{"id":37571,"date":"2017-06-07T06:30:12","date_gmt":"2017-06-07T13:30:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/?p=37571"},"modified":"2017-06-07T01:23:31","modified_gmt":"2017-06-07T08:23:31","slug":"8-tips-for-better-admissions-resumes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/8-tips-for-better-admissions-resumes\/","title":{"rendered":"8 Tips for Better Admissions Resumes"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Download<\/a><\/p>\n

This post is taken from <\/i>The Quick Guide to Admissions Resumes. Click here to download the full guide.<\/a><\/i><\/p>\n

Looking for solid tips for the actual writing of your resume<\/a>? What should you include? What should you leave out? What sort of tone should you use? What do you need to know?<\/p>\n

The following eight tips will guide you towards creating an impressive, persuasive, accurate resume:<\/p>\n

1. Know your target program\u2019s mission.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The best way to convince the admissions board to offer you a spot in their next class is to understand the goals and mission of their program. Before starting your resume, you should learn as much as possible about what sorts of candidates your program seeks. Then, customize your resume to reflect the aspects of your background that are most relevant to the program you are applying to<\/a>.<\/p>\n

2. Know yourself professionally \u2013 your skills and your accomplishments.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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 contributed to 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.<\/p>\n

Additional questions to consider: Do you fill a role traditionally filled by someone much older than you? Have you become one of only a few to transition to a coveted department or role? Have you earned awards for your work that far surpass the average rate of recognition? You can list these types of data points in a Highlights section at the top of your document.<\/p>\n

3. Stand out personally.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Fight negative stereotypes about your profession to show that you are exceptional<\/a>. If you are an accountant, admissions committees tend to assume you are risk averse, so you need to add material that shows some of the bigger risks you\u2019ve taken: entrepreneurial efforts, motorcycle racing, etc. If you\u2019re a finance type, you might be perceived as conceited or aloof, so you should be sure to include evidence of your social skills and humility: community service efforts, mentoring, etc.<\/p>\n

4. Be concrete, specific, quantitative.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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% and attracted six new clients.\" If you work for a private company and can\u2019t disclose revenue figures, refer to percentage increases or improvements or cite the improved industry ranking of the organization\u2019s product or performance as a result of your contribution. Think of numbers and other hard details<\/a> as the proof that you can deliver.<\/p>\n

5. Know how far back to go.<\/strong><\/p>\n

As a general rule, if you are applying to graduate school and have at least two years of work experience, your high school activities should not be included in your resume. However, there are exceptions to this rule. For example, if you won a prestigious national award in high school, you may consider including this important recognition.<\/p>\n

6. Know your negatives.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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 #7) 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. It all starts with your resume. With the right strategy you can deal with everything<\/a> from typecasting and job- hopping to limited experience and unemployment.<\/p>\n

7. Don\u2019t lie.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Making 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. Adcoms won\u2019t hesitate to show students to the door when they learn their resume is more fiction than fact. But less brazen forms of dishonesty should also 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.\"<\/p>\n

8. Be strategically creative.<\/strong><\/p>\n

No, we don\u2019t mean using DayGlo ink or faux marble resume paper. We do mean bringing to the preparation of your resume the same capacity for thinking outside the box that you bring to your career. For example, if the traditional chronological resume will bury your best material near the bottom, consider using a \"functional\" resume format or even a combination of the chronological and the functional. Similarly, if you paid for your entire college education, add a line mentioning this in your resume\u2019s education section. Want to let the adcom know that you\u2019re from a minority group<\/a> without committing the no-no of adding a personal data section? Add a memberships section to your resume and include the name of community organizations (for example, \"South Asian Business Alliance of Ohio\") you belong to so adcom readers know what groups you identify with.<\/p>\n

The logic underlying all of these points is that your resume is not just a list of your experiences \u2013 it is a strategically assembled document that shows your impact and makes a case for what a great fit you will be<\/a> in your target program.<\/p>\n

\"Get<\/a><\/p>\n

\"View<\/a><\/p>\n

Related Resources:<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2022 Leadership in Admissions<\/a>, a free guide
\n\u2022 How to Write the Qualifications Summary for Your Resume<\/a>
\n\u2022 What Should I Write About? Making a Difference<\/a><\/p>\n

This article<\/a>\u00a0originally appeared on\u00a0<\/i>blog.accepted.com<\/a>.<\/i><\/p>\n

Applying to a top b-school? The talented folks at Accepted have helped hundreds of applicants get accepted to their dream programs. Whether you are figuring out where to apply, writing your application essays, or prepping for your interviews, we are just a call (or click) away.<\/p>\n

Contact us, and get matched up with the consultant who will help\u00a0you\u00a0<\/i>get accepted<\/a>!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This post is taken from The Quick Guide to Admissions Resumes. Click here to download the full guide. Looking for solid tips for the actual writing of your resume? What…<\/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":[1170,1848,1736,1306],"class_list":["post-37571","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-mba","category-accepted","category-admission-consultants","category-applications","category-blog","tag-application-resume","tag-business-school-resume","tag-mba-resume-help","tag-resume-tips","entry"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37571","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=37571"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37571\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":37574,"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37571\/revisions\/37574"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37571"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37571"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37571"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}