Graduate School Application Tips: Stand Out by Tailoring Your Resume
If you’ve updated your resume recently, why would you need to revise it again for your business school application? We’ll explain why in this blog!
Your resume is a key part of your application that, if well constructed, can help you gain admission to the program of your choice. How it looks, what you’ve included and excluded, how well you’ve highlighted your strengths, the categories you select, and the order in which the various categories are presented will all influence the admission readers’ perception of who you are and what you have to offer.
With respect to resumes, one size does not fit all. A single version of your resume will most likely not be optimal for each educational opportunity you wish to pursue. Here are four strategies for creating your best possible resume for each program you plan to apply to:
1. Consider your target audience.
Just as marketing professionals tailor their message for a specific audience, you, too, need to carefully consider who will be reading your resume.
For graduate school applications, familiarize yourself with the program’s admissions criteria, and focus on aspects of your background that most closely align with those criteria.
2. Assess your strengths in relation to your target school’s criteria.
Start by preparing a list of your professional skills and experiences, including work leadership positions, promotions, research, and committee responsibilities (task force, team-based initiatives, project leadership, and special assignments). List foreign languages on your resume only if you have a skill level that enables you to effectively use the language on the job or in school (i.e., you are either fluent or conversational).
Prioritize the list in terms of how important and relevant your skills are with respect to the graduate program’s specific admissions criteria. Doing so will ensure that you highlight the qualities and qualifications that are most likely to impress your target audience, the adcom. For example, if you are applying for an MBA or MS in finance, highlight your internship at a banking institution and downplay or eliminate less-relevant experiences, such as having been a camp counselor. If you are a recent graduate applying to programs in public administration, be sure to include any student government leadership roles you have held. If you’re applying to programs in psychology or social work, your human services experience is important. Focus on “selling points.” In other words, what about this product (you!) makes it so special that someone would want to buy it?
Prepare another list of your achievements, which might include publications, licenses, and certifications. Once you have this list, again consider which ones will most positively affect your candidacy for the graduate program to which you are applying. If you are a recent graduate, any cocurricular (extracurricular) activities in which you took a leadership role are desirable experiences to highlight.
As you review your skills, think about the ones that are most relevant to your field of study, as well. For example, a graduate program in architecture might not really care that you are a certified lifeguard but might care very much that you are CAD (computer aided design) certified. The adcom of a graduate counseling program will be interested to learn that you were a resident assistant during college and that you served as a mediator and peer advisor and used crisis management skills in your residence hall.
If community service is highly valued by your graduate program, include this category, and list volunteer experiences in which you held a leadership role and had an impact over a period of time. One-time volunteer experiences are not likely to impress the adcom. Check out the mission statement of the school or graduate program you’re targeting, because it will be a good indicator of the values and qualities the school embraces.
3. Format your resume strategically.
Take steps to keep your resume short, direct, and to the point. Make it as easy to read as possible.
Select categories that best reflect your experience. If you worked in human resources and then moved into marketing, create two different categories for these roles: Marketing Experience and Human Resources Experience. Your Experience section can include both paid and unpaid positions. If you have significant full-time, paid work in a field, you should delete any short-term work and internships in that field. All the experiences you present within a category should be listed in reverse chronological order (with the most recent first); you can list the categories in order of their relevance to the field in which you are applying to study.
4. Revise, edit, and proofread your resume multiple times.
Be sure to have a trusted advisor review your resume. Accepted offers a comprehensive that allows you to work directly with an experienced consultant to create a strong, tailored resume that effectively showcases your skills and experiences.
By Alice Diamond, former associate dean for career and community service at Lesley University. Alice has a BA from Colgate University, an MA from Bryn Mawr College, and an MS from Cornell University. She has more than 35 years of experience in career and admissions advising for undergraduate and graduate candidates. Alice’s clients have been accepted to top programs in a wide range of fields. Want to work with Alice? Click here to get in touch!
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