EssaySnark

  • about
  • contact
  • help
  • sign up
  • login
CLICK FOR MORE!
  • Essay Questions
    • Harvard
    • Stanford
    • Wharton
    • Chicago Booth
    • Kellogg
    • MIT Sloan
    • Tuck
    • NYU Stern
    • Columbia
    • Yale SOM
    • Berkeley Haas
    • UVA Darden
    • Duke Fuqua
    • Michigan Ross
    • UCLA Anderson
    • Cornell
  • Strategy Guides
    • MBA Career Goals in Entrepreneurship
    • School-Specific MBA Application Guides
      • Harvard 2020 MBA Strategy Guide
      • Stanford 2020 MBA Strategy Guide
      • Wharton 2020 MBA Strategy Guide
      • Kellogg 2020 MBA Strategy Guide
      • MIT Sloan 2020 MBA Strategy Guide
      • Columbia 2020 MBA Strategy Guide
      • Chicago Booth 2020 MBA Strategy Guide
      • *MORE SCHOOL-SPECIFIC GUIDES HERE*
  • MBA Consulting
    • Free essay reviews
    • What stage are you in?
    • Military MBA
    • BIPOC Program
    • Testimonials & Reviews
    • Guest Posts
  • My SnarkCenter
    • My Strategy Guides
    • My Favorite Posts
    • Discounts & Offers

Your resume can be so much better than this!!!!

August 24, 2018 by EssaySnark - Discusses LBS, MIT Sloan 2 Comments

God bless the adcoms for trying to help you BSers.

Recently London Business School posted a sample CV (aka resume) to their blog and we do appreciate that the schools are trying to offer more guidance!

But guess what?

You can do so much better than this!!!!!!!!

 

Here’s the sample resume from LBS (in part – full version available here) :

Screen grab of the suggested LBS MBA resume format

This is the LBS format — meaning, the format that students use when recruiting at this school. It’s not too dissimilar to the format that MBA students at other schools also use for recruiting. The schools have students standardize to make it easier for recruiters; it allows more of an apples-to-apples comparison. This is a common practice.

The LBS admissions team’s accompanying blog post had lots of great tips in it and sadly, not all of those are actually being reflected on this sample.

Mostly the question you have to ask yourself before adopting their suggested format though: Is it optimized for the MBA admissions process? We have to say no. 🙁

Why not?

Well for starters, look at all that white space at the top. White space is good in terms of making the content on the page balanced and easy to deal with. A poor resume layout, though, will screw up this balance and it’ll cheat you of the optimal amount of room to include actual content. That stacked header is not great, and the Education section is radically sparse. (In a not-good way.)

We also disagree with the adcoms’ recommendation / requirement (from MIT Sloan) that Education goes at the top. If a school (aka MIT Sloan) mandates that you put your stuff in that order, then fine, you’ll obviously need to do so — but most of the MBA admissions teams care about your PROFESSIONAL READINESS more than anything. Yes they care about where you went to school and what your grades are. But highlighting your current professional background front and center, by putting that first on the page, is the right way to go.

After all, unless you’re applying to bschool straight from another academic program, then the rule of presenting yourself in reverse-chronological order is violated by having the Education section at the top. The reason that MBA students build their resumes for the recruiting process by putting the Education section on top is because the students are still in school. In the Real World, you want your Most Recent stuff At The Top (sorry for the weird capitals but we feel like those words deserve to be capitalized in this sentence!). So for MIT and LBS to be telling you to put your COLLEGE at the top is by definition non-standard and not what recruiters would want you to do. At least, not what your resume should look like today — again, unless you’re currently in school. And then yeah, school goes first.

But that’s a trivial thing. If the Education section is at the top, even if it’s not the most recent part of your life, so be it. As a resume reader, we can just skip down to the professional content.

Mostly we’re not crazy about these schools insisting that you (or implying you should) do the resume a particular way — when the way they’re promoting is not necessarily ideal.

Why, MIT?!? Why are you requiring applicants do this? You know they’re applying to other schools, too! The resume was the one thing that applicants did not have to do custom to each application! And now this!

Gah!

Yes, The ‘Snark is frustrated on the behalf of all BSers. And we love MIT for so many other things, too!

After years of schools reducing requirements and removing barriers and trying to make it simpler for applicants to apply, it seems that maybe a few schools are starting to assert their individuality again and asking applicants to go ahead and do things just for them. This MIT resume is certainly an extreme case. The org chart that MIT is requiring is also unique but we’re not that bent out of shape on that one, mostly because it seems so darned practical from the adcom’s side. We can see the utility. This MIT-format resume? Not so much.

