TABLE OF CONTENTS Welcome Chapter 1: What Makes a Great MBA Résumé? Chapter 2: Résumé Writing Strategies Chapter 3: Digging Deep Chapter 4: Résumé Writing – Basic Techniques Chapter 5: Résumé Writing – Advanced Techniques Conclusion Sample Résumés
WELCOME ... to Admissionado’s MBA Résumé Guide! We know you’re accomplished – but does your résumé tell that story at a glance? Or are you unintentionally painting a picture of yourself that is sub-optimal? Or worse, painting a picture that's actually fuzzy? It happens. And it happens to the best of the best. We’re here to help. This guide will walk you through some of the key strategies we have learned over the years, from basic formatting tips to more advanced techniques. We've even provided a few Before & After samples at the end to show you the distance in quality (in just a draft or two of editing). By the way, the authors of those sample résumés ended up at Wharton, HBS, and Booth, respectively. Strengthen your profile, build a strong résumé, set your sights high, aim, and... Fire.
CHAPTER 1 What Makes a Great MBA Résumé?
Chapter 1 What Makes a Great MBA Résumé?
The secret to an MBA résumé is above all: clarity. Without clarity, all else is meaningless. But typically, this story of your ENTIRE professional life and your ENTIRE schooling is meant to fit on one single sheet of paper. That could be fifteen years worth of stuff! It's going to be a Battle Royale of profile elements and... words. Which elements stay? And how can we organize them and phrase the precious words in an economical and persuasive way? Developing a truly great résumé demands skill and patience. For MBA applicants, it also demands a deep understanding of what business schools are looking for. Let's dive in. The Résumé: A Microcosm MBA résumés are like mini-versions of your entire application. They should portray who you are, where you have worked, what you have achieved, what you have studied, and where you have volunteered. And, most importantly, all of this should somehow give the reader a sense of your trajectory (possibly even your goals). If your résumé is great, it will become an anchor for your essays. Your résumé is your opportunity to lay down the facts; your essays provide an opportunity to write about the stuff in between the lines. The stuff that could never fit on a résumé. The transitions. If the résumé is the "what," your essays are the "why." Establishing the "what" is like pouring cement into a building's foundation. If it's shaky, everything else is vulnerable. Get it right, though, and you're in a position to build something sturdy. Your résumé should highlight: ! Leadership – No surprise here. Business schools love leadership. Business schools teach leadership. So you should be putting all of the leadership experience you have in your past in this document. And highlighting it. ! Results – Résumés are nothing if not a catalog of your key achievements. Not responsibilities. Or projects. Or ideas. Achievements. With concrete, tangible results (that are hopefully impressive, even without elaboration). ! MBA-Oriented Results – Don’t just feature any achievements, try to feature "MBA-related" achievements. Are you the best coder on your team? Have you saved a dozen patients in your hospital? Wonderful! But what do those say about your strength as an MBA candidate?
! Career Development – In the best résumés, you can read (sometimes between the lines) the history of a person’s progress. You can see them move up the ladder (more rapidly than others), grow in position and in responsibility, and take on bigger and bigger challenges. ! A Well-Rounded Profile – The best résumés highlight the broadest possible profiles. Whether it's international experience, volunteer work, extra-curricular activities, patents, publications, startups, languages, skills, etc. From this single piece of paper, you need to come ALIVE as an interesting human being. ! “Other” Interests – In a world where many MBA apps look identical, you should add interests outside your professional and academic life. Seize this chance (in just one to three lines), to showcase uniqueness. Interests might include spoken languages, sports you've played, strange hobbies or things you're passionate about. Reserve this space for UNIQUE achievements, though. (For example, running marathons isn’t all that unique, but coming in second place in an Iron Man competition IS!) Even in a one-page doc, when properly executed, we should develop an understanding of where you’re coming from and where you’re headed.
CHAPTER 2 Résumé Writing Strategies
Chapter 2: Résumé Writing Strategies
Now that you understand the nuts and bolts of a strong MBA résumé, let’s get into some basic strategies that can help transform your résumé into a masterpiece. First and foremost: size matters. One page, folks. It won’t be the first time you’ve heard it, and it’s true. Ultimately, one-page résumés are most effective. A one-pager is industry-standard, school-standard, and HR-standard. It may seem like too little space at first, but if thousands upon thousands of unbelievably accomplished folks (who end up at Harvard and Stanford and Wharton) with years of insanely impressive experiences can do it... so can you. We’ve helped a lot of those guys, in spite of their kicking and screaming at the outset, ha! In reality, imposing this one-page limit on yourself will make your résumé BETTER. Less is more. Way more. Not just in theory, there's a practical reason behind it. An initial application review may take an admissions officer five minutes, if you're lucky. The résumé review portion might not take more than 10 seconds. For your résumé to be effective, it needs to be unbelievably clear, and readable. Keeping it to one page will go a long, long way toward achieving this. Most schools explicitly ask for a one-page résumé anyway, so you may not have a choice. (Wahoo!) Finally, if you feel like taking creative leaps with your résumé (i.e., trying new colors, sporting attractive new formats, etc.), while you may end up with something unique and attractive, there is more to be gained from a simple résumé whose content shines brightly without the flash. (In fact, the simply-formatted résumé that impresses on its own shines the brightest of them all.) What if I have a boatload of accomplishments, though? Shouldn't I share them all? No. The point of your résumé is to showcase your “Greatest Hits.” Nobody, no matter how strong their profile, will have enough hits that the 1-Page version is somehow noticeably weaker. And nobody, no matter how weak their profile, will have zero hits. If you have five amazing stories to tell from the past several years, you must fit ALL of them onto your résumé. If the current version of your résumé is missing two of your greatest stories simply because they couldn't fit, well, go back and re-work it so that they DO fit. The key is to showcase your greatest hits. All the big ones.
Can two-page résumés work? Sure, when the school allows for it, or if you fit into one of the following categories: 1. 2. 3.
You’re much older. You’re applying to an EMBA program. You have many parallel activities (i.e., you work full-time and run a startup and a real estate business, not to mention your volunteer work and political involvement).
However, in general, one page should be more than enough, and should help you boil your professional life down to its purest essence. Is an MBA résumé the same as a JOB résumé? An MBA résumé only LOOKS like a job résumé, but it’s definitely not going to read like one. Think about it: if you are applying for an engineering job, what are they going to look at? Your engineering skills and achievements. Ditto for any field – you’ll write about cases for law, patients for medicine, and chickens for chicken-farming… But will the MBA admissions committee care about how good you are at writing legal defense? Or healing bones? Or breeding chickens? (Nope.) Unsurprisingly, an MBA, which is a leadership in business degree, will look for Leadership with a capital L. And business experience/potential. What does that mean, practically speaking? Let’s say that you are an architect and 95% of your time is spent designing spaces, building models, and welding steel. What aspects of that do you think the MBA admissions committee will care about? Very little frankly. The b-school adcom WILL care about the stuff inside that remaining 5%: for example, your presentations to the board members of a huge company, your ability to train junior architects, your cross-functional collaboration skills, and that one time you landed the biggest deal of the decade with your idea. The same goes for any industry. Actually, MBA programs will assume you are amazing in your field, but by itself, it's never enough. Can you apply your knowledge to business? Are you able to lead others successfully? Are you good at networking? Can you close deals? This is the stuff that needs to SCREAM on your résumé, louder than any other aspect in any bullet point. What about all those lustrous certifications in your field? Sadly, they don’t matter. What about those programming languages you learned? Or those technical skills? Again, they simply don’t matter. Because none of them, on its own, promises success in the business world. It's the evidence of managing chops, leadership skills, and social savvy, that rings true to the adcom of an MBA program.
