{"id":30665,"date":"2015-09-26T18:19:46","date_gmt":"2015-09-27T01:19:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/?p=30665"},"modified":"2016-07-27T16:03:03","modified_gmt":"2016-07-27T23:03:03","slug":"six-tips-for-better-resumes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/six-tips-for-better-resumes\/","title":{"rendered":"Six Tips For Better Resumes"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_34353\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-34353\" style=\"width: 300px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-34353 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.accepted.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/Six-Tips-for-Better-Resumes-300x154.png\" alt=\"Six Tips for Better Resumes\" width=\"300\" height=\"154\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-34353\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><\/p>\n<p> Before starting your resume, learn as much as possible about the school you\u2019re applying to.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Need advice on how to make your \u201cgreatest hits\u201d shine? Looking for ways to grab the adcom\u2019s attention with a resume that highlights your academic prowess, professional strengths, <a href=\"https:\/\/info.accepted.com\/leadership-in-admissions\">leadership skills<\/a>, and overall impressiveness? The following six tips will help you create a stunning resume that\u2019s sure to boost your competitiveness and increase your chance of getting accepted: <\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><strong>1. Know your target school.<\/strong><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>\u00a0<\/strong>The best way to convince the adcom that you\u2019re best for their school, is to understand the school\u2019s mission, strengths, and ideals. Before starting your resume, you should <a href=\"https:\/\/www.accepted.com\/mba\/fit.aspx\">learn as much as possible<\/a> about the school you\u2019re applying to. Then, customize your resume to reflect the aspects of your background that are most relevant to your target school. Without copying the language on the school\u2019s website verbatim, you must make sure that your resume addresses their mission\/strengths\/ideals and include the right \"keywords.\"<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><strong>2. Know yourself \u2013 your skills and your accomplishments.<\/strong><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>\u00a0<\/strong>What skills are you particularly good at? What accomplishments are you proudest of? What have you achieved that gained you the most recognition? Interview yourself and inventory your previous jobs, the skills you acquired, and your \"greatest hits\" as a professional \u2013 the times when you impacted your organization the most. Look through your formal performance reviews for glowing appraisals, scan your work files for successes you may have forgotten about, or keep a personal career folder where you keep track of new skills you\u2019ve learned or the comments of happy customers.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><strong>3. Be concrete, specific, quantitative.<\/strong><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>\u00a0<\/strong>Don\u2019t say \"Developed e-commerce plan that was selected for implementation\" when you mean \"Designed $5 million e-commerce strategy that increased revenues by 12 percent and attracted six new clients.\" If you work for a private company and can\u2019t disclose revenue figures, refer to\u00a0<\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">percentage <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">increases or improvements or cite the improved industry\u00a0<\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">ranking<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0of the organization\u2019s product or performance as a result of your contribution. Think of numbers and other hard details as the proof that you can deliver.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><strong>4. Know your negatives.\u00a0<\/strong><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The vast majority of us have screwed up once or twice in our careers: been downsized, locked in a dead-end job, or just failed to work to our full potential for a time. You can\u2019t lie about these career plateaus (see Tip #5) but you can present them in the best possible light so you have the chance to explain them fully if they come up during the interview or if you\u2019re given the chance in <a href=\"https:\/\/blog.accepted.com\/2012\/03\/25\/optional-essays-when-and-how-to-write-them\/\">an optional essay<\/a>. With the right strategy you can deal with everything from typecasting and job-hopping to limited experience and unemployment.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><strong>5. Don\u2019t lie.<\/strong><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0Making up degrees, accomplishments, and other personal and professional facts is always a bad idea. Don\u2019t do it \u2013 it\u2019s unethical and potentially self-destructive. Schools won\u2019t hesitate to show students the door when they learn their resume, or any other parts of their application, are more fiction than fact. But even less brazen forms of dishonesty should stay far from your resume. For example, if you were one of six members of a team of managers with equal rank and responsibility, don\u2019t say you \"Served as lead of six-member management team.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><strong>6. Use design elements to enhance your resume.