MBA Resume Tips & Power Verbs

sabrina_ren

回馈CD 收集整理了一些 Resume 的资源 希望对大家有用

Most Common Errors in Resume

You can build a strong résumé byavoiding the following most common errors.

1. Lengthy Résumé: First, resist the temptation of writing alengthy resume. It’s about quality, not quantity, so make sure not to go overone page limit. Most schools want to see only one page résumés. Let your résumébe short and sweet The resume should be the shortest document in yourapplication but the most impactful one that provides an overview of not onlyyour professional career and accomplishments, but also your interest and extra-curricular activities.
Please use 10 or 11 font and do not try tosqueeze in loads of information by using 8 font.

2. Omitting dates: When listing job positions, sometimesapplicants forget to mention employment dates. Without specific dates, the AdCom will not be able to garner your career progression and your promotions.

3. Writing Sentences/ Paragraphs: Please do not write sentences or paragraphseven if you have a lot of information to convey. Instead use bulleted points.Each bullet should be limited to two lines of text, and there should be no morethan five bullets per job position. You may use 2 bullet points for listing jobresponsibilities and 2-3 for job accomplishments.

4. Use of Fancy Fonts: Typical fonts for a resume are Times NewRoman, Verdana, Cambria and Arial, with Times New Roman being the most common.The business résumé is not the place to use fancy fonts. So don’t use crazyfonts or intricate borders.

5. Use of Jargon: One of the most common mistakes applicantsmake is using technical terms of their industry. Do not assume that Ad Com willunderstand your industry jargon. This is not a job resume that you are writingfor your prospective employer. This is your MBA resume that is scanned by theAd Com of business schools for career progression, leadership qualities, team-working skills, initiative and other interests/activities of future businessleaders. So make sure to make your résumé jargon free. The following example isjargon free:
Example:
• Created and implemented new checklists andguidelines, helping reduce the cost of the projects by 10-15%

6. Lack of Strong Verbs: Do not start a bullet point with nouns or adjectives(e.g. ‘responsible for’ or ‘in depth understanding of’). Begin with a strongaction verb. Verbs make you sound like a dynamic individual who is always readyfor action. Also, try to avoid overusing verbs like “led”, “managed” or“developed”, and consider using other verbs such as “accelerated,” “delivered,”“established,” “implemented,” “initiated,” or “spearheaded” etc. Use verbs thatdemonstrate your collaborative attitude e.g ‘assist’, ‘contribute’, ‘support’,‘provide’ etc.
Example:
• Collaborated with multiple stakeholders andbuilt a team of 7 analysts that resulted in revenue growth of $ 400K/ year

7. List of job responsibilities: Another most common mistake some applicantsmake in their MBA résumé is making it a long list of job responsibilities. TheAd Com will not look at your résumé for the number of years you have worked orfor your simple job responsibilities. Instead, they will look for the qualityof professional experience i.e. the skills you have acquired and the impact youhave made on your organization. When listing your professional experience,follow the reverse chronological order so your current professional experiencegets the utmost attention.

8. Lack of Quantifiable Accomplishments: Résumés that do not quantify the outcome ofyour accomplishments fail to make an impression. So please make sure toquantify your impact on your company/organization with measurable results orachievements.
Try to provide specific details such as:

➢ How much or bywhat percentage you reduced expenses?
➢ Howmany people were on the team that you supervised?
➢ Howmuch or by what percentage you increased sales ?

Example:
• Spearheaded a flagship project - “Change InTerms” for the company– built a team of 5 analysts, translating into revenue of$ 100K

9. Details of high school: Sometimes applicants fill precious space withhigh school accomplishments and grades. Please do not discuss your high schoolactivities unless you did something exceptional for your age. You have come along way after high school; and you are applying for graduate school, notcollege.

10. Omitting extracurricular activities/interest: Sometimes theapplicants get so involved in the details of their professional experience thatthey tend to ignore extracurricular activities/community service and other interests/hobbies. Please note that the schools are looking for well-rounded individuals,and not only professionals who have no interests beyond their work. So do nothesitate to include 2-3 hobbies that you feel passionate about and pursue inyour non-work hours. Please do not include too many hobbies or interests. Also,include community service activities you have been involved in.

