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MBAGuide
Joined: 24 Jul 2019
Last visit: 12 Aug 2026
Posts: 2,520
Own Kudos:
Given Kudos: 29
Location: India
Concentration: Operations, Marketing
Schools: Insead Sept'18 (A$$) ISB '19 (A)
05 Aug 2026, 03:38
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I can almost guarantee you have made at least one attribution error in your resume. Check it.
Over the last few years, I have seen applicants from MBB, Google, Amazon, investment banking, private equity, and technology consulting make exactly the same mistake, because they confused correlation with contribution. This mistake usually survives multiple resume reviews, because most people don't know what they are looking for.
Every story or experience you tell in a business school application/ resume has two parts:
A. What did you do?
B. What changed because of what you did?
The strongest applications build a logical bridge between these two. The weaker applications either overestimate their contribution or fail to explain it altogether. Both are attribution errors. A simple test I often ask applicants to perform is this.
Pick any bullet from your resume and ask yourself:
Could this outcome have happened even if I wasn't there?
If the answer is yes, then you have probably made an attribution error. In other words, you have probably attached the wrong business metric to your contribution. Business schools don't care about the biggest numbers, but they reward the most believable chain of reasoning.
Here's An Example from an MBB Consultant
One of my recent applicants, an MBB consultant, initially described his work like this.
Probably not.
Sales are influenced by dozens of variables, pricing, yes, but also product quality, dealer networks, marketing, macroeconomic conditions, customer demand, and most importantly, the sales force itself.
More importantly, our applicant wasn't the Head of Sales. He wasn't even responsible for selling trucks (LOL). He was only responsible for helping redesign how pricing decisions were made.
Those are two very different contributions. This is where many applicants unknowingly weaken their applications to TOP B SCHOOLS.
So please dont attach yourself to the biggest number the company achieved during your project. The goal is to demonstrate that you understand which part of that outcome can reasonably be attributed to your work.
After several discussions, Mr. MBB's resume bullet eventually became something closer to this:
Engineers Usually Make the Opposite Mistake
What's fascinating is that consultants and engineers often make opposite attribution errors. Consultants sometimes overestimate their contribution while engineers underestimate it. The engineers become so focused on describing the technical implementation that they forget to explain why any of it mattered.
A good example comes from one of my Supply Chain analytics (consulting) applicants who eventually secured admission to a one-year MBA with just two years of experience.
The first version of the story sounded something like this.
Nestlé had a business problem. Frequent stock-outs across multiple product categories were leading to lost sales. And so, the project was never about inventory, but instead about protecting revenue.
And then, the applicant's positioning became one of helping solve one of the largest FMCG companies' supply chain challenges.
His final story shifted from technical implementation to business impact. Instead of explaining the algorithm, he explained how he led the analytics workstream, studied demand behaviour across warehouses, recommended differentiated safety stock levels, and built a solution capable of maintaining approximately 90% service levels during demand spikes.
Attribution Errors Don't Just Happen in Resumes, they appear in essays too, especially weakness/failure stories.
Many applicants instinctively blame poor leadership, difficult colleagues, organisational politics, market conditions, or bad luck.
The problem is that attributing failure almost entirely to external circumstances suggests an inability to reflect on your own role. Business schools expect mature judgement. The strongest applicants recognise that business outcomes almost never have a single cause. Success is rarely because of one individual. Failure is rarely because of one difficult manager.
The ability to understand multiple contributing factors is itself a leadership skill.
The Resume Test I Want You to Remember
The next time you write a resume bullet, don't ask yourself: What did I do?
Ask yourself: What changed because I did it?
But then ask one more question.
Can I honestly defend that relationship if an interviewer challenges me?
If the answer is yes, you have probably written a bullet that reflects sound business judgement.
And in my experience, that's exactly what business schools are trying to identify.
Wondering how your profile stacks up? Discuss a tailored MBA plan that aligns with your goals.
Best wishes
Aanchal Sahni (INSEAD MBA alumna, former INSEAD MBA admissions interviewer)
Founder, MBAGuideConsulting
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aanchal-sahni-83b00819/ |WEBSITE: https://mbaguideconsulting.com/| Message(WA): +91 9971200927| email- [email protected]
Over the last few years, I have seen applicants from MBB, Google, Amazon, investment banking, private equity, and technology consulting make exactly the same mistake, because they confused correlation with contribution. This mistake usually survives multiple resume reviews, because most people don't know what they are looking for.
