You must indicate on your résumé why the traditional pre-MBA work experience is not a requirement for your post-MBA career plan. To maximize the benefit of an MBA degree in launching your career, you will most likely seek enrollment in a full-time MBA program, where you will declare a concentration in a field with a specific MBA course sequence and numerous extracurricular opportunities. This will help build your résumé during school and prepare you to work in a specific industry or functional role.

Your résumé must emphasize success in securing past internships, a history of taking advantage of campus activities and opportunities, and specifics of your degree sufficiently detailed to give the admissions office or recruiter a sense of what kind of MBA student you are likely to be (or were) throughout your MBA study.

Start your résumé (after your name and contact information) with an objective statement that clarifies why significant pre-MBA experience is probably not critical for you to achieve your career goals. For example, the following objective makes clear what goal you have in mind and that extensive experience is not necessary: "Objective: A management-training program in a commercial bank." Once you have begun an MBA program and declared a concentration involving relevant functional or industry-focused courses, MBA internships, and school activities, your objective statement may no longer be needed.

Only use the reverse chronological format for your résumé. Since you do not have extensive experience, a skill-based format would be too difficult to organize and too limited to be effective. If you have limited experience and are applying to b-school and working, use a reverse chronological résumé starting with experience, followed by education. If you are applying to business school directly from undergraduate school (college or university) list your education first on your résumé.

List the undergraduate courses most relevant to your career goals, and display your academic success. Since work experience is limited at best, your academic strengths must be especially apparent.

In the absence of professional experience, convey your involvement in the student body and university community and the effective outcomes (including learning and exposure to new experiences). Describe in the most detail the school organizations related to your academic interests, especially if you played an active leadership role.