What we suggest if you’re applying to one of these schools?

Pay attention to their instructions.

That may seem so obvious but really, it’s so important.

If, like Sloan, they INSIST you submit using their specific layout, then you’d best submit a resume in that layout! You are risking way too much to disregard their requirement. (MIT used to suggest a template rather than insist on one.) We don’t currently know of any other school that is insisting on a resume layout so hopefully you’re not constructing multiple different versions of your resume for all these schools.

But if you are?

Gah! again!

Shame on these adcoms!

It’s just counter to the whole applicant-friendly thing that we’ve often appreciated with the Sloan adcom peeps.

Here’s the instructions from MIT — and no, they’re not too onerous — but as you can see, they will require you to create a version just for them:

Please submit a one-page resume (Times New Roman 10 point font preferred) that includes your employment history and academic record in reverse chronological order. Other information appropriate to a business resume is welcomed and encouraged, including extracurricular activities, awards, and achievements. Please REDACT your name, address, and contact information.

For formatting purposes, please list the information in the following order:

  • Education – please feel free to include relevant awards, scholarships, professional societies
  • Work Experience – please list in reverse chronological order and include: company name, title, results-oriented bullets that demonstrate your skill set, and dates.
  • Additional information – languages, extracurricular activities/community service, technical skills/certifications, special skills/interests (if appropriate)

 
 
 

Bonus content for Blahg Members: How to Redact Your Info for the MIT Sloan MBA Resume

 
Maybe you missed that part where they say to “REDACT your name, address, and contact information” or maybe you don’t even know what “redact” means! EssaySnark is here to help!

  >> The rest of this post with some tips on the redacting bit is for paying blahg members only – log in to view.   <<

 

Hope that was helpful!
 

So, in conclusion:

What we will promise you: If you submit a resume like that LBS one to Harvard, you’re not going to have even a sliver of a chance. It’s just nowhere near competitive enough. And the layout! The layout is just so blah. Nobody is rejected for a crappy layout but you really want to be doing more to try and impress. Right?

 
 
You may also be interested in:

  • What is an “MBA resume”?
  • Get help with your resume! EssaySnark’s Reworking the Resume App Accelerator

Filed Under: resumes Bschools: LBS, MIT Sloan

« Previous: The decision is in the details
Next: Quote of the Day »

So who the heck is EssaySnark, anyway?!

We're the snarky experts in MBA admissions!

Sometimes amused and often appalled by what candidates write in their MBA applications to top bschools, EssaySnark created this little blahg to share common mistakes. Learn from them and avoid making admissions directors laugh (or want to hurl) when they read your essays. If you are hoping to have your essay reviewed anonymously on the blahg for free, submit it for consideration.

Want EssaySnark's personal assistance with your MBA applications? Start with our menu of consulting services and please read the Help FAQ to learn how we operate. Still have questions after doing all that? Email Team EssaySnark at gethelpnow at essaysnark dot com.

Good luck on your apps, Brave Supplicant!

Here's what others have said about this:

  1. DeeKay7 says

    September 6, 2018 at 7:52 pm

    Thanks for this post, just wanted to check since LBS is only suggesting and not insisting should we go with our own format for LBS or stick to the one they have shared?

    Thanks Snark.

    • essaysnark says

      September 6, 2018 at 8:05 pm

      LBS is just suggesting – so if you have a good format that’s legible and user-friendly, feel free to stick with that!

      Some people tie themselves into knots trying to submit every school’s resume in that school’s format and it’s really unnecessary and gets you no advantage at all (unless it’s MIT, apparently, in which case, disregard their instructions at your own risk!! 🙂 )

      Thanks for asking!
      EssaySnark

Sign up for the 'Snark via email

Enter your address to get weekday blahg posts by email.

UPCOMING MBA APP DEADLINES

  • INSEAD Round 4
    in 1 month, 0 weeks, 6 days, 12 hours
  • INSEAD Jan '22 intake Rd 1
    in 1 month, 2 weeks, 2 days, 12 hours
  • INSEAD Jan '22 Intake Rd 2
    in 3 months, 0 weeks, 3 days, 12 hours
  • (expected) HBS Class of 2024 app requirements released
    in 3 months, 2 weeks, 3 days, 13 hours
  • (expected) Columbia J-Term/ED app to open
    in 4 months, 2 weeks, 1 day, 13 hours
   
From a BSer January 2020:
"love the guide books!"


