I loved the intellectual challenge of my PhD and the idea that my research on immune cells in human skin could one day contribute to better patient care.

But the lonely hours at the lab table, the early morning starts and late night finishes were not for me. And I wanted to work with people, not pipettes. I asked myself: what else can I do with my PhD?

After talking to several people, I learned that my PhD could open many more doors than I had ever imagined, but I had no idea how to get through them. The skills I had acquired (data analysis, managing multiple projects, collaboration, presentation, critical thinking, perseverance, and handling ambiguity among them) were not the problem.

The problem was knowing how to communicate them in my CV (or resume) to try to fill positions in the industry, a sector that often measures success in another way.

The academy rewards academic achievements: publications, awards, presentations at conferences. On the contrary, the industry rewards impact. Therefore, an academic CV may not get you anywhere when it comes to landing jobs in the industry.

I now run workshops in Europe and the US on CVs for industry, after founding Alma.Me, a company that helps PhD holders transition into industry. Co-founder Angela Priest, who has two decades of industrial recruiting experience, and I have helped hundreds of early-career researchers, some of whom have landed positions at companies such as pharmaceutical firm Sanofi, American mortgage association Fannie Mae, and online payment processor PayPal.

We are constantly asked about academic CVs and their suitability for industry roles. I respond by saying that academia cares more about where you studied, what you published, and what conferences accepted your work, while industry cares more about results: can you generate results and contribute to the team’s success? Understanding that difference is important because it affects how you present yourself in each environment.

One workshop attendee had spent months unsuccessfully applying for jobs in the industry. She was exhausted, frustrated and beginning to doubt herself. He restructured his CV, adjusted the language and rephrased his PhD work to speak to an industry audience. After a few weeks I was getting interviews, followed shortly by a job offer.

Here is a list of the best tips to follow.

Make the CV structure easy to scan

In academia, a CV of six or more pages indicates thoroughness; in the industry, indicates the opposite. On average, industry recruiters spend around six seconds scanning a CV before deciding whether to continue reading. The length does not impress them; clarity yes. Therefore, try to write a maximum of two pages and see it as an opportunity to demonstrate that you understand concise communication, a highly valued skill in the industry.

Include plenty of white space, indicate a clear hierarchy with bullet points, and use a single font and no color. A single-column layout reads more clearly than one with multiple columns and is analyzed more reliably by electronic applicant tracking systems. Write your name, LinkedIn ID, Github account, email, and phone number in the header.

I am often asked if I can include a photo. In my opinion, you can never go wrong by not including your photo. Photographs are rarely used on CVs in the United States and the United Kingdom and are becoming less common in other European countries because they can cause bias. I suggest you do some quick research on the convention in the country where you are applying. But when in doubt, skip the photo.

Put a professional summary at the top.

Instead of leading with educational achievements, put a four- to six-line professional summary at the top that gives an immediate sense of who you are, what level you’re at, and what you can bring to the position. A generic “experienced researcher with a PhD in molecular biology” tells almost nothing to the recruiter.

Connect your experience to the role and name the skills that matter most to you, establishing your identity, demonstrating your capability, and pointing your direction.

For example: “Methodical, detail-oriented research scientist with over 4 years of experience designing experiments that advance drug discovery programs. Expert in single-cell RNA sequencing, CRISPR-Cas9, and flow cytometry, generating high-quality, reproducible data under demanding timelines. Driven by biological questions with real therapeutic consequences. Brings deep expertise and a collaborative mindset to an industrial environment where scientific rigor shapes the process.”

Add a skills section below

Instead of listing every lab technique you’ve used, group skills into broad categories with specific examples and don’t use more than one-third of a page.

Something like “molecular biology techniques: scRNAseq, ELISA, Western blot” can be scanned immediately without losing depth.

List professional experience after that

I suggest three to five bullet points under this heading. Put your PhD details here instead of just in the education section.

Remember you weren’t just sitting in lectures. you were identifying problems, designing solutions and producing results under conditions of uncertainty.

Add the name of your university or institution and below write “doctoral researcher” or “doctoral researcher” as the first title with a summary (one or two sentences) of each element of your professional experience to give context to the points.

Many job seekers in the industry describe what they did, not what they accomplished. Instead, start with a strong verb, say what you accomplished, explain how you did it, and always end with the result. Trade technical jargon for simple language; You’re writing for recruiters and hiring managers, not a reviewer in your field.

For example, during my PhD at the Karolinksa Institute in Stockholm, I optimized a cell recovery protocol. Writing “Cells isolated from human skin samples” would not have told a recruiter anything about the result I got or its value.

Instead, I wrote: “Skin isolation protocol optimized to recover 30% more cells per sample, reducing experiment turnaround time and enabling downstream analysis.” This shows that I created value; I made something better, faster and more efficient. That’s what the industry is looking for.

The same logic applies beyond the laboratory. Maybe you hosted a career fair. You could write: “We organized a career fair for PhD students.” But what really happened because of you? How about “organized a career fair attended by 150 PhD students and 30 companies, achieving a 20% candidate-company match rate”? Now a recruiter can see scale, initiative and results.

Similarly, saying “Research presented at conferences and laboratory meetings” says little to a hiring manager, as opposed to “Presented findings to audiences of up to 300 scientists at three international conferences, translating complex immunological data into knowledge accessible to lay audiences.” This demonstrates a range of experience, confidence in what you do and demonstrable communication skills.

Early career researchers often underestimate the work of the committee. “I have been part of the doctoral student committee” is easy for a recruiter to overlook. What is harder to miss is “Negotiated with university and union leadership to secure a 5% salary increase for all doctoral students at the institution.”

That single line demonstrates management, negotiation and the ability of stakeholders to drive change at the organizational level – exactly the kind of evidence the industry is looking for.

I also recommend leaving out the years you graduated to reduce the risk of unconscious age bias in the early stages of the assessment.

As for the publications, they do not belong to an industry CV, but if you want to add them, put links to them. Sometimes a job ad will look for evidence of high-impact postings. If so, focus on two or three, but don’t be tempted to include your entire list of posts.