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The Business School Application Resume
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Application resume – what, how long and why?
Our latest installment on Strong MBA Applications focuses on the resume. While business school essays provide the inside story on one of your achievements in the professional, personal or academic arenas, a business school application resume should ideally provide a bird's-eye view of all your achievements together.
Let's cover some of the common concerns of an MBA application resume.
What should it cover?
The major difference between a MBA and a job resume is the audience.
The employer is interested in how relevant your past experience and skills are for a particular position. However, the business school AdCom is interested in the bigger picture – the versatility of your profile to judge your fit, and its suitability to contribute to the diversity of the incoming class.
Things to include in a MBA resume, besides the traditional professional resume, would be an emphasis on soft skills, extracurricular and community activities, personal interests and a broader description of your profile and/or company, if not well-known.
Things to avoid would be industry-specific jargon, as well as listing certifications that are not as well-known without elaboration.
How long should it be?
From my experiences in academic/corporate interviewing and guiding graduate applicants since 2004, I am inclined to look at resumes with a naturally critical eye. In my experience, resumes that are 1-1.5 pages long tend to be the most engaging. Shorter than that, you run the risk of focusing on just the professional achievements. Longer than that, you are discussing more tasks (routine activities) than star achievements.
Besides, most MBA applicants have an average of 5 years of experience. For this level, a one-page resume is the one most commonly prescribed. Keep it to about 1.5 pages to include all your achievements outside the workplace for the MBA AdCom.
Why is this exercise important?
Giving your resume its due attention in the application stage will also make it easier to cut it down to 1 page when you start applying for summer internships pretty soon after you start the program. You will have enough on your plate then – wouldn't it be nice to have one thing less to worry about?
An additional benefit is that the work you put in will give you a clearer idea of your past accomplishments and help to better position yourself for future career goals. This exercise will help you hit the ground running for your internship search once you are in the MBA program.
As competition in MBA programs grows more intense, business school admissions committees scrutinize every aspect of the MBA application to a greater extent. This includes resumes. A precise, well-written resume will help to attest a candidate's credibility much more than one that needs to be completely reworked. This is why all the Business School Admissions Consulting packages (Elite, Complete or Essential) at My MBA Admit/Admit World were designed to include a comprehensive Resume Review. In addition, Resume Reviews are also available as a stand-alone service in both their Standard and Advanced versions.
Want us to cover something else? Leave us a comment!
Check out our services at My MBA Admit:MBA Admissions Consulting or email us at MBAConsult@MyMBAAdmit.com for a Free Initial Consultation.
Our latest installment on Strong MBA Applications focuses on the resume. While business school essays provide the inside story on one of your achievements in the professional, personal or academic arenas, a business school application resume should ideally provide a bird's-eye view of all your achievements together.
Let's cover some of the common concerns of an MBA application resume.
What should it cover?
The major difference between a MBA and a job resume is the audience.
The employer is interested in how relevant your past experience and skills are for a particular position. However, the business school AdCom is interested in the bigger picture – the versatility of your profile to judge your fit, and its suitability to contribute to the diversity of the incoming class.
Things to include in a MBA resume, besides the traditional professional resume, would be an emphasis on soft skills, extracurricular and community activities, personal interests and a broader description of your profile and/or company, if not well-known.
Things to avoid would be industry-specific jargon, as well as listing certifications that are not as well-known without elaboration.
How long should it be?
From my experiences in academic/corporate interviewing and guiding graduate applicants since 2004, I am inclined to look at resumes with a naturally critical eye. In my experience, resumes that are 1-1.5 pages long tend to be the most engaging. Shorter than that, you run the risk of focusing on just the professional achievements. Longer than that, you are discussing more tasks (routine activities) than star achievements.
Besides, most MBA applicants have an average of 5 years of experience. For this level, a one-page resume is the one most commonly prescribed. Keep it to about 1.5 pages to include all your achievements outside the workplace for the MBA AdCom.
Why is this exercise important?
Giving your resume its due attention in the application stage will also make it easier to cut it down to 1 page when you start applying for summer internships pretty soon after you start the program. You will have enough on your plate then – wouldn't it be nice to have one thing less to worry about?