11. Beginning with Education Section: Beginning with the educations section is oneof the most common mistakes the applicants make. Please place your educationsection after professional career section and keep it short. It should show theschools you have attended,the areas of study, and accomplishments/ranking etc.

12. Additional Information /Skills: If you have some certificates or awards, ifyou have learned some foreign languages, or if you possess advanced computerskills, you may use this section for this information. Also, if you have a longlist of awards/ honors, you may create a separate section of ‘Awards and Honors’to include that information.

13. Providing Personal information: Please do not provide your height, weight,date of birth, and marital status on your résumé. Also, there is no need toprovide your picture on your résumé.

14. List of References: An MBA résumé is not a place for providingreferences. So do not use precious space in providing references or evenmentioning ‘References on request’.

Lastly, and most importantly, edit andproofread your resume multiple times before you submit it. You do not want toruin your first impression by careless spelling, grammar, and style errors. Getit reviewed by a second a pair of eyes to ensure consistency and accuracy.

sabrina_ren

Creating strong MBA resume

Most MBA programs require a 1-2 pages resume in their applications. Your MBA resume should focus on your professional and educational background, and highlight your achievements in these areas.

Here are some tips from Aringo for creating a strong MBA resume:

"CV Speak"- Less is more.
o Drop any word that is not likely to promote any admission driver.
o If you can say something in two ways, say it in the shorter way.

- In CV's, use "word economy" as much as possible. For example:
o Instead of: the largest bank in Canada --> Canada's largest bank
o Instead of: a project worth $1 million --> a $1 million project
o Instead of: the financial status of the company --> the company's financial status
o Instead of: negotiations that lasted one year --> one-year-long negotiations

- Words such as "of", "for", "in", "which", "that" should raise a flag: here's a place where you may be able to change the text to "word economy" structure.

- In "CV Speak" you may omit "a" and "the" although it's grammatically incorrect. This is common practice for resume-type documents, to keep them short. For
example: "Led company's negotiations" instead of "led the company's negotiations".

- However, in about half the cases, it's impressive and better to keep the word "the".
o We keep the word "the" when we want to emphasize that something or someone is "The real thing" (singular).
o Examples: "Received the Distinguished Soldier Award", "Presented the company's annual plan to the CEO"

- Try to use the word "and" as little as possible. We need the sentences to be brief and crisp.
o Instead of using "and":
Either say just one of the things instead of two - one is often enough.
Or
Break one long sentence into two short sentences. We need the sentences to be short.
o For example:
The candidate wrote: "Negotiated deal terms and structure with the CEO".
The word "and" raises a flag – maybe there's room for improvement here.
Two alternatives:
1. One wing is enough: "Negotiated deal terms with the CEO"
2. Break into two sentences:
Negotiated deal terms with the CEO.
Negotiated deal structure with the CEO.
o Obviously, in this case alternative 1 is better.

- Try to avoid using words such as "I", "my", "our"


Work Experience
- Work experience is comprised of responsibilities (less important) and achievements (more important).
- The responsibilities and achievements usually start with a verb.
- Avoid using subjective terms such as "excellent" or "fast", use facts and objective terms only.
- If the numbers related to the responsibility/achievement are large/impressive, provide them. Otherwise, don't.
o Often you can turn an unimpressive number into an impressive number by using %.
o For example, if sales went up from $10,000 to $30,000 - these numbers are not impressive, you don't want to use them.
o Instead, you can say: "sales went up 200%". This is true, and more impressive.
- Consider including work in the family business (if there is any) - part time or full time.
- If a person was only doing projects, one after the other, there may be no responsibilities, just achievements.
- Try to describe any position in laymen terms. Avoid technical/professional explanations.


Responsibilities
- Responsibility examples:
o "Manage a team of 4".
o Conduct development review meetings.
- Responsibilities in the current position start with verbs in the present simple tense ("manage").
- Responsibilities in past positions start with verbs in the past tense ("managed").
Teaching assistant positions: if a teaching assistant position included leading class sessions of 50 students - say it (gives us points on presentation and leadership skills).


Achievements
Achievement example:
- Achieved a 120% increase in Department's net income within 18 months.
o Reorganized the three import activities to fit with the new zero inventory model.
o Re-structured the costing, pricing and financing models of the activities.
o Re-negotiated supplier and client contracts.


