TABLE OF CONTENTS

Welcome
Chapter 1: What Makes a Great MBA Rsum?
Chapter 2: Rsum Writing Strategies
Chapter 3: Digging Deep
Chapter 4: Rsum Writing Basic Techniques
Chapter 5: Rsum Writing Advanced Techniques
Conclusion
Sample Rsums

WELCOME
... to Admissionados MBA Rsum Guide! We know youre accomplished but does your
rsum tell that story at a glance? Or are you unintentionally painting a picture of
yourself that is sub-optimal? Or worse, painting a picture that's actually fuzzy? It
happens. And it happens to the best of the best.
Were here to help.
This guide will walk you through some of the key strategies we have learned over the
years, from basic formatting tips to more advanced techniques. We've even provided a
few Before & After samples at the end to show you the distance in quality (in just a
draft or two of editing). By the way, the authors of those sample rsums ended up at
Wharton, HBS, and Booth, respectively.
Strengthen your profile, build a strong rsum, set your sights high, aim, and...
Fire.

CHAPTER 1
What Makes a Great MBA Rsum?

Chapter 1
What Makes a Great MBA Rsum?

The secret to an MBA rsum is above all: clarity. Without clarity, all else is
meaningless. But typically, this story of your ENTIRE professional life and your ENTIRE
schooling is meant to fit on one single sheet of paper. That could be fifteen years worth
of stuff! It's going to be a Battle Royale of profile elements and... words. Which elements
stay? And how can we organize them and phrase the precious words in an economical
and persuasive way?
Developing a truly great rsum demands skill and patience. For MBA applicants, it
also demands a deep understanding of what business schools are looking for.
Let's dive in.
The Rsum: A Microcosm
MBA rsums are like mini-versions of your entire application. They should portray
who you are, where you have worked, what you have achieved, what you have studied,
and where you have volunteered. And, most importantly, all of this should somehow
give the reader a sense of your trajectory (possibly even your goals).
If your rsum is great, it will become an anchor for your essays. Your rsum is your
opportunity to lay down the facts; your essays provide an opportunity to write about
the stuff in between the lines. The stuff that could never fit on a rsum. The
transitions. If the rsum is the "what," your essays are the "why." Establishing the
"what" is like pouring cement into a building's foundation. If it's shaky, everything else
is vulnerable. Get it right, though, and you're in a position to build something sturdy.
Your rsum should highlight:
! Leadership No surprise here. Business schools love leadership. Business
schools teach leadership. So you should be putting all of the leadership
experience you have in your past in this document. And highlighting it.
! Results Rsums are nothing if not a catalog of your key achievements. Not
responsibilities. Or projects. Or ideas. Achievements. With concrete, tangible
results (that are hopefully impressive, even without elaboration).
! MBA-Oriented Results Dont just feature any achievements, try to feature
"MBA-related" achievements. Are you the best coder on your team? Have you
saved a dozen patients in your hospital? Wonderful! But what do those say
about your strength as an MBA candidate?

! Career Development In the best rsums, you can read (sometimes between
the lines) the history of a persons progress. You can see them move up the
ladder (more rapidly than others), grow in position and in responsibility, and
take on bigger and bigger challenges.
! A Well-Rounded Profile The best rsums highlight the broadest possible
profiles. Whether it's international experience, volunteer work, extra-curricular
activities, patents, publications, startups, languages, skills, etc. From this single
piece of paper, you need to come ALIVE as an interesting human being.
! Other Interests In a world where many MBA apps look identical, you should
add interests outside your professional and academic life. Seize this chance (in
just one to three lines), to showcase uniqueness. Interests might include spoken
languages, sports you've played, strange hobbies or things you're passionate
about. Reserve this space for UNIQUE achievements, though. (For example,
running marathons isnt all that unique, but coming in second place in an Iron
Man competition IS!)
Even in a one-page doc, when properly executed, we should develop an understanding
of where youre coming from and where youre headed.

CHAPTER 2
Rsum Writing Strategies

Chapter 2:
Rsum Writing Strategies

Now that you understand the nuts and bolts of a strong MBA rsum, lets get into
some basic strategies that can help transform your rsum into a masterpiece.
First and foremost: size matters. One page, folks.
It wont be the first time youve heard it, and its true. Ultimately, one-page rsums are
most effective. A one-pager is industry-standard, school-standard, and HR-standard.
It may seem like too little space at first, but if thousands upon thousands of
unbelievably accomplished folks (who end up at Harvard and Stanford and Wharton)
with years of insanely impressive experiences can do it... so can you. Weve helped a lot
of those guys, in spite of their kicking and screaming at the outset, ha!
In reality, imposing this one-page limit on yourself will make your rsum BETTER.
Less is more. Way more. Not just in theory, there's a practical reason behind it. An initial
application review may take an admissions officer five minutes, if you're lucky. The
rsum review portion might not take more than 10 seconds. For your rsum to be
effective, it needs to be unbelievably clear, and readable. Keeping it to one page will go
a long, long way toward achieving this. Most schools explicitly ask for a one-page
rsum anyway, so you may not have a choice. (Wahoo!)
Finally, if you feel like taking creative leaps with your rsum (i.e., trying new colors,
sporting attractive new formats, etc.), while you may end up with something unique
and attractive, there is more to be gained from a simple rsum whose content shines
brightly without the flash. (In fact, the simply-formatted rsum that impresses on its
own shines the brightest of them all.)
What if I have a boatload of accomplishments, though? Shouldn't I share them all?
No. The point of your rsum is to showcase your Greatest Hits. Nobody, no matter
how strong their profile, will have enough hits that the 1-Page version is somehow
noticeably weaker. And nobody, no matter how weak their profile, will have zero hits. If
you have five amazing stories to tell from the past several years, you must fit ALL of
them onto your rsum. If the current version of your rsum is missing two of your
greatest stories simply because they couldn't fit, well, go back and re-work it so that
they DO fit. The key is to showcase your greatest hits. All the big ones.

Can two-page rsums work?

Sure, when the school allows for it, or if you fit into one of the following categories:
1.
2.
3.

Youre much older.

Youre applying to an EMBA program.
You have many parallel activities (i.e., you work full-time and run a startup and
a real estate business, not to mention your volunteer work and political
involvement).

However, in general, one page should be more than enough, and should help you boil
your professional life down to its purest essence.
Is an MBA rsum the same as a JOB rsum?
An MBA rsum only LOOKS like a job rsum, but its definitely not going to read like
one. Think about it: if you are applying for an engineering job, what are they going to
look at? Your engineering skills and achievements. Ditto for any field youll write
about cases for law, patients for medicine, and chickens for chicken-farming
But will the MBA admissions committee care about how good you are at writing legal
defense? Or healing bones? Or breeding chickens? (Nope.) Unsurprisingly, an MBA,
which is a leadership in business degree, will look for Leadership with a capital L. And
business experience/potential.
What does that mean, practically speaking? Lets say that you are an architect and 95%
of your time is spent designing spaces, building models, and welding steel. What
aspects of that do you think the MBA admissions committee will care about? Very little
frankly. The b-school adcom WILL care about the stuff inside that remaining 5%: for
example, your presentations to the board members of a huge company, your ability to
train junior architects, your cross-functional collaboration skills, and that one time you
landed the biggest deal of the decade with your idea.
The same goes for any industry. Actually, MBA programs will assume you are amazing
in your field, but by itself, it's never enough. Can you apply your knowledge to
business? Are you able to lead others successfully? Are you good at networking? Can
you close deals? This is the stuff that needs to SCREAM on your rsum, louder than
any other aspect in any bullet point.
What about all those lustrous certifications in your field? Sadly, they dont matter.
What about those programming languages you learned? Or those technical skills?
Again, they simply dont matter. Because none of them, on its own, promises success in
the business world. It's the evidence of managing chops, leadership skills, and social
savvy, that rings true to the adcom of an MBA program.

