A CV is your first and possibly only chance of securing an interview in an new accountancy role. It is therefore vitally important that it works for you and not against you. Use it to draw attention to your strengths, achievements and accountancy skills.
Here are just 10 top CV writing tips to help you
find a new Accountancy Job…
Keep it Simple
A CV is your first and possibly
only chance of securing an interview in an new accountancy role. It is therefore
vitally important that it works for you and not against you. Use it to draw
attention to your strengths, achievements and accountancy skills.
Lead
with Achievements
Make frequent use of active verbs, such as, achieved, set
up, managed, responsible for, led. Don't use bullet points to describe jobs,
prose is easier to read and you can be more descriptive. Show what accounting
tasks you have been involved in and where you have achieved the
most.
Work Reverse Chronologically
Start with your current
employment, and work back, remembering to include the name of your employer,
start and end dates, your job title and a brief description, plus your
accomplishments. If you are looking for your first job, list any relevant
accountancy
work experience first, paid or unpaid.
Be Honest
Lying on your CV is a waste of your
time as well as for your prospective employer. Adding six months to your time in
a job can seem like a good idea, but if you are caught out you will have lost
the job for sure. But don't sell yourself short. If you think the three summers
you spent working for a local accountant learning about their practices and
procedures is important, you should say so.
Specific Skills
It could be a good idea to list
all IT software packages that you can use to perform your accountancy job and show
how familiar you are with these. It could be impressive that you are
knowledgeable about online programmes. Ensure you mention other very specific
accounting skills that are important to the job.
Education
Give equal attention to achievements
while at University - but not if you have been in the job market for more than
two years. Captain of the debating team, student union rep, set designer for the
university play all show you to be enthusiastic, a self-starter and full of
initiative.
Don't Overcrowd Your CV
Don't feel you need to keep your
CV to one page. If it's three pages then that is better than it all being on top
of each other, as long as the content and layout is appropriate. If your
potential employer has to work hard to read your CV, they will quickly lose
interest.
Spelling
No employer will want to hire someone who can't be
bothered to check their own work and typos and grammatical errors mean your CV
goes straight in the bin. Don't rely on the spell check to pick up any mistakes,
read it over thoroughly.
Two Pairs of Eyes
Ask someone else to proof
read your CV for you, as a fresh eye is useful to spot mistakes or offer
suggestions. Once you've read your CV three or four times, it's difficult to
stand back and look at it objectively. Never try and finish your CV in one
sitting, always go back to it after a couple of
days.
References
Check with referees before you use their names.
There's nothing worse than using someone who has either moved on or holds a
grudge against you. The best people to use for references are your current
employer or a professor or teacher at your college/university.
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