MBA Resume Tips

This document covers the steps to take to prepare an MBA-level resume. This is based on feedback from employers.

Tips for a Competitive MBA Resume:

1. For every skill on your resume, ask yourself, “is this relevant to the position/field/industry for which I am applying? If the answer is “no,” take it out.
2. Look at a typical job description that would be of interest to you. Does your resume clearly given examples (not just laundry lists) of the skills and experience being sought for those types of jobs?
3. Does each bullet point on your resume highlight a specific accomplishment that would be of interest in your chosen field, or does it just list duties? Laundry lists of duties don’t sell well unless you’re looking for a job doing what you’re already doing. Accomplishments, especially those you can measure, are the most marketable things to put on resumes.
4. Remove all unnecessary items from your resume such as subjective lists of
skills, reference information, vague objective statements, laundry lists of
irrelevant duties, personal interests that aren’t terribly interesting, personal
data such as marital status, age or health.
5. Have a friend or career counselor go over it with a fine toothed comb for grammatical & spelling errors.

Getting Started:
1. This is the data gathering process for your resume writing. Do not be concerned about the “look” of your resume or the amount of material you are writing down.
2. Gather past performance evaluations and past job descriptions (if available)
3. Take notes beginning with your first, full-time professional position. Include as much detail as possible, such as:

          - Actual title
          - Industry and environment Key responsibilities
          - Special assignments
          - Skills used and developed
          - Groups/departments interacted or collaborated with People, processes or tasks supervised
          - Achievements and impact related to monetary value, numerical figures, percentage increases/decreases
         - Focus on your impact instead of your tasks
         - Include any promotions, special recognitions received

4. Recall and write down as many numbers as possible
         -  Size of teams, length of project, number of people impacted
         -  Size of clients, value of transaction, etc.
5. Quantify results and key lessons learned.
6. List activities you do aside from work that might make an interesting conversation point with a recruiter.Include volunteer groups you have been involved in.

1st Draft
With the notes prepared in the previous section, you can now begin to piece together your resume draft
In the education section, list scholarships, elected positions in school, thesis papers written, study abroad programs you participated in (include pa)
In the experience section, list (in reverse chronological order) internships, independent consulting and full time positions.
In the personal section, list languages you speak, volunteer programs you participate in, hobbies, and U.S. work authorization (if your name
or work experience appear international)
Be clear about dates and locates
Use MM/YY dates to indicate when you worked somewhere.
Avoid gaps in the chronological dates if possible. If unavoidable,
explain (in cover letter) what you were doing during that time.
Use sample resumes to create a clean and concise resume format

Fine Tuning
Packaging is crucial to a successful resume
Review sample resumes for format parameters
Choose a conservative font in 11 or 12 point size
Try to keep it to one page, and definitely no more than two
Use a format that presents information clearly
Use phrases, not full sentences
Write in third person, never use “I”, “me”, or “my”
Avoid using abbreviations, unless necessary (ex: IBM is O.K.)
Limit resume length to two pages maximum
Restrict information to facts only
Make sure to check for spelling and grammatical errors
Focus on your accomplishments, not your tasks
Professional summaries are okay (position at beginning of resume in lieu of objective statement) but should not exceed 3 sentences
Avoid having any chronological gaps in your work experience section
Be concise and eliminate unnecessary words often used as “fillers”

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