An additional benefit is that the work you put in will give you a clearer idea of your past accomplishments and help to better position yourself for future career goals. This exercise will help you hit the ground running for your internship search once you are in the MBA program.
As competition in MBA programs grows more intense, business school admissions committees scrutinize every aspect of the MBA application to a greater extent. This includes resumes. A precise, well-written resume will help to attest a candidate's credibility much more than one that needs to be completely reworked. This is why all the Business School Admissions Consulting packages (Elite, Complete or Essential) at My MBA Admit/Admit World were designed to include a comprehensive Resume Review. In addition, Resume Reviews are also available as a stand-alone service in both their Standard and Advanced versions.
Want us to cover something else? Leave us a comment!
Check out our services at My MBA Admit:MBA Admissions Consulting or email us at MBAConsult@MyMBAAdmit.com for a Free Initial Consultation.
Writing a winning main MBA Application Essay
Continuing the series on building Stronger MBA applications :
"How do I draft a strong and compelling main MBA application essay?"
You have decided to apply for an MBA. Your GMAT score is in place, your college transcripts are on their way, and your recommenders are lined up with their letters. “All” that remains are your essays.
However, as defined by the experiences of scores of MBA applicants before you, including yours truly at University of Chicago Booth Graduate School of Business, it's the essays that can make or break your application. Before you even consider having someone else write them for you though – stop and consider. One, your essays are your story – your past experiences, present goals, and future ambitions. No one knows your story better. Two, your MBA will be a source of personal pride and professional advancement for the rest of your life – do you really want someone else taking away part of the credit for that achievement? Three, from a more pragmatic perspective, you can learn all the modeling and slide-building skills you want, but it's your communication and presentation skills that will truly be your universal success factors - during MBA, in your first post-MBA job and every switch after.
Those words of caution aside, let's tackle the main MBA application essay question – Why MBA, Why Now, and Why at this School? Any essay that fails to answer one or more of these impacts the applicant's competitiveness.
Why MBA – whether the question explicitly mentions it or not, this should discuss both your short-term and long-term goals. Further, there should be a thread of credibility linking your past achievements with your future ambitions. For those getting an MBA as career enhancers, meeting this requirement is relatively easy – you have done X before MBA, and you are going to business school to continuing doing X, but at a higher level. However, the majority of full-time MBA students are career switchers. In this case, identifying your relevant skills, attributes and experiences that can help you, in conjunction with an MBA, to meet your short-term and long-term goals is crucial. This is where the ACE (Aim, Create and Elevate) process at My MBA Admit/Admit World comes in. We develop a business school admissions strategy, and ensure its adherence through every application component. Throughout the process, every plan and goal put forth in the essay is assessed for innate believability, depth of research, time line adherence and fit to your personal profile. We even offer brainstorming sessions that are geared specifically towards identifying and expanding upon your Why MBA reasons – whether your past experience was in IT, engineering, medicine or music, there is always a way to present your short-term and long-term goals for maximum impact to an admissions committee.
Why Now – if the previous section is done right, this should be a cinch. Inherently, citing long-term and short-term goals involves doing it citing on a time line. The reasoning used here should be geared at convincing an AdCom that since you want to achieve A (long-term goal) in 5 years, you need to do B (short-term goal) before, for which you need an MBA now. For example, many applicants go to business school with the aim of eventually starting their own business (long-term). To start your business, particularly in a field in which you have little experience, it makes sense to work for another firm in that field first (short-term). And to get into such a firm, you need an MBA now (direct answer to question).
Why this School - Finally, it is very important to couch every goal from the point of view of the school. As in citing specific programs, classes and specializations that will help you achieve your goals, to make it clear to the AdCom that this isn't a generic Why MBA essay, but a product of your research that offers a sound reasoning for Why MBA from this School in particular. Whether as a business school interviewer or an MBA admissions consultant, it's always this last factor that makes me give a “Go” on the application.
Check out our MBA Application Services and Packages at My MBA Admit.
"How do I draft a strong and compelling main MBA application essay?"
