Resume Help - CPA job transition
Today’s résumé critique is for a candidate who was in the financial investments sector and wants to transition. He has just completed training to become a full fledged accountant and is CPA eligible. We will call him Jim.
Jim has 8 years of solid work experience, but he has made the mistake of positioning himself as entry level. While it is true that Jim is starting out in the accounting sector as a rookie, he is by no means what we would call an entry level candidate. In fact, Jim has worked previously for a major financial services company. I recommend he position himself as a Junior Accounting Professional with a bold headline centered at the top of his résumé.
Another especially confusing item on Jim’s current résumé is that his first job out of school is listed as Vice President of Investments. When I initially read this, my first thought was that Jim must have left information off of his résumé. Perhaps he had many more years of experience that he didn’t add. So I spoke to Jim and he explained that his Vice President role was initially a trainee position. That made a lot more sense.
Jim should indicate clearly that he went from Investment Trainee to Vice President of Investments. That would clarify the progression of his career and simultaneously show potential employers he was promoted due to success.
Most recently Jim did some work as a temporary employee at a bank in the field of accounting. He shows dates from September to December 2010. I recommend he list this as simply 2010. He can explain that it was only a few months once he gets the interview. A résumé is a marketing tool. There is no need to include the months.
The other thing that Jim really needs to do is beef up the content. He should create short paragraphs describing his role at each position and use bullets to highlight his achievements using the SAR method which I often speak about. 1. Situation 2. Action 3 Result.
To view specific comments about Jim’s résumé, click on the image below.
If you would like to have your résumé critiqued, please email Debra@careersdonewrite.com The résumé critique appears weekly on the Careers Done Write blog every Monday.
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