Resume questions

[keviv]

Hi Stacy & Co.,

I have some questions regarding the resume component of my applications. Since I imagine that an admissions officer would look at my resume in a different light than a prospective employer might, I was wondering if I should do anything differently.

Specifically, I was wondering the following:


- Should I include extra-curriculars from my undergraduate experience? If so, where in the resume do you think they belong?

- Should I attempt to squeeze everything into one page, or is a two-page resume okay?

- Should I include my GMAT score (720) and GPA (3.3) on the resume? I'm proud of the former, but think the latter is a little weak, and so am unsure.


Appreciate any insight you may have. And, if you have any other pointers on the resume portion of the application, do let me know.

Thanks for the help!

-Kev Ivris

[Amy]

Hi Kev,

The main difference between your MBA resume and your professional resume is that you want to remove all industry specific lingo and clearly articulate your responsibilities and accomplishments in a way that someone unfamiliar with your particular function/industry can understand.

General tips are to quantify your results whenever possible and focus on your leadership and relationship skills if those are not an obvious part of your job (e.g. discuss teams you have worked on if you don't have direct reports.)

Some schools require a one page resume while others are willing to take a 2-pager. Personally I don't think anyone pre-MBA needs a two page resume, and the discipline of keeping it at one page will give you focus.

College extracurriculars (if they show leadership - president of a club, for example) are great. They should go in the section with your educational information.

The general rule for GPA/GMAT is to only include such information if it is very impressive and will provide useful data to your target audience. Your resume is a marketing tool in the end.

Good luck!

Amy