Applying to business school, or an MBA program, can be nerve-racking. You’ll need to lasso together transcripts and test scores, fill out an application, and likely ace an interview—but perhaps the most critical piece of it all is an MBA resume. This important document will list out many of the same elements as a traditional resume, such as your educational background and work experience.
But an MBA resume also has a different primary function than the typical resume you might submit to try and land a job: It’s designed to land you a spot in an MBA program. If writing an MBA resume feels intimidating, knowing what to put on it, and some other framing tactics, may help calm your nerves.
ADVERTISEMENT
UNC Kenan-Flagler’s top-ranked online MBA
STEM-designated. Tar Heel ROI. No compromises. Visit Website
MBA resume vs. a job resume
As noted, an MBA resume should feel familiar to many prospective business school students.
“An MBA resume is very similar to a job resume,” says Kaneisha Grayson, the founder and CEO of The Art of Applying, an MBA admissions consultancy. She adds that both types of resumes will, or should, comprise a single page, incorporate clear, professional formatting, and lay out an applicant’s educational and career accomplishments.
“I’d say one difference between the two is that I advise our clients to put their education at the top—whereas with a job resume, you’d see education at the bottom,” Grayson says. She recommends this variation because an MBA resume’s specific aim of landing an applicant at an educational institution.
So, in that sense, there may not be a whole lot of differences between an MBA resume and a job resume, but there will be some additional focus on specific aspects of your background, all in an effort to win over an MBA program’s selection or admissions committee.
How to write an MBA resume
Again, writing an MBA resume shouldn’t differ a whole lot from writing a traditional resume, but you’ll want to try and keep your end goal in mind, which is landing a spot in an MBA program. As you write your MBA resume, keeping that goal in mind should prove helpful, because it can help you parse out the information you’ll want to include, and the things you won’t.
“An MBA resume is very specialized toward the application cycle,” says Ellin Lolis, President and Founder of Ellin Lolis MBA Consulting. So, again, keep the end goal in mind. “Your education section is going to be important,” Lolis says, “but we mostly want to see your career focus.”
As for the nuts and bolts of writing an MBA resume? Keep it simple by deciding what to rope in, what to leave out, and how to structure it all so that it’s easy to read.
What to include in your MBA resume
The main elements that your MBA resume should include are an education section, a job experience or professional experience section, and a portion that details a bit more about you, personally, such as your hobbies and interests.
You can leave out photographs, information related to your high school, and even most of your contact information—that’ll be included on your program application, the experts say.
Again, do your best to keep what you include to one page. The only time you could probably get a pass for using more than one page is if you have extensive professional experience, and are applying to an executive MBA program. A good rule of thumb? “When you have more than seven years of full-time, post-college work experience,” says Grayson.
How to structure an MBA resume
As for structuring an MBA resume, do your best to contain most elements to the aforementioned sections: Education, professional background and experience, and a section dedicated to your personal hobbies, interests, skills and certifications, and community service work.
Education
List the schools you attended and the degrees you earned, perhaps with any relevant coursework and GPAs in the education section. Your professional section may differ depending on your specific experiences and industries you’ve worked in, but try to frame it as a sort of professional “story,” which can showcase how an MBA can help you take the next step.
Professional background
“Generally speaking, the MBA is not a purely academic degree, as a majority of people are going to earn one to get a better job,” says Lolis. “They’re doing it to boost their career—and at that point, the most relevant thing is your recent job and your professional track record,” she says.
Get into the weeds, too, about your accomplishments. “Don’t just reiterate your job responsibilities,” says Grayson. “Communicate the results of your efforts. Quantifying the results is much more significant and meaningful—describe the impact,” she says.
Hobbies, interests, and more
As for the more personal portion? “One of the main things that’s different from a job resume is that they want you to share some of your hobbies and interests,” Lolis says. “Be very specific,” adds Grayson, “because 90% of people will list ‘travel’ as a hobby. “But that’s not interesting—maybe something like ‘slow traveling to find the best street food.’ That’s interesting.” This, she says, can help spark a conversation, or help your resume stand out from the pile.
In addition to specific hobbies or interests, you might include, add volunteer or community work as well, and perhaps relevant technical or language skills. Again, this may help tip the scales in your favor by showing you have specific know-how related to a given industry or task. Any applicable awards you’ve earned may be good to include, too, as they showcase that you’re capable of excelling in a given area.
Should you customize your resume for each business school?
Experts generally don’t recommend changing up your MBA resume when applying to different schools. Instead, look for specific instructions relayed by the school, if there are any, and make any needed changes accordingly. So, unless you have a really compelling reason, you can probably use the same resume for a number of applications.
Also, don’t go overboard in terms of design to make your resume stand out. “Just stick to traditional formatting,” says Lolis, since that’s what most admissions teams are used to seeing, and are generally looking for. Let the contents of the resume speak for you—not the design.
Where to go if you need help
For many prospective MBA students, piecing together a resume shouldn’t be terribly difficult, given that it’s mostly the same process as writing a traditional resume. However, if you need help, you can reach out to consultants, or even check out some of the resources schools make available to help you along the process.
- Consultants: There are many MBA consultancies out there, including the firms that Lolis and Grayson founded. They can help create, review, and critique an MBA resume and get it into shape.
The takeaway
In all, you should write an MBA resume in the same way you’d write a traditional resume, with some slight variations. The resume should focus on your professional background and previous education, while also detailing some of your personal interests, too. Stick to classic resume formatting as well, and keep it to one page, if possible.
It’s also important, experts say, to use some basic formatting and style—use 11 or 12-point font, a normal font style (Arial, Times New Roman, etc.), and overall, keep it professional. And remember: don’t go overboard trying to score style points with the resume’s design or other elements.
