The Best MBA Resume Advice Ever
You can find countless articles on general resumes all over the web, but very little on the perfect MBA resume. I did write about it,
walking through a template I’ve crafted after working with Stanford GSB first year students. But my colleague Candy LaBalle, who runs mbaSpain, came out with an outstanding article this morning. She has given me permission to reprint the article here — and I guarantee you will find it specific and helpful.
It originally appeared on Magoosh‘s website, but in my version, I’ve highlighted the parts that deserve mention
Six Steps to a Stellar MBA Resume
If you are applying to an MBA this year, you’ve probably noticed that top b-schools are not asking for many essays. Tuck requires two, Booth asks for a presentation only and Harvard has made its one essay optional. This reduced application content makes your MBA Application Resume more valuable than ever. In fact, HBS and Columbia even allow resumes that go beyond the “one-page” standard.
But, whether you prepare one or two pages, you need to follow some guidelines. Beyond using action verbs, avoiding “I” and having standard fonts no smaller than 10-point, to make your MBA Application Resume truly stellar, follow these six tips:
1: Focus on YOU
If your resume reads like a job description then it is not about you—it is about your job. Instead of focusing on tasks, highlight your achievements, and include details on team size, cultural exposure and quantifiable results.
- Participate in M&A transactions
- Advise clients on business strategy
becomes
- Led teams of up to three, on four M&A deals in the energy, telecom and retail sectors, valued up to $5bn
- Created a cost-analysis model for Chile’s largest telecom identifying 12% in savings; presented model directly to client senior managers
2: Skip the jargon
Adcoms are looking for leadership potential, collaborative mindset and interpersonal skills. Even if you are an aeronautical engineer, focus on your MBA qualities.
- Coordinated advanced ABC testing to reduce drag on the XYZ series fuselage.
becomes
- Led six engineers from three countries to improve performance on our best-selling plane by 21%.
3: Go beyond your daily tasks
Do you handle recruiting for your firm at your old university? Did you create a new work process that improves team efficiency? Do you organize birthday dinners, basketball games or other activities that encourage socializing outside of the office? These show initiative, impact and interpersonal skills and should be included.
- Created company soccer team, recruiting players from various departments; team now competes weekly against other company teams
4: Show progression
If you were the only one out of 1,000 applicants to get the position, or you moved from a six-month internship to full-time employment in just 3 months, then say it!
- Hired as Associate in September 2013 and fast-tracked to Senior Associate 13 months later (average promotion time is 18 months)
5: Highlight leadership
Leadership goes beyond supervising people. If you do lead a group, definitely include that on your resume, but if you don’t, highlight other examples of leadership: managing a project, coordinating client teams, mentoring interns.
- Created my department’s first online “data warehouse,” reducing research time for projects
- Trained 14 senior clients to use a new CRM, resulting in higher sales team efficiency
6: Don’t forget the fun stuff
If you play viola, were regional champion in judo, run 10Ks or enjoy juggling, include it! Hobbies help you stand out from the crowd as well as show commitment, passion and leadership.
- Founded a dining club that now has 42 members; organize monthly dinners at gourmet restaurants for up to 15
- Began waterskiing as a child, advanced to national competitions in university, currently teach waterskiing to children
- Travel constantly, have visited 46 countries on six continents, traveled from Europe to Asia by land only, created a travel blog