What is the MOST IMPORTANT thing, then, on a rsum?

Three things:
Leadership.
Leadership.
Leadership.
Additionally, inject your rsum with any "b-school skills" you have acquired along the
way: teamwork skills, presentation skills, international experience, negotiation skills,
networking skills, sales skills, and anything else that will help you succeed in an MBA
program (and the business world).
Second, the admissions committee will want to see RESULTS. Why? Simple. Past
success is one of the best indicators of future potential.
Anyone can pitch an amazing idea. And say, "I promise I can execute on it, like, trust
me." But if you were an investor, would that plea be enough for you? Or would you want
to see real evidence that this person has achieved relevant stuff in his/her past that
gives you confidence that he/she can do it again with this new idea? B-School
admissions works in the exact same way. Your rsum is THE place for you to PROVE
your future worth as supported by your historical performance.
The key here is concrete results. These results should, ideally, be relevant to your
future goals and, at the very least, impressive, impactful, and innovative.
Should an MBA rsum include an Objectives section?
There is no space on your MBA rsum for your objectives. Nor is there any reason to
include them, as there is almost always an essay prompt that invites you to talk about
your goals. That being said, the reader should be able to easily predict your career
objective based on the overall organization (and flow) of your rsum.
In other words, if we (the readers) are able to follow your career progress from job to job
and position to position, we should conclude that your proposed goal is something that
extends naturally from your prior experience. If your objective isn't obvious, then, as
Admissionado founder Jon Frank always says, Youre doing it wrong. (And he got that
from the classic 80s comedy "Mr. Mom.") As always, there are exceptions, like if you're a
b-school candidate whose goal involves a major career change, but thats a story for a
different day!

CHAPTER 3
Digging Deep

Chapter 3:
Digging Deep

Almost all rsums we see in their first drafts are missing TONS of great details. People
forget to write about their leadership experience, or startups, or volunteer work. In
general, very few MBA candidates effectively highlight their experiences in their
rsums on their first pass. Most folks dont realize that their on-the-side real estate
investment may actually count for more than what's currently FEATURED on their
existing rsum. Or that the one time they spent training 10 new colleagues is an
achievement that, contrary to their understanding, actually puts them ahead of folks in
their particular demographic. Initial drafts of rsums tend to lean too heavily on
technical project work which is far less relevant to b-school adcoms.
If your rsum feels unimpressive somehow, the problem may not be with your profile,
but rather in your presentation.
Here are a few things to consider:
a) Achievements
For each position you have on your rsum, you should mention your
greatest two or three achievements. Its unlikely that youll have more
than that, but you definitely want to mention at least two.
b) Progress
Secondly, insert bullets regarding progress. Have you received any
awards? Bonuses? Raises? Promotions? These are cold, hard FACTS that
prove your success. You no longer have to TELL the reader Ive been
successful! because now you have SHOWN him/her instead.
c) Leadership
Many people start off with the idea that they either manage people or
dont and believe that managing is the only true leadership experience.
Of course, it is FANTASTIC if you have direct reports, or an entire team of
your own to oversee, but there are many other forms of leadership
motivating others, initiating a project, mentoring, training, representing
the company, and so on. Ask yourself these questions:
"

"
"

Have you ever mentored or trained employees? Whom and how

many did you train/mentor?
Have you ever inspired someone? How? What was the result?
Have you ever spoken in public? In what context? In front of how
many?

"

"

"

Have you ever been selected to represent an organization? What

did you do?
Have you ever built a team from scratch in your personal or
professional life?
Have you led presentations? In front of whom and how many?

Keep in mind that leadership doesnt end with these questions.

Remember, the goal is not to have more leadership than every other
applicant, but to MAXIMIZE the leadership you possess.
d) Impact
Another great way to contextualize your achievements and make them
more impressive is to show (with facts) the impact of your actions on
your project or organization.
Obviously, you can start by showing the RESULTS. How much time was
saved? How much money? How big was the deal you closed? How much
more efficient did you make your team?
And just like everywhere else in your application: show LEADERSHIP.
Even more important than the results is the impact you have had as a
leader of men and women. How have you helped your leads develop?
How have you trained them? How have you inspired them? How have
you passed the company goals and culture on to others? If you can
prove any or all of the above, then you are well on your way.
Another great way to show impact is to utilize your annual reviews if
your company has them. Did you receive excellent reviews? How were
you ranked? You can even add a quote pulled from your annual review if
there is praise worth mentioning. After all, its not YOU who's saying it,
but management. And that turns a subjective claim of Im great into an
objective one: My boss announced to the Board that Im great.
Other examples of personal impact in the workplace include awards and
certificates (and the same goes for volunteer situations and schooling).
Maybe you were selected to join a special strategy team. Or selected out
of thousands of employees to represent your company on a business
trip to Japan. Whatever the situation may be, if you are being chosen for
something impressive, this is great PROOF of your impact.
Finally, since you are applying to business school, its not a bad idea to
show them the money. (The adcom that is.) How much did you add to the
bottom line? You wont be able to show monetary impact for everything
you have done, but you will for some projects, and the more you can tout
in the realm of impact, the more uh impactful your rsum will be.

Another common mistake applicants make is failing to give any sense

of what they ACTUALLY DID on a particular project or in a particular
role. You can list results and talk about how many people you led, but
the adcoms need to clearly understand the actions you took to achieve
those results. One great test for this is, can someone outside your
industry PICTURE whatever it is you did? Use simple, active language to
paint your actions clearly.
e) Other MBA Skills
Although business schools focus on leadership, there are plenty of other
skills that adcoms will be looking for in their candidates rsums:
"

"

"

"

"

f)

Teamwork: Do you work on a team? Several teams? Of how many

people? Do you collaborate well? Where's your evidence?
International Experience: Do you have any international
experience? Are you taking business trips abroad? Executing
training in other countries? Working with teams across borders?
Do you work in other languages? Any of these experiences will
boost your "international" capital.
Creativity: Not surprisingly, creativity is highly regarded. Have
you developed new ideas, processes, products, or business plans?
Many employees, even great ones, passively respond to their
obligations. If you are one of the few who goes above and beyond
to create, innovate, and disrupt, b-schools are itching to know
about it.
Negotiation Skills: This is another classic skill business schools
love. Are you a wheeler and dealer? Have you negotiated deals?
Terms? Anything? Even internal negotiations with management
(say, to secure budget or additional manpower) are negotiations
worth mentioning!
Entrepreneurship: Have you ever tried to found a company? Great!
Even unsuccessful startups can become sources of profound
learning experiences and stories that promise as-of-yetunrealized business success. No entrepreneurial venture is too
small to mention.