What is the MOST IMPORTANT thing, then, on a résumé? Three things: Leadership. Leadership. Leadership. Additionally, inject your résumé with any "b-school skills" you have acquired along the way: teamwork skills, presentation skills, international experience, negotiation skills, networking skills, sales skills, and anything else that will help you succeed in an MBA program (and the business world). Second, the admissions committee will want to see RESULTS. Why? Simple. Past success is one of the best indicators of future potential. Anyone can pitch an amazing idea. And say, "I promise I can execute on it, like, trust me." But if you were an investor, would that plea be enough for you? Or would you want to see real evidence that this person has achieved relevant stuff in his/her past that gives you confidence that he/she can do it again with this new idea? B-School admissions works in the exact same way. Your résumé is THE place for you to PROVE your future worth as supported by your historical performance. The key here is concrete results. These results should, ideally, be relevant to your future goals and, at the very least, impressive, impactful, and innovative. Should an MBA résumé include an “Objectives” section? There is no space on your MBA résumé for your objectives. Nor is there any reason to include them, as there is almost always an essay prompt that invites you to talk about your goals. That being said, the reader should be able to easily predict your career objective based on the overall organization (and flow) of your résumé. In other words, if we (the readers) are able to follow your career progress from job to job and position to position, we should conclude that your proposed goal is something that extends naturally from your prior experience. If your objective isn't obvious, then, as Admissionado founder Jon Frank always says, “You’re doing it wrong.” (And he got that from the classic 80s comedy "Mr. Mom.") As always, there are exceptions, like if you're a b-school candidate whose goal involves a major career change, but that’s a story for a different day!
CHAPTER 3 Digging Deep
Chapter 3: Digging Deep
Almost all résumés we see in their first drafts are missing TONS of great details. People forget to write about their leadership experience, or startups, or volunteer work. In general, very few MBA candidates effectively highlight their experiences in their résumés on their first pass. Most folks don’t realize that their on-the-side real estate investment may actually count for more than what's currently FEATURED on their existing résumé. Or that the one time they spent training 10 new colleagues is an achievement that, contrary to their understanding, actually puts them ahead of folks in their particular demographic. Initial drafts of résumés tend to lean too heavily on technical project work which is far less relevant to b-school adcoms. If your résumé feels unimpressive somehow, the problem may not be with your profile, but rather in your presentation. Here are a few things to consider: a) Achievements For each position you have on your résumé, you should mention your greatest two or three achievements. It’s unlikely that you’ll have more than that, but you definitely want to mention at least two. b) Progress Secondly, insert bullets regarding progress. Have you received any awards? Bonuses? Raises? Promotions? These are cold, hard FACTS that prove your success. You no longer have to TELL the reader “I’ve been successful!” because now you have SHOWN him/her instead. c) Leadership Many people start off with the idea that they “either manage people or don’t” and believe that “managing” is the only true leadership experience. Of course, it is FANTASTIC if you have direct reports, or an entire team of your own to oversee, but there are many other forms of leadership – motivating others, initiating a project, mentoring, training, representing the company, and so on. Ask yourself these questions: "
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Have you ever mentored or trained employees? Whom and how many did you train/mentor? Have you ever inspired someone? How? What was the result? Have you ever spoken in public? In what context? In front of how many?
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Have you ever been selected to represent an organization? What did you do? Have you ever built a team from scratch in your personal or professional life? Have you led presentations? In front of whom and how many?
Keep in mind that leadership doesn’t end with these questions. Remember, the goal is not to have more leadership than every other applicant, but to MAXIMIZE the leadership you possess. d) Impact Another great way to contextualize your achievements and make them more impressive is to show (with facts) the impact of your actions on your project or organization. Obviously, you can start by showing the RESULTS. How much time was saved? How much money? How big was the deal you closed? How much more efficient did you make your team? And just like everywhere else in your application: show LEADERSHIP. Even more important than the results is the impact you have had as a leader of men and women. How have you helped your leads develop? How have you trained them? How have you inspired them? How have you passed the company goals and culture on to others? If you can prove any or all of the above, then you are well on your way. Another great way to show impact is to utilize your annual reviews if your company has them. Did you receive excellent reviews? How were you ranked? You can even add a quote pulled from your annual review if there is praise worth mentioning. After all, it’s not YOU who's saying it, but management. And that turns a subjective claim of “I’m great” into an objective one: “My boss announced to the Board that I’m great.” Other examples of personal impact in the workplace include awards and certificates (and the same goes for volunteer situations and schooling). Maybe you were selected to join a special strategy team. Or selected out of thousands of employees to represent your company on a business trip to Japan. Whatever the situation may be, if you are being chosen for something impressive, this is great PROOF of your impact. Finally, since you are applying to business school, it’s not a bad idea to show them the money. (The adcom that is.) How much did you add to the bottom line? You won’t be able to show monetary impact for everything you have done, but you will for some projects, and the more you can tout in the realm of impact, the more – uh – impactful your résumé will be.
Another common mistake applicants make is failing to give any sense of what they ACTUALLY DID on a particular project or in a particular role. You can list results and talk about how many people you led, but the adcoms need to clearly understand the actions you took to achieve those results. One great test for this is, can someone outside your industry PICTURE whatever it is you did? Use simple, active language to paint your actions clearly. e) Other MBA Skills Although business schools focus on leadership, there are plenty of other skills that adcoms will be looking for in their candidates’ résumés: "
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Teamwork: Do you work on a team? Several teams? Of how many people? Do you collaborate well? Where's your evidence? International Experience: Do you have any international experience? Are you taking business trips abroad? Executing training in other countries? Working with teams across borders? Do you work in other languages? Any of these experiences will boost your "international" capital. Creativity: Not surprisingly, creativity is highly regarded. Have you developed new ideas, processes, products, or business plans? Many employees, even great ones, passively respond to their obligations. If you are one of the few who goes above and beyond to create, innovate, and disrupt, b-schools are itching to know about it. Negotiation Skills: This is another classic skill business schools love. Are you a wheeler and dealer? Have you negotiated deals? Terms? Anything? Even internal negotiations with management (say, to secure budget or additional manpower) are negotiations worth mentioning! Entrepreneurship: Have you ever tried to found a company? Great! Even unsuccessful startups can become sources of profound learning experiences and stories that promise as-of-yetunrealized business success. No entrepreneurial venture is too small to mention.
