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Whether you’re applying for an advanced or an entry level accounting
position you will strengthen your accounting resume by categorizing
your accounting experience.
An
Experienced Accountant
As an
example, we’ll use Monty who wants an Assistant to the Controller
position. Below you’ll see a section from Monty’s before resume. Does
this section present Monty as well qualified for an Assistant to the
Controller position? |
Will these strategies
work for you?
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click here to read
these successes!
... salary is DOUBLED
... 50% salary increase
... 26% increase
... $18,000 increase
... $30,000 to $50,000
... offered $45 to $60 an hour
... plus dozens more
successful career moves
and salary increases!
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EXPERIENCE:
Nine years of experience in
these responsibilities:
Accounts payable, accounts receivable, purchase orders, general ledger
and customer service. Bank reconciliation, supervision and training of
2-6 people, fixed assets, inventory control, office management and
payroll data entry.
Additional experience:
Organizing and managing special projects helping to implement new
software, chart of account maintenance, maintaining accounting
procedures and assisting the controller.
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Did you notice that the very last words in the
last section of Monty’s resume address his qualifications as an
Assistant to the Controller? Since Monty has already assisted the
controller--and he wants another position doing this--he needs to
highlight this experience. Now take a moment and review a very
abbreviated section of Monty’s after resume below.
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Assistant to Controller, Southwest
Oil 1994-1997
Corporate Accounting Supervisor
Managed 3 sets of books, working directly with Controller to oversee 12
divisions for firm with annual revenues in excess of $125 million.
Project Management
Organized and supervised special projects such as implementation of $2
million computer system utilized by 200 employees.
Client Relations and Contract
Administration
Controlled 2,000 accounts receivable accounts and 200 vendor contracts
and accounts payable accounts.
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You can see why Monty’s new resume increased his
request for interviews by over 60% and landed him a position paying
$10,000 more. Categorizing his Assistant to Controller experience gave
employers a broad view of Monty’s skills at a glance.
Monty developed this resume by
using my booklet entitled: Proven
Resumes: Strategies That Increase Salaries and Can Change Your Life, which
is written for job seekers in the $24,000 to $70,000+ range and is
described below.
$9,000
Salary Increase
The
first resume workshop in this site shows how Fran's after resume
resulted in a $9,000 salary increase.
Fran wanted a $33,000 Corporate Customer
Representative job but her resume created an image of her being at a
$20,000 to 24,000 salary level -- that's $9,000 to $13,000 beneath her
goal.
What
Level Does Your Resume Market You At?
If
you are curious to see what level your resume is marketing you at …
then be sure to read and use the graphing techniques in my first
workshop. By
graphing the job titles used in Fran's resume it's easy to see why her
resume failed … and once you understand this … you will understand why
the majority of resumes fail. You'll
then understand how to analyze your job titles and see if you are
better off using them or replacing them with skill headings that market
you more effectively.
Most People Have Job
Titles that Weaken Their Image
I
estimate that at least 85% of all job seekers have job titles unrelated
to their current career goals … and that they are much better off using
skill headings rather than job titles to land higher salaries and
double and triple their interview rates.
For example, Fran had been a
Directory Operator but in most people's minds that doesn't sound like
she's at the level of a Corporate Customer Representative making
$33,000 … that's because most people don't view directory operators as
providing true customer service. Most
people say that Directory Operator sounds like someone making only
$20,000. However,
by using the 12 Questions in my Proven Resumes Series, Fran wrote a new
description of her duties as a Directory Operator that described her
being selected out of 100 Directory Operators to provide specialized
Customer Service to the Governor's Office and Political Dignitaries in
the Washington State Capitol … now that information begins to change
our image of Fran doesn't it? That
makes her sound much more like someone being able to command $33,000.
Which sounds like a better
match for the $33,000 Corporate Customer Service Representative goal…
her old job title of Directory Operator
… or a skill heading like Customer Service
Representative to State of Washington Account.
In Fran's actual resume we used the heading of
Customer Service Representative but you can see how you can play with
skill headings to control and elevate your image … this is one strategy
I explain in detail with examples throughout my book, Proven Resumes:
Strategies That Have Increased Salaries, and one of the strongest
things I can offer you as a resume writer … just in case you don't have
the time or patience to write your own.
Going
from 0% to 100% Interview Rate
By
using skill headings that matched her goal, Fran went from a 0%
interview rate to a 100% interview rate -- meaning none of her prior
resumes had landed an interview but her new resume landed an interview
for each position she applied for.
Click here to learn other ways
we improved Fran's resume and landed her a job paying $9,000 more
click here to read
my first set of resume workshops! If you've entered my site
via this page, be sure to go to my home
page for an overview of more than 60 Free Resume & Job Search
Workshops that include tons of Resume Tips for 45
Career Fields, Job Search, Electronic Resume, Cover Letter,
Interviewing, Networking and Confidence Building strategies.
The testimonials at the top of
this page and throughout my site describe salary increases ranging from
$10,000 to $30,000 and more. Here's
one of my most recent ones:
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Website
Contents, Regina Pontow, 1997-2013