September 13, 2022

Application Instructions: Providing a Comprehensive Resume

We take a holistic approach in evaluating your application, looking beyond your grades and test scores to get to know you as a person and as a professional. 

That’s why we ask you to submit a professional resume as part of your admissions application. Along with your personal statement and letters of recommendation, your resume gives us a chance to learn more about your skills, background, interests and goals. 

If you haven’t updated your resume in a while (or even if you have!) — here are five insights into how you can present yourself in the best possible light as strong candidate:

1. Highlight your skills and experiences.

The resume is your chance to showcase your professional and educational accomplishments, as well as your experiences in other areas of your life. Specifically, we want to know about:  

  • Your functional job skills
  • The breadth and depth of your experience
  • Your demonstrated leadership
  • Volunteer experience
  • Your experiences (if any) with online learning and certifications

2. Keep it short.

Ideally, your resume should be one or two pages. We’ll accept up to five pages, but we encourage you to pare it down as much as possible and focus on the most important features. A concise resume makes it easy for us to see at a glance what you’ve accomplished — and why you would be a good fit for our program. 

3. Organize it clearly.

Use headlines and subheadings to organize your resume into clear categories such as education, job history, volunteer experience, and online learning. Within each category, keep the text short and scannable, using short phrases and bullet points to get your message across.

4. Focus on what’s relevant to your application. 

Are there gaps in your resume from when you were between jobs or raising your kids? Not a problem. We’re interested in your experiences that are relevant to the program, not whether you’ve been continuously employed. Highlight your experiences with online learning (if any) and anything else that suggests you’ll thrive in our program. 

Note for MCIT Online applicants — this would be a good place to highlight additional coursework that relates to your quantitative ability.

5. Research best practices.

We don’t require you to follow a particular format or style when writing your resume. But if it’s been a while since you updated it, we encourage you to do some research to make sure you’re following today’s best practices. There are plenty of online resources where you can find examples and tips.

Learn More

Get more tips on letters of recommendation by watching our Application Guide or by browsing our collection of recent Admissions Webinar Recordings. You can find additional support by exploring our comprehensive FAQs. You can also contact us at any time to connect directly with our team for support as you work on assembling your application — we’d love to hear from you!