- Achievements are a critical component in the CV. We need strong, impressive achievements.
- Achievement bullets usually start with verbs in the past tense.
- An achievement is often connected with a specific project.
- An achievement is comprised of "action" and "result".
- You may use sub-bullets, which are sub-components of the general action or of the result.

The result part of the achievement


- The result sentences are specific facts.
- The result should include numbers if possible.

Placing the Result in the Achievement

- Four recommended options for placing the result:
o Option 1: The main, upper bullet will be short. It will hardly include anything but the result. We often use this option if the result is exceptionally impressive. Example:
• Led the second largest sale in the company's 20-year history.
o Managed…
o Negotiated…



o Option 2: Put both the action part and the result part in the main bullet and connect them with words such as:
that cut
that generated
which saved
which netted
which created
which increased
that decreased, etc.

Example:

• Led creation of system that cut quarterly analysis costs by $12,000.
o Managed…
o Persuaded…

o Option 3: Put both the action part and the result part in the main bullet. Put them in two separate sentences. For example:

• Led post-merger strategy development [[action]]. Net income increased by 15% within two years [[result]].
o Managed…
o Presented…

o Option 4: if the result is not that impressive -

Either include the result in a sub-bullet.
Or do NOT mention the result at all.
If the action part is also not impressive, consider dropping the achievement.


- Try to avoid "spoon-feeding" words such as "resulting in" and "leading to" ("…resulting in a 20% increase in annual profits").
- Which of the above 4 options to choose?
o The more impressive the result, the more conspicuous (glaring) it should be.
o Use your judgment and practical (content) considerations.


The Best Results


- The best descriptions of results are relative (descriptions that compare the result to other results).
For example:
o "Fastest promotion in the Division's history"
o CEO Alan Corey cited project as "one of the three most successful projects in the company's history" (company's annual conference, 11/02/09).

- If needed: develop, together with the client, a metric that measures the result.
For example:
o "defect occurrence rate":
Reduced defect occurrence rate by 50%.
o "on-time delivery ratio":
Increased the on-time delivery ratio from 70% to 90% within one year (2002).
o "labor costs":
Led a training program for customer integration teams which generated support-labor cost savings of 50%.

sabrina_ren

The 9 Do’s for Writing Your Resume

The Do’s:
1) Place your strongest material at the top of your resume. Create a two-inch space 2 5/8 inches from the top of the page and use this as your “primetime” space—this is where you’ll showcase your most impactful, impressive qualifications and achievements. If your resume reader only gets this far, at least he or she will have received a compelling image of who you are and what you can do. You should write this professional profile/qualifications section after you’ve completed the rest of your resume, when you have a better idea of what your strongest assets are.

2) Give your most recent professional experience the most attention. This position should receive the most space on your resume and should include more bulleted accomplishments than previous positions.

3) Rank accomplishments in order of decreasing relevance.

4) Use details to quantify your impact on the organizations you’ve worked for. Include how much or by what percentage you reduced expenses. Say how many people were on the team that you supervised. Demonstrate your impact by using specific numbers.

5) Place your educational information after your work experience if you’ve been working for more than five years.

6) Resume design should be as important as resume content. Use a 10- to 12-point conservative typeface (nothing in script or with squiggles that you think looks fancy or pretty), use lines to separate resume sections, and try and stay within 1″ margins (slightly smaller on the top and bottom of the page).

7)Include resume “extras” like honors, publications, presentations, patents, professional licenses or certifications, and relevant volunteer experiences. These points of interest could be what convince the employer or adcom to invite you in for an interview.

8)Proofread and edit mercilessly. Reduce fluff and make every word count. Spell check, grammar check, and style check. Have a friend or a professional editor look over your resume for errors you may have missed.

9) For your MBA application, stick to a one-page resume.

CamillaChan

太感谢您了，正好需要这样准确的resume书写指点。

perfectends

mark~ tks!

ftdonnaf

thanks

emily_ying

mark起来

tinaxueMIT

Just to throw in a tip. font and formatting should be consistent throughout your application package.

Also I'm not sure number 6 is true. That will depend on how much emphasis the program puts on leadership.

katsuna

感谢楼主分享

gani85

感谢分享！