Community Service Community service is a BIG and VITAL part of your application. You don’t necessarily have to have TONS of community service (although, if you do, it will work to your advantage, big time); however, you need to have SOME, and it needs to be on your résumé. The best way to do this is to make a dedicated Community Service/Volunteer Work section. Simply devoting separate space to community service in your résumé says something about its importance to you.
Many folks fear that they lack community service, but, actually, they typically have more than they realize. Here are some questions to ask yourself: "
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Have you ever participated in or founded any social initiatives? For example, did you organize a company basketball team? Set up a barbecue? Lead a volunteer organization? Are you involved in any social groups? Which ones? What is your role in the group? What about religious groups? Do you go to church? Synagogue? Mosque? Temple? Perhaps you babysit the kids there every Saturday afternoon? Did you ever volunteer for a nonprofit, hospital, or any other organization? Have you done any pro-bono consulting? Did you ever advise or help anyone in a way that could be spun to sound like community service? Have you ever simply “helped” people? The elderly? Kids? What about political involvement? Have you ever canvassed for your favorite candidate? Been politically involved?
Of course, like everything on your MBA resume, community service is great, but LEADERSHIP in community service is even better. If you can showcase leadership in this area, too, you will really drive home your managerial aptitude. g) Education The education section should come AFTER your work experience section. Why? Simple. The stuff at the top of your résumé is where most people start reading and is therefore the most critical. Work experience reigns supreme because it's the most recent and relevant set of data points for the adcom. Education is important, but comes afterwards. This section can include more than a line with the name of your school and major. It's another opportunity to boost your profile! First and foremost, you should add your GPA to this section (if it’s strong). Also add impressive awards, honors, and scholarships. If you graduated with honors, if you were on the Dean’s list, if you received an award or a scholarship or a fellowship, include it here. Likewise, any significant extra-curricular activities or jobs you participated in during your studies can be added here. For example, if you were a Teacher’s Assistant, Residence Assistant or Research Assistant, or if you were involved in any sports or clubs (better yet if you
LED or INITIATED any sports or clubs), add it all here. There’s a lot more to extract than you might have realized. Phew. We did it. We dug deep and MINED all this amazing stuff from your background that now has a home on your résumé. Let's move into some other techniques, starting first with the basics.
CHAPTER 4 Résumé Writing – Basic Techniques
Chapter 4: Résumé Writing – Basic Techniques Making the most of your work experience You’re applying to BUSINESS school, so, work matters! And it matters more than anything else on your résumé. About 2/3 of your résumé should be devoted to your work experience because that’s what the admissions committee is most interested in learning about. What is “work experience”? It should be obvious, but just so there's no confusion, “work experience” on an MBA résumé is post-undergraduate full-time work, for which you were PAID. Everything else (pro bono, pre-graduate, part-time, internships) won't make the cut. If you don’t have work experience, or if you have very little, then we have a much bigger problem, and you might need to consider waiting to apply to business school until you have had some work experience. (But that requires a longer conversation.) Almost always, you'll want to foreground your work experience. Unless a school requires its own résumé format, we suggest making “Professional Experience” the first section of your résumé. It's the classic reverse chronology format used in résumé writing (most recent – usually current – job first). This approach allows you to lead off with your most impressive achievements, and reveal IMPROVEMENT and PROGRESS as you move backwards in time to prior experiences. The Importance of Results Your career arc shouldn’t just connect your jobs; it should have an upward trajectory over time. It is vital that you make this upward trajectory PLAIN through your achievements. Don’t just state them. Think of your résumé as a marketing tool that you will use to sell yourself. Quantify your successes in your résumé. By how much did you increase profits? $1.5 million USD? 400%? Use numbers or percentages, whichever is more impressive. Now, let’s take a look at a few examples. Here’s an example of a line we see a lot: •
Managed a big complicated construction project with Bouyges to build a new Stadium.
You built a stadium, eh? Not too shabby, my friend. But when you say the project was big, what does that mean? Bigger than a breadbox or an elephant? A skyscraper? And
what do you mean when you say “complicated”? Complicated for whom? A first grade student? A nuclear physicist? To remove any ambiguity, let’s first get some numbers in this line: •
Managed a team of 10 working on a $560 million project with 10 other partners including Bouyges to build a new Stadium.
Okay, looking better. Now that we have numbers, let’s make them more impressive. How big was this project relatively? Is this a normal sized project for the company, or a HUGE one? •
Managed a team of 10 working on a $560 million project with 10 other partners including Bouyges to build a new Stadium in the biggest construction project of the last decade.
By objectifying the subjective we were able to turn a mildly interesting line into a really impressive one. Put everything into context. What does it mean to “work overtime,” for example? Or how many people were nominated for that award you won? This will really make your résumé shine. Now, let’s talk about objectifying accomplishments that are difficult to prove. For example, say you’re good at teamwork. How do you objectify that? As suggested earlier, one way to make the subjective sound more concrete is to have someone else (preferably someone with a higher rank) state it. When the praise comes from a thirdparty source (your boss’s mouth, an internal review, a client email, a newspaper article, a radio show), it becomes more OBJECTIVE. Here’s an example: •
Picked up good leadership skills in management training program.
So, the first thing we can do here is find a way to objectify this: •
Praised in management training program review for having “rare leadership skills.”
Looking better, but there’s an even stronger way. Say you earned the highest rating in your cohort, and your cohort had 200 people. Then, you could write something like: •
Awarded with the best leadership skills in cohort of 200+ people.
Now that looks SWEEEEEET.
In your résumé, you will have to show the adcoms what you did briefly because you won’t have enough space to tell stories or provide lengthy explanations. In the essays, however, you will get the chance to walk the adcoms through your career highlights in great detail. So, how can you prove anything on your résumé with so little room? Answer: with cold, hard FACTS. What we want to see here are ACTION VERBS + RESULTS. And VERY LITTLE ELSE. That should become the essence of every excellent bullet point. Here’s another example: •
Coordinated with six engineers in S. Korea to accommodate new requirements and devised a way to eliminate the communication gap, reducing faulty implementations and accelerating the process to remove existing bugs.
Okay, so we already have an action verb to start, and it’s a solid one, so that’s done. But what does the rest of the line tell us? And how is it creating impact? This statement is too long and, worse, too vague. Let’s hack at it, smartly: •
Coordinated with team of six Korean engineers to eliminate communication gap, reducing faulty implementations and accelerating the process to remove existing bugs.
Better. But still too much. Here we have THREE results. (Never mind that they aren’t yet concrete results.) Let’s choose the one that’s MOST important. •
Coordinated with team of six Korean engineers to eliminate communication gap.
Better. Now we’ve boiled this down to a single teamwork-oriented bullet. It’s clear. It’s impactful. It’s just a bit vague, still. •
Coordinated with team of six Korean engineers to eliminate communication gap, completing the project in half the time.
And there it is. Now we have a result.
