mix of hard and soft skills.” 

Hard skills

Hard skills represent things you know how to do that have been learned, either in school or through practical experience. It’s the skills that allow you to perform your duties. They include things like: 

• Laboratory techniques

• Equipment operation

• Specimen collection

• Sample processing

• Chemistry

• Hematology

• Microbiology

• Immunology

• Molecular diagnosis

• Quality control

• Quality assurance

• Laboratory information systems

• Instrumentation troubleshooting

Soft skills

Conversely, soft skills are the personality traits or characteristics you possess that allow you to do your job effectively. They’re not generally things that are learned – though they can be enhanced through practice – rather, soft skills help define how you work. Here are some examples:

• Attention to detail

• Critical thinking

• Problem-solving

• Communication

• Teamwork

• Time management

• Ethical conduct

• Empathy

• Cultural competence

• Conflict resolution

• Leadership

When you write your resume with a good balance of both types of skills, you present yourself as a well-rounded individual who can excel, adapt, and thrive. 

Summary & Last Words

As you can see, crafting a resume isn’t merely a task you have to perform to start applying for jobs; it’s an opportunity to toot your own horn in a way that will set you apart from the competition (other Medical Laboratory Scientist job seekers). Your resume is the most important tool you have in your job search toolkit. When you follow the tips and tricks in this article and use the Medical Laboratory Scientist example resume as a guide, you’ll leave a lasting impression on future employers. 

Introduction to ZipJob: Professional Resume Writers

Many people have a problem talking about their achievements for fear of coming across as boastful. It’s the major thing that holds people up from writing a compelling resume. That’s okay because you have a team of professional resume writers in your corner at ZipJob. When you work with one of our writers, not only do you get a resume that will win more interviews, but you also get an advocate with knowledge of your industry who knows what hiring managers want to see. 

Why You Should Make Use of Our Resume Writing Services to Land Your Next Job as Medical Laboratory Scientist

One thing is for sure: your field requires precision and expertise, and that’s exactly what your resume should reflect. Having a professionally written resume is the key to your future because it will ensure that you’re delivering the right message about your skills, qualifications, and achievements in the best possible way. Not only that, but having a professional resume ensures that the ATS will no longer be something you have to worry about, as ZipJob’s writers are experts at crafting resumes that make it past those scanning systems. 

Resume Writing Service for Medical Laboratory Scientist: Let us write your resume

Leave your worries about being boastful, making it through the ATS, and impressing hiring managers to the professionals. With ZipJob’s expert resume writing service, you can trust your career aspirations to seasoned writers who understand the Medical Laboratory Science field and can help you secure your future with a resume that speaks your language and stands out in the competitive job market.