Powerful Personally-Branded
Resumes & Cover Letters
6 Writing Strategies to Secure that Interview!
Would your resume…
Pass the 20 second rule?
‘Before’ Resume
Jane Brown
17 Broadacres Court Narre Warren 3987 Ph: 03 9000 0000
Career Objective:
To pursue a career as a Senior Accountant/Financial Controller with a progressive, innovative
company while further contribute my knowledge and expertise to the advancement and profitability
of the organisation.
Education:
Bachelor of Business (Date)
-
Summary of experience
25+ years in senior level accounting roles for multi-million dollar organisations
Extensive taxation knowledge and experience including FBT
Familiar with FX currencies, reconciliations and intercompany accounts
CPA Qualified
Technologies:
ERP | MS Office Suite
‘Before’ Resume
Employment History:
2005-Current: CHISHOLM INSTITUTE – Accountant
- Enter and reconcile financial data
- Calculate and pay commissions
- Prepare and reconcile daily online banking transactions
2000-2004:
ENTREPRENEUR COMPANY – Administrative Clerk (Volunteer)
- Data Entry
- Bank Reconciliations
- Prepare profit and loss statements
+ A resume is NOT: a chronological (or reverse chronological) history of your
qualifications and employment experience.
+ This type of document does little to showcase your personal brand, your
professionalism, and the value you offer an organisation.
Common resume blunders
+ Too broad; not focused on the job target
+ Written in a boring and uninspiring way
+ Uses a one-style-fits-all template
+ Includes irrelevant information that does little to strengthen the application
+ Incorrect resume format
+ Contains grammatical errors and typos
A Resume is…
+ A marketing / promotion tool
+ Should aim to capture and maintain the reader’s interest from start to
finish
+ Should promote your skill and strengths in relation to the position and
organisation’s needs
Remember:
The product is ‘you’
The buy is the ‘employer
Sell it – Don’t Tell it
Focus, Focus, Focus
To market a ‘product’ effectively you must:
+
+
+
Understand the product’s unique qualities and benefits
Understand the buyer’s needs
Portray the product’s unique qualities as benefits to the potential buyer’s needs
To market ‘yourself’ effectively you must:
+ Understand your unique qualities and benefits
+ Understand the company’s needs
+ Portray your unique qualities as benefits to the potential employer’s needs in a
results-driven approach
Resume Success Stories…
+ Peter: Had sent out 70-80 applications – no interviews
• With his new resume he reconnected with an organisation and was invited to
interview with key decision makers
+ Karl: highly experienced – no responses
• With his new resume was flown to Dubai and offered a role twice his seniority
+ Belinda:
• With her new resume she secured an interview for her dream role and
secured $20,000 more in salary
+ Their resumes were transformed into an effective personal marketing document
that stood out from the crowd
+ Used pivotal building blocks in the design and development of a powerful resume
+ Used results-driven achievement statements that got them noticed!
6 Crucial Writing Strategies
Step One: Research
+ Research the job and the organisation
• Advertisement | Job Description
– What terminologies / jargon do they use?
• Company Website
– What are their organisational values?
– What is their mission statement?
– Do they have a dedicated ‘Our Staff’ web page? How do they describe their staff
and what they are looking for?
• Professional Associations
• Other Job Sites / Boards
Locate relevant information that will help you tailor your resume to fit the needs
and objectives of the company / industry / position.
Step One: Research
+ Research ‘YOU”
• Work Experience:
– What was your main reason for hire?
– List some of your main accountabilities / tasks
– Did you receive any awards/recognition?
•
•
•
•
•
•
Special Projects
Education / Qualifications / Professional Development
Professional Memberships & Associations
It / Technical Skills
Extra Curricular Activities
Any other relevant details specific to the role
Step Two: Expand
+ Review the information you have listed in step one – Research stage,
particularly the work experience and identify:
– What were some of the challenges you were faced with?
• How were they impacting the company?
• What steps did you take to address this?
• What were the results?
– Did you make any improvements within your role?
• What was happening prior to the improvements?
• What steps did you take/suggestions did you make?
• What was the impact this had on the company?
Step Two: Expand
Example:
Challenge: Had to setup all bookkeeping functions for a new commercial cleaning
business. This is an industry that is known for bad debts and late paying debtors so
quite challenging.
Action: Developed a strict payment plan/debtor process and followed up regularly
with debtors.
Result: Had no bad debts, 96% of debtors were paying on time and the balance
were put on payment plans. Company received A-Rating.
Example Re-Written:
+ Setup entire bookkeeping functions from the ground up for a start-up commercial
cleaning business.
• Business soon operated with a positive cash flow due to 96% of debtors paying
within 30 days, 4% being on special payment agreements and no overdue
balances over 60 days. Company received an A-Rating last financial year.
Step Three: Script
The recipe for creating a powerful resume = resume speak
+ 2 parts advertisement
+ 1 part business communication
+ Add a dash of creative writing
+ Marinate in professionalism
S. Britton Whitcomb
Step Three: Script
+ Translate information into written word to capture and maintain
the reader’s interest
•
•
•
Powerful Verbs:
-
Performed
Saved
Reduced
Analysed
Evaluated
Overhauled
Redesigned
•
•
Identify key information that is relevant to your career goals and the needs
of the organisation/job description
Incorporate industry-related key words and relevant phrases
Write your resume in First Person, not third person
– No: Jenny offers 6 years’ experience in senior-level accounting and
finance roles
– Yes: 6 years’ experience in senior-level accounting and finance roles
Don’t use the personal pronoun ‘I’ in your resume
– No: I offer 6 years’ experience in senior-level accounting and finance
roles
– Yes: 6 years’ experience in senior-level finance roles
Include attention-grabbing words
– Slashed advertising expenses by 45% after….
– Overhauled ineffective processes with end-of-month procedures now
taking only half the time to complete
Step Three: Script
• Write a strong opening profile at the beginning of your resume (not a career
objective) as an introduction and state the overall value you offer
Commercially astute, results-focused accountant with over 16 years’
experience and achievements in key management accounting and finance
demonstrating comprehensive understanding of complete accounting
principles and taxation law.
Track record for minimizing system inefficiencies and strengthen overall
bottom-line profitability. Able to balance a hectic, accuracy-driven workload to
successful completion to ensure all corporate profitability goals are achieved.
Adept with major accounting software including ERP systems.
Step Three: Script
• Write a job scope statement for each employer to tell the reader why you were
hired and the challenges you faced.
RIGHT COMPANY
2008-2009
Accountant & Project Manager
Challenged to curb excessive costs and streamline the workflow of 40
consultants working on major projects nationwide. Projects were running
drastically behind schedule and over budget with crippling financial losses
putting the company’s future operation and viability in serious doubt.
Key Achievements:
- Eliminated previous 10-15% budget blowouts on projects valued from $10K
to $2M with all projects now being delivered to budget.
Step Four: Underpin
+ Create succinct bulleted statements from the information you identified in
step two: Expand stage
Recap:
–
What were some of the challenges you were faced with?
•
How were they impacting the company?
•
What steps did you take to address this?
•
What were the results?
–
Did you make any improvements within your role?
•
What was happening prior to the improvements?
•
What steps did you take/suggestions did you make?
•
What was the impact this had on the company?
Step Four: Underpin
Example:
Key Achievements:
- Eliminated previous 10-15% budget blowouts
to $2M with all projects now being delivered to budget.
on
projects
valued
from
$10K
Key Achievements:
- Eliminated previous 10-15% budget blowouts on projects valued from $10K to $2M with
all projects being delivered to budget. Achieved by developing a spreadsheet that:
-
Provided consultants with an accurate overview of booked work and free time slots
that could accommodate additional project work.
-
Reflected up-to-date costs, which also saved company thousands of dollars in
labour costs through linking resources across projects. This also enabled projects
to finish within budget, previously a challenge.
-
Grouped consultants by capability, which improved skills across various
projects on a week-to-week basis.
Step Five: Materialise
+ Select the appropriate format to enhance your experience so that you are
positioned as a ‘must-have’ candidate
–
Use a carefully structured, concise and visually sharp document – no boring
templates
•
•
•
•
–
Length of a resume?
•
–
A resume is as long as it needs to be. What’s crucial is that it captures and
maintains the readers interest
Keep formatting consistent
•
–
–
Graduate: highlight your educational pursuits, special projects, internships
Have several years experience: concentrate on relevant and recent successes
along with your leadership skills to position yourself for a higher level role
Seasoned professional: don’t be tempted to include your 30+ years of experience.
Show the last 10-15 years and summarise the rest of your information.
Incorporate a “Selected Career Highlights’ section
If bolding a heading – bold all headings
Incorporate a graph/visual elements if appropriate
Include contact information at the front of the document
Step Five: Materialise
Don’t:

