How to Optimise Your Accountancy CV for a Covid-19 Job Hunt
In their latest guest post, the CV writing experts from TopCV provide helpful hints and top tips for Accountants seeking a new role amid a global pandemic.
Despite the current pandemic forcing many businesses to shut up shop, there are plenty of industries thriving, particularly ecommerce. Therefore, there are many finance jobs available.
However, job hunting now is different than it was at the start of 2020. Competition for accounting roles is particularly high, and you’ll need to pull out all the stops to get hired during a pandemic. Optimising your CV is a great way to start. Here’s how to tweak your accountancy CV specifically for a Covid-19 job search.
Tailor your CV to the job role
Editing your CV so that it is tailored to each vacancy is essential if you want to stand out. It shows the prospective employer that you are interested in their job specifically, and it represents your skills and achievements in a way that proves you are a great match for the role.
Read the job description carefully to ensure you are a suitable candidate. For finance and accountancy roles, pay particular attention to the qualifications required, such as a BA in Economics or an ATT certificate. If you think you are suitable, extract keywords and phrases from the job spec and intersperse them throughout your CV, ideally in the recruiter’s own language, to show you are an instant fit.
Make your qualifications prominent
Because qualifications and experience with certain schemes, disciplines and software are often highly sought after in finance jobs, it’s best to make this information as clear as possible on your accountancy CV.
We recommend adding a Key Accountancy Skills section to your CV, underneath your personal profile. List between six and 10 of your core finance competencies that are relevant to the vacancy. Here are a few examples: qualified chartered accountant, experience with treasury reporting, knowledge of SAP R/3, a strong understanding of ECA’s buyer credit schemes and experience with discounted cash flow analysis.
Support your achievements with evidence
Don’t fall into the trap of detailing your employment history as if it were a job description. Documenting duties and responsibilities will give prospective employers a flavour of your experience, but it’s unlikely to pack a punch.
Zoom in on achievements and support each statement with powerful verbs, concrete facts and figures to support your claims. If the vacancy requires 'experience in senior stakeholder management', you must prove this competency. For example, you may write, 'Consistently managed expectations and potential conflicts with senior stakeholders to ensure 100% buy-in when executing growth plans'.
Work with a CV writer
Since competition is high for finance roles in the Covid-19 era, you can’t afford to make any mistakes on your CV. Recruiters famously spend only seconds reviewing a CV before deciding whether or not to proceed with a candidate, so there is no room for error.
Enlisting the help of a trained CV writer will strengthen your chances of job-search success. You can rest easy knowing that they will perfect and polish your document to ensure it aligns with your application and showcases your skills in the best possible light. Plus, since that task now lies with the professional CV writer, you can now focus your efforts on other important parts of the job hunt, such as identifying a range of suitable roles, networking and building supplementary accountancy skills if needed.
Laura Slingo is a regular contributor to TopCV, the leading CV-writing service in the world. TopCV offers a range of CV-writing services including expertly written and keyword-optimised CVs, cover letters and LinkedIn profiles. Request a free CV review today to find out if your accountancy CV is ready to land you your next role.
