The Resume

A resume is one of the most important self-advertisements any executive or professional can
own. In this section you will find a list of resume writing tips and the SOM format guidelines.
The SOM resume format template is also available electronically and uses tables. Please contact
the CDO for an electronic template.

1. Resume Writing Tips

• At its core, your resume is a marketing document designed to sell your background to a
targeted reader.
• A resume should not present everything there is to know about you. It is a selected summary
of significant facts about you, outlining your professional and educational background. It
should highlight key points which relate to your future employment objective.
• Your resume should be tailored strategically to present the accomplishments, skills, and
experiences that relate specifically to the position you seek.
• Please keep in mind that it is not the reader’s job to try to make sense of your resume: you
are responsible for making the connection of your past experience with your future goals.
• You should be looking toward the interview while composing your resume. How well you
present past experiences in the resume is a measure of how well you will articulate these
experiences in the employment interview.
• It is also important to remember that the more you know about your audience, the easier it is
to spell out your background in ways that catch the attention of that audience. An MBA
recruiter reviews hundreds of resumes and will spend about 7 seconds taking a first glance at
your resume – if there is nothing immediately compelling nor relevant, he or she will stop
right there.
• Each bullet point should be an accomplishment statement (vs. a responsibility), which begins
with a strong action verb, specifies the result or impact upon an organization, and illustrates
your contributions to the company/organization.
• Quantify, quantify, quantify! Quantify or measure results whenever possible.
• While you should have a primary SOM resume, you also may want to create different
versions of your resume that are tailored to specific industries, functions, or companies.
• Font should be Times New Roman and type size between 10 - 12 point.
• In order for your resume to conform to the approved Yale SOM format, it may not exceed
one page.

Keep in mind that even the best resumes do not get jobs. Resumes get interviews, and interviews
get jobs. Resumes save employers the time and trouble of meeting everyone who is interested in
working for them. A well-constructed resume increases your chances of an interview in which
you can facilitate a productive discussion of your experiences; however, a poorly constructed
resume can screen you out of the interviewing process.

2. Resume Format - Personal Contact Information

This section should include your full name and contact information. We recommend using your
Yale email account for the SOM resume book. When listing a phone number, please ensure that
you have an appropriate and professional voicemail message recorded.

3. Resume Format - Education

Present your graduate and undergraduate institutions in reverse chronological order with the
most recently attended school first.

We also encourage you to list your academic emphasis, leadership roles, related coursework and
academic distinctions in this section. Extracurricular activities at SOM may also be listed in the
Additional Information section, if you prefer.

4. Resume Format – Professional Experience

The heart of your resume is the organization and presentation of your professional experience.
When developing this section, your goal is to highlight the skills/achievements most relevant to
the position you’re seeking. Describe your major responsibilities, but place the greatest emphasis
on accomplishments you can legitimately own or share.

When reading about your experience, an employer needs to know what he or she would ask in an
interview about that experience. Each job listed should have at least one bullet that clearly points
to and serves as a “short cut” for the most important and relevant part of that experience.

a. Accomplishments
Accomplishments are an important foundation for communicating your skills, abilities, and
results. Ideally, accomplishment statements are offered in “bite-size” entities, which a recruiter
can review and absorb quickly. Thus, resume accomplishment statements should be brief and
precisely stated bulleted points. Each statement should begin with a strong action verb; each also
should specify the result or impact upon the organization and illustrate your contributions to the
company.

It is critical to remember that all the information presented in this section should support your
new career objective. As such, you will need to identify the skills most important to the function
you are now pursuing and organize your resume around these skills. What specific achievements
have you accomplished in the last few years that illustrate your skills and abilities?

b. The Accomplishment Statement – Situation, Action, Result (SAR).

Accomplishment statements on a resume – versus those shared in an interview – only include the
ACTION and RESULT; the opportunity is implicit. Describe the ACTION taken, including
analysis of the opportunity, the planning and preparation, and the resources involved. Use action
words and avoid words like “participated in” or “monitored” which tend to be more passive
verbs. Appendix A of this Section provides a list of action verbs commonly used on resumes.
Describe the RESULTS obtained. Be sure to state if you presented your results to clients or
senior management. Be specific and as quantitative as possible.

Your goal is to distinguish yourself by citing accomplishments and measurements of impact.

Avoid being too general or laying claims without a quantified measurement.

Please quantify when possible by percentages or numbers. If not possible, provide feeling for
size and/or scope of accomplishment (e.g., “first,” “revolutionized”). Focus on increases in sales,
volumes, quality, profits, team productivity, technical/new programs or product innovations, and
cost cutting and efficiency. Do not exaggerate or misrepresent your background.

Examples of some areas in which you can expand upon your accomplishments:
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 o Improved quality, productivity, teamwork
o Increased sales, profits
o Reduced costs
o Planned/designed a program/training process to improve, reduce or change
o Decreased turnover, failures, breakdown, shrinkage, overtime, etc.

The SAR approach for interviews is discussed further in Tab IV, Section A.3.

