Top 12 Molecular Biologist Skills to Put on Your Resume

In molecular biology, a sharp resume can open doors. It should telegraph technical depth, experimental finesse, and the soft skills that keep projects moving. Blend both, and you stand out in a field that never sits still.

Molecular Biologist Skills

1. PCR
2. RT-qPCR
3. CRISPR-Cas9
4. Western Blotting
5. Flow Cytometry
6. NGS (Next-Generation Sequencing)
7. ELISA
8. RNA-seq
9. Gel Electrophoresis
10. Confocal Microscopy
11. Bioinformatics
12. Mass Spectrometry

1. PCR

PCR (Polymerase Chain Reaction) amplifies specific DNA sequences, turning trace genetic material into analyzable amounts for cloning, genotyping, and diagnostics.

Why It's Important

PCR underpins countless assays. It lets you detect, quantify, and manipulate defined sequences with speed and precision—vital for validation and discovery.

How to Improve PCR Skills

1. Template quality: Start with clean, intact DNA. Remove inhibitors. Quantify and standardize input.
2. Primer design: Aim for balanced GC content, minimal secondary structure, matched Tm, and limited homology to off-targets. Use trusted primer design tools.
3. Mg2+ and salts: Titrate MgCl2 and buffer composition; small changes shift specificity and yield.
4. Annealing temperature: Run gradients. Set near primer Tm; too low breeds noise, too high kills signal.
5. Polymerase choice: Match enzyme to task (hot-start for specificity, high-fidelity for cloning, fast enzymes for throughput).
6. Extension time: Base on polymerase speed and amplicon length. Don’t overextend; it invites artifacts.
7. Additives: For GC-rich templates, test DMSO, betaine, or formamide in small increments.
8. Cycle number: Keep it moderate (often 25–35). Excess cycles inflate nonspecific products.

How to Display PCR Skills on Your Resume

2. RT-qPCR

RT-qPCR (reverse transcription quantitative PCR; also called qRT-PCR) converts RNA to cDNA, then quantifies target transcripts in real time for sensitive expression analysis.

Why It's Important

It measures gene expression quickly and with high sensitivity, enabling time-course studies, pathway readouts, and validation of high-throughput data.

How to Improve RT-qPCR Skills

1. RNA integrity: Use RNase-free workflows. Verify integrity (RIN/fragmentation) and remove genomic DNA.
2. Reverse transcription: Choose priming strategy (random hexamers, oligo-dT, or gene-specific) to fit targets. Optimize input amounts.
3. Primer/probe design: Span exon–exon junctions when possible. Validate efficiency (90–110%) and specificity (melt curves, agarose gels).
4. Assay optimization: Titrate Mg2+, primers, and annealing temperature. Include no-RT and no-template controls.
5. Reference genes: Validate stable reference genes under your conditions (multiple is safer). Avoid assuming classics are constant.
6. Quantification rigor: Use standard curves or efficiency-corrected models. Report according to MIQE best practices.

How to Display RT-qPCR Skills on Your Resume

3. CRISPR-Cas9

CRISPR-Cas9 uses a guide RNA to direct Cas9 to a specific DNA sequence, producing a cut that cells repair, enabling targeted edits. Variants expand the toolkit.

Why It's Important

It makes genome editing fast and precise, powering functional genomics, disease modeling, and therapeutic development.

How to Improve CRISPR-Cas9 Skills

1. Guide design: Select gRNAs with strong on-target scores and minimal predicted off-targets. Test multiple guides per locus.
2. Delivery format: Use RNPs to reduce off-target activity and transiently expose cells to nuclease; match delivery to cell type (electroporation, LNPs, AAV).
3. High-fidelity nucleases: Consider engineered Cas9 variants or Cas12a for improved specificity and PAM flexibility.
4. Edit modalities: Use base editors for single-nucleotide changes and prime editors for precise insertions/deletions without double-strand breaks.
5. Off-target assessment: Apply methods like GUIDE-seq, CIRCLE-seq, or DISCOVER-seq. Validate with targeted sequencing.
6. HDR optimization: For knock-ins, synchronize cell cycle, supply optimized donor templates, and inhibit NHEJ when appropriate.
7. Control and multiplex: Include non-targeting and rescue controls. For complex phenotypes, multiplex gRNAs or combinatorial libraries.

How to Display CRISPR-Cas9 Skills on Your Resume

4. Western Blotting

Western blotting separates proteins by size, transfers them to a membrane, and detects targets with antibodies for expression and modification analysis.

Why It's Important

It verifies protein presence, size, and post-translational changes—ground truth for many molecular hypotheses.

