[Moeshow]

Ok, so I do have a resume put together that I worked very hard on, but I’m wondering if it’d be smart of me to pay one of these online resume services to help me put together a more professional resume? I was wondering if any of you might have any recommendations to websites you might’ve used? Or maybe a suggestion to stay away? Basically, does paying for help for your resume and cover letter really beneficial?

PS: I just recently passed all four parts to the CPA Exam and have zero experience in the accounting field. From Cali

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[RE2PECT]

I'm in the exact same shoes as you, just passed the exams and have no accounting experience. I reached out to the career development office at the school I went to and submitted my resume to one of their advisors. She sent me a bunch of samples so I incorporated parts of them into mine.

As glad I as am for the exam to be over and having my life back, it's a little stressful trying to figure out what the next step is for me and what direction I want to go in. I'm an older candidate (35) with a family and not sure the grind of public is the best fit, but most people say it leads to better opportunities. I also know that I don't have as big of a window and don't want to make the wrong decision since it will be harder to find new positions the older I get.

FAR: 75 Roger & Ninja (notes/flashcards/audio/MCQ)
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BEC: 71, retake 8/29
REG:

[Moeshow]

@RE2PECT that's why I don't really like the career center at my school. Not very helpful. They just give you general responses I can google online. I put one together a couple months back that took forever. I keep on revising and editing it. But I'm thinking of bitting the bullet and paying someone so my grammar and etc is on point. Plus I feel like they might have industry professionals compared to the school's general adviser. I feel 100 – 150 bucks seems worth it, especially since they'll have put together your cover letter and resume. A resume is always a work in progress. I just want to make sure my resume is on point before submitting it places.

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[Missy]

I looked into a few different paid resume/cover letter services and asked about their credentials. Mostly their credentials are the same as people in the career office at your school or even recruiters at temp agencies like accountemps, all of whom will offer up the same suggestions for free.

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

[Adam]

I agree with @mla11692 as well. My advice would be to work with a recruiter, both with trying to find a good starting job and they offer resume tips and advice as well – as much as a paid service or solid Google search. Speaking as an accounting manager for a public company (industry), your resume will get about 30 seconds of my time. One simple tip from me – don't waste space on an objective (I assume your objective is to be hired for the job posted). Just give me experience, if any, and education and creditials (cannot use CPA if not licensed, but you can clearly say you've passed the exam). Bonus tip: I don't really care that you've played varsity basketball in college or volunteer at a soup kitchen. While those are admirable traits, and I do want to know that you have a work/life balance, that can be discussed to some extent in an interview and is not worth using valuable resume space.

[PubMaster]

If it'll give you more confidence I say go for it, however I think your interpersonal skills are far more important than your resume. Passing your CPA exam is huge!

What I did was, I asked all of my mentors for advice on my resume in terms of content, structure, and formatting. That was a huge game changer and it set me apart from the 1,000 other students at my University that were doing the same 3 templates given out by the Career Center.

If you don't happen to have a mentor, feel free to PM me and I'll look it over. I'm no genius or perfect, but the template I use is solid and I am familiar with how to quantify your experiences for the biggest bang.

[Missy]

Pubmaster just regarding no PM on this site, Jeff's way of discouraging exam disclosure via his website, pm's are just too easy to say “hey I saw…..” and he's made this place far too cool to get in hot water with the AICPA for allowing it 🙂

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

[PubMaster]

@mla11692 – Makes perfect sense! No worries.

Since I can't PM you, I noticed you one of the admins. What does it take to be a guest writer for the CPA blog? I was going to just email Jeff and see but I'd love to do some writing for y'all. I used Ninja products and recommend them to everyone.

[Moeshow]

@mla11692 have you tried one yourself?

@adam thanks for the advice!! I actually heard the objective part of the resume is a non-factor too. Also took out all things that were not relevant to the accounting already.

@PubMaster Thanks for the advice!!
And that actually would be great! I'm going to take you up on your offer. I emailed you my resume!

