Behavioral Scientist Resume Example & Writing Guide
Use this Behavioral Scientist resume example and guide to improve your career and write a powerful resume that will separate you from the competition.
Behavioral scientists study human behavior, focusing on how people think, feel, and act. They use this knowledge to help organizations develop programs and services that people will actually use and enjoy.
Because behavioral science is such a diverse field with many different specializations, there’s no one set way to write your resume when you’re in this field. But one thing is for sure: You’ll need a compelling resume that highlights your most relevant experience and skills.
How to Write a Behavioral Scientist Resume
Here’s how to write a behavioral scientist resume of your own.
Write Compelling Bullet Points
Bullet points are the most effective way to showcase your experience and qualifications. And when it comes to behavioral science, the more specific you can be, the better.
For example, rather than saying you “conducted research,” you could say you “conducted quantitative research on the effects of sleep deprivation on decision-making ability in combat medics.”
The second bullet point is much more specific and provides more detail about what exactly you did and the results of your work.
Identify and Include Relevant Keywords
When you apply for a job as a behavioral scientist, your resume is likely to be scanned by an applicant tracking system (ATS) for certain keywords. This system will search for terms related to the job, like “research” or “data analysis.” If your resume doesn’t include enough of the right terms, the ATS might not rank it highly enough to be seen by an employer.
That’s why it’s important to include relevant keywords throughout your resume. You can add them into the work experience, skills, summary, and education sections. Here are some common behavioral scientist keywords to get you started:
- Behavioral Science
- Psychological Assessment
- Psychometrics
- Qualitative Research
- Psychological Testing
- Psychology
- Clinical Psychology
- Mental Health
- Quantitative Research
- Mental Health Counseling
- Program Evaluation
- Survey Design
- Clinical Research
- Data Analysis
- Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
- Healthcare
- Clinical Supervision
- Recruiting
- IBM SPSS
- Psychology Research
- Research
- Research Design
- R (Programming Language)
- Program Evaluation Research
- Qualitative & Quantitative Research Methods
- Survey Research
- Organizational Behavior
- Behavioral Economics
- Behavioral Economics Research
- Questionnaire Design
Showcase Your Technical Skills
As a behavioral scientist, you know that data doesn’t speak for itself. It needs to be analyzed, interpreted, and presented in a way that is easy for others to understand. And that’s where your technical skills come in. Recruiters are looking for behavioral scientists who are proficient in programs like R, SAS, MATLAB, SPSS, and Stata, and who have experience with data mining, machine learning, and modeling. They also want to see that you have a solid understanding of big data concepts and platforms like Hadoop, Hive, and Spark.
So if you have experience with any of these programs or platforms, be sure to list them on your resume. And if you’re not familiar with them, now is the time to learn them!