How to present "MBA-equivalent training and experience" on a CV/Resume?

Russell asks: How do you present "MBA-equivalent training and experience" on a resume? I don't have an MBA or graduate degree, but I do have formal and informal education plus work experience that compares very favorably to MBAs from top schools and even PhD (so I have been told by past managers, performance reviews, and academic conference reviewers). What is the best way to present this on a resume? Challenge: It appears that automated and/or outsourced hiring processes screen for key words and simply matching algorithms for work history and training. Thus, people who do not "fit the mold" never get considered by the hiring manager, or even get on the short list for phone interviews or first-stage interviews. Possible Solutions:

1) Just the Facts -- just list work experience, education, skills, and accomplishments on the resume as though a knowledgeable human were reading it top to bottom. This assumes that the resume reader will be using "imaginative understanding" rather than simplistic screening based on criteria.

2) Add an entry under "Education" for "MBA (equivalent)" -- with "institution" listed as "Various" or naming one or more companies where the training and experience were gained. If space is available, add the specific skills and subjects mastered. This assumes that the resume reader won't barf over this non-traditional entry.

3) Fake It -- List an MBA degree. (You'd have to put a gun to my head for me to do this, some famous people have done it. Is this ever justified?)

I have only tried Solution 1), which works fine for consulting team selection. I have had no luck with this solution in the regular employment recruiting process. To be clear, I am not talking about ordinary management or consulting experience as being equivalent to an MBA. That general experience is very valuable but not the same. If you are curious, you can look at my profile where I have listed some of the subject areas where I have developed by theoretical and practical expertise.

In answer:
I think Russell, the problem is solved through focusing on your delivery results, and not through qualifications. Unfortunately, you choose to work in an industry where in the last ten years the number of degrees and Phd’s people have is seen as the basic floor of entry/operations, and any delivery is resultantly not devalued but only assessed after you have the right number/type of degrees/Phd’s.

So, let’s take the obvious first – option (3) is out: never ever lie on a CV/Resume, period. I think your learning point out of the exercise should be to formalize all that experience and delivery in some form of recognized qualification. If you walked into most colleges with the amount of claimed delivery and published work on your profile, then I can’t imagine you would need too many more credits for an MBA.

I would hence write your CV/Resume up personally as I wrote one up in similar circumstances a month ago, focusing each part on: situation, customer requirement, approach, result, follow-up. Simply this shows a potential employer about which situations you have addressed, how you went about tackling them, and the result – each with an extended re-engagement because of the superb result. The client candidate and I produced a two part CV/Resume, with an extended executive portfolio of such works each with individual customer recommendations, and then a focused CV/Resume for each job application – and the answer is that using this formula, he is now employed.

If you follow though on the formula to your online presence, you will see that your existing LinkedIn profile is potentially over written. Your opening paragraph sounds more “functional element” written and less “evidence of delivery” orientated, which is where you have to focus any application. For instance, what is a “skilled public speaker” – do you have a simultaneous fire eating act? A better way would be to say “Have presented at numerous national conferences and as guest speaker at (insert up to three well known organisations), on subjects including strategy and IT risk modelling.” On the same level, just lose the Microsoft office – be clear on communicating to the reader you are an executive strategist, not a PC jockey.

In your application process, pick out up to ten organisations you would like to work for, and write a direct letter to the President, CEO or COO. Explain why you have written , and an evidenced mini-scenario of what you could do for them. I doubt there are more than 50 recruiters in the world who would understand your niche, or who would understand who wants that skill set you possess. You know that niche far better than they do, and well enough to know who the players are. Even if those employers use external recruiters they will know of you - so just write to them directly, and effectively ask for a job.

I see this scenario regularly in people who have had highly successful careers, and suddenly for one reason or another find it difficult when seeking employment to adapt to the changed world around them, which needs certificates/degrees on which to jump the initial interview barrier. Don’t worry – just don’t lie, and focus on evidenced delivery for the new position you are aiming for. And take the hint and formalize those extensive experiences into a certificate – you are never too old to learn!

Good Luck, and if I can help you further, please – just ask!

