10 Steps to Preparing Your Resume
1. Every word matters. From the personal interests and skills sections to college internships and extracurriculars, every line on your resume should have a purpose. If you list something, be prepared to talk about it in depth during your interview, as admissions committees love to focus in on small details.
2. Quantify each accomplishment. Seriously consider whether something should be on your resume if you can’t quantify it in some way. A good resume doesn’t just say its author had an impact on an organization; it demonstrates it through facts and figures. Anything else is just empty filler.
3. Avoid jargon and platitudes. Another good sign you’ve got too much filler on your resume: it’s overflowing with industry jargon and platitudes.
4. Drop adjectives and adverbs. While you’re deleting all the jargon and platitudes, drop those adjectives and adverbs, too. Instead of labeling something a “major” initiative, show it by quantifying how many people it affected. Instead of writing about the “extensive” report you published, demonstrate its reach by quantifying how many pages it spanned. If you drop the empty adjectives and adverbs, you’ll force yourself to make each accomplishment measurable.
5. Keep it to one page. If you’re applying to business school, your resume should be one page. There is no excuse for it to be longer. Focused and concise headline-style writing will allow you to stick to this rule and still convey everything you need to convey.
6. Be multifaceted. Business schools want to admit dynamic students that bring multiple perspectives into the classroom. If you’ve only worked at one company, make sure you highlight the other clubs or organizations you’re involved with outside of work.
7. Demonstrate growth. Your resume should have an arc to it, and that arc should demonstrate clear growth from where you started to where you are now. Within each organization and throughout your resume as a whole, focus on telling a clear story of how you evolved.
8. Communicate clearly. Don’t force the reader to search for simple facts like dates, locations, titles, and organizations. If a title seems a little ambiguous or an organization is relatively unknown, make sure you communicate it clearly by giving it context. Don’t leave the reader guessing.
9. Enlist reviewers. A second, third, and even fourth pair of eyes will go a long way to ensuring you’re communicating clearly and not overlooking any silly errors. In addition to just friends and family, try to enlist a few readers that don’t know you as well; they’ll be less likely to fill in gaps if something isn’t clear and to give you feedback on the overall arc of the resume.
10. Be honest. The easiest way to ensure you’ll be dinged from admissions is to get caught exaggerating or lying. Be honest about your titles, roles, and experiences.