LESS is MORE Very often we see three-line bullets that explain every action in a single project. But, oftentimes, stuffing so much stuff into a single bullet diminishes the overall impact of
that bullet. Fight the urge to squeeze everything into that one opportunity and instead make the most impressive achievement POP. Let’s look at another example: •
Played key role in the development of Sony 4K Ultra HD Media Player, which boosted Sony 4K TV sales, making Sony the global market leader with a massive market share of 37.8% and a revenue of $185 million out of a $490 million Ultra HD TV industry.
Not bad. Not bad at all, in fact. It’s concrete. We have results. It’s impressive. But there are just... TOO many results. Let’s try this again: •
Played key role in making Sony the global market leader in the $490 million Ultra HD TV market.
Okay, better. But what key role did you play? What did you actually do? •
Led sales team of 10 to create marketing plan, making Sony the global market leader in the $490 million Ultra HD TV market.
And there it is. Just a bit of cutting, a change or two, and we've increased the impact 10x.
Typos We don’t need to tell you that typos are poisonous to résumés, right? WRONG. In our experience, truly typo-free résumés are more rare than a 60-degree February day in Chicago. Sadly, hard as applicants try, everybody is careless at some point. Sure, a single typo or two in an essay is forgivable, but on this compact, perfected, one-page wonder that is a résumé? Fuggedaboutit! So, which typos do we see 100 times a day? Misplaced dashes and periods, inconsistent spaces between sections, incorrect date abbreviations, odd margins, wrong verb tenses, misspelled names, wrong number formats, and many more. Less common? No contact info, misspellings, random bold or capitalized letters. The solution is simple: avoid typos AT ALL COSTS. Proofread your résumé a million times. Then when you're done... do it again. Then when you're truly over it and convinced it's perfect, do it again. Give it to a friend to proofread as well. You may not immediately notice the typos, but trust me, we will. And so will the adcom.
Jargon Some people have technical jobs. Thus, their résumés will need to have a bit more technical jargon than their fellow MBA applicants. That said, remember the target audience (the adcoms) do not have institutional knowledge of all industries (no one does). As such, they will likely get lost in a résumé that is jargon heavy. So, if you want anyone – and most of all, the adcom – to understand what you’re saying, you need to strip your résumé of jargon. If your grandma can’t understand what your résumé says, re-work it until she can understand every word. Also, remember that business schools are looking for BUSINESS SCHOOL SKILLS! You absolutely CANNOT submit your technical work résumé here. If you do – without rewriting it at all – this will hurt your application. (Truth? SOME jargon is okay, but never at the expense of clarity.) This note is especially for the IT people: Do NOT put ANYTHING about coding or systems in your résumé. You will only pigeonhole your candidacy as “another IT guy (or gal).” And since IT is the largest and most competitive applicant pool, you most definitely want to avoid that. Now, this does not mean that you can’t write about coding at all. It’s more a question of how to PRESENT the information. Instead of focusing on the name of the coding language or a technical description of your work, focus on the RESULTS you were able to achieve with it. Was your awesome code responsible for removing 99% of all bugs? Did it cut file sizes in half? Did it increase the speed or efficiency of workflow? Do 50,000 of the banks’ clients use it daily for their bank transactions? Those are points that anyone can understand. Alternatively, think about HOW you coded: Did you code in collaboration? Did you lead the coding team? Awesome! Now, we have teamwork and leadership.
Superlatives One way to boost the overall feel of your profile is to make use of superlatives in your bullets. Here are examples of some good superlatives: Did you lead the BIGGEST project of the last decade? Were you the TOP-RATED employee of all time? Did you complete your training the FASTEST? Were you the BEST performer last year? And if superlatives don’t quite fit, you can always rely on comparatives: Did you get promoted TWICE AS FAST as your peers? Did you finish your training in HALF THE TIME?
Formatting Formatting your résumé is crucial. It needs to look organized. Clean. Modern. Professional. Business-like. But who made the rule that everyone has to use the same format? There is no “perfect” format. And yes, you can even take risks with the format if you have an eye for design. But, whatever you do, make sure that your content is 100% perfect. And then, make sure the end result is crisp, clean, and easy to read. Yes, there are “standard” formats – from Harvard Business School, Wharton, and more – everybody has one. Don’t be afraid to use something DIFFERENT… within reason. Schools are evaluating your judgment above all else, and if you have good reason to use another format, it will be accepted, as long as it’s justified. If you have any doubts about format, stick with something classic. It’s like a dark grey suit; you can wear it to any occasion. We have included a few sample templates at the end of this document, feel free to use those. Editing If you’ve made it this far, there is a good chance that your résumé is a few pages longer than one page. It's time to start cutting. Let’s do this step-by-step: 1.
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Keep the number of sections to a bare minimum. Section breaks will take up a LOT more space than adding a few bullets to an already existing section. It’s a good idea to remove “Hobbies,” “Leadership Skills,” “Computer Skills,” “Personal Skills,” and your “Objective.” At the very least, combine them into one comprehensive section. Keep only the most impressive achievements. Go through the remaining bullets one by one until the ones with the most impressive results are left. Keep in mind that the most important points to keep are those that demonstrate LEADERSHIP. And the second most important points are those that mention PROMOTIONS. Remove anything that is repetitive. Sure, you closed two amazing deals with Nestle, but do you really need to tell the adcom about both? Is the second adding anything fundamental to your résumé? If not, cut it out and make space for more BREADTH. Make the individual bullets as brief and impactful as possible. We’ve illustrated some techniques above so flip back there for some help. Ideally, each bullet should be no longer than a line. Go through each word with a fine-toothed comb removing any unnecessary articles, particles, and pronouns until all you have left are impactful phrases.
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Reduce margins and fonts as well as spacing (without going too far). These may seem like small and obvious “tricks,” but they work.
Is it easy to cut down your entire adult life to a single page? Nope. But it’s doable. And it’s worth it because you will end up with a stronger snapshot of your profile.
CHAPTER 5 Résumé Writing – Advanced Techniques
Chapter 5: Résumé Writing – Advanced Techniques
Now you have a pretty solid résumé with your main achievements and jobs, and it’s all arranged and formatted and cut down to a single page. Is that it then? Are we done? Sorry folks, this is Admissionado. We wring the "make things better" cloth until it is dry enough to be a fire hazard. Let's dig just a little bit deeper. Company / School / Institution Descriptions Unless you have BIG names on your résumé, the adcom has probably never heard of your employer, volunteer organization, or school, especially if you are an international candidate. And that's okay. But, in order for those names to have any value, we need to provide those lesser-known firms, schools and organizations some descriptions. This will give your work CONTEXT, which paves the way for the opportunity to impress. Even if you DO work for a huge, instantly recognizable firm, maybe you're on a special team in a special department that no one's familiar with. Here, too, a team or department description may be in order to help provide key context. What makes for a good description? Anything that makes the organization seem: " " " "
Important Successful Big Impactful
To illustrate, here are some examples of fictional institutions: " " "
Hogwarts – The world’s number-one ranked School of Magic. Axigen – Sweden’s second largest manufacturer of tractors. MedHealth – The world’s fastest growing cancer treatment center.