How to Improve Western Blotting Skills

1. Sample prep: Standardize lysis buffers and inhibitors. Quantify protein and load consistent amounts.
2. Gel/transfer choices: Match gel percentage or gradient to target size. Optimize transfer time and system (wet vs. semi-dry) for large vs. small proteins.
3. Blocking and antibodies: Choose the right blocker (BSA, milk, or specialized) per antibody. Titrate primary and secondary; minimize cross-reactivity.
4. Detection: Prefer chemiluminescent or fluorescent detection for sensitivity and dynamic range. Use multiplex fluorescence for multiple targets.
5. Normalization: Use total protein staining or validated stable housekeeping proteins; avoid saturated bands.
6. Reproducibility: Include positive/negative controls, biological replicates, and document every parameter for repeatability.

How to Display Western Blotting Skills on Your Resume

5. Flow Cytometry

Flow cytometry measures multiple physical and molecular features of single cells at speed using lasers and fluorescence, enabling deep profiling of complex populations.

Why It's Important

It resolves heterogeneity. You can track rare cells, signaling states, and surface markers—one cell at a time.

How to Improve Flow Cytometry Skills

1. Clean suspensions: Prevent clumps with DNase and strainers. Gate out doublets; keep viability high with gentle handling and proper buffers.
2. Antibody titration: Titrate every antibody. Use matched isotypes sparingly and rely on FMO controls for gating.
3. Compensation/unmixing: Build single-stain controls for each fluorochrome. For spectral systems, verify unmixing with reference controls.
4. Panel design: Balance brightness with antigen density. Avoid excessive spectral overlap; mind the spillover spreading matrix.
5. Instrument QC: Run beads daily, set voltages per experiment, and track performance over time.
6. Analysis discipline: Define gating hierarchies a priori. Use robust tools and export statistics transparently. Blind analysis where possible.

How to Display Flow Cytometry Skills on Your Resume

6. NGS (Next-Generation Sequencing)

NGS captures vast stretches of DNA or RNA quickly, enabling comprehensive views of genomes, transcriptomes, and epigenomes.

Why It's Important

It turns complex biology into data you can interrogate—variants, expression, structure—across whole systems.

How to Improve NGS (Next-Generation Sequencing) Skills

1. Input QC: Quantify accurately and assess integrity (e.g., RIN for RNA). Normalize inputs and remove inhibitors.
2. Library prep: Choose protocols tailored to insert size, strandedness, low-input, or degraded samples. Use UMIs to control PCR bias.
3. Platform fit: Match short-read vs. long-read, paired-end vs. single-end, and depth to the biological question.
4. Controls: Include spike-ins, technical duplicates where needed, and batch randomization to reduce confounders.
5. Pipelines: Build reproducible workflows (containerized, version-controlled). Track software versions and parameters.
6. QC and validation: Monitor quality metrics end-to-end. Validate key findings with orthogonal methods (RT-qPCR, Sanger, ddPCR).

How to Display NGS (Next-Generation Sequencing) Skills on Your Resume

7. ELISA

ELISA detects and quantifies soluble targets using antigen–antibody binding and enzyme-driven signals on microplates.

Why It's Important

It offers sensitive, specific readouts for proteins, antibodies, cytokines, and hormones—workhorse analytics for biology and diagnostics.

How to Improve ELISA Skills

1. Antibody quality: Vet capture and detection pairs for affinity and cross-reactivity. Confirm lot consistency.
2. Coating/blocking: Optimize coating buffer and concentration. Select blockers (BSA, casein, serum-based) to tame background.
3. Washing: Increase stringency and volume where needed. Consistent, thorough washes shrink noise dramatically.
4. Dynamic range: Calibrate with a robust standard curve (4PL/5PL). Keep samples within the linear window via dilution series.
5. Incubation conditions: Tune time, temperature, and agitation. Edge effects? Use plate maps and avoid outer wells when necessary.
6. Replicates and controls: Run duplicates/duplicates, blanks, and matrix-matched controls to catch interference.

How to Display ELISA Skills on Your Resume

8. RNA-seq

RNA-seq profiles and quantifies RNA species across a sample, revealing expression levels, isoforms, and splicing changes.

Why It's Important

It captures the cell’s active script—dynamic, condition-specific, and rich with regulatory clues.

How to Improve RNA-seq Skills

1. RNA quality: Aim for high integrity (e.g., RIN ≥ 8 when possible). Remove rRNA or enrich poly(A) depending on goals; consider ribo-depletion for degraded RNA.
2. Library strategy: Choose stranded kits for orientation data. Plan read length and depth based on targets (short vs. long transcripts, low-abundance genes).
3. Batch control: Randomize, include replicates, and record metadata meticulously. Spike-ins can help benchmark.
4. Alignment/quantification: Use proven aligners or pseudoaligners; apply gene- or transcript-level quantification consistently.
5. Normalization and stats: Apply methods suited to RNA-seq count data. Control FDR and assess dispersion; inspect MA and volcano plots.
6. Functional analysis: Perform pathway and gene set enrichment, splice isoform analysis, and confirm key hits with RT-qPCR.

