[TNCPA16]

I just had a potential job candidate send me the job description instead of his resume. Haha, suffice to say, I will NOT be giving him a call!

For those of you looking for jobs, pay attention to details 🙂

[Anonymous]

AND make sure you spell accounting right on your resume. I see that one a lot

[Anonymous]

Details matter a LOT. A candidate with all the right stuff on their resume (say 4.0 GPA, Master's, CPA, etc.) but grammatical and spelling errors all over is not going to get far with me. Also consider carefully the names of your attachments before sending them. “Lilla Resume” is OK; “Lilla Resume for Caterpillar” is maybe OK if applying to Caterpillar, but not great; “Lilla Resume v 10” or “Lilla Resume – formatted” or something like that just creates room for questions. But to contribute a funny one:

If you're listing the CPA exam parts you've taken, make sure you use the real names. Listing that you've completed 2 and listing them as “1. Business Environment and Concepts; 2. Environment and Concepts” does not look good. Yes, we received a resume like this. If you've actually studied for the darned thing, you should know what it's called! (Or just say 2 of 4 and we'll never know you're ignorant…)

[ajurew1]

Lilla,

The resume file names are very funny. I always wondered if people forget to rename them before submitting. I guess I know the answer now.

BEC - 84 (4/13/2013)
REG - 82 (10/17/2013)
AUD - 85 (12/5/2013)
FAR - 75 (10/11/2014)

[Anonymous]

I was always paranoid about renaming mine – always my name and “Resume”, never anything else. I always wondered if people ever actually saw and paid attention to the file names…but I know that as I clicked them to print, I saw them and noticed the oddballs, so I guess it was worth it!

[Anonymous]

My resume is named “Resume – My Name – Date of last revision” If it goes too long without a revision, I'll simply change the date so people don't think I'm sending out a 3 year old resume.

[Martin]

I received a resume from an individual who has 7 years of private accounting experience and 3 years from public. The problem is that the firm he used to work for 7 years ago is no longer in business. How would i know if he ever worked there or he just added it to his resume since there is no way for me to check? He added 3 years of public accounting experience to his resume and it might not be true. If he really did that, I would think is a clever way to add value to your resume. I hope I'm wrong on this one.

Through God all things can happen!

“You never fail until you stop trying.”
― Albert Einstein
When I was young, I used to admire intelligent people;as I grow older, I admire kind people.
“Just keep swimming, just keep swimming.”

FAR= 72-84
Audit= 73-82
BEC= 74-75
Reg=77

[kettlecorn]

what makes you think the 3 years is not true? doesnt make sense to hold it against him just because the business went out of business. it happens all the time. if you think however, there is evidence that suggests he's lying. then look it up and do a background check. if he has 3 years public and 7 years private then I'm sure he'll have no problem in a management position right

[mla1169]

What makes you think you can't verify his employment just because the firm no longer exists? But more important than that how many employers actually attempt to verify 7 year old experience? The possibility always exists that someone padded their resume. A good interviewer knows how to ask questions that will support a candidates credentials. Also if he is a CPA whose license is 7 years or more old it's a pretty safe bet he was working in public at the time.

FAR- 77
AUD -49, 71, 84
REG -56,75!
BEC -75

Massachusetts CPA (non reporting) since 3/12.

[Allergic2CPA]

@Martin

Is that public gig relevant to the role he's applying for? Would you interview the candidate in the absence of that exp.? Does the candidate have references from that public gig? If so, would you assume that those references are fake?

As for confirming, I think each state has a workforce commission that keeps track of one's employment history in the event unemployment is sought. I think the individual has to request the info though. You could also make the unusual request for federal income tax returns or copies of W2s.

Interesting dilemma nonetheless.

FAR 46*, 77
AUD 70, 79
BEC 67, 82
REG 75

Texas License July 2013

Used Yaeger lectures based on Wiley textbooks

*Studied less than two weeks, forgot I had purchased NTS.

[Author]

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