avi and ncprasad: I agree, short essays are actually really good for me now that I'm getting more used to it. It prevents me from blabbering about random things, and does relieve the need to have to come up with creative story telling ideas. The only thing is, I'm realizing that many of my essays, I barely have the space to mention an accomplishment, let alone answer the "for example?" question. I know you have to be specific, but that means every leadership trait you bring up must be supported by an equally long (or longer) sentence talking about an example of that trait. I'm having a very hard time even in 1000 words to get that in, let alone 500.
It does help me take out things that aren't important and really pick the strong messages, but I wish I had 200-300 more words to work with to make things more specific and supported.
dosa: I found sample resumes at
https://www.mbagameplan.com. Look for their sample essays. They have templates for the different schools and how this one "Stephen" guy formatted his resume for each school. I would suggest a "hybrid" method just so you can submit your resume to all schools without having to tailor them and worry that Harvard will say, "wait, that's Wharton's format!"
BTW, search "Tuck resume" in the B-school application board, you should find a link to a Tuck resume book. That helped a lot too. Just remember to put work experience first since we're applicants and not MBA students already.