Tips to Turn No Experience into Competitive Advantage
How do you land entry-level accounting jobs as a recent graduate with little work experience? According to the Association of International Certified Professional Accountants, the average salary for a newly qualified CPA is around $66,000. Bonuses typically add another 10% to those earnings. It’s a lucrative market for graduates. Unsurprisingly, it is also highly competitive.
Filling a Blank Résumé for Entry Level Accounting Jobs
Though the market in entry-level accounting jobs is so competitive, most graduates have little relevant work experience. Your résumé is blank. Knowing how to fill in these blanks will tilt the playing field in your favor. Here are four ways to improve your desirability for entry-level accounting jobs.
An Appealing Personal Statement
Your personal statement is the elevator pitch of your résumé. It must be appealing. Your elevator pitch should tell an employer all about you in just a few sentences. Practice it. This your chance to enthuse the employer about your ambition, work ethic, your approach to tasks, and unrivaled interpersonal skills. Do this in a paragraph, and you’ll leave the reader eager to learn more.
Highlight Your Skills
Just because you are light on experience, doesn’t mean that you don’t have the skills the recruiting company desires. Your degree is evidence of your technical ability, but it is your soft skills that will make you pop to potential employers. Think about the tasks and projects you have been involved with that demonstrate your interpersonal skills, teamwork, and time and people management skills. Include those skills that you believe might be common today – for example, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, etc.
Show That You Are More Than a Workaholic
Hiring people with passions outside of work is good for workplace morale. Your hobbies can also be used to demonstrate your soft skills. If you play soccer on the weekends, it is evidence of your ability to work in a team. Being an Escape Room aficionado shows that you enjoy problem-solving.
Don’t Be Coy about Your Volunteer Work
Values-based organizations prefer to employ graduates with similar values. You should highlight any volunteering or work in the community that you do – and relate it to your key skills. For example, if you have worked with teens you will have dealt with conflict and hormonal egos. You may have been a motivator and will have needed to use a variety of different communication skills.
In Summary
Entry level accounting jobs and the accounting profession are highly paid, and talented employees are in high demand. Your résumé is your first opportunity to put yourself ahead of the competition.
If you back up your degree with evidence of your skills and ambition and show what makes you their next hire, you will find employers will want to meet with you. For a confidential discussion about your options and advice on how to position yourself best in the market for entry-level accounting jobs in Atlanta, contact 6 Degrees Group.