Research Skills on Your Resume [Examples and Guide]

Broadly speaking, research skills refer to the ability to analyze and apply information, solve problems, and learn about and use various digital tools.

Contrary to popular belief, research skills aren’t only reserved for scientists and academics. According to the National Skills Coalition, 92% of jobs now require digital skills1. Showcasing these skills can be valuable for professionals in tech, finance, healthcare, and corporate environments. 

In this helpful guide, you’ll learn how to create an engaging research skills resume. We’ll touch on the following key points:

• How to list and quantify research skills
• The difference between hard and soft research skills (and why you need both)
• How to bridge the gap between academic research and real-world use cases
• Industry-specific examples

Learn how to write the perfect research skills resume in our guide.

The importance of research skills on resumes

When building a resume, research skills are a solid addition that doesn’t just tick a checkbox required by the job description; they also showcase decision-making, independence, and problem-solving.

Strong research skills also demonstrate that you can gather relevant information, assess the credibility of sources, and use that information to make informed decisions. 

Many industries rely on strong research skills, including academia, healthcare, technology, and marketing. Research capabilities help companies stay competitive, maintain high performance, and provide better service to their clients and customers.

For example, adding research skills to a marketing strategist's resume shows an ability to identify weaknesses in competitors, develop targeted plans, and execute a successful campaign.

Healthcare is another great example of an industry that values research aptitude. Care providers and support staff use research skills to support evidence-based practices. The legal sector also employs research to develop case arguments and deliver desirable results for clients. 

However, even roles that don’t strictly require these abilities benefit from them. Let’s say a sales professional spends time each week studying sales techniques and reading new industry journals. This makes them an attractive candidate and shows continuous learning and dedication.

Research skills are particularly useful for student resumes. Most students have little to no job experience, and these abilities are a great way to show work ethic, commitment, and even teamwork. Additionally, many students are looking to expand their knowledge by applying for academic roles where research skills are essential.

Regardless of what industry you’re in, demonstrating research skills is essential. The first step to including research skills in your resume involves differentiating between hard and soft skills.

Hard research skills are technical and measurable. Examples include proficiency with statistical software and data-collection methods. Soft research skills are universal and include abilities like critical thinking, attention to detail, and multitasking. 

The top research skills for resumes

Many unique abilities fit into the research skills category. These skills apply to some roles more than others, but some job positions utilize all of them to some degree.

Take a look at these soft and technical skills and see which ones apply to you.

How to list research skills on your resume

There are many unique, effective ways to list research skills on your resume. The most basic way, of course, is simply listing a few of the above abilities in your Skills section. While this is a good start, we recommend that this is just one of the methods you use.

We recommend including research skills in your Work Experience section. This allows you to dig deeper into your capabilities, provide real examples, and showcase tangible outcomes, displaying your relevance and tying your history directly to the recruiter’s needs. Here’s an example:

One of our top recommendations for including research skills on resumes is creating a separate Projects section. This header should look like a Work Experience section, with entries and bullet points, but describe various personal, professional, and academic research projects. Here’s an example for a clinical research skills resume:

Want to take it a step further? Add a mention of your research skills in your resume summary or objective. This should only be a concise sentence, but by adding a measurable metric you can make it a powerful lead-in to the rest of your resume. Here’s a quick example for a business analyst:

Here’s a more detailed breakdown of how to include research skills on your resume:

Review the job description

Start by carefully reading the job posting. Identify any keywords related to research, including “data analysis,” “evidence-based,” or “critical thinking.” Use these exact terms in your resume where relevant to improve your chances of making it past the application-tracking system. 

Integrate skills throughout your resume

Don’t limit your research experience to the “Skills” section of your resume. Here are some other places to show off your research abilities:

• Summary: Naturally integrate keywords from the job description and quantify your skills in the summary
• Work Experience: Include bullet points that reflect your research responsibilities 
• Education: Mention any major projects or coursework that were research-heavy
• Projects: Showcase any independent research or projects outside of school or work

These mentions should be concise and relevant to the job posting. 

Quantify your achievements whenever possible

Don’t just tell hiring managers you’re good at something — prove it with hard data. Here are a few examples:

You want to clearly show what you researched and how it adds value. Avoid vague statements; instead, use strong action verbs that put you at the center of the action. 

Browse even more examples of projects, work history, and resume summaries in our realistic collection of resume samples.

Examples of industry-specific research skills on resumes

Let’s explore a few examples of research skills on resumes from different industries.

