So after some evaluation and careful consideration, you’ve decided it is time to make a move. Where do you start? Your resume.
PUTTING TOGETHER A WINNING RESUME
The resume is necessary in any job-hunting situation. Nobody is going to hire you on the basis of your resume alone, but your resume could easily knock you out of the running, for reasons that may have nothing to do with your qualifications.
Here are some tips to keep in mind:
- Keep it as brief as possible: A resume should never be longer than two pages. The best way to keep it brief is to include only relevant information.
- Stress accomplishments: Instead of just listing the positions you have held and the responsibilities that were part of those positions, make sure you list what you accomplished in those positions. If you were able to save your firm money through an idea or system you instituted, do not mention only the idea or system; communicate the fact that you saved money as well.
- Keep the tone businesslike: Except for the final comment on your resume (if you choose to include a comment), avoid the word "I" and keep the tone straightforward and direct throughout.
- Use active words: Keep sentences brief and, if possible, start sentences with active verbs: "Developed a system that produced detailed sales analysis."
- Do not mention race or religion: You should also exclude membership in any organization that might indicate race or religion. These are not relevant. Experience and skill are.
- Be honest: Under no circumstances should you write anything in the resume that is not truthful.
- Leave out the following: Salary requirements, references, and photograph.
WHOM TO SEEK OUT
There are several sources of job leads, the most obvious of which are online ads and personnel recruiters, and you should use all of them. However, the most fruitful source of job leads is your own personal contacts.
Unfortunately, most accountants looking for a job fail to capitalize on their contacts. Reasons range from being embarrassed by their situation to feeling uncomfortable about asking for "favors" or "imposing" on friends and acquaintances.
The first thing you should do when you begin your job search is to write down names of everybody you know who could give you a job lead. Once you have started organizing names, do not be shy about contacting them.
ONLINE RESOURCES
Naturally, if you are looking for work, you should already be familiar with sites such as LinkedIn, Craigslist, Monster, Indeed, etc.
You should also pay close attention to the major business publications, such as The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, and Business Week. Look for signs of anything that could indicate an opportunity for you—a merger or acquisition, an unusually good year, a new CEO.
GETTING THE MOST OUT OF A RECRUITER
When it comes to selecting a personnel recruiter, visit several of them and let your judgment and instinct decide which of them suits you best. You will probably do best, however, with a service that specializes in accounting and financial positions.
Personnel consultants will guide you with your resume and job search, however their fees can range between $1,000 and $10,000, so if you elect to go that route, make sure you check the firm's references.
HANDLING THE JOB INTERVIEW
The job interview is the single most important aspect of a job hunt. No matter how qualified you are, if you do not sell yourself in the job interview, your chances of getting the job you want are remote.
You need to convince the interviewer that you are the person to hire.
DOING YOUR HOMEWORK
Successful interviewing is only possible with adequate preparation. Go into the interview knowing as much about the organization interviewing you, as you can. If it is a public accounting firm, you should know how big the firm is and what kind of clients it has. If it is a corporation, you should know its products, size and, if possible, its recent earnings. It would help, too, to know about the company's strengths and weaknesses.
Try to talk to people who may know of the company. Better yet, find an accountant who has worked for the firm in which you are interested.
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Try and find out about the person interviewing you. The type of personality—whether the interviewer is aggressive, for instance—would be good to know, but also information about the interviewer's interests.
PREPARING FOR THE QUESTIONS
No job interviews are exactly the same, but you can count on certain questions being asked. Interviewers will typically ask you to talk a little about yourself. If you are still working, you will be asked why you want to leave your present job. You can expect a question about your long-term goals, and what your weaknesses are.
Here are some additional guidelines to bear in mind:
- Be honest: The most obvious is that if an interviewer even remotely suspects you are lying, your chances of getting hired are slim. What do you do if asked a question that might not show you off in the best light? Answer the question quickly and move on to some other, more positive aspect of yourself. If the interviewer asks, "But you have no experience in the publishing industry, do you?" Your answer might be, "That's true, but I've worked for clients in the music industry and I think that there are some similarities."
- Be a good listener: Concentrate on what the interviewer is saying to you, and be responsive. Stay actively involved in the conversation.
- Be careful of your body language: Interviewers will be judging you on your overall demeanor and on whether you look them in the eye when you speak to them.
- Keep your cool: On rare occasions, you might run into an interviewer who seems to be doing everything possible to get you angry. Keep your cool at all costs.
- Brush up on your accounting: Brush up particularly on the technical aspects of your specialty. You can be sure that your technical background will be discussed during the interview, but tailor the complexity of your response to the background of the interviewer.
One of the best ways to prepare for the questions you are likely to be asked in a job interview is to practice answering these questions. Here are five to consider:
- What are your long-term career goals?
- Why do you want to work for our firm?
- What can you offer this company?
- Where do you see yourself in five years?
- What courses did you like best and least in school?
ANSWERING DIFFICULT QUESTIONS
Good interviewers will look for obvious gaps in your credentials and your background and will press you to defend whatever they feel might be a weakness in your experience.
What you say in answer to these questions is not as important as how you say it. One excellent technique to use when you find yourself on the defensive is to concede to a part of the point the interviewer is asking, but to counterattack with a logical explanation. If the interviewer suggests that your resume does not reveal any direct experience in a particular aspect of the job for which you are being interviewed, your answer might well be, "It's true, I didn't have any specific managerial duties in my last job, but I worked on several specific outside projects in which I was responsible for the work of other people." This practice will almost always work better than an answer that does not acknowledge the validity of the questioner's concern.
WHAT TO AVOID
- Poor grooming and inappropriate dress: Interviewers place great importance on how you look. They want someone, above all, who looks businesslike and professional.
- Lack of enthusiasm: You are better off being too enthusiastic than being withdrawn or indifferent.
- Failure to ask questions about the job: Interviewers like to see you reflect a serious interest in the duties and responsibilities of the job.
- Asking direct questions about salaries and fringes too early in the interview: Save these questions until the offer is made.
- Desperation: Despair may gain you sympathy, but it will not get you hired. In fact, showing desperation is almost guaranteed to lose you the offer.
- Exaggerating skills or accomplishments: Interviewers can usually tell when you are stretching the truth and will almost invariably consider it a strike against you.
- Not knowing enough about the company: Interviewers like to see that you are interested in the company.
- Not maintaining eye contact: Many interviewers perceive that if you fail to look them in the eye, you are trying to hide something.
- Showing a lack of confidence: Interviewers expect you to be a little nervous at an interview, but there is a difference between being a little nervous and showing a lack of confidence.
SHOULD YOU TAKE THE OFFER?
Should you be offered a position, how do you decide whether or not to take the offer? Find out the firm’s quality, before you say “yes” or “no.” Here are some things a quality firm will offer:
- Growth pattern
- Excellent reputation with other firms
- No excessive turnover
- Encouragement for employees to get involved with professional societies
- They put part of their earnings back into the firm
- Headed by a management team rather than by one person
- Reasonably rapid rate of advancement
CONCLUSION
The biggest obstacle you will face in your job search is commitment: making up your mind that you want to get the most you can out of your career, that you are worthy and deserving of this success, and, finally, that whatever small sacrifices you may have to make will be worth it in the long run. The mere fact that you are an accountant indicates that you already have the basic tools for success. How far these tools will take you is entirely up to you.
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