UNC Kenan-Flagler MBA Resume Walk Workshop

Resume Walk Workshop

Business Communication CenterDecember 10, 2009

Agenda – Workshop

“Resume Walk” PowerPoint Volunteer resume walks – pre-

exercise Pairs exercise Volunteer resume walks – post-

exercise

DONE

12/10/09

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Business Communication Center – Resume Walk Workshop

12:30 pm

1:00 pm

1:10 pm

1:35 pm

1:45 pm

Agenda – Presentation

“Resume walk” defined Elements of a good resume walk Building your resume walk

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Interviewers will prompt for a resume walk in two ways

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“Tell me about yourself”

“Walk me through your resume”

Elements Building yoursDefinition

or

Don’t misinterpret recruiters’ prompts for a resume walk

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“Tell me about yourself.”

Does not mean:

“Tell me about your mom, dad, and siblings.”

“What’s your favorite color?”

“Walk me through your resume.”

Does not mean:

“Recite your resume, word for word.”

However, either prompt does mean:

“You have ~2 minutes to tell me whatever you’d like.”

Elements Building yoursDefinition

Good resume walks tell a succint, compelling, personal story

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Elements common to good resume walks

~ 2-minute length

Tells a compelling story Includes personal themes, motivations, passions Has “right” level of detail for background/experience Shows sound thought process, decision making Speaks to fit with field/company/position (Addresses obvious gaps and questions – if necessary)

Ends with a variation of…

“… and that’s why I’m here interviewing with you.”

Building yoursDefinition Elements

A resume walk is an opportunity to tell your story – briefly

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In 2 minutes you should address:

PastWhere you’ve been and why

PresentWhy you came to business school

FutureWhere you’d like to go and why

Future plans Past experience Kenan-Flagler


Kenan-Flagler

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Should build up to why you’re interviewing for this

position today

Your story arc should culminate with the interview

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Interest build-up of a typical resume walk

work experience

undergraduate education

time (minutes)

Lis

ten

er i

nte

rest

extra-curricular activitiesWhy?

what motivates you

What?

things you’ve done


You can proactively address tricky subjects in a resume walk

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Subjects you may want to tackle:

Employment gaps

Frequent job changes

Leaps of logic in future plans that an interviewer will likely question

“You have no marketing experience… why are you interested in a marketing position?”


Resist the temptation to provide too much detail

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Recruiters want to understand the motivation and thought process behind your decisions

Source: The Black Collegian Online, How to Walk a Recruiter Through Your Resume http://www.black-collegian.com/career/wsj/collegejournal_resume_walk_1206.htm, accessed 11/9/09.

“Most interviewees spend their time regurgitating every minor detail verbatim from their resumes, instead of focusing on the high points and explaining the reasons they made different decisions...

… recruiters are much more interested in your thought process than they are specific details about each job.”

“The interviewer wants to know that you had a plan, even if that plan has since changed.”

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http://www.black-collegian.com/career/wsj/collegejournal_resume_walk_1206.htm

Find a way of telling your story that suits your style

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2 Ways* of Thinking About Resume Walks

“During my time with Company, Inc., I had the

chance to lead…”

Guided tour of your resume Building a puzzle

interests

education

fit

exp

erie

nce

Definition Elements Building yours

* More than 2 ways exist!

Think about the elements you’d like to include in your story

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Questions to ask yourself

What is your passion?

What common themes flow through all your experiences?

Do you want to stress some experiences over others?

Why are you interested in this field? In this company? In this position?


Consider how others’ resume walks sound to you

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Example #1 (resume walk for business school interview):

“I attended (Top Undergrad) as a Dean’s Scholar where I majored in Business, and started an Educational Nanny service for children of professors while I was there. I hired over 25 students to care for about 50 kids. Each nanny had an area of expertise like art, music or a foreign language, and would share that skill with a different child every day. This exposed the kids to a variety of people and experiences, and helped build resumes and incomes for the students. “It was my first entrepreneurial venture. I learned all about running a business: hiring people, managing schedules and running financials. I sold the business for a percentage of the profits after I graduated, and am planning to fund a significant portion of my MBA with the income. “I always loved learning about consumers in my classes. After I graduated in 2004, I went to work for Best Company Ever as a Marketing Research Analyst and was promoted to Senior Analyst after 2 years. In those positions, I learned to turn numbers into words. I spent hours analyzing data and drawing conclusions about consumer behavior. I sold the Innovation team on my findings, and made recommendations for new product development. My research contributed to the introduction of over 50 new products in 5 years that generated about $160 million in revenue for the company. “Working for Best Company ever has been an amazing experience, but I feel a real draw back to the Entrepreneurial world. That’s what gets me so excited about your MBA program. You’re ranked #1 for Entrepreneurship, and people from your program are highlighted in Fast Company magazine almost every month. I want to be one of those people one day!”

