Zoologist Resume: Examples, Template, and Resume Tips

Zoologists are professionals in the natural sciences whose main role is to skillfully study everything about animals, both in their natural habitats and in captivation.

They study the natural habitats of these animals, their behaviors, both out in the wild and in captivation, their life cycle, their origins, their interactions with the natural world, their feeding habits, diseases that affect these animals, and so on. They also study the populations of these animals, as well as the impact of the interaction between animals and humans.

Zoology is a broad career, and in most cases, you might opt to specialize with a certain class of animals, rather than studying them all.

For instance, you could specialize in ornithology (the study of birds), mammalogy (the study of mammals), herpetology (the study of reptiles), or ichthyology (the study of fish). You could even go further and specialize on one species of animal, rather than an entire class of animals. For example, you could be a zoologist who only studies lions.

As a zoologist, you could either work in the outdoors, in a laboratory, or in an office, depending on your employer and the nature of your work.

However, in most cases, working as a zoologist will involve spending time out in the field observing and studying animals.

Some of the responsibilities you might be tasked with as a zoologist include:

• Developing and carrying out experimental studies on various animals, either in their natural habitats or in controlled environments.
• Writing reports, research papers and scholarly articles to explain findings of these studies.
• Evaluating the impact on human activity on wildlife.
• Collecting specimens and biological data for laboratory analysis.
• Providing assistance with captive breeding programs.
• Observing and studying characteristics of various animals – how they relate with their own species and other species, how they feed, how they reproduce, their movement patterns, their population dynamics, and so on.
• Developing and implementing breeding programs to ensure the survival of endangered species or to control wild populations.
• Coming up with programs to reduce the impact of human activities on wildlife.
• Developing and implementing plans for the conservation of wildlife.
• And so on…

The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) estimates that jobs for zoologists and wildlife biologists will increase by 5% in the ten year period between 2018 and 2028.

The BLS also reports that the median pay for zoologists and wildlife biologists is about $30.49 per hour, or $63,420 per year. However, depending on your employer and your state, this can go as low as $35,000 or as high as $100,000 per year.

Most zoologist jobs will be found within the federal government, though you can also get employed in a national park, a zoo, a museum, a research lab, or a nature reserve.

With jobs expected to grow by 5% within the next ten years, and with most zoologist jobs coming from the government, you can bet that you are going to face a lot of competition before you get a job as a zoologist.

So, how do you ensure that you get your dream job, despite the huge competition? The key is to set yourself apart from the competition and present yourself as talent that any employer would be grateful to have working for them.

The first step to doing this is to ensure that you have an outstanding zoologist resume that presents you in the best light.

Remember, your zoologist resume is your first point of contact with the recruiters and hiring managers and will influence the kind of opinion they form about you from your resume. Therefore, you need to impress them right from the word go.

In this guide, I am going to show you how exactly to write an excellent zoologist resume that will have you getting invited to job interviews, where you can then impress the interview panel and hopefully get your dream job.

If you are in a rush and want to have your zoologist resume ready in just a few minutes, you can use our resume builder, which automates the resume building process to give you a professional looking zoologist resume with just a few clicks.

ZOOLOGIST RESUME EXAMPLES

Before getting into how to write an outstanding zoologist resume, let’s first look at some examples of outstanding zoologist resumes. This will give you a better idea of what you should be aiming for as you write your own resume.

Highly Experienced Zoologist Resume Sample

Entry Level Zoologist Resume Sample

WHICH FORMAT WORKS BEST FOR YOUR ZOOLOGIST RESUME?

Most HR professionals and recruiters are very busy people. Most of them won’t spend ten minutes going through your resume trying to determine if you are the right candidate.

After all, there are several other candidates to pick from. If it is not apparent that you are the right candidate with a few glances around your zoologist resume, your resume will probably get discarded faster than you can say Charles Darwin.

To avoid having your resume discarded after a single glance, you need to make it as easy as possible for the recruiter to find the information they are looking for in your resume. To do this, you need to use a professional resume format that the recruiter can quickly skim through and find what they are looking for.

For a zoologist resume, the reverse-chronological resume format works best. This format arranges the information in your resume based on a timeline, with the most recent information appearing first, and the oldest information appearing last.

For instance, in a reverse-chronological resume, your work experience section comes before your education section, because it is more recent. This format makes it easy for the recruiter to determine where you stand currently – your current level of experience, your highest level of education, and so on.

In addition to using the reverse chronological resume format, there are a couple of other things you can do to make it easier for recruiters to find the information in your resume. These include:

• Using a professional template with bold, visible headers for each section, bulleted lists, proper spacing, and lots of white space to help the contents of your resume pop. Using our resume builder will give you access to such professional templates.
• Using professional resume fonts that are easy to read.
• Keeping your zoologist resume short. Unless you have lots of experience (over 10 years), try to fit your resume within one page.
• Submit your resume in PDF format, which can be easily viewed on different kinds of devices without messing up the appearance of your resume.

KEEP YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION SECTION SHORT AND PROFESSIONAL

The recruiter did not know about you before your resume popped up on their screen or desk, and therefore, it is only right that you start your zoologist resume by introducing yourself.

When it comes to your personal information section, it is best to keep things short and professional.