Community Service
Community service is a BIG and VITAL part of your application. You
dont necessarily have to have TONS of community service (although, if
you do, it will work to your advantage, big time); however, you need to
have SOME, and it needs to be on your rsum. The best way to do this is
to make a dedicated Community Service/Volunteer Work section.
Simply devoting separate space to community service in your rsum
says something about its importance to you.

Many folks fear that they lack community service, but, actually, they
typically have more than they realize. Here are some questions to ask
yourself:
"

"

"

"

"

"

Have you ever participated in or founded any social initiatives?

For example, did you organize a company basketball team? Set up
a barbecue? Lead a volunteer organization?
Are you involved in any social groups? Which ones? What is your
role in the group?
What about religious groups? Do you go to church? Synagogue?
Mosque? Temple? Perhaps you babysit the kids there every
Saturday afternoon?
Did you ever volunteer for a nonprofit, hospital, or any other
organization? Have you done any pro-bono consulting?
Did you ever advise or help anyone in a way that could be spun to
sound like community service? Have you ever simply helped
people? The elderly? Kids?
What about political involvement? Have you ever canvassed for
your favorite candidate? Been politically involved?

Of course, like everything on your MBA resume, community service is

great, but LEADERSHIP in community service is even better. If you can
showcase leadership in this area, too, you will really drive home your
managerial aptitude.
g) Education
The education section should come AFTER your work experience
section. Why? Simple. The stuff at the top of your rsum is where most
people start reading and is therefore the most critical. Work experience
reigns supreme because it's the most recent and relevant set of data
points for the adcom. Education is important, but comes afterwards.
This section can include more than a line with the name of your school
and major. It's another opportunity to boost your profile! First and
foremost, you should add your GPA to this section (if its strong). Also add
impressive awards, honors, and scholarships. If you graduated with
honors, if you were on the Deans list, if you received an award or a
scholarship or a fellowship, include it here.
Likewise, any significant extra-curricular activities or jobs you
participated in during your studies can be added here. For example, if
you were a Teachers Assistant, Residence Assistant or Research
Assistant, or if you were involved in any sports or clubs (better yet if you

LED or INITIATED any sports or clubs), add it all here. Theres a lot more
to extract than you might have realized.
Phew. We did it. We dug deep and MINED all this amazing stuff from your background
that now has a home on your rsum.
Let's move into some other techniques, starting first with the basics.

CHAPTER 4
Rsum Writing Basic Techniques

Chapter 4:
Rsum Writing Basic Techniques

Making the most of your work experience
Youre applying to BUSINESS school, so, work matters! And it matters more than
anything else on your rsum. About 2/3 of your rsum should be devoted to your
work experience because thats what the admissions committee is most interested in
learning about.
What is work experience? It should be obvious, but just so there's no confusion, work
experience on an MBA rsum is post-undergraduate full-time work, for which you
were PAID. Everything else (pro bono, pre-graduate, part-time, internships) won't make
the cut.
If you dont have work experience, or if you have very little, then we have a much
bigger problem, and you might need to consider waiting to apply to business school
until you have had some work experience. (But that requires a longer conversation.)
Almost always, you'll want to foreground your work experience. Unless a school
requires its own rsum format, we suggest making Professional Experience the first
section of your rsum. It's the classic reverse chronology format used in rsum
writing (most recent usually current job first). This approach allows you to lead off
with your most impressive achievements, and reveal IMPROVEMENT and PROGRESS
as you move backwards in time to prior experiences.
The Importance of Results
Your career arc shouldnt just connect your jobs; it should have an upward trajectory
over time. It is vital that you make this upward trajectory PLAIN through your
achievements. Dont just state them. Think of your rsum as a marketing tool that you
will use to sell yourself. Quantify your successes in your rsum. By how much did you
increase profits? $1.5 million USD? 400%? Use numbers or percentages, whichever is
more impressive. Now, lets take a look at a few examples.
Heres an example of a line we see a lot:

Managed a big complicated construction project with Bouyges to build a new

Stadium.

You built a stadium, eh? Not too shabby, my friend. But when you say the project was
big, what does that mean? Bigger than a breadbox or an elephant? A skyscraper? And

what do you mean when you say complicated? Complicated for whom? A first grade
student? A nuclear physicist?
To remove any ambiguity, lets first get some numbers in this line:

Managed a team of 10 working on a $560 million project with 10 other partners

including Bouyges to build a new Stadium.

Okay, looking better. Now that we have numbers, lets make them more impressive.
How big was this project relatively? Is this a normal sized project for the company, or a
HUGE one?

Managed a team of 10 working on a $560 million project with 10 other partners

including Bouyges to build a new Stadium in the biggest construction project of
the last decade.

By objectifying the subjective we were able to turn a mildly interesting line into a
really impressive one. Put everything into context. What does it mean to work
overtime, for example? Or how many people were nominated for that award you won?
This will really make your rsum shine.
Now, lets talk about objectifying accomplishments that are difficult to prove. For
example, say youre good at teamwork. How do you objectify that? As suggested
earlier, one way to make the subjective sound more concrete is to have someone else
(preferably someone with a higher rank) state it. When the praise comes from a thirdparty source (your bosss mouth, an internal review, a client email, a newspaper article,
a radio show), it becomes more OBJECTIVE.
Heres an example:

Picked up good leadership skills in management training program.

So, the first thing we can do here is find a way to objectify this:

Praised in management training program review for having rare leadership

skills.

Looking better, but theres an even stronger way. Say you earned the highest rating in
your cohort, and your cohort had 200 people. Then, you could write something like:

Awarded with the best leadership skills in cohort of 200+ people.

Now that looks SWEEEEEET.

In your rsum, you will have to show the adcoms what you did briefly because you
wont have enough space to tell stories or provide lengthy explanations. In the essays,
however, you will get the chance to walk the adcoms through your career highlights in
great detail. So, how can you prove anything on your rsum with so little room?
Answer: with cold, hard FACTS.
What we want to see here are ACTION VERBS + RESULTS. And VERY LITTLE ELSE.
That should become the essence of every excellent bullet point.
Heres another example:

Coordinated with six engineers in S. Korea to accommodate new requirements

and devised a way to eliminate the communication gap, reducing faulty
implementations and accelerating the process to remove existing bugs.

Okay, so we already have an action verb to start, and its a solid one, so thats done. But
what does the rest of the line tell us? And how is it creating impact? This statement is
too long and, worse, too vague.
Lets hack at it, smartly:

Coordinated with team of six Korean engineers to eliminate communication gap,

reducing faulty implementations and accelerating the process to remove existing
bugs.

Better. But still too much. Here we have THREE results. (Never mind that they arent yet
concrete results.) Lets choose the one thats MOST important.

Coordinated with team of six Korean engineers to eliminate communication gap.

Better. Now weve boiled this down to a single teamwork-oriented bullet. Its clear. Its
impactful. Its just a bit vague, still.

