Resume questions

Question

As the first step in my application preparation, I am tweaking and editing my resume to be more B-School friendly. I haven't edited my resume in quite a while and I had a few questions to ask.

First off, I am using the resumes in the Tuck Private Equity Club (https://mba.tuck.dartmouth.edu/pecenter/ ... e_Book.pdf) as a baseline as far as formatting, where things belong, what belongs on the resume and what doesn't. I'm not sure if this is a good approach - but I thought it was.

A few questions I have:

1) Should you list your undergraduate cumulative or major GPA on your resume? I see a few people doing it on the Tuck book, but they are definitely in the minority. My major GPA is quite high, my cumulative is okay, and I did not graduate with any latin honors so I cannot display my academic performance without listing my GPA. At the same time, it seems like most top b-schools have no-grade disclosure policies and this may show that I "get it" if I don't list my GPA?

2) Should you list undergraduate extracurriculars in the education section on your resume? I personally have 5 extra-curriculars that I wanted to list for undergrad - but I barely see anyone listing more than 1-2 at the most on the Tuck book.

3) If you can't list your extracurriculars in the education section - do they belong in the Personal section? Again, if so, how many extracurriculars are reasonable to list?

4) For work, I currently have 8 bullet points under my current job (i've been here for 1 year, will be 2 years at matriculation) and I have 5 bullet points for my first job (I was there for a touch over 1 year). Is this reasonable? Should these be condensed?

5) Given I will only have 3 years of experience at matriculation - should I list my internships during college? If so, where do they belong?

6) I am currently using font size 10 for most of the resume, font size 11 for my address/contact info, and font size 16 for my name. Is this reasonable?

7) Should you list the months and years of your employment, or only the years? In the Tuck book, it seems that everyone only lists the years, but I have been told in the past that you should always list the months as well. What is proper here?

Thanks in advance for your input guys! Let's tackle this together without the use of an admissions consultant

kryzak · Answer

Hey terp, I think my resume is some hybrid of Tuck and Chicago's... but it's good that you're using it as a baseline. I would probably tweak it a little (combine with other schools' formats) so you might not give the impression that Tuck is your #1 school when you apply to other schools (I think they all know what each other's formats are). You're overthinking a little.

List it if it's very strong, don't list if it's just average. I listed my UG GPA, which was very good, but didn't list my graduate. Show off your strengths, and listing GPA for an application is not something to worry about if it's strong. I listed 1 or 2 things for UG and Graduate ECs. I wouldn't go up to 5. prioritize and list the ones that are most important. The ones that you fill out in your application (usually they only give you space to put in 3-4 ECs for each school) should be the ones on your resume. Remember, your resume is not a comprehensive work history list. It's a "highlight" that will give someone a good idea of your strengths in under a minute. 1 or 2 things will be enough. for personal section, I just listed 5-6 things in one line, like "tennis, traveling, photography..." I also had another line for volunteering activities. That's it, 2 lines at the very bottom. Don't list more than 5-6 since it starts to sound like a laundry list. again, if it's SIGNIFICANT, then 8 bullet points is ok. I had 3 bullet points for each phase of my jobs (I worked at the same company for 7 years), except my first project which took 3 years, I had 6 bullet points. 8 may be a little too much, especially since you've only worked for 2-3 years (13 bullet points if you combine your first job). I would probably PRIORITIZE down to 5-6 for the current job and 2-3 for the first job. I don't think any of us have done so much that nothing can be omitted from our resumes.

Internships should only be listed if they show significant leadership or accomplishments. Otherwise, I would just save space to focus on the details and results of your 3 years of full time WE. If you have to list internships, put it at the very bottom of the work experience section, since it's in reverse chronological order. Over-thinking a little :wink:

. I used 10 pt font, Times Roman for mine, 14 pt for name. It really doesn't matter if it's readable. I know many here on the boards will caution against going below 11 pt font, and in your case (with only 3 years of WE), I would say 11 pt or 12 pt would be more appropriate. I list the months based on the template I found, so I would do something like "April 2006-June 2007". keep it simple, keep it IMPORTANT, and remove extraneous stuff, no matter how much you want to include it.

I can give it a review if you like, just email it to me. K

cpgmba · Answer

Should education go first for MBA applicants? It makes sense for MBA students but I've always had my education last on my current resume.

Thanks!

riverripper · Answer

I used Chicago's format but editted it a litte for other schools since GSB requires salary info on theirs.

Yes, education should go at the top.

I would put your total GPA but NOT your major. It goes on other areas of the application but if its close to or above the average of the school put your cum GPA on there.

I didnt put any UG extras. I was 5 years out of UG at the time of application and once again my personal opinion is that schools generally care what you have done since college if you arent still a student. Everyone who was remotely involved in college could easily have a laundry list of things there and honestly I dont think it adds much. Now if you held a leadership position, like were class president, a student trustee, or something along those lines definitely put that. However, if you were on an intermural ultimate frisbee team the space my be more useful for something else.

I dont know what you are going to do for listing extras, but if you mean what Kry said then follow his advice. If you have a significant activity you could put it at the bottom with a description of your position and activity.

Sounds like you are putting too many items there. I think at most I had 4 or 5 and that was for a position I held for 3 years. Also you cant really put anything down that you havent done yet so you are really only writing a resume for 2 years of experience. Items on your resume need to be significant and add to your candidacy.

I am of the opinion that NO you should not use internships if you are more than a year out of school. 3 years is lower than the average but its not so little that you cant show professional growth.

I used 10 but have had 3 different positions with very different descriptions. If you only have a few years of work experience I would stick with 11. I have seen some resumes of people with only one job since undergrad and they put so much useless stuff that it weakens it by making it look like they were seeking filler.

I did the same as Kry

cpgmba · Answer

Are you sure education should go at the top? When looking at Kellogg's sample resume from the below website it lists education at the bottom. https://www.mbagameplan.com/mba_resume_samples/

agold · Answer

Yes, education should go at the top for a B-School resume as it is what you are pursuing.

Thank you very much River and Kry for all of the advice!

agold · Answer

So let me make sure I'm getting this right - it is alright to have space at the bottom and not fill the whole page?

riverripper · Answer

Change your formatting. Margins, paragraph spacing, font etc...its better to have it look full but not crowded.

kryzak · Answer

Education WILL be at the top once you're in b-school, but when you're applying, it should be on the bottom because your work experience is what's important, not your education. Granted, I was 7 years out, so my education was less of a factor than my WE. With people at <3 years out, I don't think it matters whether education was on top or bottom.

We had a discussion like this last year... let me see if I can find the link...

ahh ok, I present to you a new section in the Knowledge Vault:

123-p422564?t=58747#p422564

B-School Resume Questions:
Resume best practices for application - very useful!
103-t49497
Resume Polish
103-t50901
How to enter single employer employment records
103-t51673
Work Experience on an Application
103-t54395
Resume Length
103-t58953

agold · Answer

Kudos!

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