IMBA PROGRAM
RESUME WORKSHOP
November 2002
Stanford Lin
Project Manager
MIT-China Management Education Project
ACKNOWLEDGMENT: Selected portions of this presentation have been reprinted from materials published by the Career Development Office of MIT Sloan and the Career Services Office of Harvard Business School.
Outline
Resumes
Resume Purpose
Resume Preparation and Format
Resume Tips
Special Concerns
Common Mistakes
Cover Letters
Cover Letter Purpose
Cover Letter Preparation and Format
Common Mistakes
Resume Purpose
Presentation of yourself targeted to an employer’s needs
Document that emphasizes transferable skills such as teamwork, analytical abilities, leadership and management
Marketing tool that distinguishes you from your peers
Resume Preparation
Perform a self-assessment
Review every previous job or activity for responsibilities and impact
Identify your transferable skills and the skills desired by the target employer
Try to develop numerical values for your accomplishments
Good framework Create “PAR” statements for each job
Problem identified
Action(s) taken
Result(s) achieved
Resume Preparation
Problem identified
Declining revenue in Guangdong. Company management wants to exit from the Guangdong market.
Action taken
Did market survey. Looked at products’ strengths and weaknesses relative to competition’s products. Talked with salespeople. Discovered salespersons’ commission plan favored the sale of cheaper products. Proposed new compensation system to reward sale of high-margin products.
Result achieved
Increased company revenues by 5% after 6 months and by 15% after 18 months.
Therefore, the PAR statement:
“Increased revenues in Guangzhou by 15% within 18 months through introduction of new sales compensation plan which provided incentives for sales force to focus on high-margin products”
PAR Example #1
Problem identified
Declining revenue in Guangdong. Company management wants to exit from the Guangdong market.
Action taken
Did market survey. Looked at products’ strengths and weaknesses relative to competition’s products. Talked with salespeople. Discovered salespersons’ commission plan favored the sale of cheaper products. Proposed new compensation system to reward sale of high-margin products.
Result achieved
Increased company revenues by 5% after 6 months and by 15% after 18 months.
Therefore, the PAR statement could be:
“Increased revenues in Guangzhou by 15% within 18 months through introduction of new sales compensation plan which provided incentives for sales force to focus on high-margin products”
PAR Example #2
Problem identified
Your construction company is planning to build five buildings for client in Shenzhen.
Action taken
Worked in team of engineers which talked to client about buildings’ specifications and gave weekly presentations to client. Prepared budget. Handled materials procurement which obtained raw materials at a cheap cost. Was co-supervisor construction crew of 20 people.
Result achieved
Completed five buildings within two year schedule.
Therefore, the PAR statement could be:
“Supervised team of 20 engineers in construction of five office buildings in Shenzhen. Managed client communications, implemented competitive materials procurement process and monitored construction budget. Completed project according to a tight time deadline and at an 8% savings in raw materials costs relative to the projected budget.”
Resume Format (1 of 3)
FUDAN SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT Shanghai, China
Candidate for International MBA, June 2003
Co-President, Finance Club; Class Officer
TSINGHUA UNIVERSITY Beijing, China
BA in Economics, GPA
University Scholarship (awarded to top 5% of class)
Board member of Tsinghua Student Union
Education
2000-2001
1993-1997
ZEMIN “JIMMY” ZHANG
100
Renmin
Road
Shanghai, China 200000
Tel: (123) 12345678
Mobile: (123) 12345678
Headings
Use bold and capitalized text
Resume Format (2 of 3)
CHINA RENMIN INC. Beijing, China
Senior Project Manager
Supervised staff of 12 project managers working on projects with a value of
$48 million.
Restructured project management process to reduce project completion time
by 40% and headcount by 50%.
Evaluated strategic marketing plan to revitalize sales in Shanghai. Performed
demographic analysis and recommended launch of new product, resulting in
20% sales growth within one year.
Experience
1998-2001
-
If you managed people, list number of people supervised and type of people.
Use bulleted statements to list benefits provided to employer
Try to include results of your project
Use bold text for company name and position
Resume Format (3 of 3)
Personal
Skilled in graphic design (CAD) software. Fluent in Mandarin, English and Shanghainese. Conversant in Japanese.
Interests include table tennis, golf and violin.