Coordinated with team of six Korean engineers to eliminate communication gap,

completing the project in half the time.

And there it is. Now we have a result.

LESS is MORE
Very often we see three-line bullets that explain every action in a single project. But,
oftentimes, stuffing so much stuff into a single bullet diminishes the overall impact of

that bullet. Fight the urge to squeeze everything into that one opportunity and instead
make the most impressive achievement POP.
Lets look at another example:

Played key role in the development of Sony 4K Ultra HD Media Player, which
boosted Sony 4K TV sales, making Sony the global market leader with a massive
market share of 37.8% and a revenue of $185 million out of a $490 million Ultra
HD TV industry.

Not bad. Not bad at all, in fact. Its concrete. We have results. Its impressive. But there
are just... TOO many results.
Lets try this again:

Played key role in making Sony the global market leader in the $490 million Ultra
HD TV market.

Okay, better. But what key role did you play? What did you actually do?

Led sales team of 10 to create marketing plan, making Sony the global market
leader in the $490 million Ultra HD TV market.

And there it is. Just a bit of cutting, a change or two, and we've increased the impact 10x.

Typos
We dont need to tell you that typos are poisonous to rsums, right? WRONG.
In our experience, truly typo-free rsums are more rare than a 60-degree February
day in Chicago. Sadly, hard as applicants try, everybody is careless at some point. Sure,
a single typo or two in an essay is forgivable, but on this compact, perfected, one-page
wonder that is a rsum? Fuggedaboutit!
So, which typos do we see 100 times a day? Misplaced dashes and periods, inconsistent
spaces between sections, incorrect date abbreviations, odd margins, wrong verb tenses,
misspelled names, wrong number formats, and many more. Less common? No contact
info, misspellings, random bold or capitalized letters.
The solution is simple: avoid typos AT ALL COSTS. Proofread your rsum a million
times. Then when you're done... do it again. Then when you're truly over it and
convinced it's perfect, do it again. Give it to a friend to proofread as well.
You may not immediately notice the typos, but trust me, we will. And so will the adcom.

Jargon
Some people have technical jobs. Thus, their rsums will need to have a bit more
technical jargon than their fellow MBA applicants. That said, remember the target
audience (the adcoms) do not have institutional knowledge of all industries (no one
does). As such, they will likely get lost in a rsum that is jargon heavy. So, if you want
anyone and most of all, the adcom to understand what youre saying, you need to
strip your rsum of jargon. If your grandma cant understand what your rsum says,
re-work it until she can understand every word.
Also, remember that business schools are looking for BUSINESS SCHOOL SKILLS!
You absolutely CANNOT submit your technical work rsum here. If you do without
rewriting it at all this will hurt your application. (Truth? SOME jargon is okay, but
never at the expense of clarity.)
This note is especially for the IT people: Do NOT put ANYTHING about coding or
systems in your rsum. You will only pigeonhole your candidacy as another IT guy
(or gal). And since IT is the largest and most competitive applicant pool, you most
definitely want to avoid that.
Now, this does not mean that you cant write about coding at all. Its more a question of
how to PRESENT the information. Instead of focusing on the name of the coding
language or a technical description of your work, focus on the RESULTS you were able
to achieve with it. Was your awesome code responsible for removing 99% of all bugs?
Did it cut file sizes in half? Did it increase the speed or efficiency of workflow? Do
50,000 of the banks clients use it daily for their bank transactions? Those are points
that anyone can understand.
Alternatively, think about HOW you coded: Did you code in collaboration? Did you lead
the coding team? Awesome! Now, we have teamwork and leadership.

Superlatives
One way to boost the overall feel of your profile is to make use of superlatives in your
bullets. Here are examples of some good superlatives: Did you lead the BIGGEST project
of the last decade? Were you the TOP-RATED employee of all time? Did you complete
your training the FASTEST? Were you the BEST performer last year?
And if superlatives dont quite fit, you can always rely on comparatives: Did you get
promoted TWICE AS FAST as your peers? Did you finish your training in HALF THE
TIME?

Formatting
Formatting your rsum is crucial. It needs to look organized. Clean. Modern.
Professional. Business-like. But who made the rule that everyone has to use the same
format?
There is no perfect format. And yes, you can even take risks with the format if you
have an eye for design. But, whatever you do, make sure that your content is 100%
perfect. And then, make sure the end result is crisp, clean, and easy to read.
Yes, there are standard formats from Harvard Business School, Wharton, and more
everybody has one. Dont be afraid to use something DIFFERENT within reason.
Schools are evaluating your judgment above all else, and if you have good reason to
use another format, it will be accepted, as long as its justified.
If you have any doubts about format, stick with something classic. Its like a dark grey
suit; you can wear it to any occasion. We have included a few sample templates at the
end of this document, feel free to use those.
Editing
If youve made it this far, there is a good chance that your rsum is a few pages longer
than one page. It's time to start cutting. Lets do this step-by-step:
1.

2.

3.

4.

Keep the number of sections to a bare minimum. Section breaks will take up a
LOT more space than adding a few bullets to an already existing section. Its a
good idea to remove Hobbies, Leadership Skills, Computer Skills, Personal
Skills, and your Objective. At the very least, combine them into one
comprehensive section.
Keep only the most impressive achievements. Go through the remaining bullets
one by one until the ones with the most impressive results are left. Keep in
mind that the most important points to keep are those that demonstrate
LEADERSHIP. And the second most important points are those that mention
PROMOTIONS.
Remove anything that is repetitive. Sure, you closed two amazing deals with
Nestle, but do you really need to tell the adcom about both? Is the second adding
anything fundamental to your rsum? If not, cut it out and make space for
more BREADTH.
Make the individual bullets as brief and impactful as possible. Weve illustrated
some techniques above so flip back there for some help. Ideally, each bullet
should be no longer than a line. Go through each word with a fine-toothed comb
removing any unnecessary articles, particles, and pronouns until all you have
left are impactful phrases.

5.

Reduce margins and fonts as well as spacing (without going too far). These may
seem like small and obvious tricks, but they work.

Is it easy to cut down your entire adult life to a single page? Nope. But its doable. And
its worth it because you will end up with a stronger snapshot of your profile.

CHAPTER 5
Rsum Writing Advanced Techniques

Chapter 5:
Rsum Writing Advanced Techniques

Now you have a pretty solid rsum with your main achievements and jobs, and its all
arranged and formatted and cut down to a single page. Is that it then? Are we done?
Sorry folks, this is Admissionado. We wring the "make things better" cloth until it is dry
enough to be a fire hazard. Let's dig just a little bit deeper.
Company / School / Institution Descriptions
Unless you have BIG names on your rsum, the adcom has probably never heard of
your employer, volunteer organization, or school, especially if you are an international
candidate. And that's okay. But, in order for those names to have any value, we need to
provide those lesser-known firms, schools and organizations some descriptions. This
will give your work CONTEXT, which paves the way for the opportunity to impress.
Even if you DO work for a huge, instantly recognizable firm, maybe you're on a special
team in a special department that no one's familiar with. Here, too, a team or
department description may be in order to help provide key context.
What makes for a good description? Anything that makes the organization seem:
"
"
"
"

Important
Successful
Big
Impactful

To illustrate, here are some examples of fictional institutions:

"
"
"

Hogwarts The worlds number-one ranked School of Magic.

