MBA Resume That Got Me into Harvard & Stanford

Summary

In this insightful guide, Abinav, an MBA admittee from Harvard and Stanford, shares five key tips for crafting the perfect resume for business school applications. He emphasizes the importance of leading with impact, showcasing numbers to demonstrate tangible results, displaying diversity in projects to highlight various skills, illustrating career progression, and focusing on professional formatting to avoid typos and enhance readability. Abinav's advice is aimed at helping applicants present their experiences in a clear, concise, and impactful manner, increasing their chances of admission to top business schools.

Takeaways

• 📝 Lead with Impact: Use strong, relevant, and concise words to communicate your impact clearly in your resume.
• 🔢 Show Numbers: Incorporate numbers to indicate the meaningful impact of your projects, whether it's in revenue, cost reduction, or other experiences.
• 🌈 Highlight Diversity: Showcase a variety of projects to demonstrate different skills and make your resume more comprehensive.
• 📈 Demonstrate Career Progression: Clearly outline how your professional journey has evolved over time to show your growth and impact.
• 🎨 Focus on Professional Format: Pay attention to formatting, including typos, bolding, spacing, and other elements to make your resume appear professional.
• 🏆 Tailor for MBA: Customize your resume to highlight the top two or three most impactful projects that are relevant to an MBA program.
• 📚 Filter Projects: Select the most significant projects, ideally no more than three, to focus on in your resume for clarity and impact.
• 🤝 Emphasize Collaboration: Use words that indicate teamwork and collaboration, such as 'collaborated' or 'orchestrated', to show your ability to work with others.
• 🛠️ Highlight Skills: Use the resume to clearly indicate the skills you've gained from your projects and how they align with the MBA program's expectations.
• 📉 Avoid Overloading: Limit the number of projects per role to a maximum of two to prevent overwhelming the reader and maintain focus.
• 🔗 Link to Resources: Provide a link to the resume format and additional resources in the description for those seeking further guidance.

Q & A

What is the primary focus of an MBA resume according to Abinav?

The primary focus of an MBA resume is to lead with impact, showcasing the most significant projects and communicating one's contributions in a concise, comprehensive, and clear manner.

Why is it important to use impactful words in an MBA resume?

Using impactful words like 'orchestrated,' 'staled,' 'conducted,' 'ideated,' 'collaborated,' 'authored,' 'engineered,' 'developed,' etc., helps to clearly communicate one's impact and relevance in past projects.

How can including numbers enhance the impact of a project on an MBA resume?

Numbers indicate meaningful impact, whether it's increasing revenue, cutting costs, or working with a team. They provide a quantifiable measure of one's contributions and experiences.

What does diversity in projects signify on an MBA resume?

Diversity of projects on an MBA resume indicates a range of different skills, showcasing the applicant's versatility and ability to handle various roles and responsibilities.

How should one demonstrate career progression on their MBA resume?

Career progression should be shown by indicating how one's journey has evolved over time within a company, demonstrating growth, impact, and increasing responsibilities.

Why is professional formatting crucial for an MBA resume?

Professional formatting, including typos, bolding, spacing, and other subtle elements, is crucial as it makes the resume look polished and professional, which is essential for a business school application.

What are some examples of impactful words that Abinav suggests using in an MBA resume?

Examples of impactful words suggested by Abinav include 'orchestrated,' 'staled,' 'conducted,' 'ideated,' 'collaborated,' 'authored,' 'engineered,' and 'developed.'

How many projects should one include in their MBA resume according to the transcript?

The transcript suggests focusing on the top two or three impactful projects and having a maximum of two projects under each of the other roles.

What is the significance of showing numbers in the context of an MBA resume?

Showing numbers is significant as it provides concrete evidence of one's impact, such as the number of people worked with, the scale of projects, or the breadth of experiences across different functions.

How can one ensure their MBA resume is concise yet comprehensive?

To ensure a resume is concise yet comprehensive, one should focus on the most impactful projects, use clear and relevant language, and include quantifiable achievements to communicate their experience effectively.

What is the role of typos and formatting in the context of an MBA resume?

Typos and formatting play a critical role in an MBA resume as they affect the professional appearance of the document. Attention to detail in these areas can significantly impact the first impression on the admissions committee.

Outlines

00:00

📘 Crafting a Standout MBA Resume

Abinav shares his experience in creating a resume for MBA applications, emphasizing the importance of showcasing impactful projects. He highlights the need to filter down to the top two or three projects that best represent one's achievements and to communicate one's impact concisely. Abinav also mentions the significance of using impactful words and suggests a list of such words to lead the resume entries.

🔢 Emphasizing Numbers for Impact

The second tip focuses on the inclusion of numbers to indicate the meaningful impact of one's projects. Abinav explains that numbers don't necessarily have to be about revenue or cost-cutting but can also represent the scale of the project or the diversity of experiences. He stresses the importance of making the resume data-driven to enhance its impact.

🌈 Demonstrating Project Diversity

Abinav's third tip is about showcasing diversity in projects to indicate a range of skills. He advises focusing on the top three projects in one's primary role and then including a maximum of two projects from each of the other roles. This approach helps to clearly communicate the variety of skills and experiences one brings to the table.

📈 Showcasing Career Progression

The fourth point made by Abinav is to illustrate career progression in the resume. He shares how he has shown his journey over time, which is crucial for indicating growth and impact within a company. This progression can strengthen a business school application by demonstrating a clear upward trajectory in one's career.

📄 The Importance of Professional Formatting

In his final tip, Abinav underscores the importance of professional formatting in a resume. He talks about the subtle elements such as typos, bolding, spacing, and other formatting aspects that contribute to a polished and professional appearance. He also mentions that he will provide a link to the resume format in the description for further reference.

