When pursuing a Master of Business Administration (MBA), a well-written resume can help you gain entry into the school or program you’re interested in. While MBA applications consist of several parts, your resume gives you an opportunity to stand out among other applicants while highlighting your best qualifications. In this article, we explain what an MBA resume is, how to write one, and provide tips and an example resume to help you write your own.
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What is an MBA resume?
An MBA resume is required as part of your MBA application. The resume highlights your professional achievements and serves as evidence of your demonstrated success and leadership. It essentially serves as a “preview” of your candidacy for business school, helping the reviewer determine your competitiveness for their program. A resume is an important part of the application process because it gives admission committees a clear idea of your skills, work experience, and educational background.
An MBA may include:
Contact information
Professional profile, resume objective or career goal
Work experience
Education
Skills
Awards and honors
How is an MBA resume different from a job resume?
An MBA resume promotes your qualifications for a specific business education program. A job resume promotes your qualifications and experience for a specific job. You pay for an MBA education but a company pays you to do a job. Not only are two types of resumes used in different ways, but they also contain slightly different information. For example, an MBA resume typically includes less industry jargon and focuses on experiences that showcase a range of skills such as leadership and teamwork skills. It may also reveal your personality by highlighting a unique hobby or challenging volunteer project that lets admissions officers know who you are outside of work.
Tips to create an effective MBA resume
Use these tips to create a professional MBA resume:
1. Include your education
Create a section to highlight your educational history. Include your undergraduate university, your degree and major, and your GPA. Also, list any academic honors that you received.
2. Detail your work experience
Include a section to highlight your specific business expertise through previous work experiences. Include the name of the company you worked for, your job title and responsibilities, and specify the amount of time you spent working there.
3. List your skills
Make a list of your hard and soft skills as they relate to business administration. For example, admissions officers may want to see a strong work ethic or communication skills listed on your MBA resume. Call attention to “power skills” such as leadership, teamwork, and critical thinking.
4. Use an easy-to-read format
Making your resume easy to read can increase the likelihood of admissions committees noticing your most important achievements and experiences. To improve readability, divide your resume into sections. Use bulleted-point lists when you want to expand on job duties or highlight a specific accomplishment.
In addition, pick an easy-to-read font in 10 or 12 point. Use standard fonts such as Ariel, Times or Calibri to improve readability and add more space on the page.
5. Quantify your experience and accomplishments
Try to quantify your experiences and accomplishments and provide specific details when possible. Strong resumes include numerical details, such as the size and scope of a project, the number of people managed or budget information. Using numbers and figures gives admissions offices further insight into your experience. For example, you can write, “Reviewed investment plans and sales data for over 30 media companies, leading to a 20% increase in client satisfaction rates.”
6. Start with the most important points
As you write your resume, start with the most important points. If you’re writing about work experience using bullet points, put the most relevant details toward the top of your list, as this can help admissions officers review your resume more efficiently.
7. Emphasize your leadership skills
MBA programs look for students who have the potential to impact the business world through leadership and sound business practices. Use your resume to showcase qualities that demonstrate you can convince others to be a part of a project that’s important to you. Be sure to show how your leadership benefited the businesses that you worked for.
8. Review the application requirements
Review the MBA application requirements as you write your resume so you can customize the content to the program or school you’re applying for. For example, some schools may require specific certifications or leadership experience. Ultimately, reviewing the application can save you valuable time and ensure you’re submitting a complete application with the required information.
9. Proofread
To minimize spelling errors and typos, thoroughly proofread your resume before submitting your application. Consider asking a friend or colleague to proofread your resume for grammar and fluidity.
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Resume for MBA application template
When writing an MBA application resume, it’s important to use a certain format. Doing so ensures a clean and organized resume that’s easier for the admissions committee to read. Use this template to properly format your MBA application resume:
[First name] [last name]
[Street address]
[City], [state] [zip code]
[Phone number]
[Email address]
Work experience
[Company name]
[City], [state]
[Job title]
[Employment dates]
Job Duty
Job Duty
Job Duty
Job Duty
Job Duty
[Company name]
[City], [state]
[Job title]
[Employment dates]
[Job duty]
[Job duty]
[Job duty]
[Job duty]
[Job duty]
Education
[University name]
[City], [state]
[Years of attendance]
[Degree and major]
[Notable achievement, award or extracurricular]
[Notable achievement, award or extracurricular]
[Notable achievement, award or extracurricular]
Skills
[Relevant business administration skill]
[Relevant business administration skill]
[Relevant business administration skill]
Download a template: To upload the template into Google Docs, go to File > Open > and select the correct downloaded file.
Example
Once you understand the format of an MBA resume, you can write your own. Make sure to highlight how you make a quality candidate for the program. Use this example to help guide the writing of your MBA resume:
Sarah Long
1234 Love Street
Sarasota, FL 12345
123-456-7890
sarahlong@email.com
Work Experience
Lockhart Media Inc.
Chicago, IL
Sales Executive
2019-present
Consistently achieved monthly targeted sales and increased sales revenue by 10%
Led monthly sales training workshops for 50+ employees twice a year
Designed and launched a virtual training program for the sales team that increased productivity rates by 12%
Smith Technologies Inc.
Chicago, IL
Market development associate
2017-2019
Developed marketing strategies that increased sales revenue by 15%
Established and maintained relationships with clients
Handled market activities including market share assessments, strategic market planning and product positioning
Education
University of Alabama
Birmingham, AL
2004-2008
Bachelor of Business Management
Top 5% of class all four years
Created Business Management Club; organized and led weekly club meetings
Received award for Outstanding Management Skills (2007)
Skills
Microsoft Office programs, data analysis, time management skills, organization skills, problem-solving skills, and communication skills.
I hope you find this article helpful.
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