Why a non-traditional resume is not a good idea

September 15, 2011 by EssaySnark - Discusses HBS 2+2

Does your resume look like this? No, of course not. But maybe it looks like this? Or this? Or (hopefully not) this? No offense to the authors of those resumes, but they’re not appropriate for bschool applications. (And to be fair, they’re not being submitted for bschool apps either… so we’re not gonna critique them…

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Here's what others have said about this:

Samudra says

September 13, 2011 at 7:15 am

For those looking for a tl;dr –
1. Everybody is looking for passionate people. Make sure your resume reflects it.
2. Be fun.
3. Be achievement driven, rather than "responsibility driven"

Or in other words, make sure you portray proactiveness at each and every opportunity – your job, your community, your life.

@ES: Plz feel free to point out something I have missed out.

And thanks a lot! It was a really good read!
Preeti says

September 15, 2011 at 2:02 pm

Hey EssaySnark,

Great Job here 🙂 btw I was just going through your tags and I noticed that there are no posts on the "Contribution/Diversity" type of essay.
Tim says

September 15, 2011 at 2:23 pm

Quick question: Coincidentally (in a good way) my resume format almost mirrors the good/boring one you posted. However, I am in the 'young applicant' category, so most of my WE is in one company. I have been promoted a few times, however. How should I show this promotion on my resume. I currently have:
Company X —- Dates
Title
-Blah
-Blah
Previous Title
-Blah

ETC.

Is this ok?
dvitale7 says

September 15, 2011 at 3:30 pm

That is how I did mine. Treat each role different even though it is the same company.

Great post as usual
essaysnark says

September 15, 2011 at 3:38 pm

@Tim, yes, divitale7 got it right – have one main header for your employer (don't need to list the overall dates on that one, though some people do – it can be confusing to do so however). Then underneath, subheadings with title and dates. Breaking the different roles out this way is very important, ESP for an early-career type, to show accelerated advancement and achievement. And, make sure the bullets under each give a sense of contributions made.

Sounds like you're on the right track!

@Preeti, don't quite know what you mean by a "Contribution/Diversity" essay – want to point to a specific school/question?

Basically, all essays should be showing BOTH "contribution" and "diversity" – questions like HBS #1 is perfect for contribution and Columbia #2 can be ideal for diversity. But these are both attributes or angles of your profile that should be coming through EVERYWHERE in your app, not just in one essay.