Examples of Accomplishment Statements:

• Designed and implemented new promotional point of sale displays, which arrested share loss and one
year later increased market share 6 points
• Initiated advanced assembly procedures to increase production 10% by reducing turnaround time
from five to four days. Presented report on procedural improvements to senior management
• Modeled worldwide flow of trade & capital to predict multi-year exchange & interest rate movements
• Directed sales organization in increasing market share in company’s largest business segment despite
negative economic indicators in the industry
• Drafted congressional testimony, speeches, and opinion-editorials on energy and defense issues
• Developed a spreadsheet for determining salary plan impact on bank, which became a bank-wide
standard tool and is still being utilized
• Led a nine-member cross-functional task force charged with improving administrative processes,
resulting in overall savings of $3MM annually
• Created and presented a program to educate regional branches in common fraudulent practices
• Compiled and distributed weekly activity report to all vice presidents and senior management in a
timely manner with the highest degree of accuracy
• Prepared budget and P&L analysis for product lines, providing management with estimates of product
profitability for strategic planning in the Latin American market
• Trained new employees in customer service, secretarial and telephone procedures which generated a
30% reduction in complaints. Nominated for “Founder’s Award” by supervisor
• Studied 30 bids and contracts from outside service companies totaling more than $30MM annually
• Analyzed statistical reports to pinpoint overrun errors, saving $500,000 annually in raw materials
• Created new loan procedure that resulted in $200K savings to the bank and improved processing
turnaround time by 50%. Received “Best of 2007” award, given to five employees companywide
• Identified attractive overseas investment opportunities; presented proposals to managing partners
resulting in five successful deal closings

5. Resume Format - Additional Information

As the title of this section suggests, you should use this space to highlight additional information
such as (but not limited to) membership in a professional organization, licenses/certifications,
and language skills. Extracurricular activities at Yale SOM can also be listed in this section.

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JOSEPH WALLACE
135 Prospect Street, PO Box 208200 ⏐ New Haven, Connecticut 06520
Tel. (203) 555-5555 ⏐ E-mail: joseph.wallace@yale.edu

EDUCATION
YALE SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT New Haven, CT
Candidate for Master of Business Administration (MBA), Strategy and Management 2006
• Recipient, Dean’s Merit Scholarship (full tuition); Teaching Assistant for Financial Reporting
• Co-Leader, Consulting Club; Co-Leader, Net Impact Club (served as External Relations/Fundraising
Liaison during 2004-’05; helped launch and manage a database of SOM-Net Impact alumni)
• GMAT: 760 (99th percentile)

COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY New York, NY

Bachelor of Arts (BA), Sociology, summa cum laude 1998
• Syracuse University Study Abroad, Florence, Italy, Spring 1997
• Varsity Swimming, 1995-’98; awarded ‘Most Improved Men’s Swimmer’ for 1995-’96 season
• (GPA: 3.97/4.00)

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
SECURE SPONSORSHIP, INC. Boston, MA
Executive Director 2002-2004
• Secured $250K in angel investor seed funding and founded a consulting organization providing
infrastructure support for the nonprofit sector; attracted four clients in first year of operation
• Created electronic funds transfer service, achieving 40% average utilization among clients’ constituents
and increasing average online donations by 47%
• Offered web-based marketing platform to clients as a cost-saving alternative to direct mail campaigns,
reducing administrative labor by 140 hours (20%) during a single engagement

HABITAT FOR HUMANITY INTERNATIONAL Americus, GA

Project Associate, National Home Builders Blitz 2000, 2001 2000-2002
• Designed and planned inaugural nationwide project to build 400 houses in more than 130 locations in one
week, achieving national goal. Residences achieved 96% occupancy within 3 months
• Helped identify and solicit national builders and suppliers for funding and house sponsorships, resulting in
more than $2M in donations
• Crafted national media plan and organized major publicity events, including press conferences featured on
local TV and radio news outlets in six participating states during June-August, 2000
• Recruited over 100 out-of-state builders and other tradesmen to maximize efficiency in post-hurricane
building projects along the Gulf of Mexico
Special Assistant to the President 1998-2000
• Raised >$5K for local Habitat for Humanity advocacy project. Helped President draft speeches and
devised media plan and managed all on-site arrangements for President’s major events
• Conceived and directed special event featuring a meeting with former President Jimmy Carter for visitors
and VIPs, including CEO-level executives from Coca-Cola, CNN, Equifax, and UPS

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
• Member, Association of Consultants to Nonprofits (2002-present), contributor to Assoc. Newsletter
• Hiked the Appalachian Trail in Georgia, North Carolina, and Tennessee in 1998-’02
• Fluent in Italian and Spanish; dedicated fan of the Boston Red Sox and Atlanta Falcons

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 First & Last Name in
BOLD & CAPS Street Address | City, State Zip
Phone | Email
Separate sections with vertical line ( | ).
FIRSTNAME LASTNAME
Section 123 Prospect Street, Apt. #4 ⏐ New Haven, Connecticut 06520
Heading Tel. (xxx) xxx-xxxx ⏐ E-mail: firstname.lastname@yale.edu
Thin line to separate sections
EDUCATION BOLD & CAPS

YALE SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT City, State

Candidate for Master of Business Administration (MBA), Concentration Year
List • Academic Distinctions
GMAT if
over 95th • SOM leadership or activities (or can include in “Additional Information” section)
percentile

UNDERGRADUATE UNIVERSITY City, State

Bachelor of Arts (BA), Major, Latin Honors Year
• Can list significant award or distinction, but keep to a minimum; focus should be on the MBA
City, State
(BOLD)
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE BOLD & CAPS Start Year – End Year
MOST RECENT EMPLOYER, INC. (no months) City, State
(BOLD)
Job Title 2 Year-Year
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No period at the
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of the bullet.
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For non-US positions,
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City, Country

PRIOR EMPLOYER City, Country

Job Title xxxx-xxxx
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ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
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