How to write a CV for Finance jobs

Friday, January 22, 2021

Writing a good CV is all about grabbing attention. It is essential the information within the CV is well presented with clearly labelled headings so the reader can navigate their way around easily. It is important to focus your CV to your target roles and ensure your achievements stand out. In writing an accountant CV, you are looking to showcase your accounting, business and soft skills.

Professional profile

As the first section in the CV, the professional profile acts as your introduction. In the first sentence, align yourself to your target role. For instance, this could be financial controller, management accountant or chief finance officer. This will immediately allow the reader to ascertain the relevance of your CV. Then give a little insight into the personal qualities you bring. Don’t just summarise what an accountant does, say something different and original about yourself.

ATS Systems

Applicant tracking systems (ATS) are used by many employers and job boards as a way of filtering CVs against advertised jobs. They analyse the information in your CV against an uploaded job description. They work in a similar way to how search engines find web pages in that they are looking for concentrations of key words and phrases. It is estimated that over 70% of all applications are filtered out by ATS systems before anyone actually reads a CV.

Key skills

To enable your accountant CV to stand the best chance of getting through ATS systems it is essential to mirror the key terms and phrases in the job description and person specification. Job titles are important, in addition to technical skills and qualifications. You may want to consider a separate key skills section after the professional profile where you can list key skills such as audit, IFRS, governance and risk or other terms associated with your specialism.

Achievements not duties

Many job seekers only include only the responsibilities of a role in their career history. The result is a generic sounding description that could apply to anyone. In every employment you want to tell your story. Therefore, provide specific examples of achievements and support these with facts and figures where you can. Your CV will be much more convincing if based in real life experience rather than reading like a hypothetical job description.

In writing your accountant CV it is important to reflect yourself. Make sure you convey a sense of the individual skills and qualities that make you successful at what you do. Ensure the key skills are aligned to the job you are applying for and make the decision on calling you to interview easy by giving specific examples of relevant achievements.

This article is written by Neville Rose, Director of CV Writers.

Full Article @ How to write a CV for Finance jobs | Guardian Jobs (theguardian.com)