Biologist CV Examples & Writing Guide

This is a research biologist with seven years of bench work in a mid-sized biotech. The name and the employers are invented. Notice that the techniques block sits high on the page. In life sciences hiring, that block is the CV; everything below it is evidence that you really can do those things.

Biology CVs are usually screened by the person who will supervise you, not by HR alone. That person has a bench or a field season to staff and a very short list of questions.

• Which techniques you have actually run, unsupervised. Not seen, not assisted with. Say so if a technique is one you were trained on but have not run alone; a lie here falls apart in week one.
• The scale you have worked at. Samples a week, plates a week, clones screened, sites surveyed, animals handled, libraries prepped. Scale tells them whether you can survive a production environment.
• The organisms and systems. Mammalian cell culture is not the same as zebrafish husbandry, and neither is the same as running mist nets for songbirds. Name yours.
• Documentation habits. In industry, GLP or GMP documentation, electronic lab notebooks and audit history matter as much as technique. In field work, it is data sheets, licences and chain of custody.

"Biologist" covers jobs with almost nothing in common. The structure of your CV should change with the subfield, because the reader's checklist changes.

• Molecular and cell biology. Lead with techniques and instruments, then cell lines and model systems, then documentation standard (GLP, GMP, ISO 15189). Publications come after techniques unless you are applying to academia.
• Microbiology and QC. Lead with media prep, plating and enumeration, environmental monitoring, sterility and endotoxin testing, European Pharmacopoeia methods if you work in pharma, and organism identification methods such as MALDI-TOF or biochemical panels. Say whether you work under GMP.
• Wildlife and field ecology. Lead with survey methods and licences: transect and point count surveys, mist netting and ringing, radio and GPS telemetry, camera trapping, trapping protocols, plus your driving licence, first aid, and whether you can carry an 18 kg pack in the field for ten hours.
• Marine biology. Add scientific diving status, vessel time, boat handling, small boat safety, and the specific gear you have used. A scientific diving qualification recognised under the HSE's diving at work rules and logged dives are the credentials that matter.
• Environmental and regulatory. Lead with the processes you have worked under, such as habitat surveys, protected species surveys and environmental impact assessment, plus the GIS software by name.
• Bioinformatics-adjacent roles. Move R, Python and sequence analysis pipelines into their own block, and be specific: "RNA-seq analysis in R with DESeq2" beats "data analysis".

Most biology CVs list what happened in the lab. The good ones say how much, how well, and what changed as a result.

This is the part of the CV that gets read closest. Group by category, be honest about your level, and use the standard name for each technique, not a lab-specific nickname.

• Nucleic acids: DNA and RNA extraction, PCR, RT-qPCR, digital PCR, cloning and plasmid prep, Sanger sequencing, NGS library preparation, gel and capillary electrophoresis, CRISPR guide design and editing
• Proteins: Western blot, ELISA, immunoprecipitation, SDS-PAGE, protein purification by chromatography, BCA and Bradford quantification, mass spectrometry sample prep
• Cells and tissue: mammalian and insect cell culture, primary cell isolation, transfection and nucleofection, cryopreservation, mycoplasma testing, histology and sectioning, immunohistochemistry
• Instruments and imaging: flow cytometer, plate reader, confocal and fluorescence microscope, fragment analyser, HPLC, MALDI-TOF, microbiological safety cabinet
• Microbiology: media preparation, aseptic technique, plating and colony counting, gram staining, antimicrobial susceptibility, environmental monitoring, bioburden and endotoxin testing
• Field methods: transect and point count surveys, mist netting and ringing, small mammal trapping, radio and GPS telemetry, camera trapping, water quality sampling, chain of custody
• Data and software: R, Python, GraphPad Prism, FlowJo, ImageJ, Benchling or another electronic lab notebook, ArcGIS Pro or QGIS
• Compliance and safety: Containment Level 1 and 2 practice, COSHH, GLP, GMP, ISO 15189, Home Office licensing for animal work, research ethics committee approval for human samples, dangerous goods shipping

Most biologist jobs are gated on the degree, not on a licence. A bachelor's gets you to research assistant or technician level, a master's speeds up the move to scientist, and a PhD is usually required for independent research leadership. There are real professional credentials in some subfields, though, and they are worth listing when they apply.

• Ecology and wildlife: the Chartered Institute of Ecology and Environmental Management (CIEEM) offers membership grades based on qualifications and documented experience. Licences and permits, such as a BTO ringing permit or a protected species licence from Natural England (NatureScot or Natural Resources Wales elsewhere), belong on the CV with the issuing body.
• Microbiology: the Royal Society of Biology awards Chartered Biologist (CBiol) status, and the Microbiology Society offers membership for working microbiologists. Both are recognised and neither is mandatory for most industry roles.
• Laboratory animals: in the UK, regulated procedures on protected animals need a Home Office personal licence under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986, and animal technicians often hold recognised animal technology qualifications. Both matter if you will work with animal models.
• Training records: research integrity and good research practice modules are standard at UK universities and research institutes. IATA dangerous goods shipping training is worth a line if you ship biological samples.
• Marine and diving: a scientific diving qualification recognised by the HSE and logged dives belong at the top of a marine biology CV.
• Clinical labs: if you will test human samples for patient care in the UK, the lab is usually accredited to ISO 15189 and the biomedical scientist title requires HCPC registration. Check the advert rather than assuming.

This is the most searched version of the question, and the honest answer is that you almost certainly do have experience. Undergraduate practicals are hands-on work, and most hiring managers for entry-level roles know that.

1. 1Put a Techniques section above your work history. List what you did in final-year lab modules and any research project, with the technique names spelled properly.
2. 2Give your final-year dissertation or research project its own entry with a title, a supervisor's lab, dates and three bullets. It is research experience, so present it as a job.
3. 3Count your lab hours. "400 hours of aseptic technique and cell culture across two final-year modules" is a real, checkable claim.
4. 4Add non-biology jobs that show reliability and hands-on care: veterinary care assistant, farm work, food production. Frame them around precision and following a protocol.
5. 5List posters and conference presentations even if they were departmental, with title and year.
6. 6Apply for research assistant, laboratory technician, quality control and assistant ecologist titles rather than "scientist". The first job is the hard one.

For an industry job, a government agency or a consultancy, write an industry CV: one to two pages early career, two pages after about five years, techniques high, publications trimmed to a line or two.

For a PhD place, a postdoc, a fellowship or a lectureship, write an academic CV: no fixed length, full publication list with proper citations, conference presentations, teaching, grants and funding, service, and references named. Nothing is trimmed for space. If you are applying for a PhD in biology, the academic CV is what the panel expects, alongside your personal statement.

• One to two pages up to about five years of experience, two pages after that. Civil Service and some other public-sector jobs are the exception: many are applied for through online forms with statements written against the advert's criteria rather than a CV alone.
• Mirror the advert's technique names exactly. If it says "RT-qPCR", write RT-qPCR, not "real-time PCR". Filters match strings, not concepts.
• Spell out an abbreviation the first time and put the short form in parentheses, then use the short form. NGS, IHC and FACS all need it.
• No photo, no date of birth, no marital status on a UK CV. Mention your right to work in the UK only if the advert asks, and then in one line.
• Name the model organisms and cell lines you have worked with. "HEK293, CHO, primary human PBMCs" matches keywords and it is honest.

“I skip straight to the techniques block. If someone tells me they run flow panels and I see FlowJo and a panel size, I believe them. If it says "proficient in a wide range of laboratory techniques" my assumption is that they have never run any of them alone, and that assumption is usually right.”