Keywords

💡Resume

A resume is a document used by individuals to present their professional experiences, skills, and achievements. In the context of the video, it is crucial for a business school application, as it serves as a first impression and a tool to showcase one's qualifications concisely. The script emphasizes the importance of creating a perfect resume to stand out in the competitive MBA program application process.

💡MBA Program

An MBA, or Master of Business Administration, program is a graduate degree designed to develop business and management skills. The video's theme revolves around tailoring a resume for MBA applications, highlighting the unique aspects and achievements that would be relevant to such a program.

💡Impact

Impact refers to the significant effect or influence one has had, particularly in a professional context. The script advises using impactful words and showcasing one's achievements to demonstrate the extent of one's influence on projects or teams, which is a key aspect of a strong business school resume.

💡Projects

Projects are specific initiatives or tasks undertaken to achieve a goal. The video emphasizes selecting the top impactful projects and communicating one's role and achievements within them. This is important for illustrating one's capabilities and the value they can bring to a business school.

💡Concise

Conciseness in a resume means presenting information in a clear and brief manner without unnecessary details. The script stresses the importance of being concise to ensure that the resume is easy to read and the key points stand out, which is essential for capturing the attention of admissions officers.

💡Numbers

In the context of a resume, numbers are used to quantify achievements and provide a tangible measure of impact. The script suggests including numbers to indicate the scale and results of one's work, which can make a resume more compelling and informative.

💡Diversity

Diversity in a resume refers to showcasing a range of experiences and skills. The video script mentions the importance of including diverse projects to demonstrate versatility and adaptability, which are desirable traits for business school candidates.

💡Career Progression

Career progression is the advancement of one's professional career over time. The script advises showing a clear path of progression in one's resume to indicate growth and ambition, which can be appealing to business schools looking for candidates with a clear career trajectory.

💡Professional Format

A professional format in a resume means organizing and presenting information in a polished and standardized way. The video script highlights the importance of formatting, including avoiding typos, using bold for emphasis, and spacing effectively, to create a professional and visually appealing resume.

💡Confidential Data

Confidential data refers to information that is sensitive or proprietary and should not be disclosed. In the script, the speaker mentions blurring out numbers due to confidentiality, indicating a respect for privacy and the importance of protecting sensitive information in a public resume example.

💡Business School Application

A business school application is the process of applying to a graduate business program. The video's main theme is creating a resume specifically tailored for this purpose, emphasizing the need for the resume to highlight relevant experiences and achievements that would be attractive to business school admissions.

Highlights

Creating an MBA resume is a non-trivial task that requires filtering down to the top two or three impactful projects.

Communicate your impact in a concise, comprehensive, and clear way.

Lead with impact by using words that are both impactful and relevant.

Include numbers to indicate meaningful impact in your projects.

Numbers don't have to be about revenue or cost-cutting; they can also represent experiences or collaborations.

Diversity in projects indicates a range of different skills.

Focus on top projects under one role and a maximum of two projects under each of the other roles.

Show career progression to indicate your impact and journey at a company.

If career progression is not evident, try to highlight it to augment your business school application.

Focus on professional formatting, including typos, bolding, spacing, and other subtle elements.

Abinav got into both Harvard and Stanford Business Schools.

Use words that lead with impact such as orchestrated, conducted, ideated, collaborated, authored, engineered, developed.

Include a diverse set of experiences across different functions in your resume.

The resume should clearly indicate what skills and impacts are being communicated from your projects.

Having a clear career progression narrative is important for a business school application.

Ensure the resume is free of typos and has a professional layout to make a strong impression.

Abinav will provide a link to the resume format in the description below.

Share the resume tips with others who are also creating their resume for business school.

Transcripts

here's how to create the perfect resume

for your business school application if

you're new here my name is abinav and I

got into both harl and Stanford Business

Schools creating a resume for an MBA

program is somewhat of a non-trivial

task because it forces you to think

about the many projects that you've done

filter them down to the maximum top two

or three impactful projects and

communicate the context and your impact

in the most concise comprehensive and

clear way possible

doing this is hard and here are the five

things that I've learned from creating

my resume that got me into Harvard and

Stanford number one lead with impact if

you look at my resume over here you'll

see that I have created and used words

that are not only impactful but are also

relevant and concise and communicate my

impact very clearly so orchestrated

staled conducted ideated collaborated or

authored engineered developed are all

words that lead with impact the second

tip that I'd share is to show numbers

numbers indicate meaningful impact of

course over here I have definitively

blurred out the numbers because there is

confidential data that I don't want to

share but if you just focus on including

numbers in your projects it will be that

much more impactful it doesn't need to

be necessarily that you've increased the

revenue or that you've cut costs but

even if youve worked with people or

you've had interesting set of

experiences across three or four

functions include that because numbers

indicate impact the third element or tip

that I'd share is to have diversity

diversity of projects indicate various

different skills and that is important

because in your resume you want to be

very clear about what it is exactly that

you're indicating from your projects so

focus on the top three projects that

you've had under one particular role and

then focus on having a maximum of two

projects under each of the other roles

because that will force you to indicate

diversity the fourth thing is to show

career progression over here in my

resume I have indicated how my journey

has progressed over a period of time and

showing that is important because it

indicates your impact and your

Progressive Journey at a company if

you've not had that try to have that

first because that will really augment

your business school application and the

fifth and final tip I'd say is to focus

a lot on the professional format

formatting typos Bolding spacing and a

lot of other subtle Elements which make

the resume very professional I'm going

to link this description and the resumé

format in the description below let me

know what you think and share this with

somebody who's also creating their

resume for business school

he

[Music]