The Résumé Bullet Point We’ve dealt with how to make effective bullet points in other sections of this guide, but let’s review. Here are general guidelines (these aren’t rules, just guidelines) for making a very effective résumé bullet: 1.
The best bullets are comprised of an ACTION + a RESULT: a single action with a single verb and a single concrete result.
2.
3. 4. 5.
6.
The best bullets have an action that is related to an MBA skill or quality rather than something technical (e.g. it’s better to LEAD a team, than to CODE software). The best bullets are one line long. And even that single line is cut down to the bare minimum. Remember: the less we have to read, the more we see. The best bullets are focused on IMPACT. The result should be concrete and impressive. The best bullets use numbers to increase impact. And, as any statistician or marketer knows, how you present information is just as important as the information itself (e.g. “doubled sales at the startup” sounds more impressive than “increased sales revenue from $2,000 to $4,000”). Each job entry should have at least 2-4 bullet points.
The "Shooting Star" Factor Following the instructions in this guide will help you build a profile that presents you as a “shooting star” – an exception among the exceptional in even the best of companies. As you can imagine, these are the types of profiles that earn the best results. Schools will see TONS of applications from Big Four firms, but they will only see a handful of Big Four applicants who are shooting stars – the ones who are always ranked at the top of their game, promoted the fastest, taking on the most responsibilities in and out of work, and have the greatest leadership potential. An effective résumé is an excellent way to stand out as a “leader among peers.”
CONCLUSION
CONCLUSION The challenge is there: your one-page résumé should make it clear in 10 seconds who you are and what you do. And all of that needs to impress. Résumé building is an art and a science. It takes practice and hard work. But once you have the principles down, you will have the skills to update and perfect this living document for the remainder of your career.
Do You Need a Consultant For Your Résumé? Maybe, maybe not. For most it comes down to budget. We created this guide for everyone, but especially those who might not have the resources to enlist an experienced professional to deliver personalized strategic guidance at each step. We hope this guide provides some key insights into what b-schools are looking for (and why), and can therefore help everyone to develop a stronger résumé.
TIPS SUMMARY Quick Tips and Tricks for ALL MBA Applicants: " If you have under 10 years of experience, keep your résumé to one page. " Use the same format for all entries. " Write company/school descriptions for each entry. " Show progress by mentioning advancement and promotions. " Showcase your uniqueness in one way or another. " Start the résumé with the “Work Experience” section. " Keep all bullets to one line, where possible. " Focus on leadership and teamwork. " List ACHIEVEMENTS, not responsibilities. " Showcase RESULTS. Quick Tips and Tricks for IT MBA Applicants: " Focus on the IMPACT of your tech skills. " Avoid all jargon that might not be understood by non-techies. " Make yourself PERSONABLE – focus on communication, teamwork, non-work activities. " Work doubly hard to add a few bullets that will show your uniqueness. " Show that you understand the BUSINESS results of your tech work.
Quick Tips and Tricks for Consultants: " Show that you care about the impact of your consulting. " If you lack results for your consulting projects, use reviews or client feedback to show how awesome you are. " Work doubly hard to add a few bullets that will show how unique you are. There are a LOT of consultants applying to b-school. " Show how you have outperformed all of your peers. " Where possible, focus in on a particular market. Quick Tips and Tricks for International Candidates: " Write a school description. Unless you graduated from the number one university in your country, the adcom will know NOTHING about your school. " If your grading system is not on a 4.0 scale, provide the 4.0 scale in ADDITION to your local GPA. If you have a ranking and it’s impressive, add it. " Add the languages you speak and your fluency level. " For non-Western applicants: show that you have international experience in the West – education, work, and travel.
SAMPLE RÉSUMÉ 1 BEFORE
BEGOÑA GIMÉNÉZ Calle de Jose Maria Silva, 123, 28000
Mobile: +34 111111111
[email protected]
Profile
Young, dynamic person with strong desire to achieve, fast ability to learn, good analytical
Polytechnic University of Catalonia (GPA 2.83) Banco Santander Consumer Loan Manager
Consumer Banking Manager
Consumer Loan Business Outlet Manager
Consumer Loan Credit Analyst for Top Developers
Consumer Loan Credit Analyst
Officer Development Program
July 2015 – Now (Consumer Banking Area Madrid) • Managed 11 person staff to process consumer loans application, achieving 95% of seven days service level agreement. • Led sales team to find the business opportunity, maintain 1,4 T lending since July 2015 January 2015 – June 2015 (Branch Madrid) • Managed 8 person staff to process consumer loans application, achieving 95% of seven days service level agreement. • Led sales team to find the business opportunity, maintain 250 B lending since Jan 2013 • Responsible for cross selling in consumer card and consumer deposit product. July 2013 – December (Consumer Loan Business Outlet Barcelona) 2014 • Prepared facilities renovation, network setting, and employee recruitment for opening Barcelona office on July 2013 • Managed eight person staff to process consumer loans application, achieving 95% of 7 days service level agreement. • Led sales team to find the business opportunity, increasing lending up 39% to $19M since July 2013 July 2011 – June 2013 (Consumer Loan Business Center Valencia) • Managed relation for 5 top developer in Valencia and process top developers applicant under 3 days November 2009 – June (Consumer Loan Business Center Seville) 2011 • Led two credit analyst clerk in Seville and keep the process service level agreement above 95%
• •
May 2009 – November 2009 Learned about detailed and various general banking businesses such as credit, funding, and treasury. Developed strong interpersonal, communication and negotiation skill
Finmeccania (Italy) Sales Engineer • •
July 2003 - May 2008
Bachelor of Engineering: Electrical Engineering
Experience
skill. Proven leadership & organizational abilities and enjoy working as team member as well as independently. Ability as a result oriented-problem solver and also hard-working individual. Enjoys watching movies, traveling, and playing table tennis.
Education Job
December 2008 – January 2009
Job training as Research Assistant in the Medical Electronic Research Laboratory, Department of Electronics Engineering Sapienza – Università di Roma. Assisted formulating product specification and product purchasing for Italian Navy Tools
PT Aragon Electric Power Part Time Staff
May 2007 – May 2008
• •
a
EnerAgen (Madrid) Internship •
Training Experience
Assisted with Research Project: Harmonics effect on energy meter measurement (PLN Distribution Aragon and Catalonia) Research Project: “Energy meter in PT. Aragon, PT. Catalonia, and PT. Valencia (P2TL PLN Distribution Aragon) June 2006 – July 2006
Assisted with research of building energy survey, audit, and management.
Human Performance Improvement
August 2015
Banco Santander
Advance Consumer Finance Academy
Six Sigma Awareness
Intermediate Consumer Finance Academy (3rd rank in class)
Basic Consumer Finance Academy
Leadership Experience Achievement Skill
October 2013
Marketing Update for Consumer Finance IESE Business School May 2012
Banco Santander
March 2012
Banco Santander
May 2010
Banco Santander
Committee Leader
January 2007
Excursion ANA ITB 2007 Barcelona-Madrid-Valencia Electrical Engineering Students Organization, Barcelona • Organized schedule, sponsorship, company arrangement, and accommodation for seven days study tour program.
