Resume Facts All PhDs Must Know

Join Isaiah as he shares resume facts and figures that PhDs transitioning into industry need to know in order to stand out in their job search.

Here’s a quick rundown of this week’s episode…

• First, Isaiah shares some surprising facts about resumes that PhDs transitioning into industry should know
• Next, he provides some helpful guidelines to keep in mind when PhDs craft their resume
• Finally, Isaiah offers tips on how to make PhD candidates stand out with a few easy-to-implement resume hacks

From This Week’s Show…

PhDs Are Often Surprised That Their Degree Is Not Enough

While simply submitting a resume may have landed you a summer job at a local coffee shop, getting a PhD-level industry job requires much more.

An industry job search at your level can be complex, but there are some simple frameworks that will help you allocate your time and resources effectively.

The 80-20-10 Principle Is One Of The More Important Resume Facts To Remember

Let’s start with the 80-20-10 principle.

The number 80 represents the 80% of industry jobs that are never advertised online.

Most positions at small- to medium-sized companies are never advertised at all. Of the jobs advertised by large companies, many of those have already been or will be filled internally.

Larger corporations have to keep their job postings up, even if the position has already been filled, in order to comply with governmental regulations.

So if 80% of jobs aren’t advertised, it stands to reason that 20% of jobs are. This is where the 20 in the 80-20-10 principle comes in. 20% is not a lot. But it gets worse.

As I mentioned, many of those jobs are already filled. How many? Most reports say half – so 10%. This means that if you limit yourself to looking for jobs online, you’re limiting yourself to just 10% of the job market. And that’s the 10 I’m referring to in the 80-20-10 principle.

How many?

Most reports say half. Half of 20% is 10%.

This means that if you limit yourself to looking for jobs online, you’re limiting yourself to just 10% of the job market.

And that’s the 10 I’m referring to in the 80-20-10 principle.

The Law Of 6, 11, 2 and 1 Reminds PhDs How Best To Format Their Resume

The law of 6, 11, 2, and 1 is incredibly important to remember. It’s a technique that grabs an employer’s attention and keeps your resume from ending facedown on the Reject pile.

First of all, your industry resume should only have 6 key sections – this is where the 6 comes from.

The sections should appear in this order: contact information, professional summary, work experience, education, and honors, awards, and hobbies.

Your education shouldn’t be front and center – your professional summary and work experience should be. 

The professional summary section should highlight your biggest accomplishments. Your work experience section should ditch the academic titles.

Why?

Because no one in industry cares that you were a PhD candidate for 5 years.

The minimum font size on your resume should be 11 point font, which is where the 11 in 6, 11, 2 and 1 comes from.

Additionally, the page margins should all be 1-inch. This is where the 1 comes from. 

As for the 2 in 6, 11, 2 & 1, it stands for 2 pages. Industry resumes are short and should never be longer than this.

No one is going to read pages and pages of dense text to try and figure out if you’re a good candidate for the job.

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