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How to present promotions in work experience

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duriangris
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How to present promotions in work experience [#permalink] New post   16 Jul 2012, 05:04
Hi everybody,

As many here I'm considering to cross the Rubicon by applying to an MBA.
While I was filling some basic information on the application forms I got a bit doubtful on how to fill the work experience fields.

It is required to describe each employer.
However I've been working for the same company all along, and I have had several positions here
Should I
- still talk only about one work experience and try to hint that I got several positions in the same company or,
- put the same employer several times for each position I had in this firm?

While the first solution seems to restrictive, the second one may annoy the adcom.
What do you think? How did you do?

Cheers
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cheetarah1980
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Re: How to present promotions in work experience [#permalink] New post   17 Jul 2012, 09:45
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kingfalcon wrote:
cheetarah1980 wrote:
The resume is one of the most important pieces of the application. The resume is not just a repetition of what you put in the employment section of the application. They serve two very different purposes. Most schools do blind interviews (i.e. the interviewer has not seen your application) based solely on your resume. So yes, they pay attention to the resume and all of my interviewers asked questions based on mine.

You've piqued my interest, cheetarah. What would you say those two distinct purposes are?


Your resume is like a "Greatest Hits" page. Your resume should not focus on duties and responsibilities, but rather actions and achievements. The employment section of the application is where you state your day to day responsibilities. Here's an example of the descriptions I wrote for one job in my resume and in my application. Identifying details are omitted.

Application
Business Manager - Business Development Team - Nov 2010 - Present
1. Take a lead role in developing relationship with account's Vendor Partnership Group
2. Analyze and identify opportunities to accelerate total category/department/store performance
3. Develop tools and recommendations for "best in class" performance including distribution, merchandising, pricing and shelving
4. Support and develop the team
- Collaborate and share best practices within internal team
- Provide team reporting as necessary

Resume
Business Manager
Business Development Team, PA
November 2010 – Present
• Promoted to lead category management initiatives for Top 10 customer
• Influence the Breakfast Aisle by expanding Cereal section and implementing best in class Wholesome Snacks and Cereal shelf sets at retail stores
• Advanced company to leading vendor partner position with Shopper Insights Group
• Collaborated with Account and Planning Managers to execute category transformation that eliminated a key competitor at 1300 stores, increased distribution by 8 items, and enhanced the shelf set to the best in class model
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Re: How to present promotions in work experience [#permalink] New post   18 Sep 2012, 02:45
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Great advice guys!
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cheetarah1980
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Re: How to present promotions in work experience [#permalink] New post   16 Jul 2012, 08:16
Over nearly 10 years I held numerous different jobs within the same company. How I communicated my experience depended on the application. Some applications ask you to list all jobs. In these apps I listed my employer's name in the field for "company/employer" for every job. Under reason for leaving I would put either promotion or job transfer.

If the application wanted a list of all employers then I put all of the jobs I held in chronological order with dates under that one heading. I also added several bullets per role on my duties and responsibilities. I am looking at my Wharton application right now. There are fields for starting and ending job title and salary/bonus as well as plenty of space to describe multiple roles.

Also remember that you will be submitting a resume too. This is another place to highlight your promotions. I found that it was not difficult at all to show progression within the same company in my applications.
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Re: How to present promotions in work experience [#permalink] New post   16 Jul 2012, 08:28
I think you should put the same employer several times for each position you had in this firm. It will look more impressive, and give you more space to talk about your roles and accomplishments.
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duriangris
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Re: How to present promotions in work experience [#permalink] New post   17 Jul 2012, 05:01
Thanks for the answers,

cheetarah, I guess if you found enough space to describe 10yrs of experience, I should be able to input my less significant one.
Do you think they really pay attention to the resume though? For instance has it happened that the interviewer asks about something that is in your resume but not on your application form?
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Re: How to present promotions in work experience [#permalink] New post   17 Jul 2012, 07:08
duriangris wrote:
Thanks for the answers,

cheetarah, I guess if you found enough space to describe 10yrs of experience, I should be able to input my less significant one.
Do you think they really pay attention to the resume though? For instance has it happened that the interviewer asks about something that is in your resume but not on your application form?


The resume is one of the most important pieces of the application. The resume is not just a repetition of what you put in the employment section of the application. They serve two very different purposes. Most schools do blind interviews (i.e. the interviewer has not seen your application) based solely on your resume. So yes, they pay attention to the resume and all of my interviewers asked questions based on mine.
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Re: How to present promotions in work experience [#permalink] New post   17 Jul 2012, 07:47
cheetarah1980 wrote:
duriangris wrote:
Thanks for the answers,

cheetarah, I guess if you found enough space to describe 10yrs of experience, I should be able to input my less significant one.
Do you think they really pay attention to the resume though? For instance has it happened that the interviewer asks about something that is in your resume but not on your application form?


The resume is one of the most important pieces of the application. The resume is not just a repetition of what you put in the employment section of the application. They serve two very different purposes. Most schools do blind interviews (i.e. the interviewer has not seen your application) based solely on your resume. So yes, they pay attention to the resume and all of my interviewers asked questions based on mine.

You've piqued my interest, cheetarah. What would you say those two distinct purposes are?
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Re: How to present promotions in work experience [#permalink] New post   19 Jul 2012, 22:10
duriangris wrote:
Hi everybody,

As many here I'm considering to cross the Rubicon by applying to an MBA.
While I was filling some basic information on the application forms I got a bit doubtful on how to fill the work experience fields.

It is required to describe each employer.
However I've been working for the same company all along, and I have had several positions here
Should I
- still talk only about one work experience and try to hint that I got several positions in the same company or,
- put the same employer several times for each position I had in this firm?

While the first solution seems to restrictive, the second one may annoy the adcom.
What do you think? How did you do?

Cheers


Use option 1. Option 2 sounds quite illogical to me .

Just as you have, I have also worked in only 1 firm till date. In the work details / employer section, for all my apps, I only updated the job responsibilities in my last role. If they wanted a history of my work life, they had the resume for that.

Cheets makes great points about how the resume is extremely critical to the application process. I remember a Ross event from last year when one of the members of the ad com went on to say that they pretty much rank & order applicants based on the resume alone. Not to say that they don't read all the apps. But its only in rare instances when they actually shortlist folks for interviews who had sub-standard resumes but great overall apps.
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VeritasPrepMike
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Re: How to present promotions in work experience [#permalink] New post   16 Apr 2016, 20:44
Expert Reply
Agree that option one sounds like the better one. In general, I think it is better to opt for the simpler, cleaner approach. Do whatever you can to not confuse the admissions committee. They might only spend a few minutes thinking about you and you don't want them trying to interpret what you wrote.
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Re: How to present promotions in work experience [#permalink]
16 Apr 2016, 20:44

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