[pinkerton7384]

I received my CPA license a few weeks ago and I am working on updating my resume. My question is, should I put a line on my resume that I received my CPA license in June 2014? Or is having CPA after my name on the top good enough? And if I do add a line for it, should it go under Education? Or create a new section for Certifications?

I’ve tried googling and I can’t find any good examples, so figured this would be a good place to ask!

BEC - 75
AUD - 88
REG - 85
FAR - 75

DONE!!!

[RedSoxFan77]

I still need to update my resume as well to include the license. I was going to just put it at the top after my name, and nowhere else, but I'm curious how other people present it.

pinkerton, we must have taken the same FAR and BEC exams 🙂

FAR 75
AUD 74, 82
REG 58, 74, 83
BEC 68, 75
Licensed 7.1.14!!!

[Anonymous]

I have the same question…also, do we need to include the license #??

[RedSoxFan77]

While we're on the subject of resumes, in school I learned to not have more than one page for your resume as employers generally only look at the first page and lose interest thereafter. Any thoughts?

FAR 75
AUD 74, 82
REG 58, 74, 83
BEC 68, 75
Licensed 7.1.14!!!

[Anonymous]

@RedSoxFan They're right!

I went to a school that really went the extra mile to make sure the students were going to succeed in gaining employment via the 1 credit “Co-op” course. This course was a prerequisite before we were able to apply for our internships.

At any rate…Coincidentally, I've edited two resumes this week. It seems that people struggle with resume writing in general. (not implying they were bad resumes)

[pinkerton7384]

RedSoxFan… we must have! Are you in MA, I assume? I'm in Western MA, and I don't mean Springfield 🙂

I've heard the same advice about keeping a resume to one page. Myself, I have been working for the same employer for over 8 years, so it's easy to keep it to a page. I think over the years, if you've held multiple positions at different places, it's bound to spill over to a second page. I try to keep it simple and to the point and not add much “fluff”.

BEC - 75
AUD - 88
REG - 85
FAR - 75

DONE!!!

[M.O.D.]

Write it as a Title:

“I'm a CPA now, fools!”

Subtitle:

“What do you say now?”

or

“I told you so.”

BA Mathematics, UC Berkeley
Certificates in CPA and EA preparation, College of San Mateo
CMA I 420, II 470
FAR 91, AUD Feb 2015 (Gleim self-study)

[koz124]

I agree, keep it to a page. Even if you have more experience, if it's more than 10 years old it kind of loses it's relevance to the job you are applying for anyway. I know when on my last hire I only read the detail of the past 1-2 jobs. If they listed more I might have just skimmed them after noting the title.

Studying with Wiley Review, Wiley Test Bank, Ninja Audio.
Retakes with Ninja MCQ only...awesome!
Far - 1/28 72, 7/22 79
Aud - 2/28 70, 8/14 83
Bec - 4/10 80
Reg - 5/30 64, 7/2 82

[fuzyfro89]

Redsoxfan:

Never go beyond a page. A resume is not a “summary”, it's a “sales pitch”.

Unless you are in a highly technical field, a 1 page resume is standard. Recruiters lose interest in less than 30 seconds. Trust me, no one is reading the entire thing word for word.

Ain't nobody got time fo dat!

[fuzyfro89]

Pinkerton:

It's up to you. I personally think the easiest way is to just put it next to your name at the top “John Doe, CPA”.

Other people put the license number and state under “Education”, but in reality they will find it on their own when they do a bakcground check anyway.

[Anonymous]

I just looked over my boss's resume. He has CPA after his name Then lists “Certified Public Accountant, 19XX” (19XX being the year he was initially certified) under a “Licenses and Certifications Category” right after his “Education” section.

He's a total baller so I'm inclined to think that's a good starting place. He was a long-tenured CEO of a Fortune 500, retired, got bored of being retired, then started doing forensic accounting.

For more information, I know one of the professional writing guides details resume etiquette in the US. Off the top of my head, I think its the Chicago Manual of Style. It has all the little nit-pickings that may not mean much to you or I, but may mean the world to a professional resume screener. I personally believe that strict adherence to these standards can only help an individual. Remember that these people are looking for ANY reason to bump you into the recycling bin.

[mla1169]

I was told by multiple recruiting agencies and hiring managers when I was job searching that the one page rule only applies to people very early on in their careers (working <10 years). IF you are elderly and wrinkled like me 😉 and an employer sees a 1 page resume with work experience going back 20 years they will call BS on it. So it truly depends on how long you've been a working professional. And as much as I adore you all, I have to side with the expertise of people who review resumes all day long.

Also no need to put license # or year license was granted on a resume.

FAR- 77
AUD -49, 71, 84
REG -56,75!
BEC -75

Massachusetts CPA (non reporting) since 3/12.

[pinkerton7384]

fuzyfro… I was leaning toward just putting it next to my name on my resume, and cover letter as well. Just wanted to see what others thought. I don't want to add more than is necessary, and you're right, they will find my license number if they look it up anyway.

Thanks!

BEC - 75
AUD - 88
REG - 85
FAR - 75

DONE!!!

[Anonymous]

@pinkerton, just put it on your sleeve. let them know the truth

[RedSoxFan77]

Some of these are hilarious. fuzyfro, I was so close to buying the ringtone on itunes but they don't have the original mix. mla, ‘elderly and wrinkled', you're funny! M.O.D. cracked me up too.

Maybe it's time I remove ‘candy striper' from my resume? I did that in middle school for a few months so I could put ‘volunteer' on my resume, and I got free tuna melts and ben & jerry's cookie dough ice cream bars, that was the best part!

I'll definitely remove Lotus 1-2-3 under ‘skills'.

FAR 75
AUD 74, 82
REG 58, 74, 83
BEC 68, 75
Licensed 7.1.14!!!

[Monkey Wrench]

MLA is correct. 1 page rule only applies to younger people. If you are applying for a second or 3rd job when you are 25 or so its not worth anyones time to extend your reseume past 1 page to tell about your experience working at Belk when you were 15 and how you handled 1000 in cash registers, and about your assistant manager experience when you were 17 at blue coast burrito when you supervised 1 person and were solely responsible for the chip fryer. **(as tempting as ‘dem' dual responsibilities are to put)

But if you are 35-40 and have been a Big 4 Tax Accountant, Big 4 Audit, Controller for a company, and had lots of various well-rounded not redundant experience I can't imagine why it would not be worth going over 1 page. Although if you are going to go over 1 page MAKE SURE YOU CAN FILL UP THE MAJORITY OF THE SECOND. no one wants to see 1 page and 6 lines.

[Author]

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