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[Missy]

Pubmaster definately send jeff an email jeff@another71.com, I only help out watching for exam disclosures and vulgarity 🙂

Moe I never found one that had credentials that impressed me, most of them said they had HR experience or recruiting experience, but I know enough people in HR and recruiting that I could ask them instead of paying someone. If someone had recommended one to me I might have tried them but couldn't even find anybody to personally recommend one.

To me resumes are too subjective. You could have the PERFECT resume but the person or software that is the initial point of contact in HR or admin is so tunnel vision focused on the key words they were provided for the job search that unless you've got neon flashing lights pointing out those 6-12 keywords your resume still can get overlooked. MY biggest and best tip is if you see a job you're qualified for try to align your resume as much as possible being truthful about your experience with the job listing. If the listing says A/P experience is a must have make sure its the FIRST thing listed on your resume so that someone who knows nothing about the postion being filled can clearly establish that you meet the requirements.

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

[rlarivee01]

Congrats on passing all 4.

I considered using Fiverr and paying $10 – $30 for just a resume. I lost my original document somewhere along the way, and the only one I have now has a bunch of markups from a career services department I submitted it to.

I realize how terrible a $10 resume sounds, but my information is pretty simple; I just want it written up and formatted nicely.

[Adam]

Excellent point by @mla11692 – tailored resume to a specific job posting definitely gets the win; I'm sure any manager or HR professional can tell the difference between a generic resume and one that is better tailored. For example, if I am looking for a revenue accountant with foreign currency experience – if you feel you match what I want, make that the first point in your experience section. Or if the company prefers Great Plains experience, and you have that – make it obvious. Tailoring a resume doesn't mean creating a new one from scratch every time, just some basic moving around of pertinent areas would work to match.

Finally, make sure you don't call a company by the wrong name if using email or a document as a cover letter (if you even do that, not required). Once someone was trying to impress by using a rather nice cover letter, but they put the wrong company name in 2 out 3 spots used. Attention to detail and proper respect to the company/job posting is crucial. Didn't even open the resume.

[CPYay]

My $0.02.

I had a really great advisor at my school who raised some great points when reviewing my resume.

Like the others said, keep filler words out. Be succinct.

Also, use action words and provide results. Example:

Let's say you prepare and post JEs. You use Excel and fine-tuned the process because it was too slow or burdensome before.

Instead of saying: Prepare and post month-end journal entries
Say: Created a template for automating the preparation and posting of month-end journal entries, resulting in less errors and faster processing.

If the rest of your team now uses this, add that in too. Basically, you want to say what it is you do, but also how it adds value to the company. Employers like this.

[Moeshow]

@mla11692 That's what I heard! I'm trying my best to look at the job description and fit keywords into my resumes BUT I definitely want to make sure I'm super honest about my experience as you said. I'd never want anyone to hire me on false pretense.

@Adam Yes, I try my best to fit my resume to the job description. I'm super anal about making sure my resume looks very professional with no grammatical errors. I revamp each resume and cover letter to show my skills match what they're looking for WITHOUT putting any false or misleading information.
Would it be possible if I can email you my resume and you can give it a quick look, if you have time? If not, I totally understand. Again, I have zero industry experience lol.

Thank you guys for the advice!!!! You have all been so helpful!

I set up an appointment this Tuesday with my school to go over my cover letter and resume. I've already had 5 people look at it for any grammatical errors since I needed to update my resume to include passing the 4 sections to the CPA exam. I'm just worried since I don't have ANY experience in the accounting industry, so I'm trying to make the hiring managers see passed that point and realize I'd be a great candidate to join their team.

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[Moeshow]

Lastly! I heard that Cover letter don't matter as much? I've spoke to a couple of friends that I know on a personal level that are recruiters for specific company/companies that say they really don't look at them anymore. I mean, I'm still going to attach a cover letter, but is this true?

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[CPYay]

Nowadays I only include a cover letter if it's explicitly requested in the posting. Otherwise, no need.

[Author]

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