You have decided to apply for an MBA. Your GMAT score is in place, your college transcripts are on their way, and your recommenders are lined up with their letters. “All” that remains are your essays.
However, as defined by the experiences of scores of MBA applicants before you, including yours truly at University of Chicago Booth Graduate School of Business, it's the essays that can make or break your application. Before you even consider having someone else write them for you though – stop and consider. One, your essays are your story – your past experiences, present goals, and future ambitions. No one knows your story better. Two, your MBA will be a source of personal pride and professional advancement for the rest of your life – do you really want someone else taking away part of the credit for that achievement? Three, from a more pragmatic perspective, you can learn all the modeling and slide-building skills you want, but it's your communication and presentation skills that will truly be your universal success factors - during MBA, in your first post-MBA job and every switch after.
Those words of caution aside, let's tackle the main MBA application essay question – Why MBA, Why Now, and Why at this School? Any essay that fails to answer one or more of these impacts the applicant's competitiveness.
Why MBA – whether the question explicitly mentions it or not, this should discuss both your short-term and long-term goals. Further, there should be a thread of credibility linking your past achievements with your future ambitions. For those getting an MBA as career enhancers, meeting this requirement is relatively easy – you have done X before MBA, and you are going to business school to continuing doing X, but at a higher level. However, the majority of full-time MBA students are career switchers. In this case, identifying your relevant skills, attributes and experiences that can help you, in conjunction with an MBA, to meet your short-term and long-term goals is crucial. This is where the ACE (Aim, Create and Elevate) process at My MBA Admit/Admit World comes in. We develop a business school admissions strategy, and ensure its adherence through every application component. Throughout the process, every plan and goal put forth in the essay is assessed for innate believability, depth of research, time line adherence and fit to your personal profile. We even offer brainstorming sessions that are geared specifically towards identifying and expanding upon your Why MBA reasons – whether your past experience was in IT, engineering, medicine or music, there is always a way to present your short-term and long-term goals for maximum impact to an admissions committee.
Why Now – if the previous section is done right, this should be a cinch. Inherently, citing long-term and short-term goals involves doing it citing on a time line. The reasoning used here should be geared at convincing an AdCom that since you want to achieve A (long-term goal) in 5 years, you need to do B (short-term goal) before, for which you need an MBA now. For example, many applicants go to business school with the aim of eventually starting their own business (long-term). To start your business, particularly in a field in which you have little experience, it makes sense to work for another firm in that field first (short-term). And to get into such a firm, you need an MBA now (direct answer to question).
Why this School - Finally, it is very important to couch every goal from the point of view of the school. As in citing specific programs, classes and specializations that will help you achieve your goals, to make it clear to the AdCom that this isn't a generic Why MBA essay, but a product of your research that offers a sound reasoning for Why MBA from this School in particular. Whether as a business school interviewer or an MBA admissions consultant, it's always this last factor that makes me give a “Go” on the application.
Check out our MBA Application Services and Packages at My MBA Admit.
How do I strengthen my Business School Applications?
"How do I build a stronger MBA application?"
As an MBA admissions consultant, I often get asked this question in our Free Initial Consultations. Hope this post helps answer the most common query across business school applicants.
My viewpoint comes from advising graduate applicants since 2004, my experience in both undergraduate and graduate admissions, and being admitted to multiple top business schools during my own MBA application process.
MBA applicants are viewed from three perspectives by a business school admissions committee - academic, professional and personal.
The academic part of your profile allows for the most transparent metrics with easy comparison to your competition. These include your GPA (both Bachelor's and from potentially another Master's degree) and GMAT score. If one of these is not within the average range at your target school, I would advise you to focus on making the other metric stronger. For example, I regularly come across clients who either have a low undergraduate GPA or aren't very strong standardized test takers, and end up with a low GMAT score. In this case, you can assuage doubts on your academic abilities and thus strengthen your application through a stronger GPA/GMAT, as applicable. If either of these is a concern in your application, we also offer a Transcript Review and GMAT Consultation as part of all our Business School Admissions Packages, wherein our advice on steps to improve your academic profile is tailored to the specific courses making up your GPA or sections of the GMAT.