Source: MBA in the USA, MBA Interviews – The Resume Walk, http://www.mbaintheusa.com/2009/02/02/mba-interviews-%E2%80%93-the-resume-walk/ , accessed 11/9/09.

http://www.mbaintheusa.com/2009/02/02/mba-interviews-%E2%80%93-the-resume-walk/


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Starts with education…

… followed quickly by work experience



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Details what she learned

Reveals passions, running themes in her life



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Provides insight into what motivates her

Shows understanding of big-picture impact of her work



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Ends with version of “… and that’s why I’m here interviewing with you today.”



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Example #2 (resume walk for job interview):

“I decided to attend Vanderbilt University after being awarded a Presidential Scholarship, a full scholarship based on academic performance and test scores. My professional aspirations were shaped both by my degree in economics and four semesters of internships at financial institutions in Nashville. I knew from these experiences that I wanted to pursue a job in banking upon graduation. “I was selected to participate in a leadership program at Bank of America and started with 30 other undergraduate students. As part of this program, I had one of my most significant team experiences to date. I was assigned to a branch location in Atlanta, and worked with a team of five people to improve the branch’s operations. As a part of this experience, my branch was recognized as the top performing branch in the Southeast though our doubling of the current lending customers and improving our customer service scores by 70%.

“After this position, I was given the opportunity to manage a small branch in Greensboro, North Carolina. As a branch manager, I supervised 15 staff members and improved services to our more than 2,000 customers. During my time managing the Greensboro branch I began contemplating my return to school to get my MBA. “I decided to attend Kenan-Flagler after visiting the school during my interview. I met with students and faculty in the Finance Department – all of whom I found impressive and extremely helpful. Kenan-Flagler’s highly regarded finance department and a team-focused curriculum heavily influenced my decision to come here. “I became interested in finance while studying economics at Vanderbilt. Although I began my career in the commercial banking industry, I am interested in pursuing corporate finance at your company because I want to work on finance projects that will allow me to drive the strategic direction of the firm.”

Source: Kenan-Flagler Business Communication Center, Acing the Resume Walk, http://video.kenan-flagler.unc.edu/bizcommcenter/podcasts/transcripts/4_unc-kf_bcc-podcast_resume-walk.pdf , accessed 11/9/09.

http://video.kenan-flagler.unc.edu/bizcommcenter/podcasts/transcripts/4_unc-kf_bcc-podcast_resume-walk.pdf


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Shows logical decisions based on previous experience

Starts with education and internships



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“I decided to attend Vanderbilt University after being awarded a Presidential Scholarship, a full scholarship based on academic performance and test scores. My professional aspirations were shaped both by my degree in economics and four semesters of internships at financial institutions in Nashville. I knew from these experiences that I wanted to pursue a job in banking upon graduation. “I was selected to participate in a leadership program at Bank of America and started with 30 other undergraduate students. As part of this program, I had one of my most significant team experiences to date. I was assigned to a branch location in Atlanta, and worked with a team of five people to improve the branch’s operations. As a part of this experience, my branch was recognized as the top performing branch in the Southeast through our doubling of the current lending customers and improving our customer service scores by 70%.



Shows increasing levels of responsibility

Shows success at each step



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Explains decision to attend Kenan-Flagler

Clearly states post-MBA interests



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…Why get an MBA?

MIGHT HAVE MISSED OPPORTUNITIES TO EXPLAIN…

…Why finance? …Why this particular company?


Pre-Exercise Resume Walks

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Volunteers?


Pairs Exercise

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• 30 minutes

• Break out into pairs (or groups of 3)

• Give your resume walk at least 3 times

• Time yourselves: 2 minuteshttp://www.online-stopwatch.com/


Instructions

http://www.online-stopwatch.com/

Post-Exercise Resume Walks

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Almost done!


The Resume Walk: 2 minutes of free talking time

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Practice it until it sounds like you want it to sound… … and be ready to deliver!


Thank You27

Business Communication Center – Resume Walk Workshop 12/10/09

To set up an appointment with a BCC Consultant, go to

http://public.kenan-flagler.unc.edu/bizcommcenter/

and click on “Schedule an Appointment,” or go directly to

http://www.rich16.com/unc/

http://public.kenan-flagler.unc.edu/bizcommcenter/

http://www.rich16.com/unc/

Appendix

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A resume walk can be like a guided “flyover” tour of your resume

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“I’ve always been interested in ________ …”

Point out interesting features to the recruiter

Motivations & themes



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“I graduated from _______ with a degree

in ____________…”

Education




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“my experience with _______ helped me develop my ___________…”


What you learned at each job


Documents

UNC Kenan-Flagler MBA Resume Walk Workshop