CLASS OF 2023 MBA APPLICATION STRATEGY GUIDES

     
    The 2020 Berkeley-Haas MBA Application Guide - updated for the Class of 2023 application!
SnarkStrategies Guide for Berkeley Haas - refreshed and updated, with brainstorming exercises and structured maps to help you focus your stories!
   
    The 2020-2021 NYU Stern MBA Application Guide that covers the main essay, the EQ Endorsement and Pick Six!
SnarkStrategies Guide for NYU - discusses your requirements for the Class of 2023 essays!
   
    The 2020-2021 Columbia MBA Application Guide
SnarkStrategies Guide for Columbia Business School for 2020-2021 applications
   
    The 2020 Harvard MBA Application Guide - completely overhauled and updated for the coronavirus era!
SnarkStrategies Guide for Harvard Business School!
   
    The 2020-2021 Duke Essay Guide - covers the 25 Random Things essay and all the rest too!
SnarkStrategies Guide for Duke Fuqua - up to date for the current season!
   
    The 2020-2021 MIT Essay Guide covers the org chart, the contacts for two references, and additional tips for the cover letter and 'introduce yourself' video -- and everything else you need to know!
SnarkStrategies Guide for MIT Sloan MBA - totally revised for the Class of 2023!
   
    The 2020-2021 Tuck Essay Guide has been refreshed with latest insights and advice for your essays about "investing generously" and "why Tuck"!
SnarkStrategies Guide for the Dartmouth Tuck MBA - completely overhauled for 2020, to help you demonstrate how you are nice, aware, etc stuff!
   
    The Yale SOM MBA Application Guide for Class of 2023 candidates!
SnarkStrategies Guide for Yale SOM - updated for 2020-2021
   
    The 2020-2021 Chicago Booth MBA Application Guide - ready to go to support your Class of 2023 essay strategy!
SnarkStrategies Guide for Chicago Booth for this year's MBA app!
   
    The 2020 Wharton MBA Application Guide - even more advice on how to get to a win with those essays!
SnarkStrategies Guide for The Wharton School - with new tips for 2020!
   
    The 2020 Kellogg Essay Guide - with a full methodology to identify your 'lasting impact' and your 'values' -- plus tips on 2020 world events and applicability to your essays!
SnarkStrategies Guide for Kellogg MBA - updated and revised for the new realities of 2020!    
      The 2020 Stanford MBA Application Guide - for "what matters most" in your MBA application!
SnarkStrategies Guide for Stanford GSB for the Class of 2023
   
    The 2020-2021 UCLA Anderson MBA Application Guide - updated for Class of 2023 on "impact"!
SnarkStrategies Guide for 
UCLA
   
   

Brave Supplicants' latest reviews on The 'Snark


Apr 10, 2020
by George on EssaySnark
Great Starting Point

I thought getting over the GRE/GMAT hurdle was fairly straightforward--disciplined study then test execution... Read more

Apr 10, 2020
by George on Single Shot Express MBA Essay Review
Worth Every Penny

I used the Single Shot Express to decimate essay #1 at my first-choice school. Paired with the school... Read more

Feb 9, 2020
by KA on Waitlist Assist
Committed

You continue to blow me away with your commitment to us BSers! Thanks again for everything. It's been... Read more






Not sure where to begin with EssaySnark?
Our Snark Selector
will tell you!



What were we snarking about at this time in past years?

  • 2020: ($) The reality of applying to external scholarships for your graduate education
  • 2018: You made it! Now do this. (Reality Check Dub)
  • 2017: Military Candidate Question: "Why does Stanford have a smaller percentage of Vets?"
  • 2016: Success Stories that never materialized
  • 2016: Used to be, the waitlist meant you had a real chance.
  • 2016: ($) The biggest reason why Round 3 is not worth it.
  • 2015: The BSer's Quiz!
  • 2015: Rate the Schools!
  • 2014: Consider broadening your horizons.
  • 2012: Guest post! Another Take Two story! With advice from an MBA friend!
My Tweets

See the Top U.S. Business Schools on a Map!


EssaySnark is currently available! We're accepting new clients! Standard turnarounds apply. If you're in a hurry, Speedy Review is available!

EssaySnark® is a registered trademark. All content copyright © 2010–2021 Snarkolicious Press · Privacy Policy

Where should you start with EssaySnark?

Which EssaySnark service is right for you? Answer a few questions to find out!

This field must be set to Everyone - then in the Settings -> HTML -> After Fields screen there's JavaScript to hide it.
Sending