Axigen Swedens second largest manufacturer of tractors.
MedHealth The worlds fastest growing cancer treatment center.

The Rsum Bullet Point

Weve dealt with how to make effective bullet points in other sections of this guide, but
lets review. Here are general guidelines (these arent rules, just guidelines) for making
a very effective rsum bullet:
1.

The best bullets are comprised of an ACTION + a RESULT: a single action with a
single verb and a single concrete result.

2.

3.
4.
5.

6.

The best bullets have an action that is related to an MBA skill or quality rather
than something technical (e.g. its better to LEAD a team, than to CODE
software).
The best bullets are one line long. And even that single line is cut down to the
bare minimum. Remember: the less we have to read, the more we see.
The best bullets are focused on IMPACT. The result should be concrete and
impressive.
The best bullets use numbers to increase impact. And, as any statistician or
marketer knows, how you present information is just as important as the
information itself (e.g. doubled sales at the startup sounds more impressive
than increased sales revenue from $2,000 to $4,000).
Each job entry should have at least 2-4 bullet points.

The "Shooting Star" Factor

Following the instructions in this guide will help you build a profile that presents you
as a shooting star an exception among the exceptional in even the best of
companies. As you can imagine, these are the types of profiles that earn the best
results.
Schools will see TONS of applications from Big Four firms, but they will only see a
handful of Big Four applicants who are shooting stars the ones who are always
ranked at the top of their game, promoted the fastest, taking on the most
responsibilities in and out of work, and have the greatest leadership potential. An
effective rsum is an excellent way to stand out as a leader among peers.

CONCLUSION

CONCLUSION
The challenge is there: your one-page rsum should make it clear in 10 seconds who
you are and what you do. And all of that needs to impress.
Rsum building is an art and a science. It takes practice and hard work. But once you
have the principles down, you will have the skills to update and perfect this living
document for the remainder of your career.

Do You Need a Consultant For Your Rsum?

Maybe, maybe not. For most it comes down to budget. We created this guide for
everyone, but especially those who might not have the resources to enlist an
experienced professional to deliver personalized strategic guidance at each step. We
hope this guide provides some key insights into what b-schools are looking for (and
why), and can therefore help everyone to develop a stronger rsum.

TIPS SUMMARY
Quick Tips and Tricks for ALL MBA Applicants:
"
If you have under 10 years of experience, keep your rsum to one page.
"
Use the same format for all entries.
"
Write company/school descriptions for each entry.
"
Show progress by mentioning advancement and promotions.
"
Showcase your uniqueness in one way or another.
"
Start the rsum with the Work Experience section.
"
Keep all bullets to one line, where possible.
"
Focus on leadership and teamwork.
"
List ACHIEVEMENTS, not responsibilities.
"
Showcase RESULTS.
Quick Tips and Tricks for IT MBA Applicants:
"
Focus on the IMPACT of your tech skills.
"
Avoid all jargon that might not be understood by non-techies.
"
Make yourself PERSONABLE focus on communication, teamwork, non-work
activities.
"
Work doubly hard to add a few bullets that will show your uniqueness.
"
Show that you understand the BUSINESS results of your tech work.

Quick Tips and Tricks for Consultants:

"
Show that you care about the impact of your consulting.
"
If you lack results for your consulting projects, use reviews or client feedback to
show how awesome you are.
"
Work doubly hard to add a few bullets that will show how unique you are. There
are a LOT of consultants applying to b-school.
"
Show how you have outperformed all of your peers.
"
Where possible, focus in on a particular market.
Quick Tips and Tricks for International Candidates:
"
Write a school description. Unless you graduated from the number one
university in your country, the adcom will know NOTHING about your school.
"
If your grading system is not on a 4.0 scale, provide the 4.0 scale in ADDITION to
your local GPA. If you have a ranking and its impressive, add it.
"
Add the languages you speak and your fluency level.
"
For non-Western applicants: show that you have international experience in the
West education, work, and travel.

SAMPLE RSUM 1
BEFORE

BEGOA GIMNZ
Calle de Jose Maria Silva, 123, 28000

Mobile: +34 111111111
bgimenez@gmail.com

Profile

Young, dynamic person with strong desire to achieve, fast ability to learn, good analytical

Polytechnic University of Catalonia (GPA 2.83)
Banco Santander
Consumer Loan Manager

Consumer Banking Manager

Consumer Loan Business Outlet Manager

Consumer Loan Credit Analyst for Top Developers

Consumer Loan Credit Analyst

Officer Development Program

July 2015 Now

(Consumer Banking Area Madrid)
Managed 11 person staff to process consumer loans application, achieving 95% of
seven days service level agreement.
Led sales team to find the business opportunity, maintain 1,4 T lending since July
2015
January 2015 June 2015
(Branch Madrid)
Managed 8 person staff to process consumer loans application, achieving 95% of
seven days service level agreement.
Led sales team to find the business opportunity, maintain 250 B lending since Jan
2013
Responsible for cross selling in consumer card and consumer deposit product.
July 2013 December
(Consumer Loan Business Outlet Barcelona)
2014
Prepared facilities renovation, network setting, and employee recruitment for
opening Barcelona office on July 2013
Managed eight person staff to process consumer loans application, achieving
95% of 7 days service level agreement.
Led sales team to find the business opportunity, increasing lending up 39% to $19M
since July 2013
July 2011 June 2013
(Consumer Loan Business Center Valencia)
Managed relation for 5 top developer in Valencia and process top developers
applicant under 3 days
November 2009 June
(Consumer Loan Business Center Seville)
2011
Led two credit analyst clerk in Seville and keep the process service level
agreement above 95%

May 2009 November

2009
Learned about detailed and various general banking businesses such as credit,
funding, and treasury.
Developed strong interpersonal, communication and negotiation skill

Finmeccania (Italy)

Sales Engineer

July 2003 - May 2008

Bachelor of Engineering: Electrical Engineering

Experience

skill. Proven leadership & organizational abilities and enjoy working as team member as
well as independently. Ability as a result oriented-problem solver and also hard-working
individual. Enjoys watching movies, traveling, and playing table tennis.

Education

Job

December 2008 January 2009

Job training as Research Assistant in the Medical Electronic Research Laboratory,

Department of Electronics Engineering Sapienza Universit di Roma.
Assisted formulating product specification and product purchasing for Italian Navy
Tools

PT Aragon Electric Power

Part Time Staff

May 2007 May 2008

EnerAgen (Madrid)
Internship

Training
Experience

Assisted with Research Project: Harmonics effect on energy meter measurement

(PLN Distribution Aragon and Catalonia)
Research Project: Energy meter in PT. Aragon, PT. Catalonia, and PT. Valencia
(P2TL PLN Distribution Aragon)
June 2006 July 2006

Assisted with research of building energy survey, audit, and management.

