[Chris]

Hi All,

I’ve been thinking about leaving my job and in putting my resume out I’m wondering if my composition is poor and could hurt my prospects.

I landed a job in fund accounting right out of college. I quickly realized it didn’t combine my love of accounting and finance like I thought. At the time I couldn’t get an interview for a full time public accounting position . I turned down a private accounting job for an internship in public during tax season. I landed my current job the next fall. My resume reads as follows. (Just a quick example)

Staff Accountant – 9/2013- Present

Tax Intern – 1/2013-4/2013

Fund Accountant – 6/2011-1/2013

First, I think internship may look weird without an explanation. But if I remove it to show only my professional experience it is a rather large gap.

I’m proud of my career decisions thus far, but looking for some feedback if there is a better way to present them other than chronologically.

Thanks!

NH CPA
REG: 07/03/2014 - 88
AUD: 08/30/2014 - 73 - Retake 10/16/14 - 86
BEC: 05/31/2015 - 77
FAR: 08/08/2015 - 64 - Retake 11/23/15 - 77

Becker*NINJA Notes/MCQ*

Now I could let these dream killers kill my self-esteem
Or use my arrogance as the steam to power my dreams ~ Kanye West

[Sang]

The resume format that I learned from the Career Center at my college was to focus on your job skills.

1. 1/4 of the page listed education.
2. 1/4 of the page listed jobs.
3. 1/2 of the page listed job skills.
——————————————————————
Example:

1. Education
a. Master's degree in Accounting
b. Bachelor's degree in Accounting

2. Work History
a. Staff Accountant 9/2012 – Present
b. Staff Accountant 5/2010 – 7/2012

3. Job Skills

A. Accounts Payable
a. Duty 1
b. Duty 2
c. Duty 3

B. Accounts Receivable
a. Duty 1
b. Duty 2
c. Duty 3

C. Payroll
a. Duty 1
b. Duty 2
c. Duty 3

D. Bookkeeping
a. Duty 1
b. Duty 2
c. Duty 3

E. General Ledger
a. Duty 1
b. Duty 2
c. Duty 3
——————————————————————
Are you still trying to get into Public Accounting?

If yes, then I would focus on listing all of your job skills and job duties from your internship.

FAR: (05/24/16) | (07/15/16) | (10/22/16)
AUD: (09/07/16) | (11/29/16) |
BEC: TBD
REG: TBD
Using Roger CPA Review + Ninja (MCQs, Notes, Audio)

[Chris]

@Sang

I am in public accounting currently. I like it, but I'd like to give private accounting a try and possibly do some tax and bookkeeping work on the side if possible.

My skills developed for each job are on my resume. I think showing it chronologically raises the fewest questions, but I could be wrong.

NH CPA
REG: 07/03/2014 - 88
AUD: 08/30/2014 - 73 - Retake 10/16/14 - 86
BEC: 05/31/2015 - 77
FAR: 08/08/2015 - 64 - Retake 11/23/15 - 77

Becker*NINJA Notes/MCQ*

Now I could let these dream killers kill my self-esteem
Or use my arrogance as the steam to power my dreams ~ Kanye West

[Anonymous]

There are different resume styles floating around now, but the most standard is still to list each job's duties and accomplishments after it, rather than listing the job and dates than listing duties and skills from all the jobs as one combined list. So, while Sang's style of resume is becoming more widely used and definitely is fine, it's not mainline or necessary yet. I think it's most standard with people who are just starting their career so have less job history and need to emphasize their skills, even if they're not tied to a specific job.

To the OP, I've had an odd sequence of job titles in my career, too. My resume is, oldest to newest:
Accountant – public firm – 1 year
Accounting Clerk – private company – 1 year
Controller – private college – 18 months (through present)

Pretty sure most people don't go from account to accounting clerk, or from clerk to controller. 😉 I do have consistent job history, and the Clerk job was longer than your Intern job, but it's still an odd job progression. Given that my current job is Controller in a very small accounting department where my duties encompass all levels of accounting (there is no “Staff Accountant” or “Senior Accountant” or anything here – just AR, AP, a general-help-everyone-role, and myself and the CFO), I think it's likely that my next job would be as a Staff or Senior Accountant, which would look like another step in an unexpected direction.

However, if I'm asked about these moves, I can explain them all:
Accountant – was my first accounting job, public was easier to get into
Accounting Clerk – I really wanted to work in private, my area has few openings, so I happily took this one with his raise, larger work environment, and ability to move into private
Controller – Since I had gone above and beyond at my prior jobs, I had acquired skills beyond their titles, so was prepared to take on the duties of a small-college Controller despite being titled as a Clerk, since I was doing work far beyond the Clerk level

Given that internships are often short, I don't think the fact that your internship is just a few months or the fact that you were unemployed after it should be a big problem. The title progression might be a bit odd, but so far mine odd titles have still put me in good places, so I wouldn't be too worried about it. 🙂 Given that you got a public job after your public internship, it should show you left the Fund position to move to Public, and thus explain itself.

[Chris]

@Lilla

Good to know you were still given a chance. That's all I'm looking for.

Thanks

NH CPA
REG: 07/03/2014 - 88
AUD: 08/30/2014 - 73 - Retake 10/16/14 - 86
BEC: 05/31/2015 - 77
FAR: 08/08/2015 - 64 - Retake 11/23/15 - 77

Becker*NINJA Notes/MCQ*

Now I could let these dream killers kill my self-esteem
Or use my arrogance as the steam to power my dreams ~ Kanye West

[Missy]

The only thing I would tweak is instead of putting Tax Intern as a job title,I'd put Internship @ xxxxx.

Subtle difference but the sad truth is some people scan resumes and don't necessarily read them the way you'd normally read (top left to bottom right), at least when they see the short date span it will be more obvious that position had a definitive start and end date.

Licensed Massachusetts Non Reporting CPA since 2012
Finance/Admin/HR Manager

[Author]

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