Best Practices for a Data Science Resume

Aditya Sharma Aditya Sharma
June 24, 2020 Big Data, Cloud & DevOps

It is safe to say that Data Science can solve business problems and has a huge impact on every department.

But just because you have the skillset and the required experience as a data science professional does not mean that you are bound to land the job you want.

You need to take it up a notch by framing an impeccable resume that can help you communicate your professional caliber to the recruiters. And ultimately raise your chances of being shortlisted by potential employers.

Let us discuss the best practices given below to help you curate the perfect data science resume that highlights your expertise in analyzing data for actionable insights:

Highlight your work experience in an effective manner

The professional experience section is one of the best features in a resume wherein you can highlight your previous or current work experience in the most effective way possible.

You need to make sure that you communicate your professional potential as a data scientist who can deliver insightful data to an organization and be recognized by the recruiters who can raise your chances of being shortlisted through your job specific resume.

However, there are some important factors that you need to implement in your resume to stand out amongst any average applicant.

Start by framing every statement in crisp one-liners that speaks about your achievements and contributions to an organization.

Highlight your ability to enable effective business processes and give meaningful insights into how you implemented analytics. Then list all the similar points under unique and suitable buckets.

Once you are done with that, pick the most significant information in your statement and bold the highlight of your career.

For example:

Project Management & Delivery

  • Managed high-risk projects without compromising the product quality to ensure 100% client satisfaction
  • Delivered projects to 6+ clients on time and successfully managed to keep them within the assigned budget

From the simple example given above, we can see that bucketing & bolding not only makes it easier for you to organize your professional experience statements but also makes it easier for the recruiters to clearly read and comprehend your framed points.

Just as you strategize and execute the development of data, your points should reflect those potentials of yours.

Another thing that you can add to your professional experience statements is your performance figures to specify your achievements and contribution towards an organization.

The recruiters should be able to make out if you have the required credits and qualifications just by scanning through your one-liner points as it will be easy to recognize the specific highlights.

And avoid writing lengthy paragraphs to describe your professional experience because it may fail to intrigue the recruiters. They may not bother to read through a bulky paragraph even though you may be a potential candidate who is qualified for the job profile.

Mention both your technical and key skills

If you have it, flaunt it because the competition in the job world is treacherous and every organization is looking forward to hiring only the best professionals.

Whether it’s to highlight your functional skills or technical skills you must create distinct sections.

Create a “Key Skills” section to highlight the core skills that will help you get hired as the perfect data scientist.

For example:

On the other hand, create a “Technical Skills” section to highlight your abilities to perform tasks using your practical skills that are related to programming languages, information technology, tools, etc.

For example:

From the given examples, we can observe that creating separate sections for your key skills and technical skills highlights your expertise in the work field of data science in a broader sense.

The recruiters are going to expect you to know various programming languages like Python, Hadoop, SQL, etc. along with statistics and visualization skills so you need to highlight those skills set.

Additionally, try and use the suitable keywords used by the recruiters in the job listings to rank high on the ATS (Applicant Tracking System) which most recruiters use to filter through resumes.

Give an overview of your resume

The recruiters do not have the luxury of time to go through each resume. They merely spend 6 seconds on a resume.

Keeping that in mind, compose a resume summary to highlight the most significant accomplishments of your career by stating your proficiency in executing the tasks assigned to you.

Mention your data-driven insights to make the recruiters recognize your strong knowledge of data science.

Also, add some of the skills that have been specifically mentioned by the recruiters in the job listing and have been justified by you in the professional experience section.

The whole point is to give an overview of your data science resume to intrigue the recruiters and fall on their radar as the most suitable applicant.

Your resume summary should simply highlight the most significant points in your resume so that the recruiters can recognize you as a suitable applicant with the required set of skills, qualifications, and experience.

Provide the details of suitable credentials

Every relevant credential that you possess should be mentioned in your resume to boost your chances of being considered as the most suitable candidate by the recruiters.

To validate the fact that you are a qualified data scientist for the targeted job profile, you need to provide your credentials.

The details of your educational qualification, certifications, training, awards & recognitions, etc. can all reflect on your caliber as a suitable candidate for the job profile.

Your knowledge and expertise of additional skills are an added advantage for a higher chance of climbing the ladder of your data science career.

For example, You can provide the following details of your educational background:

  • Name of your University/School you have attended.
  • Name of the courses you have pursued.
  • Location of your University/School.
  • Dates of enrollment and graduation.

Likewise, provide the details of your other credentials so that you can convenience the recruiters about your suitability for the targeted data science job profile.

Key Takeaways

Now that we have come to an end of the article, here are some key takeaways to be kept in mind at all time while writing your resume:

  • Highlight your professional experience by framing one-liners and placing them under suitable headings to make it easier for the recruiters to read and comprehend your points.
  • Create separate sections for “Key Skills” and “Technical Skills” to communicate your professional skills and make sure to use suitable keywords.
  • Compose a resume summary to give an overview of your data science resume and communicate your achievements and contributions to an organization.
  • Make sure to provide the details of your education, certifications, training, awards & recognitions, etc. to add value to your professional experience as a data science professional.
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  • Aditya Sharma

    Tags
    Data ScienceJob Specific ResumeResumeSkillset
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    1. Data Science Course in Hyderabad says:
      5 years ago

      very interesting post.this is my first time visit here.i found so many interesting stuff in your blog especially its discussion..thanks for the post!

      Reply

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