Add your date of birth, age, gender, marital status on your document. This is
personal and shouldn’t impact your ability to perform the role

Bury relevant information at the end of your document

Include irrelevant information

List boring unsubstantiated skills/strengths statements
Step Six: Edit
Look at what has slipped through unedited documents:

I have completed professional curses in Bank Reconciliations and MYOB

Compiled monthly, bi-monthly and anal financial reports

Proficient at developing writen financial reports for senior staff and demonstrate
high level of attention to detail
The Steps: Recap
 Research information about you and the company
 Expand to identify challenges overcome/achievements
 Script your document
 Underpin your expertise with carefully structured/worded sections
 Materialise by putting together using a format that highlights your experience in
the best possible way
 Edit to ensure your document is error free
Cover Letters
What is a cover letter?
-
A document that accompanies your resume
-
Its purpose is to introduce you, while provide a brief overview of you and
why you are a suitable applicant for the role
-
It should generate interest and compel the reader to look more closely at
your resume. Think of the AIDA marketing approach:
-
Capture the reader’s ATTENTION
-
Create INTEREST
-
Create DESIRE
-
Compel the reader to ACTION
Cover Letters
Tips:
-
Each cover letter should be tailored specifically to the role
-
Aim for one page
-
Keep the formatting the same as your resume
-
Letter head
-
Font
-
Remember, this is a business letter so be mindful of communication
etiquette, job titles, grammar, spelling etc. NO abbreviations and no jargon
(unless you are using terminologies relevant to your industry).
-
Do NOT repeat your entire resume contents in the letter – rather include
relevant achievements and experience [see example handout]
Cover Letters
Review and discuss example handout
Resume & Cover Letter Development
– Special Offer
Multi-award Winning, Triple Certified Master Resume Writer
•
Web: http://www.AResumeWriter.com.au
10% Discount for all people who are members of CPA and have
participated in this presentation.
Mention coupon: CPASPECIALOFFER
Now – over to your Questions: