Quantifying Non-Traditional Work Experience for the Resume

Question

Hey guys,

I am a Marine Engineer by trade, looking to go back to school to transition into consulting. I have been putting my application packages together the past couple of weeks but I am really struggling with the resume. Almost everything I have read online discuss quantifying your impact on the organization. Unfortunately, my work experience consist entirely of working on a ship where there isn't really much to quantify. We repair broken equipment and perform preventive maintenance. Has anyone else coming from a non-traditional background run into this issue? If so how did you address it?

Thanks!

ThadGA08 · Answer

Hey rirock92 just a fellow potential applicant here, but I would maybe start with how you think you have excelled at your job and then see if you can quantify it or at least have it qualitatively demonstrate impact. Given this is for business school if that includes ways you have taken initiative or leadership even better- have there been any special projects outside the day-to-day repairs or on a more complicated repair that you have taken on? What was the impact of those? Even if the results are more straightforward or normal you stepped up to make that happen. Do you manage anyone and what impact has that or your team as a whole generated? Some of these things might qualitatively demonstrate your impact, which I still think is important. But you might then figure out a way to add a quantitative measure. Maybe there was a way you improved a process or system and that saved time or money for your company/client. This might also be able to tie into why you want to do consulting if you've figured out new solutions and addressed problems you saw arise in your role. WIth the regular repairs are you usually trying to stay under a certain cost because of a quote and the profit that would result for your company? Maybe you've managed budgets and the repair process that allowed your employer or clients to benefit even if there wasn't a big process or systems improvement. Do you have a hand in working with clients/owners of the equipment you're repairing? If you're making repairs to a larger company's equipment that have a lot of equipment and on-going repairs perhaps your interactions with someone on the client side is the main reason for increased or repeat business. Another approach is to think about what you can bring to the classroom and discussions. Really think about bragging or selling yourself here (I have to push myself to do that)- "my peers would benefit from hearing this experience or about this thing I did." If you think you'd contribute most to Operations discussions or organizational management because of something with your team then see if there are trends or things you can speak to there. Not all people can have easy quantitative things to pull from, but I sometimes have first come up with qualitative examples of impact (and that's still important and demonstrative) and then later discovered a way to add some numbers to some of them. Hope this helps with brainstorming.

StratusDonna · Answer

First- here are some general resume tips that may help:https://stratusadmissionscounseling.com/how-to-create-the-best-possible-resume-for-your-mba-application/ and then I would say I agree with the comments above also- think creatively- have you been able to fix things x% faster over time? It used to take you 30 min but now it is a 15 min job? You can quantify that- and it is ok to estimate- just be able to explain how you got your numbers. Also, do you repair things the first time 95% of time? just be creative in how you approach this- and try to think about how to show how YOU have done this job differently from someone else- If you'd also like some general tips on the MBA application process I encourage you to sign up for our newsletter at this link: https://stratusadmissionscounseling.com ... dmissions/ and also reach out here for a free consult if you would like to talk about your situation in more detail: https://stratusadmissionscounseling.com ... b-visitor/

Quantifying Non-Traditional Work Experience for the Resume

Prep Toolkit

Top 5 GMAT Debrief Videos

615 to 715 in 15 Days (Ria's Strategies)

More than Quant/Verbal Abilities: Speed vs. Accuracy

745 with Only Self-Prep and GMAT Club

From 555 to 765: 210-point Improvement

Perfect 805 Score Debrief by Julia