Student Resume for MBA Abroad - How to prepare an Academic Resume for MBA Applications Abroad

MBA Resume: For an MBA aspirant, unfortunately, the resume becomes the least significant document they think they have to prepare. Amidst their GMAT preparations, essay development and gathering of recommendation letters from their supervisors, colleagues, and faculty, resume development is the last thing on their minds. Most MBA applicants believe that a resume requires updating, and not development, whereas it is the other way round. The reason for this is that they feel they have to JUST include in the resume what they have been delivering professionally. What exactly an MBA applicant needs to understand is that the top MBA colleges today are emphasizing as much on an applicant’s CV as their essays, if not more. Read: Tips on how to write an MBA application Resume

Presenting a generic, badly thought out CV, may greatly hamper your chances to gain admission into a reputed MBA college. To prevent this, we bring to you a broad guideline that will help you build an effective and impressive CV for your international MBA application.

Tips on how to make your MBA Application stand out

In this section, we are going to be talking about important elements of an MBA resume that would make your MBA application stand out. 

Build the Resume from Scratch: Most MBA applicants try revamping their old CV, which, is not greatly appreciated by the Admission Committee. Revamping your old CV means updating the CV with your recent and present professional/ academic experiences. It is a widely known fact that we evolve with time, the same applies to our writing skills, which you must put to use while preparing your resume, instead of making just a few changes here and there. It is highly advisable to thoroughly scan your resume for the quality of content, along with ensuring its logical flow.

Showcase your People Management Skill: When an MBA resume reflects an applicant’s team/people management/leadership abilities, it escalates their chances of securing a seat in the college, by a significant margin. You must remember that a resume does not have to be your autobiography; it has to instead present a concise yet detailed summary of your candidacy. Thus, make sure you replace the ambiguous and irrelevant data in your resume with logically related information. 

Quantify Wherever you Can: If you possess professional experience, please mention it briefly yet clearly. When mentioning your professional role and responsibilities, you should emphasize how to turn the responsibilities you essayed, into your achievements, and invaluable contribution, to your team and organization. Always quantify, which means, you must focus on providing figures and data. For example, if you reduced expenses, mention how and by how much. Also, mention the number of team members reporting to you. For example: Led a five-member team to evaluate the traffic received on the organization’s portal; activity led the team to generate 10% increased traffic based on the analysis.

Provide Enough Context: The Admission Committee may not be aware of the designation and firm you are working with as well as the job title and role you are entrusted with. So, you must explicitly mention your designation, department, organization name, city, a line about the organization’s profile and your role in the organization. For example, the title line should read as follows:

Designation (Department), Organisation Name, City (Month/Year–Month/Year)

Do Not Forget your Extracurricular Activities: Along with your academic and professional journey, you must make it a point to include your extracurricular activities, academic and professional achievements, and any volunteer work or community service. Mentioning these will provide another perspective of yours to the Admission Committee that will add brownie points to your application. It will show a well-rounded personality to them. For more information, go through ‘List of Important Headings in a Resume’ and ‘Common Errors in a Resume’.

Related Links:

• How to Prepare Resume for MS Application
• How to Prepare Resume for UG Application
• Difference between MS and MBA Resume
• How to Present Professional Experience in Resume