Every story or experience you tell in a business school application/ resume has two parts:
A. What did you do?
B. What changed because of what you did?
The strongest applications build a logical bridge between these two. The weaker applications either overestimate their contribution or fail to explain it altogether. Both are attribution errors. A simple test I often ask applicants to perform is this.
Pick any bullet from your resume and ask yourself:
Could this outcome have happened even if I wasn't there?
If the answer is yes, then you have probably made an attribution error. In other words, you have probably attached the wrong business metric to your contribution. Business schools don't care about the biggest numbers, but they reward the most believable chain of reasoning.
Here's An Example from an MBB Consultant
One of my recent applicants, an MBB consultant, initially described his work like this.
Quote:
Followed immediately by:
Quote:
At first glance, it sounds impressive, but if you pause for a second, think, can setting up a pricing function directly generate $200 million in sales?
Probably not.
Sales are influenced by dozens of variables, pricing, yes, but also product quality, dealer networks, marketing, macroeconomic conditions, customer demand, and most importantly, the sales force itself.
More importantly, our applicant wasn't the Head of Sales. He wasn't even responsible for selling trucks (LOL). He was only responsible for helping redesign how pricing decisions were made.
Those are two very different contributions. This is where many applicants unknowingly weaken their applications to TOP B SCHOOLS.
So please dont attach yourself to the biggest number the company achieved during your project. The goal is to demonstrate that you understand which part of that outcome can reasonably be attributed to your work.
After several discussions, Mr. MBB's resume bullet eventually became something closer to this:
Quote:
Followed by:
Quote:
Notice the difference. The number became smaller, because it is incremental. The story became stronger, because now the relationship between action and impact is believable. And believable stories are persuasive stories.
Engineers Usually Make the Opposite Mistake
What's fascinating is that consultants and engineers often make opposite attribution errors. Consultants sometimes overestimate their contribution while engineers underestimate it. The engineers become so focused on describing the technical implementation that they forget to explain why any of it mattered.
A good example comes from one of my Supply Chain analytics (consulting) applicants who eventually secured admission to a one-year MBA with just two years of experience.
The first version of the story sounded something like this.
Quote:
Technically correct but completely forgettable! Whats the big deal for recommending storage stocks? But after I asked him one simple question, Why did Nestlé need this?, the entire story changed.
Nestlé had a business problem. Frequent stock-outs across multiple product categories were leading to lost sales. And so, the project was never about inventory, but instead about protecting revenue.
And then, the applicant's positioning became one of helping solve one of the largest FMCG companies' supply chain challenges.
His final story shifted from technical implementation to business impact. Instead of explaining the algorithm, he explained how he led the analytics workstream, studied demand behaviour across warehouses, recommended differentiated safety stock levels, and built a solution capable of maintaining approximately 90% service levels during demand spikes.
Attribution Errors Don't Just Happen in Resumes, they appear in essays too, especially weakness/failure stories.
Many applicants instinctively blame poor leadership, difficult colleagues, organisational politics, market conditions, or bad luck.
The problem is that attributing failure almost entirely to external circumstances suggests an inability to reflect on your own role. Business schools expect mature judgement. The strongest applicants recognise that business outcomes almost never have a single cause. Success is rarely because of one individual. Failure is rarely because of one difficult manager.
The ability to understand multiple contributing factors is itself a leadership skill.
The Resume Test I Want You to Remember
The next time you write a resume bullet, don't ask yourself: What did I do?
Ask yourself: What changed because I did it?
But then ask one more question.
Can I honestly defend that relationship if an interviewer challenges me?
If the answer is yes, you have probably written a bullet that reflects sound business judgement.
And in my experience, that's exactly what business schools are trying to identify.
Wondering how your profile stacks up? Discuss a tailored MBA plan that aligns with your goals.
Best wishes
Aanchal Sahni (INSEAD MBA alumna, former INSEAD MBA admissions interviewer)
Founder, MBAGuideConsulting
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aanchal-sahni-83b00819/ |WEBSITE: https://mbaguideconsulting.com/| Message(WA): +91 9971200927| email- [email protected]
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