The “Personal” section can include your specific skills (computers, language, CPA/CFA). It can also include your hobbies, or anything else unusual about yourself.
Resume Tips
Tip 1: Draw the interviewer’s attention by writing more about your useful experience and less about useless experience.
Tip 2: Describe the same experience in various ways to different target industries.
Example: Moon cake consulting project
Marketing: “Conducted marketing research on the moon cake industry in Guangdong Province…..”
Finance: “Participated in investment program of moon cake launched by Meixin Group….”
Resume Tips
Tip 3: Use key words in your descriptions.
Finance: performed financial analysis, financial-modeling, valuation, investment, financial, capital management, quantitative analysis
Marketing: brand management, brand strategy, market research, competitor analysis, product development…
Management: managed, led team of ___ people…
Tip 4: Use action words in your descriptions.
Avoid using “In charge of” or “Be responsible for”
Action Verbs for Resumes
Special Concerns
Experience with Only One Company
CHINA RENMIN INC. Beijing, China
Business Manager, Industrial Group
Supervised staff of 12 engineers working on projects with a value of $48M.
Evaluated strategic marketing plan to revitalize sales in Shanghai. Performed demographic analysis and recommended launch of new product, resulting in 20% sales growth within one year.
Financial Analyst
Monitored working capital and profit performance. Investigated variances and reported findings to senior management.
Designed economic and feasibility tests for business initiatives. Exceeded profit margin hurdle rates with approved projects.
Experience
1995-2000
1999-2000
1995-1999
If you have only one previous employer, try to list various titles and growth within the company.
Special Concerns
Career Change (., interested in marketing)
FUDAN ORIENTATION COMMITTEE
Team Leader, Marketing Group
Led team of 10 Fudan students in planning and executing MBA Orientation Program for 120 new students.
Prepared marketing materials and solicitation strategy. Raised $100K RMB from corporate sponsors.
Fall 2002
UNILEVER CHINA INC. Shanghai, China
Product Marketing Intern, Pond’s Institute
Conducted comprehensive analysis of Pond’s January-June 2001 performance. Identified competitive disadvantages and recommend strategic actions to senior management.
Managed cross-functional development of Pond’s Happy Shampoo. Created marketing plan and designed packaging using quantitative and qualitative research.
Summer 2002
Try to include student activities to show interest in a new field.
Try to find any summer internship in marketing.
Special Concerns
Small Company or Self-Founded Company
LUCKY PRODUCTS, INC. Shanghai, China
Founder and President. Invented and designed new, consumer friendly products. Arranged to manufacture, market and distribute them.
Speak-Up: Suggestion box you can speak into. Increased quantity of suggestions and comments by up to 1,000% for clients including Citibank, KFC and Taipingyang Department Store.
1999-Present
RENMIN SOFTWARE, INC. Shanghai, China
Product Manager. Managed development and customer introduction of software products for this two-year old, rapidly growing software company.
Devised initial product specifications. Supervised development testing of software and user manual production. Launched alpha version two months ahead of schedule.
Managed relationship between software designers and consumer application engineers. Implemented conflict resolution system.
1999-2001
Insert a brief statement to describe the business and detail your skills and knowledge.
Common Mistakes
Strange or inconsistent formatting
Too much or too little white space
Spelling errors
General job descriptions with no evidence of results
Too much use of technological or complex words (., engineering words)
Use of “Responsible for…” or “In charge of…”
Resume not tailored to target company (., student applying for banking has too many “marketing” activities on resume)
Ineffective Descriptions
HUNAN COMMERCIAL BANK, LTD. Changsha
Financial Manager
Responsible for allocating and managing of capital.
In charge of the issuing and paying off the bonds.
SHANGGHAI PETROCHEMICAL CO. Shanghai
Engineer
Taken part in domestic petrochemical program negotiations.
Supervised project implementation
Presented sales information to clients.
SHENZHEN CONSTRUCTION CO., LTD. Shenzhen
Engineer
Planned material procurement in two high-building projects (Pengxing project and Pengli project, each has 20 stories) for 60M RMB in value, including reinforcing steel bar (for 4000T), commercial concrete (for 3200m3).
Too much un-necessary detail. Will confuse interviewer.
Too simple. Where is evidence of skills? Where are results?
