A resume that gets shortlisted is a resume that is tailored for perfection.
As the first communication point between you and the recruiter, your resume needs to be nothing short of an excellent display of your professional qualities and suitability for your target profile.
While there is no sure-shot way to bagging a shortlist, a few resume tricks can help.
So here are the 5 essentials of a Data Scientist Resume to help you get closer to your dream job.
Your roles & responsibilities should create an impact
There is no better way to win over a recruiter and get the data science job you are after than through your roles & responsibilities.
What was your work profile? What projects were you working on? What was the impact you were able to make through the algorithms you developed?
These are important questions that need perfect answers.
The professional experience section is a great place to provide these answers and win the recruiter over.
Doing something as simple as writing accomplishment statements that focuses on the results of your professional contributions can help. Other tricks that can help you make a shortlist-worthy data scientist resume is listed below:
- Avoid stuffy language. Use one-line points to talk about the details of your work profile.
- Group similar points under unique subheadings to communicate your main expertise areas in one go.
- Use numbers as much as possible.
Here’s an example:
Segmentation & Clustering
- Created multivariate regression-based attribution models & segmentation models using K-means Clustering
- Utilized high dimensional data sets from users/media agencies/3rd-party apps via PCA, LDA & Kernel Approximations
- Developed an algorithm that solved the company’s budgeting problems with 90% success rate
In this example, the one-liner points are bucketed under the heading, “Segmentation & Clustering” and the most important aspects of each point are highlighted by marking them in bold.
Doing something as simple as this helps you create an impactful work profile.
Let’s move on to the next point.
Your data science skills should feature under a distinct section
An average recruiter spends 6 seconds on a resume.
That’s all the time you have to intrigue them into recognizing your skills.
The key skills section can help.
By outlining your functional skills under a distinct section, you get on the recruiter’s radar as it is the first thing they notice.
A great way to catch their attention is by showing them that you match all the skill sets they are after.
Scan through the job description of your target data science job, identify the keywords and incorporate them into the ‘key skills’ section as long as you actually have those skills.
Additionally, make sure that you put all your data science relevant skill sets in this section so they know what you’re all about. Moreover, since this is a technical resume, make sure that you group all your technical skills (took knowledge, languages, etc) under a sub-section within the ‘key skill’s section.
Here’s an example of what this should look like:
The resume summary should be short and effective
A summary is an overview of your career.
While drafting this summary, make sure that you stick to a 3-5 lines paragraph to capture the interest of the recruiter.
Think of your career highlights as a data scientist and draft your summary accordingly.
Your job title should be accurately presented in your resume
The profile title of your summary refers to your job title.
If you are a Data Science Engineer, don’t exaggerate your title. Write it as it is. Don’t write ‘Data Scientist’ as your job designation just because it has a better ring to it.
As for you, don’t write ‘Senior Data Scientist’ if there is a hierarchy of data scientists in your organization.
The idea is to stay authentic as any deviation in the form of tainted job titles can cost you your credibility.
Your contact details should be accurate
Now that you know the four essentials of curating a great data scientist, let us now move on the fifth.
The personal information section of your data scientist resume is just as important as the rest of the sections we have outlined in the earlier points.
Because this section includes your contact number, email address, and current location; it is important that you accurately write them down as a single typo can mean that you’ll never hear back from a potential recruiter.
So make sure you perfect it and see the magic unfold.