Chief
July 2004
Committee of General Election for Electrical Engineering Student Organization, Barcelona • Made election and campaign rules, managed the election process.
Finalist of Spain Young Consumer Banker Champion 2013 •
October 2013
Consumer banking strategy competition held by Banco Santander
•
Bank Risk Management Level 2 (Banker Professional Certification Body)
•
Spain native, Italian fluent, English fluent (TOEIC 2013 - 900/990, TOEFL 2014 – 94/120)
•
Good analytical skill (GMAT 2014 – 610/800)
SAMPLE RÉSUMÉ 1 BEFORE (WITH EDITS)
BEGOÑA GIMÉNÉZ Calle de Jose Maria Silva, 123, 28000
Mobile: +34 111111111
[email protected]
Profile
Young, dynamic person with strong desire to achieve, fast ability to learn, good analytical
skill. Proven leadership & organizational abilities and enjoy working as team member as well as independently. Ability as a result oriented-problem solver and also hard-working individual. Enjoys watching movies, traveling, and playing table tennis.
Education Job
Polytechnic University of Catalonia (GPA 2.83)
July 2003 - May 2008
Bachelor of Engineering: Electrical Engineering
Banco Santander
Experience
[Let’s add a company description here. **I** happen to know Bank Santander, but the person who reads your application will most likely NOT. The best type of company descriptions will show how large/important/impressive the company is.]
Consumer Loan Manager
Consumer Banking Manager
Consumer Loan Business Outlet Manager
July 2015 – Now (Consumer Banking Area Madrid) • Managed 11 person staff to process consumer loans application, achieving 95% of seven days service level agreement. [Nice achievement! But let’s trim this down… right now you are giving TOO much information. Less is more, let’s focus on the essence.] • Led sales team to find the business opportunity, maintain 1,4 T [let's convert to USD, true for all $ references] lending since July 2015. [What else can you add here to let us know how AMAZING this accomplishment was? Can you make it relative? Or give us some kind of context?] • [Besides the above two, are there any other notable achievements you can add? Focus especially on achievements that MBA programs are looking for – leadership, teamwork, business achievements.] January 2015 – June 2015 (Branch Madrid) • Managed eight person staff to process consumer loan applications, achieving 95% of seven days service level agreement. [Is this… good? We need context here. Also, this achievement sounds exactly like the one above. How can you add to it or change it to make it clear that it showcases something different?] • Led sales team [of how many?] to find the business opportunity [What business opportunity? How big was it? How important?], maintained 250 B lending since Jan 2013 [Sounds good, but how do we know for sure (same note…)? Can you give us context here?] • Responsible for cross selling in consumer card and consumer deposit product. [With what results?] • [Do you have any other leadership acheivments?] • [What about teamwork? Do you regularly collaborate with others?] • [Did you receive any awards here? Were you handpicked for a special task? Were you on a quicker than normal promotion schedule?] July 2013 – December (Consumer Loan Business Outlet Barcelona) 2014 • Prepared facilities renovation, network setting, and employee recruitment for opening Barcelona office on July 2013 [Okay, what was the challenge here? Was this hard? And what was the concrete and measurable result? Right now this is a mildly impressive responsibility – We want to make this into a solid achievement!] • Managed eight person staff to process consumer loans application, achieving 95% of seven days service level agreement. [Great! Same comment as above. Let’s finesse this and make it a smoother and more efficient statement. Let’s also change the language so that it doesn’t sound repetitive.] • Led sales team to find the business opportunity, increasing lending up 39% to $19M since July 2013 [The results here are great, but… what business opportunity?] • [Based on that discovery in our recent conversation, you will wanna include
• •
details about your promotion here. It will look impressive and will help build you a “shooting star” profile.] [Any other notable business or leadership achievements to add here?] [Can you add anything about any promotions, awards, bonuses, or raises here?]
Consumer Loan Credit Analyst for Top Developers
Consumer Loan Credit Analyst
Officer Development Program
July 2011 – June 2013 (Consumer Loan Business Center Valencia) • Managed relations for five top developers in Valencia and processed top developers application in under three days [Great! Is this good? Is this quick? Can you give us any context here?] • [Any notable leadership achievements?] • [What about teamwork achievements?] • [Did you learn anything new here?] • [Did you ever initiate anything? A new process? An idea? Anything at all? Could be work or social…] November 2009 – June (Consumer Loan Business Center Seville) 2011 • Led two credit analyst clerks in Seville and kept the process service level agreement above 95% [Is this quick? Is this good? Can you give us context here?]
•
•
Finmeccania (Italy) Sales Engineer •
•
December 2008 – January 2009
Job training as Research Assistant in the Medical Electronic Research Laboratory, Department of Electronics Engineering Sapienza – Università di Roma. [What specifically were you researching? Were YOU doing the training or were you being trained? Any results to mention?] Assisted formulating product specification and product purchasing for Italian Navy Tools. [Any results to mention here?]
PT Aragon Electric Power Part Time Staff • •
a
May 2009 – November 2009 Learned about detailed and various general banking businesses such as credit, funding, and treasury. [Sounds awesome! And from our chat, sounds hard to get into! Can you reveal more about the selection process? How many people were selected? Out of how many?] Developed strong interpersonal, communication and negotiation skills. [Sounds good. But right now this is a bit subjective. How can you PROVE this?]
May 2007 – May 2008
Assisted with Research Project: Harmonics effect on energy meter measurement (PLN Distribution Aragon and Catalonia) Research Project: “Energy meter in PT. Aragon, PT. Catalonia, and PT. Valencia (P2TL PLN Distribution Aragon)
EnerAgen (Madrid) Internship
June 2006 – July 2006
• Assisted with research of building energy survey, audit, and management. [Part-time work and internships may not be relevant to your résumé at this stage, especially considering the vast work experience you have had. I suggest removing this section. Likewise, the training experience section below can go. It’s not adding much to your résumé. Since our objective is to boil your ENTIRE life (Well, career ☺) down to ONE single page, and this stuff is not doing much to strengthen your profile, I suggest removing it.]
Training Experience
Human Performance Improvement
August 2015
Banco Santander
Advance Consumer Finance Academy
Six Sigma Awareness
Intermediate Consumer Finance Academy (3rd rank in class)
October 2013
Marketing Update for Consumer Finance IESE Business School May 2012
Banco Santander
March 2012
Banco Santander
Basic Consumer Finance Academy
Leadership Experience
Achievement Skill
May 2010
Banco Santander
Committee Leader
January 2007
Excursion ANA ITB 2007 Barcelona-Madrid-Valencia Electrical Engineering Students Organization, Barcelona • Organized schedule, sponsorship, company arrangement, and accommodation for seven-day study tour program. • [This is fantastic! But you have TONS of leadership experience ALL OVER your résumé, and we don’t want to sell the rest short. So let’s cut this section, while of course emphasizing leadership everywhere else! Since this achievement is relevant to your studies, let’s make it a bullet under the education section.]