The professional part of your profile is composed of all your pre-MBA work experience, including full-time, part-time and internships. The point of focus here is not just a summary list of all that you have done, but how this is applicable to your business school experience and your stated post-MBA ambitions. For example, I frequently advise engineering/IT clients to demonstrate soft skills and personal attributes such as teamwork and communication through their essays and resume, while those with more creative/entrepreneurial/non-traditional backgrounds would be well-advised to showcase their analytical and quantitative abilities. Not having enough leadership experience is frequently a concern, especially for younger clients. With our help, business school applications can be appropriately positioned to demonstrate this through a combination of project and title leadership. At My MBA Admit, we start our MBA Admissions Consulting packages with an extensive discussion of your experiences and how they might be best positioned to demonstrate your strengths and mitigate any weaknesses, especially in light of the specific requirements of a particular school.
Finally, your personal profile is a combination of all the activities that help set you apart, in terms of all your life experiences, volunteer involvement and extracurricular activities. In other words, this is the most flexible section to demonstrate your comparative advantage against your competition for everything that you have done outside the requirements of work and school. Examples that past clients have shown include backpacking through Europe, a stint in the military, a lifetime of volunteering activities and independently rising up from humble origins. I often have MBA application clients say, "but we don't have enough extracurricular experience." This is why the business school application consulting approach that I have developed includes Application Strategy, Examples Selection and Positioning Guidance. In this, we identify both your positives and opportunities, review your complete profile for appropriate examples, and help you position them to mitigate a weakness or highlight a strength.
All the best with your business school applications! An MBA is truly a life-changing experience.
For a Free Initial Consultation on your profile, check us out at My MBA Admit: MBA Admissions Consulting or email us at MBAConsult@MyMBAAdmit.com.
As an MBA admissions consultant, I often get asked this question in our Free Initial Consultations. Hope this post helps answer the most common query across business school applicants.
My viewpoint comes from advising graduate applicants since 2004, my experience in both undergraduate and graduate admissions, and being admitted to multiple top business schools during my own MBA application process.
MBA applicants are viewed from three perspectives by a business school admissions committee - academic, professional and personal.
The academic part of your profile allows for the most transparent metrics with easy comparison to your competition. These include your GPA (both Bachelor's and from potentially another Master's degree) and GMAT score. If one of these is not within the average range at your target school, I would advise you to focus on making the other metric stronger. For example, I regularly come across clients who either have a low undergraduate GPA or aren't very strong standardized test takers, and end up with a low GMAT score. In this case, you can assuage doubts on your academic abilities and thus strengthen your application through a stronger GPA/GMAT, as applicable. If either of these is a concern in your application, we also offer a Transcript Review and GMAT Consultation as part of all our Business School Admissions Packages, wherein our advice on steps to improve your academic profile is tailored to the specific courses making up your GPA or sections of the GMAT.
The professional part of your profile is composed of all your pre-MBA work experience, including full-time, part-time and internships. The point of focus here is not just a summary list of all that you have done, but how this is applicable to your business school experience and your stated post-MBA ambitions. For example, I frequently advise engineering/IT clients to demonstrate soft skills and personal attributes such as teamwork and communication through their essays and resume, while those with more creative/entrepreneurial/non-traditional backgrounds would be well-advised to showcase their analytical and quantitative abilities. Not having enough leadership experience is frequently a concern, especially for younger clients. With our help, business school applications can be appropriately positioned to demonstrate this through a combination of project and title leadership. At My MBA Admit, we start our MBA Admissions Consulting packages with an extensive discussion of your experiences and how they might be best positioned to demonstrate your strengths and mitigate any weaknesses, especially in light of the specific requirements of a particular school.