Human Performance Improvement

August 2015

Banco Santander

Advance Consumer Finance Academy

Six Sigma Awareness

Intermediate Consumer Finance Academy (3rd rank in class)

Basic Consumer Finance Academy

Leadership
Experience









Achievement




Skill

October 2013

Marketing Update for Consumer Finance

IESE Business School
May 2012

Banco Santander

March 2012

Banco Santander

May 2010

Banco Santander

Committee Leader

January 2007

Excursion ANA ITB 2007 Barcelona-Madrid-Valencia

Electrical Engineering Students Organization, Barcelona
Organized schedule, sponsorship, company arrangement, and accommodation for
seven days study tour program.

Chief

July 2004

Committee of General Election for Electrical Engineering

Student Organization, Barcelona
Made election and campaign rules, managed the election process.

Finalist of Spain Young Consumer Banker Champion 2013

October 2013

Consumer banking strategy competition held by Banco Santander

Bank Risk Management Level 2 (Banker Professional Certification Body)

Spain native, Italian fluent, English fluent (TOEIC 2013 - 900/990, TOEFL 2014 94/120)

Good analytical skill (GMAT 2014 610/800)

SAMPLE RSUM 1
BEFORE (WITH EDITS)

BEGOA GIMNZ
Calle de Jose Maria Silva, 123, 28000

Mobile: +34 111111111
bgimenez@gmail.com

Profile

Young, dynamic person with strong desire to achieve, fast ability to learn, good analytical

skill. Proven leadership & organizational abilities and enjoy working as team member as
well as independently. Ability as a result oriented-problem solver and also hard-working
individual. Enjoys watching movies, traveling, and playing table tennis.

Education

Job

Polytechnic University of Catalonia (GPA 2.83)

July 2003 - May 2008

Bachelor of Engineering: Electrical Engineering

Banco Santander

Experience

[Lets add a company description here. **I** happen to know Bank Santander, but the
person who reads your application will most likely NOT. The best type of company
descriptions will show how large/important/impressive the company is.]

Consumer Loan Manager

Consumer Banking Manager

Consumer Loan Business Outlet Manager

July 2015 Now

(Consumer Banking Area Madrid)
Managed 11 person staff to process consumer loans application, achieving 95% of
seven days service level agreement. [Nice achievement! But lets trim this down
right now you are giving TOO much information. Less is more, lets focus on the
essence.]
Led sales team to find the business opportunity, maintain 1,4 T [let's convert to USD,
true for all $ references] lending since July 2015. [What else can you add here to
let us know how AMAZING this accomplishment was? Can you make it relative? Or
give us some kind of context?]
[Besides the above two, are there any other notable achievements you can add?
Focus especially on achievements that MBA programs are looking for leadership,
teamwork, business achievements.]
January 2015 June 2015
(Branch Madrid)
Managed eight person staff to process consumer loan applications, achieving
95% of seven days service level agreement. [Is this good? We need context
here. Also, this achievement sounds exactly like the one above. How can you add
to it or change it to make it clear that it showcases something different?]
Led sales team [of how many?] to find the business opportunity [What business
opportunity? How big was it? How important?], maintained 250 B lending since
Jan 2013 [Sounds good, but how do we know for sure (same note)? Can you
give us context here?]
Responsible for cross selling in consumer card and consumer deposit product.
[With what results?]
[Do you have any other leadership acheivments?]
[What about teamwork? Do you regularly collaborate with others?]
[Did you receive any awards here? Were you handpicked for a special task?
Were you on a quicker than normal promotion schedule?]
July 2013 December
(Consumer Loan Business Outlet Barcelona)
2014
Prepared facilities renovation, network setting, and employee recruitment for
opening Barcelona office on July 2013 [Okay, what was the challenge here? Was
this hard? And what was the concrete and measurable result? Right now this is a
mildly impressive responsibility We want to make this into a solid achievement!]
Managed eight person staff to process consumer loans application, achieving
95% of seven days service level agreement. [Great! Same comment as above.
Lets finesse this and make it a smoother and more efficient statement. Lets also
change the language so that it doesnt sound repetitive.]
Led sales team to find the business opportunity, increasing lending up 39% to $19M
since July 2013 [The results here are great, but what business opportunity?]
[Based on that discovery in our recent conversation, you will wanna include

details about your promotion here. It will look impressive and will help build you a
shooting star profile.]
[Any other notable business or leadership achievements to add here?]
[Can you add anything about any promotions, awards, bonuses, or raises here?]

Consumer Loan Credit Analyst for Top Developers

Consumer Loan Credit Analyst

Officer Development Program

July 2011 June 2013

(Consumer Loan Business Center Valencia)
Managed relations for five top developers in Valencia and processed top
developers application in under three days [Great! Is this good? Is this quick? Can
you give us any context here?]
[Any notable leadership achievements?]
[What about teamwork achievements?]
[Did you learn anything new here?]
[Did you ever initiate anything? A new process? An idea? Anything at all? Could
be work or social]
November 2009 June
(Consumer Loan Business Center Seville)
2011
Led two credit analyst clerks in Seville and kept the process service level
agreement above 95% [Is this quick? Is this good? Can you give us context here?]

Finmeccania (Italy)

Sales Engineer

December 2008 January 2009

Job training as Research Assistant in the Medical Electronic Research Laboratory,

Department of Electronics Engineering Sapienza Universit di Roma. [What
specifically were you researching? Were YOU doing the training or were you being
trained? Any results to mention?]
Assisted formulating product specification and product purchasing for Italian Navy
Tools. [Any results to mention here?]

PT Aragon Electric Power

Part Time Staff

May 2009 November

2009
Learned about detailed and various general banking businesses such as credit,
funding, and treasury. [Sounds awesome! And from our chat, sounds hard to get
into! Can you reveal more about the selection process? How many people were
selected? Out of how many?]
Developed strong interpersonal, communication and negotiation skills. [Sounds
good. But right now this is a bit subjective. How can you PROVE this?]

May 2007 May 2008

Assisted with Research Project: Harmonics effect on energy meter measurement

(PLN Distribution Aragon and Catalonia)
Research Project: Energy meter in PT. Aragon, PT. Catalonia, and PT. Valencia
(P2TL PLN Distribution Aragon)

EnerAgen (Madrid)
Internship

June 2006 July 2006

Assisted with research of building energy survey, audit, and management.

[Part-time work and internships may not be relevant to your rsum at this stage,
especially considering the vast work experience you have had. I suggest removing this
section. Likewise, the training experience section below can go. Its not adding much to
your rsum. Since our objective is to boil your ENTIRE life (Well, career ) down to ONE
single page, and this stuff is not doing much to strengthen your profile, I suggest removing
it.]

Training
Experience

Human Performance Improvement

August 2015

Banco Santander

Advance Consumer Finance Academy

Six Sigma Awareness

Intermediate Consumer Finance Academy (3rd rank in class)

October 2013

Marketing Update for Consumer Finance

IESE Business School
May 2012

Banco Santander

March 2012

Banco Santander

Basic Consumer Finance Academy

Leadership
Experience

Achievement





Skill

May 2010

Banco Santander

Committee Leader

January 2007

Excursion ANA ITB 2007 Barcelona-Madrid-Valencia

Electrical Engineering Students Organization, Barcelona
Organized schedule, sponsorship, company arrangement, and accommodation for
seven-day study tour program.
[This is fantastic! But you have TONS of leadership experience ALL OVER your rsum,
and we dont want to sell the rest short. So lets cut this section, while of course
emphasizing leadership everywhere else! Since this achievement is relevant to your
studies, lets make it a bullet under the education section.]