Inclusion of specialist education on new career CV/Resume

Jayson asks: I am a chiropractor, and I am looking to change careers. My educational background: Undergraduate 1989-1993 (graduated), Chiropractic College 1999-2003 (Graduated) with a Doctor of Chiropractic (D.C.) degree. It's the last graduation that's making things difficult in this process. To make a long story short, practicing chiropractic is not for me, and I'd like to capitalize (hopefully) on the management skills I've picked up along the way. I really do not want to draw attention to the fact that I am a chiropractor looking to change careers. This seems to be a nearly insurmountable distraction to potential interviewers, and, quite frankly, it might even hinder my chances at being invited for an interview to begin with. To this end, I have reworked my C.V. into a resume, and I have repositioned myself as having managed the practices in which I have been previously situated (I'm not lying here, either). My question is this: With respect to my chiropractic education, what is the best way to handle indicating that period of time in my life? I have considered various options:

- Eliminating/Omitting it - The drawback to this is that I feel that I would be hiding something, and that I would have 4 years of time unaccounted for.
- Indicating "Selected Courses at Life University, Marietta, GA" (possibly including an indication of a "concentration in healthcare management") - I might be asked about why I didn't "finish"/receive a degree, but, at least, I would be including the experience, and I could account for some, if not most, of that time.
- Including it outright - This would cause the distraction to which I referred earlier in this e-mail, and possibly exclude me from many possibilities.

I have also heard of the inclusion of a "professional development" section on the resume which would account for certain experiences that didn't lead to a degree. Any ideas? They'd be greatly appreciated!!!

In answer:
Here's a thought - at some point in time during a job application, it will come out that you had a 20 year career as a chiropractor, and you don't want to do that any more. Had you thought Jayson about when you were going to handle that in a job application process, because the question then from any potential employer will be why (us)?

The answer to the question (and the best tactic is to answer it BEFORE the HR manager asks it), really revolves about what you want to do next. Because it will be seeing what type of skills that ideal new job requires, and if/where those skills show up in your previous occupation that the then writing of your CV/Resume then becomes much clearer. If you are writing a blind CV/Resume with Cover Letter at a potential employer, then I can see the problem. I would address this under a "healthcare management" title to keep it applicable to management as opposed to the physical work. I would suggest your chances of an interview on blind applications would be low, sub 10%.

However, lets get back to the real nub of the question, which is the why the move from chiropractor. Most well planned careers would take your existing skills (a chiropractor who has managed and run his own business), and transition to say management in a healthcare practice, or something which used multiple areas of your skills and competencies before transitioning into a new industry. But the way your question is posed suggests the move you desire Jayson is a move away from being a chiropractor AND a move away from the healthcare sector.

I hence don't think the problem in any job application is actually in your CV/Resume as a "how I posed my skills and training" issues, but a "why do I want a career change issue away from so many of my core skills." This any employer will be reading as a high-level risk, and its the why as well as showing Jayson that you have transitioned those skills in other instance that will reduce the employers view of that risk, and result in an interview.

This is one of the clear cases where I think a career coach would be of use to you. They could probe that desire, work up a five year strategy, and then a plan with steps below that/answers to the obvious HR questions. I would always employ a certified career coach, and find one who has handled such a situation before and can reference you directly to that transitioned client.

A cheaper option is to approach a good recruiter in the new sector in which you wish employment, and ask for advice. But they make their money on quick placements and many would have similar risk/desire concerns as any potential employer. Any good recruiter who could show you similar career transitions they had placed and then took you on, would have signed-in to the fact they believed you, and could sell the transition desire to their clients.

Good Luck!

Do I need a degree?

Zulkifly asks: Peoples without a university degree is less successful compare to those who has it?

In answer:
Success is a measure of achievement against a goal - much like the equally literally abused use, particularly in vehicle and product advertising, of the word "quality:" its conformance to specification NOT and an implied betterness.

Hence, no - either can successfully succeed against their own defined goal: it just depends on what the goal is.

If you mean by success monetary income, then that is a defined goal - and each can be equally rich, as can be seen from the Forbes or in-country measurements like the Sunday Times Rich List.

However, here's a thought........ To read the rest of this post, please visit Degree Education

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