Congratulations to all of you who just made it through the September 15th deadline. Now’s the time to take a little breath before heading into year-end deadlines and holidays! I’ve spoken to several tax professionals who will be using this time to consider their next career moves. Our clients are also reflecting on their needs for the rest of the year and upcoming tax season. Whether or not looking for a new tax job is on your agenda, it’s never a bad idea to have a current copy of your resume in case something really special opens up.
As Part 4 of the Starting Your Tax Job Search series in my blog, here are a few good pointers for making sure you have a great resume to present.
- Use a basic, easy to read font. Using colors, changing fonts and text sizes can detract from an otherwise well written resume.
- Beef up your resume with keywords pertaining to your field. This increases the chance of your resume matching available positions in database searches.
- Back up your strengths with experiences, in combination with listing responsibilities. For example: “Identified tax savings opportunities which led to annual company savings of $2 million.” Using numbers also gives a measurable idea of how great the accomplishment was.
- Stay away from over using terms like “highly qualified”, “exceptional at”, “effective communicator” as those are self-appointed opinions and words employers have read a thousand times. This is a good time to list a certain success to prove your opinion in your skills.
- Use bullet points, and don’t cram your resume with text.
- Keep it brief! One to two pages should be enough room to say everything you need. It’s alright to leave out irrelevant and older work experience and focus on new positions.
- PROOFREAD, and have someone else do it too!
Next month we’ll be finishing up this series with the last part “Update your Social Media Presence”. I know that many of you have been working the equivalent of two jobs just to keep your head above water. The last thing on your mind is putting effort into a job search. Still, a little future planning goes a long way. Best wishes to those of you who are faced with the October 15th deadline. It’ll be here and passed before you know it!