adding college creditsI am in the process of obtaining my bachelor's degree in the field of Accounting and I have been actively working in the field for the majority of the last 20 years as a bookkeeper. What I am trying to figure out is how to let prospective employers know that the extensive experience I have is halfway to a degree in the field. I can't seem to find suggestions on how to best place, or word such information in my resume, or how specific I should be regarding where I am at in the process and / or GPA if that is even something that should be in there. (sorry for the poor sentence structure - finals week - very tired :) ) I would appreciate any help, including being directed to any helpful articles or websites regarding this type of situation. Thanks in advance. b Hi,
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Bhwork, first of all, congrats on going back to school. Please don't take this the wrong way, but it takes alot of guts to do that after working for a long time. The last two years or however long it is until you graduate will go by very fast. I just graduated from college in December with my BA in accounting, and was job searching for the last year before I got out (I had a job, but it was just a pt accounting job while I finished school). You may find a better way to word it in a book, but this is how I worded it. For background, and to show you how it flows together, I also included a bit of my objective statement that I placed at the beginning of my resume: OBJECTIVE Highly motivated accounting college student graduating in Dec. 2006, with one year of accounting experience, seeking a *type of position* position which will utilize the following: Technical skills Soft skills Job related skills, etc. (Done as bullets, I had 6 of them) EDUCATION (Since you have way more job experience than I do, you may want to place at least your accounting related work first. I wanted the emphasis on my education so that's why it's here) College Name College Address Degree Type Expected Graduation Date Major GPA >>> Hope this helps. Also too, bookkeeping is a very valuable position. However, if you're looking to go into public accounting, or Corporate America, don't look past the opportunities for paid internships, etc. There was a very bright woman that graduated in my class who was 48. She had been working in bookeeping, and at the time had a job working for a school board. During her last year of college, she landed a paid internship with a large accounting firm, and got a job with them f/t after graduating. She met them at a career fair. She even admitted herself that had she not been in college, she would have never had a chance because of her age and her level of experience. Good luck!
bhworksearch, The best way to communicate that your extensive experience is equivalent to college studies is to highlight both the skills you developed on the job as well as key accomplishments in the area of accounting. You can create a "Skills" section that includes accounting-related skills that may be above and beyond your bookkeeper responsibilities. Examples include: - Cash Management/GL Accuracy - Financial Controls, Reporting, & Analysis - Capital Budgeting & Revenue Forecasting - Tax/Investment Strategies - Spreadsheet Analysis - Inventory Control - Financial Systems Integration You should also include a solid list of accounting-related accomplishments - ways that your initiative and accounting knowledge contributed positively to your organization. Best wishes, Kim Isaacs The Resume Expert | |
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