Finally, your personal profile is a combination of all the activities that help set you apart, in terms of all your life experiences, volunteer involvement and extracurricular activities. In other words, this is the most flexible section to demonstrate your comparative advantage against your competition for everything that you have done outside the requirements of work and school. Examples that past clients have shown include backpacking through Europe, a stint in the military, a lifetime of volunteering activities and independently rising up from humble origins. I often have MBA application clients say, "but we don't have enough extracurricular experience." This is why the business school application consulting approach that I have developed includes Application Strategy, Examples Selection and Positioning Guidance. In this, we identify both your positives and opportunities, review your complete profile for appropriate examples, and help you position them to mitigate a weakness or highlight a strength.
All the best with your business school applications! An MBA is truly a life-changing experience.
For a Free Initial Consultation on your profile, check us out at My MBA Admit: MBA Admissions Consulting or email us at MBAConsult@MyMBAAdmit.com.
My MBA Admit/Admit World Contest - Answers here!
Thank you to everyone who entered the Admit World ACE contest! We received a number of entries and appreciate the efforts of everyone who took the time to participate.
If you sent in an entry, you have won your choice of either :
The winner gets a FREE Business School Selection and MBA Candidate Profiling report ($100 value!)
And now, the part that everyone is waiting for:
What does ACE stand for?
ACE stands for the three steps of our Admission Consulting Process: AIM, CREATE and ELEVATE. Together, these help you ACE your MBA applications.
AIM starts the MBA Admission Consulting Process.
It covers a candidacy overview, application strategy, and business school selection (including the Business School Selection and MBA Candidate Profiling report) to develop an admissions Action Plan tailored to your past achievements and future ambitions.
CREATE is the main step of the MBA Admission Consulting Process.
It includes developing all application components including MBA essays, resume, personal statements and extracurricular activitysummaries through multiple rounds of essay editing, resume review and overall feedback. We ensurethat these include your strongest examples which are positioned tobest fit the business school you are applying to.
ELEVATE completes the MBA Admission Consulting Process.
It takes your MBA application experience to a whole new level throughvaluablemodules including interview preparation, recommendation review,career counseling, and scholarship and financial aid advice. The endresult is a polished business school application package thatprovides a complete overview of your MBA candidacy, selects andhighlights your strongest achievements, and consistently demonstratesthese through every component and admissions committee interaction.
Want to learn more on how the Admit World ACE process can help you ace your MBA applications? Check us out at MyMBAAdmit.com or schedule a Free Initial Consultation by emailing MBAConsult@MyMBAAdmit.com today!
If you sent in an entry, you have won your choice of either :
- $50 off certificate on any of our MBA Admissions Consulting package (School, Volume Discounts, Targeted Solutions or Application Services) or
- 50% discount on our unique Business School Selection and MBA Candidate Profiling report
The winner gets a FREE Business School Selection and MBA Candidate Profiling report ($100 value!)
And now, the part that everyone is waiting for:
What does ACE stand for?
ACE stands for the three steps of our Admission Consulting Process: AIM, CREATE and ELEVATE. Together, these help you ACE your MBA applications.
AIM starts the MBA Admission Consulting Process.
It covers a candidacy overview, application strategy, and business school selection (including the Business School Selection and MBA Candidate Profiling report) to develop an admissions Action Plan tailored to your past achievements and future ambitions.
CREATE is the main step of the MBA Admission Consulting Process.
It includes developing all application components including MBA essays, resume, personal statements and extracurricular activitysummaries through multiple rounds of essay editing, resume review and overall feedback. We ensurethat these include your strongest examples which are positioned tobest fit the business school you are applying to.
ELEVATE completes the MBA Admission Consulting Process.
It takes your MBA application experience to a whole new level throughvaluablemodules including interview preparation, recommendation review,career counseling, and scholarship and financial aid advice. The endresult is a polished business school application package thatprovides a complete overview of your MBA candidacy, selects andhighlights your strongest achievements, and consistently demonstratesthese through every component and admissions committee interaction.
Want to learn more on how the Admit World ACE process can help you ace your MBA applications? Check us out at MyMBAAdmit.com or schedule a Free Initial Consultation by emailing MBAConsult@MyMBAAdmit.com today!
My MBA Admit/Admit World Contest: $100 reward! FINAL hint! Closes today!
Our third and FINAL hint on the ACE contest which closes today! (see
above for full contest details and additional hints!)