Here’s an example for a lawyer's resume, in the Work Experience section:

If you’re thinking about including research competencies in your resume summary, here’s an example for a clinical research resume:

Here are 10 more industry-specific examples for inspiration:

1. Healthcare

• Valued Skills: Clinical trial research, evidence-based analysis
• Example: “Analyzed patient outcome data, resulting in a 15% improvement in readmission rates”

2. Finance

• Valued Skills: Market research, risk modeling 
• Example: “Researched financial trends and developed a quarterly report that guided $2M in portfolio adjustments”

3. Marketing

• Valued Skills: Consumer behavior analysis, A/B testing 
• Example: “Ran A/B tests on landing pages and identified the winning variation, resulting in a 14% increase in lead generation”

4. Customer service

• Valued Skills: Problem-solving, critical thinking 
• Example: “Identified a trend of increasing customer complaints about a product feature, which guided a redesign and helped stop customer churn”

5. Technology

• Valued Skills: Technical documentation, user research 
• Example: “Conducted usability studies for a new software interface and provided recommendations that were adopted by the dev team”

6. Education

• Valued Skills: Statistical reporting, curriculum evaluation 
• Example: “Evaluated standardized test data and adjusted teaching strategies, raising average scores by 10%”

7. Environmental science

• Valued Skills: Field data collection, surveying, scientific reporting 
• Example: “Analyzed ecological data to support a conservation grant proposal worth $250K”

8. Consulting

• Valued Skills: Market research, benchmarking 
• Example: “Performed competitor benchmarking across five markets to inform the client’s go-to-market strategy”

9. Media

• Valued Skills: Audience research, trend analysis 
• Example: “Researched social media engagement metrics to identify the ideal platform for a new ad campaign”

10. Engineering 

• Valued Skills: Technical writing, materials testing 
• Example: “Conducted stress analysis on mechanical components and reduced failure rate by 30%”

Showcasing digital and advanced research tools

If you’re applying for a research-heavy role, you’ll need to demonstrate your proficiency with the latest digital tools.

Platforms like Tableau visualize data for quick decision-making. NVivo supports qualitative analysis from interviews or open-ended libraries. Python libraries like NumPy and Pandas make performing big-data analysis more efficient. 

Here’s how to highlight your proficiency with these or similar digital tools on your resume:

• Be Specific: Mention the name of the tool and what you used it for
• Add Metrics: Quantify the impact of your work 
• Use Keywords From Job Listings: Focus on tools and tasks from the job listing (e.g., data mining)

Mentioning these tools demonstrates your readiness to handle complex research tasks. 

Bridging academic research to professional impact

If you’re a student or recent graduate, showcasing your academic research experience can give you an edge in competitive hiring processes. However, you can’t just talk about how rigorous your program is — recruiters will want to see how your skills apply to the real world.

Here’s a step-by-step breakdown of how to integrate academic research into your resume:

1. Break down the results into digestible language 
2. Focus on skills that transfer to the role you’re applying for
3. Prove your impact where possible

You can add research skills to several different sections of your resume, including the following:

Education

List any projects that helped sharpen your research skills, such as your senior thesis or capstone. Be specific and use bullet points to make the section skimmable. Provide hard data wherever possible.

Work experience

Discuss work or internship experience that required you to use research skills. Treat academic work as applied experience and link it to the role you’re applying for. 

Tips and mistakes to avoid

Let’s finish this guide with a quick summary of the main do’s and don’ts for adding research skills to your resume. Try using this as a convenient reference as you fill out your application.

Here are our top tips:

Starting with a well-structured resume template ensures your information is easy to read, follows a logical order, and utilizes white space effectively.

Take note of the terms used in the job description and add them to your resume. Incorporating the same keywords shows your relevance and helps you build an ATS resume that passes through company applicant tracking systems (ATS).

“Research capabilities help companies stay competitive, maintain high performance, and provide better service to their clients and customers.”

Put your research skills on display

Keen research skills help employers discover and utilize key insights, and when you showcase your talent, you can grab their attention. Write a powerful research skills resume with our best practices:

• Add multiple research skills to your resume, including data analysis, software skills, and problem-solving.
• Show your research experience through past achievements rather than simply listing the skill.
• Add your skills in multiple resume sections, including Work Experience, Projects, and your resume summary or objective.
• Include quantified achievements to add depth and value to your accomplishments.
• Consider all of your experience and draw examples from unexpected areas.

Jump into CVwizard’s resume maker and assemble a top-notch job application. Incorporate your thorough research and analysis skills into any section easily, using our customizable, drag-and-drop interface.

Sources:

(1) National Skills Coalition Report: 92% of Jobs Require Digital Skills, One-Third of Workers Have Low or No Digital Skills Due to Historic Underinvestment, Structural Inequities