Do not use “Responsible for” or “In charge of”. Can revise to: “Allocated and managed capital…” and “Issued and repaid bonds...”
Cover Letter Purpose
Effective cover letters will:
Explain why you are interested in the company
Explain how you can fill a need at the company
Show excitement about the position
Show future action
Cover Letter Preparation
Research the company and the position
What is the company’s business and recent news?
What do I have to do in the position?
Why am I interested in this position?
What can I contribute to the company?
What experience, activities or education demonstrate my ability to contribute to the company?
Attend company presentations and talk to people familiar with the firm/position
Cover Letter Format
Section 1: Introduces you, states how you developed an interest in the company and explains why you are a good match for the position.
Section 2: Emphasizes your key attributes or selling points, and what you can do for the company. Try to include words relevant to the industry (., if you are applying for a marketing job, use “
Section 3: Suggests your eagerness to arrange an interview, and provides information on when you will contact the recipient, or how the recipient can contact you.
Common Mistakes
Spelling or grammatical errors
Incorrect statements about the company
No discussion of what you have to offer the company
No discussion of what you know about the company
Copy of resume description with no mention of transferable skills
Example of Ineffective Cover Letter
Jimmy Zhang
100 Renmin Road
Shanghai, China 200000
@
021-12345678
September 1, 2002
Consultant
Beijing Consulting Company
Beijing, China 123456
To Whom It May Concern:
I am a first year student at the Fudan School of Management. I am interested in summer opportunities at Morgan Stanley. I was impressed by your firm after attending your company presentations. I would like to interview with your firm next month.
I believe Morgan Stanley is a great firm with an excellent international reputation. I know it has a great summer training program, and I think I can learn a lot there.
I have an engineering background and used to work at Shandong Power. At Shandong Power I was a project manager, and fixed electric generators. I also worked at China Telecom, where I was a sales representative for five years.
I have enclosed my resume. If you need more information, please contact me.
Thank you for your attention.
Sincerely,
Failure to include recruiter’s full name and title. This shows student did not do research.
This paragraph does not show that student knows anything about the firm. Why was the student impressed by the firm? Who did he meet at the presentation?
This paragraph doesn’t show any knowledge about the company. Also, the paragraph does not show what the student can do for the company.
This is simply a copy of the resume. Student should connect skills and experiences from previous employers to the target company.
Last sentence is not action oriented. Student needs to show action (., I will call you next week to follow up).
A quality resume is one of the most important marketing tools that you, the MBA candidate, can have. It functions as a statement of your ability to succeed in the business world. As such, the focus of an MBA resume should be on accomplishments and skills, versus responsibilities. Employers are not so much interested in the work you have been responsible for as they are in the way that you have performed this work. They are looking for a pattern of success and achievement—so it is important that your resume reflects the best you have to offer!
Before you begin writing your resume, you need to understand, and be able to communicate, your knowledge, skills, experience and accomplishments. One way to do this is to perform a self-assessment.
In a self-assessment, you need to review every previous job for your tasks and responsibilities, skills you used and where and how you made an impact, no matter how small. List things you are proud of, things that you made happen, either individually or as a team member. Then identify skills you used in your job, paying particular attention to those which are relevant to a new employer. For example, if you are an engineer interested in finance, perhaps you used quantitative skills on your job that would be useful in a finance job like research or trading.
Finally, work hard at developing numerical values for the accomplishment statements in your resume. Numerical statements is the best way to demonstrate impact.
Some students believe their resumes will look too lean if they work for only one company. The way to handle this is to show various titles, or increases in responsibility within the one firm.
Communicating a major career change poses another challenge in resume writing. If you are interested in changing careers but have little or no previous experiences, try highlighting your summer experience or your participation in clubs or other activities. For example, here an engineer interested in marketing uses his summer experience and his work on the Orientation Committee to highlight his marketing skills.
For small companies or newly-founded companies, you can insert a brief description to describe the business and detail your skills and knowledge.
To attract attention and distinguish yourself from other candidates, you will need to conduct research about the company and job in advance and do a self-assessment. The ability to cite current information about the company, as well as show how you can make a contribution, demonstrates initiative and makes your letter more credible. To simply state “Your company is great, and I can learn a lot there” is not very helpful to the company.