Check out the new My MBA Admit Consultations page, with our expanded product range and lower pricing. Read through it for the answer!
Remember, $50 off or a 50% discount on our Business School Selection and MBA Candidate Profiling report just for entering!
Winner gets a Business School Selection and MBA Candidate Profiling report ($100 value) plus unlimited phone consultation to discuss the report results.
Email us your best guess on the ACE Contest at MBAConsult@MyMBAAdmit.com by 11:59 pm ET tonight!
Check out the new My MBA Admit Consultations page, with our expanded product range and lower pricing. Read through it for the answer!
Remember, $50 off or a 50% discount on our Business School Selection and MBA Candidate Profiling report just for entering!
Winner gets a Business School Selection and MBA Candidate Profiling report ($100 value) plus unlimited phone consultation to discuss the report results.
Email us your best guess on the ACE Contest at MBAConsult@MyMBAAdmit.com by 11:59 pm ET tonight!
My MBA Admit/Admit World Contest: $100 reward! Check for new hint!
As promised,
Hint for today:
ACE stands for three individual words that make up the steps of a process.
Multiple entries are accepted. If you have sent one already and the hint makes you think of something new, enter again!
Best of luck!
Hint for today:
ACE stands for three individual words that make up the steps of a process.
Multiple entries are accepted. If you have sent one already and the hint makes you think of something new, enter again!
Best of luck!
My MBA Admit/Admit World Contest - $100 reward! Prizes just for entering!
Dear Readers,
My MBAAdmit has partnered with Admit World to offer a full roster of end-to-end MBA Admission Consulting services. We promise our clients the Admit World ACE process, our proven approach to offer a complete admissions consulting experience with services that include Application Evaluation, GMAT Consultation,Essay Editing, Resume Critique, Recommendation Review and Interview Preparation at very competitive prices.
The contest question is: What does ACE stand for? (Hint: we refer to it as a "process" above).
Winner gets a free Candidate Profiling and School Selection report - a $100 value! - which simulates a mini-application process with a detailed questionnaire, interview, short essays and resume evaluation to develop a detailed applicant profile. For everyone who is planning to apply for an MBA, this report offers 100+ business schools worldwide with the applicant's chances of being accepted at each of them.
Plus:
As a special thank you for entering, ALL participants get their choice of $50 off any Admissions Consulting service or package or 50% off our Candidate Profiling and School Selection report.
Looking for more hints?
Check again on Thursday, June 4 2010!
Message us your answers at MBAConsult@MyMBAAdmit.com.Contest will close in one week at 11:59 pm ET, June 9 2010.
Get in touch with us for more details on our new packages and prices or schedule a Free Initial Consultation by email: MBAConsult@MyMBAAdmit.comor phone: +1 646-703-0024.
My MBA Admit at a Kaplan panel in NYC on March 25! See you there!
Our founder at My MBA Admit will be participating in a panel for potential MBA applicants, sponsored by Kaplan. The questions covered will be those faced by every MBA candidate, such as choosing the right business school, tackling the MBA application, post-MBA career opportunities, etc. Click on the link to REGISTER NOW for a fantastic opportunity to meet MBA alumni from the top business schools across the United States! << MORE >>
My MBA Admit Client receives invites to BOTH Tepper and Haas after submitting MBA applications in the third round! How did she do it?
The essence is taking a long-term approach to teach our clients how to succeed both as MBA candidates and in post-MBA opportunities, rather than a short-term one that just focuses on getting them into business school. As I always tell my graduate admissions consulting clients, 'Business school is not a destination, but a way to get to your dream position." My advise to all MBA candidates is to treat it the same way. << MORE >>
Prefer the GRE over GMAT? Now, you may have the option, as Harvard, Wharton and more, accept GRE
Many US business schools, as well as international MBA programs now accept the GRE as a substitute for the GMAT in an MBA application. Among the top schools, we have NYU (New York University, Stern School of Business), Harvard University, Wharton (University of Pennsylvania, Wharton School - beginning 2010), Yale University and Columbia (but so far, Executive MBA program only). << MORE >>