How To Avoid Costly MBA Résumé Mistakes
Submitting a résumé is perhaps the most crucial part of every prospective MBA’s application process. A good résumé provides insight into who an applicant is, and what they’ve accomplished. A well-crafted, attention-grabbing résumé that captivates an admissions team can bring an applicant much closer to an acceptance letter.
But aside from a name, contact info, and educational and professional details, what should a slam-dunk MBA resume include?
What Are The Résumé Basics?
Starting with the principle basics, résumés should be short, sweet, and concise. Ideally, they should fit on one page—maybe two. Stephan Kolodiy, an admissions officer at Rutgers University, told U.S. News & World Report that long résumés are a common issue with many MBA applicants.
“Sometime we get a résumé that’s five to six pages long, and that’s way too much information,” he says.
That one-to-two pages of concise information should also be 100 percent accurate—one should never lie on a résumé. Because credibility plays a big role in the application process (MBA or otherwise), it is unwise to fabricate work or school experience. Deceitful, even exaggerated, résumés are always rejected by business schools, and admitted students who submit compromised résumés are at risk for expulsion. This is serious stuff, so don’t lie!
Carrie Marcinkevage, MBA Managing Director at the Smeal College of Business at Penn State University, told U.S. News that honesty is always the best policy.
“Authenticity allows you to find the right school and that school to find you,” Marcinkevage says. “Allow them the chance to find the real you.”
Perhaps most importantly, all MBA résumés should provide examples of success. Prospective MBAs should give admissions officers a reason to send an acceptance letter by showing concrete examples of career advancement, or of how an MBA candidate achieved results for a particular client.
“When applying to a top-tier business school, you’ll need to show admissions committee on a clear path of professional growth,” U.S. News reports.
What Are You Forgetting?
There are also some not-so-basic guidelines that MBAs are encouraged to follow when crafting a solid résumé. Investopedia published a guide reviewing some of the best resumes for MBA applicants that outlines a few tips that many prospective business students may not have previously thought of.
Without sounding like too much of a graphic design nerd, it’s important to take typeface into account with a résumé. Yes, fonts matter. It’s best practice to rely on on two typefaces: A bold sans-serif face for headers, and a standard serif face for body type. For those of you who don’t know, a serif is the tiny extension on the termination point of an individual letter, the little “hat” at the end of a letter if you will.
Serifs exist to make smaller text easier to read, so they are the best friend of admissions offices who may read hundreds of résumés per day. Sans-serif fonts—letters that don’t include serifs—are cleaner and pop easier when bolded out. Résumés should avoid using fonts that are too common, such as Times New Roman, but also avoid ridiculous fonts like Comic Sans. Nobody likes Comic Sans.
Aside from listing relevant work experience, and showing how much growth took place at each job, there are other skills that every résumé should highlight. According to U.S. News, the three skills that can best help sell an MBA applicants résumé to a business school are:
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- Leadership
- Communication
- Innovation
First and foremost, business schools want to see strong leadership skills as well as personal growth. All MBA programs focus on developing management skills, but schools wants to know that a solid foundation of leadership is already there. Good résumés provide evidence of an applicant motivating a team behind a common goal, figuring out the best use of other’s talents and skills, instilling a concrete vision, and prioritizing the needs of an organization above personal needs.
As for communication, a résumé is an applicant’s first line of communication to a business school, and should be chock-full of structured writing and thought-out word choice. U.S. News shows the different between a boring resume and beautifully worded one:
“Here’s a real example of a blah bullet point in a client’s first draft: ‘Helped with new software implementation.’
Now, a brilliant bullet point: ”Spearheaded software upgrade in the San Francisco field office by coordinating with software developer, leading training sessions, and facilitating implementation schedule.’ The second example offers a much more comprehensive understanding of the scope of the accomplishment.”
Some applicants may try to hard to impress admissions officers with technical jargon or fancy terminology. Lose it, and show that you can clearly, and simply explain headier topics in writing:
“One client listed this bullet point on his resume: ‘Created VA1 Business Acquisition.’
Once we translated that into something the MBA admissions audience would understand, the résumé said: ‘Devised and launched outbound communications plan for our premier voice activated product. Product was well received and became cash flow positive within 14 months.’
Much better.”