Chief

July 2004

Committee of General Election for Electrical Engineering

Student Organization, Barcelona
Made election and campaign rules, managed the election process.
[Comment above also applies here. Lets add this to the education section.]

Finalist of Spain Young Consumer Banker Champion 2013

October 2013

Consumer banking strategy competition held by Banco Santander [LOVE it!]

Bank Risk Management Level 2 (Banker Professional Certification Body)

Spain native, Italian fluent, English fluent (TOEIC 2013 - 900/990, TOEFL 2014 94/120)

Good analytical skill (GMAT 2014 610/800)

[All the above can go. It will be on your application, and theres no space for it here.]

Notes from our Consultant:

-

We need to reorder some of the sections (and delete a few), foregrounding the most
important items to b-schools. Work Experience should come before anything else. You can
remove the section labeled Profile since you can PROVE these things in your rsum, and its
also taking up precious space.
After Work Experience, lets add a section with Volunteer Experience since this is soooooo
important for b-school. Education can follow and then Interests/Hobbies/Skills can go last. I
suggest integrating the information found in Achievements, Leadership Experience, and
Training Experience into other sections. First of all, adding these sections is contributing to
the space issue were having. Secondly, your leadership section is very short but when I look
at the rest of your rsum I see TONS of leadership! The adcoms might wonder, Why is her
leadership section so short? And forget about all of the other leadership experiences you
have mentioned elsewhere. Instead, lets emphasize leadership as much as possible in EVERY
section.
Also, its clear that your role and responsibilities have grown over the years at Banco
Santander, but you can make this even more impressive if you emphasize promotions,
selection, and awards. This will be ESPECIALLY effective if you are being promoted faster
and/or younger than your peers!
Moreover, some of your achievements are missing concrete results. If you want to make your
achievements stronger, then we need some sort of result for each (and, of course, the better
the result, the more impressive the achievement).
Most importantly, focus on LEADERSHIP, which is the single most important target here in
your rsum. We want to build a profile that exhibits your leadership in the most impressive

manner.
Finally, you can further develop the Education Section with bullets that show your
achievements, extra-curricular activities, teaching assistance, leadership and awards at your
university.
Lastly, lets reconsider your rsum format. The blue color is original, but it makes things hard
to read. The format of the lines and borders and even the font all contribute to making each
section spatially inefficient. Youre getting LESS out of your rsum than you actually can!
Switch to a more classic template, then we can boost your profile, without ballooning the
length.

SAMPLE RSUM 1
AFTER

BEGOA GIMNZ
Calle de Jose Maria Silva, 123, 28000 | bgimenez@gmail.com | mobile: +34 1111111111

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
Banco Santander (Madrid, Spain)
Largest bank in Spain with US $109.4B asset
Consumer Loan Processing Manager, Consumer Loan Business Center Madrid
Manage 11 person staff to process US $18.1M loan applications monthly.
Led sales team of 7 to break a historical record with US $1.5M disbursed in one consumer loan account.
Achieved best consumer loan disbursement volume among 20 processing centers in 2015.

2015Present

Consumer Loan Processing Manager, Consumer Loan Business Center Madrid

Set up new processing office in Barcelona with USD$ 600k renovation budget within 1.5 weeks.
Screened 6 employees for Barcelona new processing office.
Managed 8 people to process US $7M loan applications monthly.
Led salesteam of 6 to increasing lending up 39% to $19M since over 18 months.
Achieved best consumer loan disbursement volume among 20 processing outlets in 2014.
Awarded Consumer Finance Achievement Award in 2014.
Youngest Consumer Loan Processing Manager in Banco Santander.
Promoted to Consumer Loan Processing Manager in 4 years instead of the normal 8-10 years.

20132015

Top Developers Consumer Loan Credit Analyst, Consumer Loan Business Center Valencia
Managed relationship with 5 top real estate developers in Valencia.
Processed top developer applications within 3 days.
Led 30 employees for cultural transformation program in Valencia.
Awarded best employee in Consumer Loan Valencia and got 8 times monthly salary bonus for my
extraordinary performance in 2012.

20112013

Consumer Loan Credit Analyst, Consumer Loan Business Center Seville

Managed relationship with 5 top real estate developers in Valencia.
Processed top developer applications within 3 days.

20092011

Trainee, Officer Development Program

Selected as one of 20 out of 2,000 for a four-month career acceleration program.
Rotated amongst, credit, funding, and treasury departments.
Consumer Loan Processing Manager, Consumer Loan Business Center Madrid
Manage 11 person staff to process US $18.1M loan applications monthly.
Led sales team of 7 to break a historical record with US$ 1,5 M disbursed in one consumer loan account.
Achieved best consumer loan disbursement volume among 20 processing centers in 2015.

2009

2015Present

VOLUNTEER EXPERIENCE
Electrical Engineering Alumni 2003 (Barcelona, Spain)
Managed fundraising efforts to Rp 30M, giving a high school scholarship for 2 bright students in Barcelona.

2014

Seville Community (Seville, Spain)

Coordinated 20 freshmen to do service to clean Seville area.

2008

EDUCATION
IESE Business School
Top 5 Business School outside of the US according to poetsandquants.com
1 semester Pre Magister Management Program, GPA 3.8 of 4.0
Polytechnic University Of Catalonia (Barcelona, Spain)
Leading university in Spain in Engineering and Technology
Bachelor of Engineering, Electrical Engineering. GPA 2.83 of 4.0
Assisted with Research Project: Harmonics effect on energy meter.
Organized 7-day study tour in 3 cities with 40 participants.
Responsible for student organization office used by 800 students.
Lectured 5 juniors monthly in Basic Science Lab and High Voltage Lab.
Managed the election process for electrical engineering student organization with 800 voters.

2012

20032008


Here's why we would want this applicant at our business school based on this rsum:
-

From the beginning, she has progressed more quickly than any of her peers at Banco
Santander. She was selected initially for the Officer Development Program and since then,
through merit has been promoted time and again, each position obviously conferring on
her more responsibility and bigger projects. With this rsum, it is clear that Begoa is a
real shooting star!

She has tons of leadership experience, which we can see in both the number of teams she
has led and their size. She has additionally had experience in team-building, which tells us
that she can do more than just passively lead.

Despite her very low GPA, she participated in a TON of extra curriculars during her
undergrad studies, which show that even if she did not succeed academically as we might
hope, her time was vested in doing amazing things.

