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How to Own Your Narrative: Red Flags in Your Resume

Gaps in your MBA resume may be a cause for concern for admissions officers. Hopping from job to job may convey that you lack commitment and dedication. But these red flags in your resume don’t always have to be a negative point in your MBA application.

“Ultimately, overcoming these red flags comes down to developing and controlling your own narrative,” Patricia Carl, an executive coach and consultant, writes for the Harvard Business Review.

HONESTY

The first and most important step to controlling your own narrative is to be honest about your experiences. When it comes to gaps in your resume, experts say, you want to explain the gap with confidence—both in your resume and interview.

“Be as transparent as possible, and don’t leave anything open to interpretation,” Stacy Blackman, founder of Stacy Blackman Consulting, writes. “Tell what you did or learned during the unaccounted-for time. That way, you remove any ambiguity that could otherwise lead to adverse inferences. Showing how you adapted to challenging circumstances or forged a new path during a unique period in your life can work to your benefit.”

JOB HOPPING

If your resume shows frequent job hopping, you’ll want to explain why you left certain past jobs.

“What prompted you to make the move? If it was indeed in search of better opportunities, explain the expected changes in tangible terms – a larger organization, a better designation, better pay, better projects, etc.,” Sameer Kamat, Founder of MBA Crystal Ball, writes.

Kamat says that while better opportunities may be a valid reason, it isn’t applicable to instances where you didn’t seem to get along with your coworkers or team.

“Let’s be clear. You cannot afford to talk about better opportunities by talking trash about your previous organizations,” Kamat writes. “’Better opportunities’ imply a clear direction of career growth. Dissatisfaction with the working environment could be better expressed in quantitative grounds in terms of the job, and not in terms of discord with supervisors or co-workers, work load or other factors that, let’s say, will be tested through your MBA curriculum.”

LESSONS LEARNED

While gaps in your MBA resume or short tenures at a company may be causes for concern, conveying the lessons you learned can help in effectively owning your narrative.

“For example, if you were laid off, perhaps the unexpected break gave you an opportunity for valuable introspection instead of rushing into another job that may or may not be a good fit,” Jessica Chung, an expert coach at Fortuna Admissions and former UCLA Anderson Associate Director of Admissions, writes. “If you took the time to reassess your career evolution, next steps, and the kind of impact you wanted your next position to have on your career, it can suggest both clarity of purpose and maturity.”

Sources: Harvard Business Review, Stacy Blackman Consulting, MBA Crystal Ball, Fortuna Admissions

 

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