Lastly, a résumé that shows an applicant has helped innovate will go a long way. This piece of advice is especially handy for applicants with traditional pre-MBA jobs. All admissions officers know what a consultant or analyst is tasked with at an entry-level position. A resume is an opportunity to shed light on things that sets an applicant apart from other typical analysts. Things to keep in mind include: training a newly hired analyst, leading college recruiting efforts, or organizing an office volunteering or fundraising initiative.
Avoiding Deceptive Mistakes
Now, here’s where we can get a little dramatic: Résumés are the first impressions a prospective MBA job candidates has with a potential employer. Since no one gets a second chance to make that first impression, don’t mess it up!
Bloomberg issued a list of the “Ten Biggest Resume Blunders” that outlines exactly what not to do with an application résumé, which includes obvious items like avoid writing a bad cover letter and remove foolish typos and inconsistencies.
The list also features some gems, like how to avoid making your résumé a cluttered mess. Again, not to sound like a graphic design professor, but the look of a résumé certainly counts. Avoid using fancy graphics or designs, and provide a crisp, clean document that’s easy to read on a computer screen.
“The résumé should be presentable, not an information dump,” Chris Thomas, Global Recruiting Director of the Experienced Commercial Leadership Program at General Electric, told Bloomberg. “There should be some white space.”
A well-done résumé shouldn’t misfire on any points—bullet points, that is. Some schools offer formats for resumes, specifically on how to list past job experience. Schools like the University of Michigan Ross School of Business advise students to use the “Action Context Result” format, which describes an action they performed, where they performed it, and the results it garnered.
“‘Worked for XYZ Corp., 2008 to 2012’ says close to nothing,” Damian Zikakis, Director of Career Services at Ross, told Bloomberg. “’Led a review of supplier contracts for the technology division resulting in savings of $250,000 opens doors.”
Lastly, a résumé should never disregard an applicant’s worth, nor should it overshare information. As we mentioned earlier in this piece, a good résumé should demonstrate what an applicant has accomplished and what they can bring to a new employer. It should not feature information that, even if positive, is irrelevant to a desired position.
“Think of the résumé as a future-focused document and not an historical one,” Char Bennington, Director of Career Management at the University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business, told Bloomberg. “Focus on what’s important to the people in the career that you want now.”
How Else Can Your Résumé Stand Out?
To help make sure a résumé stands out in the crowd, consider participating in some relevant volunteer work. David D. Schein, the Director of Graduate Programs for the Cameron School of Business at the University of St. Thomas, told MetroMBA that adding volunteer work to a résumé. With that said, not all volunteer work is equal.
For example, if you volunteer at the SPCA and play with puppies all day, that probably won’t your résumé or your application. Instead, find “responsible positions that deliver a lot of bang for the time commitment,” Schein says. Find a position that will allow you to spend time organizing a major fund-raising activity or event. It should be something that has a demonstrative impact on the organization and illustrates your leadership potential.
Including unique and interesting hobbies can also be a fun way to illustrate your skills and stand out. Schein recommends that applicants choose hobbies that “demonstrate drive and ambition. Some examples might include white water rafting or learning a difficult foreign language like Chinese or Farsi.”
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Students at the University of St. Thomas – Cameron School of Business were recently honored for their hard work at the annual CSB Honors Convocation and Graduation Celebration in May.
St. Thomas Is Transforming Healthcare Business Education With The MCTM
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At first glance, a career in medicine—whether in a laboratory, clinic, or hospital—and a career in business appear to have little in common. However, that’s not the case. According to the most recent 2016 mba.com Prospective Students Survey completed by the Graduate Management Admission Council, 8 percent of MBAs ended up with a job in Healthcare/Pharmaceuticals.
There’s just one problem with that. An MBA is a large commitment, and the cost can be too high for many potential candidates who have already gone through years of schooling to earn their MD or Ph.D. For others, the potential ROI of an MBA isn’t worth the time required to be spent outside of work.
The good news is there’s another option available from the University of St. Thomas Cameron School of Business: a Master’s in Clinical Translation Management (MCTM).
Master in Clinical Translation Management (MCTM)
“The MCTM program offered at the University of St. Thomas is truly one-of-a-kind,” said Dr. Beena George, Dean of the University of St. Thomas’ Cameron School of Business. “It is a technology commercialization program focused on the life sciences and is managed by a business school. Students get deep exposure to all facets of the clinical translation process because of our close collaboration with Houston Methodist Research Institute.”
What Is Clinical Translation Management?
So, what exactly is a Master’s in Clinical Translation Management? First, you need to understand clinical translation, which is the process of turning basic discoveries that occur in laboratories into usable drugs, medical devices, or clinical processes.