SAMPLE RSUM 2
BEFORE

SAYEED AL-BATL
Marina Square, Al Reem Island, Abu Dhabi, UAE
sayeed.albatl@gmail.com +971 2 1111111
EXPERIENCE
RAMBOLL
Deputy Project manager

Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

2013-2015

Manage 334 people in my work force with the help of expatriates, coming from 8 different countries,
including 4 engineers, 2 senior foreman, 5 foremen, about 320 local workers and more than 30
construction engine to work on the Abu Dhabi Airport Extension (more than 100 Million)
Negotiate important procurement for about 2Millions. Enhanced buying process of the company and
found new sources resulting in an increase of projects margin by 10% on cement and steel thanks to
international procurement
Lead team of 2 CAD designer, 1 topographic engineer, 1 quality engineer, 2 laboratory operators to
complete construction documents for a 700 m quay construction (15 Million projects)

Construction Engineer

Calculate loading on reinforced concrete structure

Develop a KPI dashboard on Construction equipment decreasing operational cost of the project by 7%
Innovate a system to improve automated concrete formwork in cooperation with a German Company
reducing fabrication delay by 50% and improving quality
Make the Construction planning and monitoring

CARILLION
South-East Regional Sales Engineer

Wolverhampton, UK
2011-2012

Prepare bids for more than 2M worth of construction project and earned 1,2M contracts
Realise site visits, assessments and projections for future work feasibility studies of client requests

KIER GROUP
Construction Site Engineer

Wolverhampton, UK
2012

Develop a client portfolio to start a new activity in the region. Managed to get about 500k in the first 3
months of activity.

Technical Sales Engineer

2012-2013

Sandy, UK

Coordinated 12 contractors to ensure that they understand their scope of works

EDUCATION
Cambridge University
Master of Engineering in Civil Engineering and urban planning

Cambridge, UK
June 2011

Year abroad program Certification in Civil Engineering in Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Top Athletes sports section
Division 1 Water polo team captain, Member of President of the University Water Polo Club, team won 2
UK championship Cup

OTHER DATA
Speak English (native) and Arabic (fluent). Played 9 years as a semi-professional water polo player.
Enjoy sports, chess playing and traveling.

Notes from our Consultant:

-

Lots of great stories in here. But I know you have more, so were gonna excavate, and rip
this sucker to shreds, and load it up with questions to help guide you. The key is to unearth
ALL your stories. (We can cut it down to size later on.) What is your greatest achievement?
Your second greatest? What is your best leadership achievement? Your best teamwork
achievement? And so on. By the end, we will have a document that showcases, simply put,
the absolute GREATEST features of your profile.

Like many first drafts, this sucker focuses on things only at the project level. We need to
break apart the projects, separate the elements, ACTION by ACTION so that we can SEE all
of your skills and talents. Therein lies potential gold. Wait and see.

Also, like many In-Industry Rsums, your current version of the rsum focuses too
much on your industry-relevant skills. Will the MBA program care that you can calculate
loading of reinforced concrete? Nope, not a lick. On the contrary, by focusing on the
technical skills, this will make your candidacy seem more focused toward engineering
school than the general management. Lets refocus your achievements on the MBA side of
things. It doesnt mean your skills are irrelevant, but lets make them relevant to your
business aspirations.

Finally, the current rsum format, although passable, can be better. Were gonna send a
few samples your way, you can choose one you like and well rebuild this sucker from there.
Stand by for line-by-line feedback

SAMPLE RSUM 2
AFTER

SAYEED AL-BATL
Marina Square, Al Reem Island, Abu Dhabi, UAE
sayeed.albatl@gmail.com +971 2 1111111
Experience
2013-2015 RAMBOLL
ABU DHABI, UAE
Deputy Project Manager Extension of Abu Dhabi Airport (~70 Millions)
Managed a work force ~350 people from 8 different countries constructing the 70M+ Abu Dhabi Airport
Extension.
o Improved confidence of local workers by selecting people on merit basis.
Mentored team of 350.
Organized daily meetings to enhance collaboration, decreasing the machinery cost by 10%.
o Shared reports with CEO were made to share the employees inputs and needs.
Improved ready mix concrete plant system as a whole, the tool responsible for the biggest part of our
production each month (about 300k/month).
Increased production capacity from 10k m3 a month to 15k m3 a month. Increased margin by +30%.
Negotiated 2M procurement.
Improved company buying by challenging procurement sources, with 25+ international companies put out to
tender.
Saved ~500k in cement and steel import (+40% increase of project margin).
Led team of 6 to complete construction documents. Documents were delivered 1 month ahead of schedule,
saving 150k.
Spearheaded saving of 300k in project profit.
2012 2013 Construction Engineer Extension of the Abu Dhabi Airport (~70 Millions)
Collaborated with Saudi Arabian firm to generate 150k of savings in construction costs.
Developed a Key Performance indicator dashboard, decreasing operational costs of project by 7%.
Innovated a system to improve automated concrete formwork in cooperation with German Company,
reducing fabrication delay by 50%.
Improved the design of the piece by improving its anchor system, resulting in a more beautiful concrete
surface than that of the previous batch.
Mentored 2 foremen and 2 young engineers on their arrival to the project team.
2012 CARILLION NEW YORK, NY
WOLVERHAMPTON, UK
UK South-East Regional Sales Engineer
Developed a client portfolio from scratch to start the waterproofing activity in south-east region of UK.
Managed to get about 500k in the first 3 months of activity.
Created partnership with local material providers to improve market knowledge.
Built database of all waterproofing projects of the regions improving accuracy of bid from 15% to 30%.
Technical Sales Engineer
Prepared bids for more than 2M worth of construction projects and earned 1.2M in contracts.
Made largest amount of sales by a first-year sales engineer in this branch.
Realized site visits, assessments and projections for future work feasibility studies of client requests.
2010 KIER GROUP
SANDY, UK
UK South-East Regional Sales Engineer
Coordinated 12 contractors, working on the complete refurbishment of an historical building close to Arundel
castle of the Duke of Norfolk (about 3.1 Millions). Resolved exaggerated requests from conservation
architects with persuasive negotiation, avoiding delays and improving cost-efficiency of the work.
Education
2004 2011 CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY NEW YORK, NY
CAMBRIDGE, UK
Master in Civil Engineering and urban planning, GPA converted 3.0
Year abroad program Certification in Civil Engineering in Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA.
Selected to participate in Top Athlete program with the Ministry of Sports.
Division 1 Water Team Captain; President of the Water Polo Student club; the team won 2 UK national
league championships
Organized an international tournament with 8 teams from different European countries and a synchronised
swimming show with 2 Olympic participants; this event was awarded best sport event at Cambridge.
Additional

Interests: Played 9 years as a semi-professional Water Polo player, travelled to more than 20 countries and
more than 30 cities, and won a chess tournament at the age of 12 years old.
Languages: Fluent in English and Arabic, novice in French.

Here's why we would want this applicant at our business school based on this rsum:
-

The rsum focuses on his LEADERSHIP, the single most important ingredient for a
business school candidate. The first three bullets start with three leadership action words:
Managed, mentored, organized!

Each bullet is punchy and impactful. Overall, this gives off an impression that this is
someone who GETS THINGS DONE.

Overall, the way his rsum is structured (modeled after the HBS template by the way), and
the way his bullets are laid out, it allows us to see a CLEAR progression and development
in his career from a relatively junior and technical role to a role that is far more business
and management oriented.

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