We will be collecting all our profile evaluations and application review responses posted at GMATClub and other forums under the MyMBAAdmit thread to provide a single resource for our readers.Candidate seeks to understand how to define total work experience.TXTDryFly wrote:
I have worked since I was in 9th grade.
1999-2005 Plywood Company – Part-Time
2006 Record Label
2006-2007 Independent Contractor
2007-2010 Plywood Company
On the application, it asks for how many years of adult work experience do I have. I have worked since I was 16. Do I put the total amount of years combined, the total amount of years since I became 18, or the number of years of work experience since I graduated?
One more question. In my resume under career profile, how many years should I put? I have11 years of work experience and 9 years at the same company, but these 9 years really are not the same as someone working 9 years at a company since graduation. Should I put the amount of experience since graduation, or my total years of experience at the Plywood Company?
I apologize, I know that is confusing.
Hi TXTDryFly,
Impressive work experience! I would be very interested in your stories for your essays - having done so much, I am sure they must be fascinating to read.
Regarding work experience, the conventional way to approach full-time work experience for the purpose of an MBA - whether that is in the application, in the context of summer internship/post-degree employment, or in casual conversations with classmates - is the experience after obtaining an undergraduate degree. Any other employment, such as part-time during college, internships or co-ops is not listed in the main section of "number of months of full-time employment" but listed in the supplemental information section. In your case, this is something I would strongly recommend since it not only shows extra experience, but a host of attributes such as perseverance, ambition, hard work, etc.
On the resume, begin with your post-undergraduate work experience. List any internships and co-ops in the additional information section. List your part-time experience while college was in session as one of the points under the academic section. This approach ensures that you take full advantage of all the experience you have, while still following convention on how to list it.
Do note that my advice above assumes that you have sufficient work experience after completing your undergraduate degree, i.e. 3years or more. If I missed something, I apologize. Feel free to post any follow-up questions in the
Ask My MBA Admit thread in this forum.
From our experience with admissions as well as My
MBA Admit clients, we believe that both the resume and data forms are extremely important sections of the application, but often don't receive as much emphasis as they should. An MBA application resume is very different from a vocational/job resume, and needs to be tailored accordingly. Also, the more effort you spend on it now, the greater your ability to hit the ground running when you start developing one for MBA internships. Secondly, the data forms offer tremendous opportunity to mention achievements, with a judicious amount of detail, that may not have received sufficient emphasis elsewhere in the application. It is to your advantage to fully leverage them, versus just providing a list of all that you have done.
This is where we can help. We work with you to develop an entire application package that has a coherent story running throughout all the components that include not just the essays, but all other parts such as resume, data forms and recommendation letters. The singular aim is, of course, to help you be a successful admit.
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mbaconsult@mymbaadmit.com. Check out our
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09 May 2010, 18:10
