Research Manager Resume Example & Writing Guide
Use this Research Manager resume example and guide to improve your career and write a powerful resume that will separate you from the competition.
Research managers are the glue that holds research teams together. They’re responsible for managing large, complex research projects from start to finish. Research managers are often called upon to lead teams of researchers through the planning, designing, and implementation stages of a project.
Before you can do any of that, though, you need to land a research manager job. And for that, you need a solid resume to help you stand out from other job seekers. Here are some tips and an example to help you do just that.
How to Write a Research Manager Resume
Here’s how to write a research manager resume of your own.
Write Compelling Bullet Points
When you’re writing bullet points, it can be tempting to just list your responsibilities and duties. But that’s not going to make a strong impression on recruiters. Instead, you should focus on the results of your work.
For example, rather than saying you “managed project budgets,” you could say that you “managed project budgets to ensure on-time and on-budget delivery of key initiatives, resulting in a 15% increase in project revenue over the past year.”
Notice how the second bullet point is more specific and provides more detail about the project and its outcome.
Identify and Include Relevant Keywords
When you submit your resume for a research manager role, it’s likely that it will be scanned by an applicant tracking system (ATS) for certain keywords. These programs search your resume for specific terms related to the job, like “market research” or “analytics.” If your resume doesn’t include enough of the right terms, the ATS might not forward it to a recruiter.
To increase your chances of getting an interview, use this list of commonly used research manager keywords as a starting point:
- Research
- Market Research
- Strategic Planning
- Data Analysis
- Management
- Sales Management
- Customer Relationship Management (CRM)
- Business Strategy
- Team Leadership
- Marketing
- Project Management
- Negotiation
- Research & Development (R&D)
- Business Development
- Microsoft Access
- Project Planning
- Business Analysis
- Strategic Planning & Management
- Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC)
- Statistical Analysis
- Cross-functional Team Leadership
- Program Management
- Analytical Skills
- Microsoft Project
- Business Planning
- Qualitative Research
- Competitive Analysis
- Surveys
- Qualitative & Quantitative Research
- Social Media
Showcase Your Technical Skills
Recruiters are looking for research managers who are proficient in the use of technology, as research is becoming increasingly reliant on technology-based methods and tools. managers should list their technical skills prominently on their resumes, highlighting their proficiency in programs like SPSS, Stata, SAS, R, and MATLAB. Additionally, they should list any experience they have with big data platforms and methods, like Hadoop and Spark.