[Pandarama]

Recently, one of our full time guys decided to move on to a new job. Now my small firm is looking for his replacement. It has been hilarious reading the majority of the resumes that come in. I’m honestly confused how people think that their resumes would ever get them a call back.

I’m curious what terrible or funny resumes anyone else has come across.

So far the worst resume we’ve received could have fit on a business card. He just included his name, number, email, and 3 companies he worked for. But the jobs he had didn’t have descriptions for his job duties or literally anything. He took the time to put spaces between each line and then spaced it evenly from top to bottom.

If your resume is a representation of you, his resume told me he would be a waste of space just like the empty lines on his resume.

BEC - 80
AUD - 64, 75 - credit lost, 90!!
REG - 73, 74, 83
FAR - 61, 72, 85

Feels good finishing on my best note. Time to watch the mailbox.

[Texan_Stuck_In_OK]

I received a resume applying for a staff accountant position that stated they were well versed in GAPP. That one was immediately tossed.

A 88, B 76, F 84, R 76 Passed 2014

Licensed in OK

[Anonymous]

I've come to the conclusion that most resumes are terrible. There are a few good ones out there, but a lot of individuals have never had any formal guidance on crafting a resume. Spelling errors irk me the most. Making a spelling error here or on social media is one thing, but take a little extra time for your resume. The other one is the e-mail address people provide. Literally saw a resume where the e-mail address was cognacgurl77. How am I supposed to take you seriously with that type of e-mail address? Thankfully most colleges have caught on and now are doing free resume reviews and mock interviews, so it will get better with time.

The other important factor to remember though: “Don't judge a book by its cover.” Some of the hardest working, most dedicated people I know are terrible at the whole job search thing.

[TNCPA16]

The worst resume I've received was basically a horribly written 2 page essay. Instead of using bullet points, this person wrote everything in paragraphs (which were filled with spelling errors, grammar errors, and run-on sentences). I think a middle-schooler could have put together a more coherent resume.

I also received a resume from someone who had zero work experience, so he filled his resume with every volunteer activity he had ever participated in (things like – buying Christmas gifts for shoebox presents and donating to food drives).

I have been amazed that with all of the resources out there, so many people STILL have horrible resumes.

[Pandarama]

@ brett2k07 – “the whole job searching thing”. It's one thing to be terrible at interviewing. But seriously.. c'mon now.

In my opinion, if you are hard working, you are going to work hard on your resume also. Especially if you are serious about getting the job. If you are terrible at writing resumes, you use a template and fill in the blanks. Even filling in the blanks of a template would have been a better job than this guy did, haha.

Especially because like Jilly Bean said, there's so many resources! Literally just go to google for two seconds and copy a resume from there for all I care. If you aren't capable of using a template from MS Word or going and stealing a resume from google, then I'm going to think that you aren't resourceful and lazy.

Also, I'm not going to hire someone who wants to work in a professional setting yet can't handle writing something that they could take their time on. The cover letter and resume prove many things.

BEC - 80
AUD - 64, 75 - credit lost, 90!!
REG - 73, 74, 83
FAR - 61, 72, 85

Feels good finishing on my best note. Time to watch the mailbox.

[scubacamper]

Are cover letters really worth it?

B TBD
A TBD
R 57
F 62, 70, 65

[Anonymous]

scuba-

I've heard it go both ways with those; however, I personally, would only recommend using a cover letter if you can write EXTREMELY well.

[Tripp11]

The last cover letter/resume to hit my desk was addressed to another CPA firm's name with my firm's street address. Think that's bad? It was to the attention of a head recruiter of yet another firm. Somehow this guy had dropped in three different bits of information about three different firms.

Imagine what the other firms thought?

AUD - 93
BEC - 80
REG - 86
FAR - 83

[JaySt]

A lady came into work last week asking about a HR position and said that one of our Managers (she used her first and last name) recommended that she apply.

We don't have a HR position open. This manager had no idea who this person was.

Her resume was printed on really nice paper, so I decided to give it a shot. This was her objective: “Seeking an interesting position at an interesting company”

I promptly shredded it.

CPA Excel Gold, Ninja Flashcards, Ninja Audio
AUD - 70, 79!
FAR - 64 Retake 4/30.
BEC - 71, 78!

[zombiecpa]

I spent more time writing my resume and preparing for interviews than studying for CPA exams.

FAR 85
AUD 83
BEC 76
REG 90

[Anonymous]

Applicant's Summary/Objective: I am veru skilled, knowledgable and am confortable multi tasking.

Applicant's specific skills: Very effective listening skills, writes well (i.e. clearly, concisely, correctly, completely.)

[Anonymous]

When i worked as an assistant in my college campus, i screened the resumes for a position. One candidate wrote “facebook, twitter, xxxx” on his resume skills section.

[Anonymous]

My personal favorites are resumes with head shots on them.

This isn't a modeling agency, clowns.

[kleon52]

This irks me a little bit

I had my resume critiqued by career services and big 4 recruiters and this is just appalling that people do this, thought it was common sense to have a good resume

REG: 80
AUD: 82
BEC: 83
FAR: 83
Finished Feb 2015, 5-6months

Ninja MCQ for AUD, BEC, & FAR

[Author]

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