{"id":20313,"date":"2013-08-19T13:08:58","date_gmt":"2013-08-19T20:08:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/?p=20313"},"modified":"2013-08-20T13:47:05","modified_gmt":"2013-08-20T20:47:05","slug":"7-fatal-resume-flaws-to-avoid","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/7-fatal-resume-flaws-to-avoid\/","title":{"rendered":"7 Fatal Resume Flaws to Avoid"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"resumeimage\"<\/a>The MBA Resume: Done right, this one-page list of accomplishments can woo the adcoms towards acceptance; done wrong, a resume could be your ticket to ding-hood.<\/p>\n

The following 7 fatal resume flaws were are derived from a Businessweek<\/em> article<\/a>:<\/p>\n

1. Don\u2019t view your resume as an afterthought; it should not<\/em> be your last priority<\/strong> \u2013 Your resume is \u201cthe only place where you have the entire candidacy on one page, and admissions committees often look at this first and start to form an opinion on your candidacy.\u201d<\/p>\n

2. Basic job descriptions just won\u2019t cut it<\/em><\/strong> \u2013 When top b-school<\/a> adcoms quickly scan a resume (which is what they do at first), they\u2019re looking for career progression. Even a list of the most impressive jobs won\u2019t mean nearly as much to an adcom as a list of impressive jobs that show that a candidate has achieved goals, been promoted, and has generally made an impact on his or her surroundings.<\/p>\n

3. Do not<\/em> submit a job<\/em> resume as part of your MBA application<\/strong> \u2013 Your MBA resume<\/a> should not include industry-specific or technical lingo that you might include on a resume for, say, an IT position. \u201cWhat you\u2019re trying to do is make the information as easily accessible to your audience as possible,\u201d says Michael Cohan, admissions pro.<\/p>\n

4. When formatting your resume, standards trump creativity<\/em><\/strong> \u2013 Review the resume standards for your target school. Check out resources at the school\u2019s career services department to find out how you should standardize your tenses, punctuation, and formatting. Don\u2019t bold headings if your school-specific format doesn\u2019t bold headings, for example. \u201cAll we care about is who you are,\u201d explains Julie Liu, former student adcom at Chicago Booth<\/a>. \u201cA person who does artistic or crazy fonts just shows us that maybe [he] should have applied to art school.\u201d<\/p>\n

5. Don\u2019t<\/em> forget to edit<\/strong> \u2013 A resume that hasn\u2019t been spell-checked, grammar-checked, and reviewed by an extra set (or two) of eyes, will probably have errors, and therefore won\u2019t make a very good first impression. \u201cIt must be letter-perfect, no mistakes, no puffery, no lying or anything like that,\u201d says Brian T. Lohr, Notre Dame Mendoza<\/a>'s director of MBA admissions.<\/p>\n

6. Don\u2019t<\/em> offer information overload<\/strong> \u2013 That means no SAT or GMAT scores, no GPA, no high school education, and no references. The school will have all of that information from other parts of your application. Needless to say, date of birth, height, and weight should be excluded.<\/p>\n

7. Your resume should not<\/em> be more than a single page<\/strong> \u2013 According to Shrum, \u201cOne and a half pages scream that you think you\u2019re either too important or can\u2019t be bothered getting it down to one page.\u201d If you have a gap of unemployment to explain, and can\u2019t fit it on your resume, consider using the optional essay<\/a> for that purpose.<\/p>\n

Need help perfecting your MBA admissions resume? Check out Accepted.com\u2019s Resume Services <\/a>and work one-on-one with an admissions expert to create a coherent, compelling admissions resume that will convince your target school\u2019s adcoms that they should keep reading\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n


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