How to Display RNA-seq Skills on Your Resume

9. Gel Electrophoresis

Gel electrophoresis separates nucleic acids or proteins by size and charge in a gel matrix under an electric field.

Why It's Important

It validates sizes, purity, and integrity—quick checks that save time downstream.

How to Improve Gel Electrophoresis Skills

1. Gel composition: Match agarose percentage to DNA/RNA fragment size; choose appropriate acrylamide gradients for proteins.
2. Buffers: Select TAE for faster runs or TBE for sharper resolution with small DNA fragments. Replace buffers regularly.
3. Sample handling: Quantify inputs, use proper loading dyes, and avoid overloading to prevent smears.
4. Run parameters: Adjust voltage and run time to the gel and target size. Keep temperatures in check to curb band distortion.
5. Staining: Use sensitive, safe nucleic acid dyes; for proteins, choose Coomassie, silver stain, or fluorescent dyes based on sensitivity needs.
6. Documentation: Capture images with consistent exposure. Include molecular weight ladders and record conditions for reproducibility.

How to Display Gel Electrophoresis Skills on Your Resume

10. Confocal Microscopy

Confocal microscopy rejects out-of-focus light using a pinhole, producing sharp optical sections and 3D reconstructions of cells and tissues.

Why It's Important

It maps molecules in space and time—co-localization, dynamics, morphology—with crisp resolution in thick specimens.

How to Improve Microscopy (Confocal) Skills

1. Sampling and optics: Follow Nyquist sampling for resolution. Tune pinhole size, objective NA, and refractive index matching.
2. Signal management: Minimize photobleaching with lower laser power and shorter dwell. Choose bright, photostable fluorophores and proper filters.
3. Acquisition strategy: Set appropriate z-step size, avoid pixel saturation, and use averaging sparingly to limit noise.
4. Advanced modes: Apply deconvolution or detector technologies (e.g., GaAsP, Airyscan-like methods) for extra clarity.
5. Controls and calibration: Use fluorescence beads for alignment and scaling. Include single-color controls for spectral separation.

How to Display Microscopy (Confocal) Skills on Your Resume

11. Bioinformatics

Bioinformatics applies computation to biological data—sequences, expression, structures—to extract meaning at scale.

Why It's Important

It turns raw reads and matrices into insight. Without it, modern datasets stay stubbornly opaque.

How to Improve Bioinformatics Skills

1. Core languages: Learn Python and R for analysis and visualization. Get comfortable with the UNIX shell.
2. Reproducibility: Use version control and workflow managers (e.g., Snakemake, Nextflow) to make pipelines portable.
3. Statistics: Strengthen fundamentals—multiple testing, regression, mixed models, Bayesian thinking—so conclusions hold up.
4. Data wrangling: Practice tidy data principles, metadata standards, and efficient handling of large files.
5. Compute strategy: Understand HPC and cloud basics, containerization, and resource profiling.
6. Domain tools: Get fluent with aligners, variant callers, quantifiers, and annotation suites relevant to your niche.

How to Display Bioinformatics Skills on Your Resume

12. Mass Spectrometry

Mass spectrometry identifies and quantifies molecules by measuring mass-to-charge ratios, revealing composition and structure with exquisite sensitivity.

Why It's Important

It deciphers proteomes and metabolomes, exposing pathways, biomarkers, and modifications that other methods miss.

How to Improve Mass Spectrometry Skills

1. Sample cleanup: Enrich and fractionate as needed. Reduce complexity and remove contaminants to boost signal.
2. Chromatography: Optimize LC gradients, columns, and flow rates. Stable retention times make identification and quantification sturdier.
3. Ionization and mode: Choose ESI vs. MALDI, positive vs. negative mode, and source settings guided by analyte chemistry.
4. Acquisition strategy: Match DDA, DIA, PRM/SRM to your question. Use inclusion lists or scheduled scans for targets.
5. Quantitation: Select label-free vs. isobaric labeling (e.g., TMT) thoughtfully. Normalize with internal standards and control ratio compression.
6. Data curation: Apply stringent FDR control, use robust search parameters, and validate with orthogonal evidence where possible.
7. Maintenance: Calibrate regularly, monitor vacuum and source cleanliness, and log performance metrics to catch drift early.

How to Display Mass Spectrometry Skills on Your Resume