Chief
July 2004
Committee of General Election for Electrical Engineering Student Organization, Barcelona • Made election and campaign rules, managed the election process. • [Comment above also applies here. Let’s add this to the education section.]
Finalist of Spain Young Consumer Banker Champion 2013 •
October 2013
Consumer banking strategy competition held by Banco Santander [LOVE it!]
•
Bank Risk Management Level 2 (Banker Professional Certification Body)
•
Spain native, Italian fluent, English fluent (TOEIC 2013 - 900/990, TOEFL 2014 – 94/120)
•
Good analytical skill (GMAT 2014 – 610/800)
•
[All the above can go. It will be on your application, and there’s no space for it here.]
Notes from our Consultant: -
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-
-
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We need to reorder some of the sections (and delete a few), foregrounding the most important items to b-schools. “Work Experience” should come before anything else. You can remove the section labeled “Profile” since you can PROVE these things in your résumé, and it’s also taking up precious space. After “Work Experience,” let’s add a section with Volunteer Experience since this is soooooo important for b-school. Education can follow and then Interests/Hobbies/Skills can go last. I suggest integrating the information found in “Achievements,” “Leadership Experience,” and “Training Experience” into other sections. First of all, adding these sections is contributing to the space issue we’re having. Secondly, your leadership section is very short… but when I look at the rest of your résumé I see TONS of leadership! The adcoms might wonder, “Why is her leadership section so short?” And forget about all of the other leadership experiences you have mentioned elsewhere. Instead, let’s emphasize leadership as much as possible in EVERY section. Also, it’s clear that your role and responsibilities have grown over the years at Banco Santander, but you can make this even more impressive if you emphasize promotions, selection, and awards. This will be ESPECIALLY effective if you are being promoted faster and/or younger than your peers! Moreover, some of your achievements are missing concrete results. If you want to make your achievements stronger, then we need some sort of result for each (and, of course, the better the result, the more impressive the achievement). Most importantly, focus on LEADERSHIP, which is the single most important target here in your résumé. We want to build a profile that exhibits your leadership in the most impressive
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manner. Finally, you can further develop the “Education Section” with bullets that show your achievements, extra-curricular activities, teaching assistance, leadership and awards at your university. Lastly, let’s reconsider your résumé format. The blue color is original, but it makes things hard to read. The format of the lines and borders and even the font all contribute to making each section spatially inefficient. You’re getting LESS out of your résumé than you actually can! Switch to a more “classic” template, then we can boost your profile, without ballooning the length.
SAMPLE RÉSUMÉ 1 AFTER
BEGOÑA GIMÉNÉZ Calle de Jose Maria Silva, 123, 28000 |
[email protected] | mobile: +34 1111111111
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE Banco Santander (Madrid, Spain) Largest bank in Spain with US $109.4B asset Consumer Loan Processing Manager, Consumer Loan Business Center Madrid • Manage 11 person staff to process US $18.1M loan applications monthly. • Led sales team of 7 to break a historical record with US $1.5M disbursed in one consumer loan account. • Achieved best consumer loan disbursement volume among 20 processing centers in 2015.
2015–Present
Consumer Loan Processing Manager, Consumer Loan Business Center Madrid • Set up new processing office in Barcelona with USD$ 600k renovation budget within 1.5 weeks. • Screened 6 employees for Barcelona new processing office. • Managed 8 people to process US $7M loan applications monthly. • Led salesteam of 6 to increasing lending up 39% to $19M since over 18 months. • Achieved best consumer loan disbursement volume among 20 processing outlets in 2014. • Awarded Consumer Finance Achievement Award in 2014. • Youngest Consumer Loan Processing Manager in Banco Santander. • Promoted to Consumer Loan Processing Manager in 4 years instead of the normal 8-10 years.
2013–2015
Top Developers Consumer Loan Credit Analyst, Consumer Loan Business Center Valencia • Managed relationship with 5 top real estate developers in Valencia. • Processed top developer applications within 3 days. • Led 30 employees for cultural transformation program in Valencia. • Awarded best employee in Consumer Loan Valencia and got 8 times monthly salary bonus for my extraordinary performance in 2012.
2011–2013
Consumer Loan Credit Analyst, Consumer Loan Business Center Seville • Managed relationship with 5 top real estate developers in Valencia. • Processed top developer applications within 3 days.
2009–2011
Trainee, Officer Development Program • Selected as one of 20 out of 2,000 for a four-month career acceleration program. • Rotated amongst, credit, funding, and treasury departments. Consumer Loan Processing Manager, Consumer Loan Business Center Madrid • Manage 11 person staff to process US $18.1M loan applications monthly. • Led sales team of 7 to break a historical record with US$ 1,5 M disbursed in one consumer loan account. • Achieved best consumer loan disbursement volume among 20 processing centers in 2015.
2009
2015–Present
VOLUNTEER EXPERIENCE Electrical Engineering Alumni 2003 (Barcelona, Spain) • Managed fundraising efforts to Rp 30M, giving a high school scholarship for 2 bright students in Barcelona.
2014
Seville Community (Seville, Spain) • Coordinated 20 freshmen to do service to clean Seville area.
2008
EDUCATION IESE Business School Top 5 Business School outside of the US according to poetsandquants.com • 1 semester Pre Magister Management Program, GPA 3.8 of 4.0 Polytechnic University Of Catalonia (Barcelona, Spain) Leading university in Spain in Engineering and Technology Bachelor of Engineering, Electrical Engineering. GPA 2.83 of 4.0 • Assisted with Research Project: Harmonics effect on energy meter. • Organized 7-day study tour in 3 cities with 40 participants. • Responsible for student organization office used by 800 students. • Lectured 5 juniors monthly in Basic Science Lab and High Voltage Lab. • Managed the election process for electrical engineering student organization with 800 voters.
2012
2003–2008
Here's why we would want this applicant at our business school based on this résumé: -
From the beginning, she has progressed more quickly than any of her peers at Banco Santander. She was selected initially for the Officer Development Program and since then, through merit has been promoted time and again, each position obviously conferring on her more responsibility and bigger projects. With this résumé, it is clear that Begoña is a real shooting star!
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She has tons of leadership experience, which we can see in both the number of teams she has led and their size. She has additionally had experience in team-building, which tells us that she can do more than just passively lead.
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Despite her very low GPA, she participated in a TON of extra curriculars during her undergrad studies, which show that even if she did not succeed academically as we might hope, her time was vested in doing amazing things.
