The Resume Concision Check


by Linda Abraham - Date: 2007-06-14 - Word Count: 207 Share This!

If you're accomplished enough to be applying to the top business schools, you probably have more than enough impressive material to fill a one-page resume. To use that limited space as efficiently as possible, perform the following concision check:

(a) Have you eliminated all articles (a, an, the)?

(b) Have you replaced helping verbs with strong action verbs? Example: "$2 million proposal was accepted by client." Better: "Client accepted my $2 million proposal."

(c) Have you used adjective constructions to eliminate unnecessary prepositions? Example: ".analysis of waste in project waste resulted in $2 million in savings." Better: "project waste analysis saved $2 million."

(d) Have you used Arabic numbers and abbreviations to reduce wordiness? Example: "Proposed seventeen process changes that cut program costs by $50,000,000." Better: "Proposed 17 process changes that cut program costs by $50MM."

(e) Have you chosen the most economical wording (a thesaurus can be a handy tool here)? Example: "Corporate CEO with management approach that emphasizes team-building and results orientation transformed under-performing farm supply company with 5,000 SKUs in product line into the most streamlined and nimble business in the industry." Better: "CEO with team-building, results-oriented management style transformed under-performing farm supply firm with 5,000-item product line into industry's nimblest, most streamlined player."

Related Tags: resume, application, admissions, essay, business school, acceptedcom

Linda Abraham, Accepted.com's founder and president, has helped thousands of applicants develop successful admissions strategies and craft distinctive essays. In addition to advising clients and managing Accepted.com, she has written and lectured extensively on admissions. The Wall St. Journal, The New York Times, and BusinessWeek are among the publications that have sought Linda's expertise.

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