MBA Resume Guidelines
As you begin to build your MBA resume over the summer, here are a
few guidelines to keep in mind. Review them carefully and pay
particular attention to the Owen formatted resume template. You
should take all of these recommendations into consideration in
building your resume. If you are worried about differentiating
yourself from others, rest assured that you will do so via your
experience rather than format.
Resume Format
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Follow precisely-bold/italics, spacing,
alignment, and formatting.
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The resume must fit on one page and should be
completed in Microsoft Word.
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The font size should be no smaller than 10
point and margins should be no smaller than ½ inch on all sides.
- Use regular round bullets. Often decorative bullets do not
upload correctly (convert to question marks).
Name/Address
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Your name should be bolded in all capital
letters and should be the largest point size on the page.
-
If you have a name that may make it difficult
for reviewers to determine your gender (i.e. Ricki, Toni, etc.),
it is acceptable to put a "Mr." or "Ms." in front of it.
-
Do not abbreviate - for example "Ave." for
Avenue - unless space restrictions make it mandatory.
- To conserve space, you may combine a cell phone number and
email address on the same line as your home phone number. You may
also list the street address, city, state, and zip code on one
line.
Education
List university names and degrees received in
chronological order. Do not use abbreviations.
List Vanderbilt University on the first line,
Owen on the next line (see
Sample Resumes).
The city and two-letter state abbreviations or
country names should be right-aligned with the city and state
abbreviations or country names in the Experience section of your
resume.
Experience
This is the most important section of your
resume! Companies will judge your fit for their organization by
assessing your past experiences and results. You will have many more
of these than will fit on one page, so be critical of your
experience. Always ask yourself what the recruiter will find
valuable, NOT what you find valuable!
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Place your full-time jobs in reverse
chronological order, starting with your most recent job.
-
List your divisional employer when working
for a multi-division corporation. If the corporation you worked
for is not easily recognizable, feel free to add information
regarding its size, revenue, parent company, etc.
-
Highlight increases in responsibility,
measurable accomplishments and promotions, wherever possible.
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Keep industry jargon to a minimum.
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Do not use pronouns (I, you, and they).
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Keep your bullets under about twenty words.
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Use past tense action verbs, followed by
results (quantify as often as possible). Don't use "being
verbs" (am, is, are, was, were) or helping verbs (have, had,
may, might), as they dilute your message.
- List dates in years only, except in the case of internships.
List internship date as "Summer 200_."
Additional Information
This section is often more important than you realize. Recruiters
often utilize the data in this section as a foundation for "getting
to know you" and as an icebreaker in an interview. |
