Resume tips for an awesome MBA application

The resume is a huge, integral part of the business school application, and as more and more schools are scaling back on the amount and the word limit of essays, they’re really looking at the resume to tell the whole picture. Here’s a few things you can do. First of all, make it easy to read. Cut out a lot of the fancy formatting. Keep it simple so that I can glance at it and within a couple seconds, know the career progression you’ve had, any promos, the titles, dates, all that kind of thing. Then, most importantly, remember that this resume you’re about to give a business school is very different than a resume you might give to someone in your own industry, or if you are trying to apply for a job within the same field you’re already in. Take out acronyms. Take out jargon. Things that somebody just isn’t going to understand unless they work beside you. That’s not to say that you shouldn’t quantify your work and make sure that you come across as a top performer. You can absolutely have bullets that show that, and you should, but keep it really focused on what business schools are interested in, like how you work with others, how you negotiate with clients, how you collaborate across teams, global components and perspectives, how you’ve mentored, how you’ve led. Basically, you want to showcase that you have those interpersonal and people skills that can be transferred into another function or industry.