Create a Foolproof Resume With This Formatting Advice
[#permalink]
18 Nov 2021, 03:09
Resume Formatting: Everything You Ever Wanted To Know
MBA resumes are different from job resumes, so they should be formatted differently. Here are a few DO’s and Don’ts that can take our resume from a dud to Wow!.
Formatting DO’s
1. Have a one-page resume. No more, unless you have more than 10 years experience, in which case a 2-page resume may be acceptable. That said, it’s good to check the b-school’s requirement on this, as a few programs may give you leeway on the length although most ask for a one-page resume.
2. White space. Writing more does not equate with writing relevant. Many applicants go wrong here and fill their resumes with content. However, the rule for a resume is “More is Less”.
There are two ways of having adequate white space on the resume:
a. Leave proper margins on all four sides of the resume (more on this)
b. Frame small but power-packed bullet points. No bullet should be more than 2 lines.
3. A resume has 3 sections:
a. Professional Experience
b. Education
c. Additional Information
d. (B-schools such as Darden ask for another section- Leadership experience. So be sure to go through your target b-school’s requirements before you upload your resume).
4. Your resume should be in reverse chronological order. Most recent work experience should be on top, followed by other work experiences. Similar case for the education – professional certifications or Masters completed after the undergrad should come first, followed by the undergrad details.
5. Avoid industry jargon and short forms. What is an obvious contraction in your organization or industry will not be so intuitive for an adcom member and hence will not be understood by them.
Consistency is key to creating a neat and visually appealing resume. In fact, I see a resume as a sacrosanct document – while the content is most important, the finer details that go into formatting is what makes it look perfect, and hence they can not be ignored. Here is where you need to show consistency in formatting:
6. Leave around .75inch margins on all sides.
7. Use font size ~16 for your name and font size 10-11 for the resume content. Some fonts that are easy to read are Calibri, Arial and Times New Roman.
8. Be consistent in using short forms- its either Jan, Feb, Mar and so on….or January, February, March and so on.
9. Be consistent with the alignment – all bullets should be aligned to the left. Also, be careful about the right alignments- typically dates and locations are right-aligned (and we often see pre-final drafts of resumes where these are not aligned).
10. Line spacing should be consistent. Leave the same line spacing between bullets and between headings and sub-headings.
11. Be consistent about the currency. If you are using USD to show quantitative achievements, do not use Euro or CAD or INR in some bullets. Also, be consistent about using Bn/ Mn or Billion/ Million.
Formatting Don’ts:
1. Do not put your picture on the resume. Many applicants use the visual CV format but that is not required for the MBA resume.
2. Don’t put down your marital status/ date of birth/ passport numbers. The MBA application form has space for giving all those details.
3. Do not write “references available upon request”.
4. Do not use contractions – instead of Pvt Ltd- say Private Limited.
5. Do not refer to yourself in the first person- that means do not use the words I, we, me, my.
6. Don’t put your address on the resume- it will only take space. Mentioning your name, email address and phone number In the heading of the resume should be just fine.
Some of these may come across as minor points and may not even get noticed by the adcoms, but not adhering to these rules will only create a messy resume and show a lack of attention to detail.