<\/strong><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0The skillful use of understated design elements can result in an eye-catching resume that projects a sophisticated, successful image. These elements can be uncomplicated, such as using white space generously or replacing the traditional round bullet with the less common diamond- and arrow-shaped bullet. Or they can be more complex, such as using expanded text (kerning) to highlight a key term or enclosing the professional profile section of your resume in a shaded box. In general, make sure your typeface is readable. And if your target school specifies format rules (particularly regarding margins, page number, and font), be sure to follow theirs to a T. This may mean toning down your creative flair for design to fit their standard. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If you\u2019re not sure how to develop a comprehensive profile or you\u2019re too busy achieving to do damage control on a negative, call an\u00a0<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.accepted.com\/aboutus\/aboutus.aspx\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Accepted.com consultant<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. Let professionals highlight your competitiveness.\u00a0<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.accepted.com\/services\/resumeservices.aspx\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">We\u2019ll be glad to help<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. You\u2019re outstanding, so shouldn\u2019t your resume be outstanding as well?<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/reports.accepted.com\/resume_guide?utm_campaign=gmatclub&amp;utm_medium=admissionsresumes&amp;utm_source=blogcta\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn2.hubspot.net\/hubfs\/58291\/hub_generated\/resized\/796c290c-7b12-4451-8fe7-010c3d93b95e\" alt=\"The Quick Guide To Admissions Resumes - Download your free guide today!\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.accepted.com\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-28527 size-full alignnone\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.accepted.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/Accepted_PremierAdmissionsCosultancy.png\" alt=\"Accepted: The Premier Admissions Cosultancy\" width=\"429\" height=\"69\" \/><\/a><br \/>\n<strong>Related Resources:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">\u2022\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/info.accepted.com\/leadership-in-admissions\">Leadership in Admissions<\/a><br \/>\n\u2022 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.accepted.com\/resume\/samples.aspx\">Sample Resumes and Cover Letters<\/a><br \/>\n\u2022\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/blog.accepted.com\/2015\/09\/11\/application-resume-dos-and-donts\/\">9 Do\u2019s And Don\u2019ts For Your Application Resume<\/a><\/p>\n<p><em>\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/blog.accepted.com\/2015\/09\/22\/six-tips-for-better-resumes\/\">This article\u00a0<\/a>originally appeared on\u00a0<\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/blog.accepted.com\/\">blog.accepted.com<\/a><em>.<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/accepted.com\/\">Accepted.com<\/a><em>'s\u00a0<\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.accepted.com\/aboutus\/AboutUs.aspx\">experienced admissions consultants<\/a><em>\u00a0can help you create the most impressive application possible with\u00a0<\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.accepted.com\/Services\/MBAProgramServices.aspx\">comprehensive packages<\/a><em>,<\/em><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><em>or provide targeted assistance from\u00a0<\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.accepted.com\/services\/mba\/admissionsconsulting.aspx\">picking perfect programs<\/a><em>\u00a0to\u00a0<\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.accepted.com\/mba\/admissionsresume.aspx\">designing a dazzling resume<\/a><em>,\u00a0<\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.accepted.com\/mba\/essayediting.aspx\">constructing engaging essays<\/a><em>, or\u00a0<\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.accepted.com\/mba\/interviewservices.aspx\">preparing for intense interview<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.accepted.com\/mba\/interviewservices.aspx\">s<\/a><em>\u2026and more!\u00a0<\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/accepted.com\/\">Accepted.com<\/a><em>\u00a0has guided thousands of applicants to acceptances at top programs since 1994 \u2013 we know what works and what doesn't, so\u00a0<\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.accepted.com\/contactus.aspx\">contact us<\/a><em>\u00a0to get started now!<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Need advice on how to make your \u201cgreatest hits\u201d shine? Looking for ways to grab the adcom\u2019s attention with a resume that highlights your academic prowess, professional strengths, leadership skills,&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,939,775,113,243],"tags":[184,1048,1896,39,370,723,1736],"class_list":["post-30665","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-mba","category-accepted","category-admission-consultants","category-applications","category-blog","tag-admissions-consulting","tag-advice-for-mba-applicants","tag-mba","tag-mba-admissions","tag-mba-advice","tag-mba-resume","tag-mba-resume-help","entry"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30665","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30665"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30665\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":30668,"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30665\/revisions\/30668"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30665"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30665"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30665"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}