Resume: Do you need to explain what your company does?

[saintforlife]

I have worked as an engineer at a top oil-field services company and at a leading semi-conductor capital equipment manufacturing company. Though both companies are publicly traded and very well known within their respective industries, few people outside those industries know what these companies do.

So in my MBA application resume, do I need to mention what these companies do, so that the ad com has a context of what kind of work I do/did? My only concern is wasting 4 lines to talk about the companies I worked at instead of using those to talk about my accomplishments there.

I would appreciate some feedback from experts here.

Something like this:

[Jon@Admissionado]

If it is not an obvious well known global multinational, it is a VERY GOOD idea! Especially if you can add something impressive that people might not know about it. For example "CWEQ is the Largest global import/export company of seafood". They are not going to know things like this unless you tell them!

[bremkofi]

As Admissionado says, you should definitely give a short description of what these companies do. You can't expect an adcom to know about all the companies traded on the stock exchange or otherwise recognized in their field. Are you able to tie your work experience in with your desire to participate in the managerial arena? As an MBA applicant you must be convincing about your professional goals, show some experience in the the business side of these companies or be able to demonstrate good management skills. The closer you can come to the financial side of any operation the better.

[CriticalSquareMBA]

As Jon mentioned, definitely include the description and try to convey size, scope, and impact of the firm as much as possible. After all, some of your essays will be in a professional setting and if an adcom can put your stories into a larger context such as your company or industry, then it makes it that much more meaningful.

Don't worry too much about losing real estate. The benefit you get from including this information outweighs the space you lose. Try to keep the description to 1 line if you can, however, to minimize how much space you lose.

Bhavik