The only information you need to include in this section is your official name, your professional title, your physical address (optional), your telephone number, and your email address. If you have a professional-looking LinkedIn profile, you can include a clickable link to the profile as well.

You might notice that some people will have some extra information in the personal information section of their resumes, such as their nationality, date of birth, marital status, race, or photo in this section.

However, this extra information adds no value to your resume and should therefore be left out.

Actually, recruiters don’t like resumes with some of this information, because such information could be used to create bias in favor of or against a candidate.

A well-written personal information section in a zoologist resume should look something like this:

USE A CAREER SUMMARY OR RESUME OBJECTIVE TO GIVE AN OVERVIEW OF YOURSELF AS A PROFESSIONAL

This section contains a few sentences that act as an executive summary of your zoologist resume.

By reading your career summary or resume objective, a recruiter should be able to tell whether you have what they are looking for without having to read the rest of your resume. It highlights the most important information that is contained in the rest of your resume.

If you have been in the field for a while and have some significant experience, you should use a career summary, which should highlight your level of experience, your greatest professional achievement, and your strongest skills.

With this information, the recruiter can easily tell whether you are the kind of candidate they want or not. A well-written career summary in a zoologist resume should read something like this:

If you just graduated from school and haven’t gotten any significant experience, you obviously don’t have much of a career to summarize, and therefore, you should go for a resume objective instead.

The resume objective should show your strengths and your passion for zoology. It should give the employer a reason to hire you even though you do not have much experience. A well-written resume objective in a zoologist resume looks like this:

USE YOUR PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE SECTION TO WOW THE RECRUITER

After reading your career summary, the recruiter thinks you have what they might be looking for, but they now want to know more about you. Sure, you have 7 years of experience, but where were you working during this time?

What were your tasks and responsibilities in these positions, and are they relevant to the work you will be required to do here if you get hired? Most importantly, what was your impact while you held these positions? Did you excel? Remember, recruiters don’t just want someone with experience, but someone who excelled in their previous positions.

The aim of the professional experience section of your resume is to answer the above questions.

Therefore, you need to mention the companies you worked for, the position you held there, what you did in that capacity, and your achievements in that position.

To make the information easier to read, use bullet points to describe your experience, and quantify your achievements using figures.

The professional experience section of your zoologist resume should look something like this:

SHOW THAT YOU HAVE THE RIGHT EDUCATION FOR A ZOOLOGIST JOB

To get a job as a zoologist, you will need to show that you have the necessary education. Generally, you will be required to have a bachelor’s degree in a field related to the natural sciences.

However, if you are applying for highly scientific or research oriented positions, most employers will expect you to have a PhD or a master’s degree.

The education section of your zoologist resume should include the name of the institution you studied at, the years attended, and the degree you got. If you had an impressive GPA, you can include it here.

If you are an entry level zoologist without lots of experience, you might also want to include some of your key achievements while in school.

A well-written education section should look like this:

SHOW THAT YOU HAVE THE SKILLS THE EMPLOYER IS LOOKING FOR

Depending on the nature of the job you are applying for, the employer will be looking for specific zoologist skills. If you can show that you possess these skills, you will greatly increase your chances of getting hired.

To know what skills the employer is looking for, you need to carefully read through the job description.

Sometimes, the skill might not be stated expressly, but you can deduce what skills will be required by looking at the tasks and responsibilities that come with the position.

Once you identify these skills, you can then go ahead and list them in your zoologist resume in bullet form.

Some of the skills you might include in a zoologist resume include:

• Observation skills
• Research skills
• Analytical skills
• Critical thinking skills
• Communication skills
• Adaptability to outdoors environments
• Attention to detail
• Teamwork and collaboration
• Problem solving skills
• Strong interpersonal skills
• Physical and emotional stamina
• Use of animal capturing equipment
• Data analysis skills

INCLUDE EXTRA SECTIONS TO SPICE UP YOUR ZOOLOGIST RESUME

While you have the option of ending your zoologist resume in the previous section, you should go the extra mile to spice up your resume and gain some ground on the competition by including some additional sections in your resume.

Some of the extra sections you might want to include in your zoologist resume include:

• Certifications: Have you received any relevant certifications? This can give you quite an advantage over someone without the certifications.
• Awards: If you have won any special awards related to zoology, mentioning them in your resume will show that you are a brilliant zoologist. Of course, every organization wants brilliant people working for them.
• Publications: Do you have some of your articles published on reputable publications and journals? Mention them to show your passion and knowledge in your chosen career.
• Professional memberships: Are you a member of professional bodies and associations related to zoology? Mentioning your membership in your resume shows that you are someone who is committed to the field and one who is looking for opportunities to grow within the field.

WRAPPING UP

Coming up with an outstanding zoologist resume needn’t be hard. All you need to do is follow the tips shared in this guide and you will end up with a brilliant zoologist resume that will have recruiters bombarding your phone number and email with interview invitations.

From there, all you need to do is proofread your resume to make sure everything looks good, craft a well-written cover letter, and start thinking about how to ace job interviews, because with such a resume, you are definitely going to be attending lots of interviews in the near future.

All the best in your job search! And remember, if you are in a rush, or if you don’t want all the hard work of writing and designing your zoologist resume from scratch, you can automate the entire process using our resume builder.