SAMPLE RÉSUMÉ 2 BEFORE
SAYEED AL-BATL Marina Square, Al Reem Island, Abu Dhabi, UAE
[email protected] – +971 2 1111111 EXPERIENCE RAMBOLL Deputy Project manager •
•
•
Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates 2013-2015
Manage 334 people in my work force with the help of expatriates, coming from 8 different countries, including 4 engineers, 2 senior foreman, 5 foremen, about 320 local workers and more than 30 construction engine to work on the Abu Dhabi Airport Extension (more than £100 Million) Negotiate important procurement for about £2Millions. Enhanced buying process of the company and found new sources resulting in an increase of projects margin by 10% on cement and steel thanks to international procurement Lead team of 2 CAD designer, 1 topographic engineer, 1 quality engineer, 2 laboratory operators to complete construction documents for a 700 m quay construction (£15 Million projects)
Construction Engineer • • • •
Calculate loading on reinforced concrete structure Develop a KPI dashboard on Construction equipment decreasing operational cost of the project by 7% Innovate a system to improve automated concrete formwork in cooperation with a German Company reducing fabrication delay by 50% and improving quality Make the Construction planning and monitoring
CARILLION South-East Regional Sales Engineer •
Wolverhampton, UK 2011-2012
Prepare bids for more than £2M worth of construction project and earned £1,2M contracts Realise site visits, assessments and projections for future work feasibility studies of client requests
KIER GROUP Construction Site Engineer •
Wolverhampton, UK 2012
Develop a client portfolio to start a new activity in the region. Managed to get about £500k in the first 3 months of activity.
Technical Sales Engineer • •
2012-2013
Sandy, UK
Coordinated 12 contractors to ensure that they understand their scope of works
EDUCATION Cambridge University Master of Engineering in Civil Engineering and urban planning • • •
Cambridge, UK June 2011
Year abroad program Certification in Civil Engineering in Massachusetts Institute of Technology Top Athletes sports section Division 1 Water polo team captain, Member of President of the University Water Polo Club, team won 2 UK championship Cup
OTHER DATA Speak English (native) and Arabic (fluent). Played 9 years as a semi-professional water polo player. Enjoy sports, chess playing and traveling.
Notes from our Consultant: -
Lots of great stories in here. But I know you have more, so we’re gonna excavate, and rip this sucker to shreds, and load it up with questions to help guide you. The key is to unearth ALL your stories. (We can cut it down to size later on.) What is your greatest achievement? Your second greatest? What is your best leadership achievement? Your best teamwork achievement? And so on. By the end, we will have a document that showcases, simply put, the absolute GREATEST features of your profile.
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Like many first drafts, this sucker focuses on things only at the project level. We need to break apart the projects, separate the elements, ACTION by ACTION so that we can SEE all of your skills and talents. Therein lies potential gold. Wait and see.
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Also, like many “In-Industry” Résumés, your current version of the résumé focuses too much on your industry-relevant skills. Will the MBA program care that you can calculate loading of reinforced concrete? Nope, not a lick. On the contrary, by focusing on the technical skills, this will make your candidacy seem more focused toward engineering school than the general management. Let’s refocus your achievements on the MBA side of things. It doesn’t mean your skills are irrelevant, but let’s make them relevant to your business aspirations.
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Finally, the current résumé format, although passable, can be… better. We’re gonna send a few samples your way, you can choose one you like and we’ll rebuild this sucker from there. Stand by for line-by-line feedback…
SAMPLE RÉSUMÉ 2 AFTER
SAYEED AL-BATL Marina Square, Al Reem Island, Abu Dhabi, UAE
[email protected] +971 2 1111111 Experience 2013-2015 RAMBOLL ABU DHABI, UAE Deputy Project Manager – Extension of Abu Dhabi Airport (~£70 Millions) • Managed a work force ~350 people from 8 different countries constructing the £70M+ Abu Dhabi Airport Extension. o Improved confidence of local workers by selecting people on merit basis. • Mentored team of 350. • Organized daily meetings to enhance collaboration, decreasing the machinery cost by 10%. o Shared reports with CEO were made to share the employee’s inputs and needs. • Improved ready mix concrete plant system as a whole, the tool responsible for the biggest part of our production each month (about £300k/month). • Increased production capacity from 10k m3 a month to 15k m3 a month. Increased margin by +30%. • Negotiated £2M procurement. • Improved company buying by challenging procurement sources, with 25+ international companies put out to tender. • Saved ~£500k in cement and steel import (+40% increase of project margin). • Led team of 6 to complete construction documents. Documents were delivered 1 month ahead of schedule, saving £150k. • Spearheaded saving of £300k in project profit. 2012 – 2013 Construction Engineer – Extension of the Abu Dhabi Airport (~£70 Millions) • Collaborated with Saudi Arabian firm to generate £150k of savings in construction costs. • Developed a Key Performance indicator dashboard, decreasing operational costs of project by 7%. • Innovated a system to improve automated concrete formwork in cooperation with German Company, reducing fabrication delay by 50%. • Improved the design of the piece by improving its anchor system, resulting in a more beautiful concrete surface than that of the previous batch. • Mentored 2 foremen and 2 young engineers on their arrival to the project team. 2012 CARILLION NEW YORK, NY WOLVERHAMPTON, UK UK South-East Regional Sales Engineer • Developed a client portfolio from scratch to start the waterproofing activity in south-east region of UK. Managed to get about £500k in the first 3 months of activity. • Created partnership with local material providers to improve market knowledge. • Built database of all waterproofing projects of the regions improving accuracy of bid from 15% to 30%. Technical Sales Engineer • Prepared bids for more than £2M worth of construction projects and earned £1.2M in contracts. • Made largest amount of sales by a first-year sales engineer in this branch. • Realized site visits, assessments and projections for future work feasibility studies of client requests. 2010 KIER GROUP SANDY, UK UK South-East Regional Sales Engineer • Coordinated 12 contractors, working on the complete refurbishment of an historical building close to Arundel castle of the Duke of Norfolk (about £3.1 Millions). Resolved exaggerated requests from conservation architects with persuasive negotiation, avoiding delays and improving cost-efficiency of the work. Education 2004 – 2011 CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY NEW YORK, NY CAMBRIDGE, UK Master in Civil Engineering and urban planning, GPA converted 3.0 • Year abroad program Certification in Civil Engineering in Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA. • Selected to participate in Top Athlete program with the Ministry of Sports. • Division 1 Water Team Captain; President of the Water Polo Student club; the team won 2 UK national league championships • Organized an international tournament with 8 teams from different European countries and a synchronised swimming show with 2 Olympic participants; this event was awarded best sport event at Cambridge. Additional
• Interests: Played 9 years as a semi-professional Water Polo player, travelled to more than 20 countries and more than 30 cities, and won a chess tournament at the age of 12 years old. • Languages: Fluent in English and Arabic, novice in French.
Here's why we would want this applicant at our business school based on this résumé: -
The résumé focuses on his LEADERSHIP, the single most important ingredient for a business school candidate. The first three bullets start with three leadership action words: Managed, mentored, organized!
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Each bullet is punchy and impactful. Overall, this gives off an impression that this is someone who GETS THINGS DONE.
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Overall, the way his résumé is structured (modeled after the HBS template by the way), and the way his bullets are laid out, it allows us to see a CLEAR progression and development in his career from a relatively junior and technical role to a role that is far more business and management oriented.
[email protected]