“This commercialization process is highly regulated and capital-intensive, and requires business expertise to achieve the desired goals,” explained Dr. George. “As an example, drug development can cost upwards of one billion dollars and take over ten years to reach the market, representing staggering investments in capital and human resources. Many of these development projects fail along the way, and pharmaceutical companies are raising the price tags in return for taking on higher risks. To avoid such failures and bring therapies and products to clinical use faster, a combination of scientific knowledge and business expertise is necessary.”
It’s a quickly growing field that requires a deep knowledge of biotechnology as well as business and regulatory savviness, all necessary to assess a product’s commercial potential and to navigate the pathway of clinical translation. “The MCTM program endows students with a solid understanding of the unmet needs of the biotech sector,” said Dr. George.
Where do Clinical Translation Manager’s Work?
There are many different types of organizations looking for people to fill their clinical translation needs. Examples include:
- Pharmaceutical and biomedical device firms such as GE Healthcare, Johnson & Johnson Innovation, and Medtronic, Inc.
- Technology transfer offices at research organizations
- Life sciences management consulting firms
As for the reason behind the program’s existence, “It responds to a global need to make the translational process faster and more efficient,” explained Dr. George. “It also addresses a regional need. Much research in the life sciences area is done at and near the Texas Medical Center and in Houston. The business/commercialization talent required to support the development of a life sciences industry in this region would contribute positively to the economy.”
Who Should Apply for the MCTM Program?
The MCTM Program is ideal for anyone currently working in a medical, research, or science position. “It’s for the individual who is committed to bringing therapies and products to markets faster and passionate about addressing the inefficiencies in the process,” Dr. George said.
And while undergraduate students aren’t barred from attending, admissions decisions are based on your work history, meaning that those who would receive the greatest benefit are those who already have professional experience. In particular, the MCTM Program would be highly beneficial to individuals who already have a post-doctorate degree—either an MD or Ph.D.
If you’re in healthcare and looking to expand your business acumen, then this is the program for you. “It allows students to bridge the worlds of science and healthcare in a way that is innovative and creative, allowing graduates to explore a range of careers spanning the management of clinical trials to various business roles,” Dr. George explained.
MCTM Program Outline
One of the greatest benefits of the MCTM Program is the fact that it’s completely online with the exception of 4 weeks of residency.
“Technology today enables educators to develop and deliver interactive and adaptive learning programs that maximize the learning outcomes for each student,” described Dr. George. “At the same time, it allows a level of convenience and flexibility that maximizes access for students anywhere.”
And the residency complements the online coursework, allowing students to reap the benefits of exposure to experts and technology in Houston and locations in Europe.
As for the coursework, it’s divided into easily digestible categories:
- Clinical Translation Process
- Marketing & Management
- Financial Management
- Ethical & Regulatory Issues
And at the end of the program, every student completes a capstone project that requires a completed business plan to shepherd research discoveries from the lab to clinical care. Some of these capstone projects have included: liver transplant assessment makers, wearable brain stimulators, and a bone regeneration device.
“Working under the guidance of faculty advisors with regulatory and business expertise, students will work on translational projects to develop the regulatory and commercialization strategies for the projects,” said Dr. George. “The program brings together coursework, practical experience, and opportunities to connect with the right networks to offer a learning experience that few programs would be able to match.”
MCTM Medical Partnerships
Many of the unique learning experiences available from MCTM are because of the Program’s partnerships with the Houston Methodist Research Institute as well as healthcare and biotech organizations in Europe. It’s through these partnerships that students have the opportunity to:
- Access a global and collaborative network of faculty who are experts in their fields.
- Attend seminars and didactic programs in areas of clinical and translational research.
- Explore translational research strategies and infrastructure that move medical research from concept to cure.
“Our partnership with the Houston Methodist Research Institute gives our students the opportunity to hear from the most respected experts in the field,” explained Dr. George. “It also gives our students access to networks and resources that deepen their understanding of the field and helps build their knowledge and skills to enter this area of business. We also offer students exposure to the European life sciences industry by leveraging out connections with an exchange partner in France.”
Apply Now
If you’re interested in the exciting and growing field of Clinical Translation Management, the Cameron Business School is now accepting applications for their fall class. You can find the basic admission requirements are on the University of St. Thomas website. Your application will be evaluated as whole, with an interview allowing the school to judge your interest and commitment.
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