Resume and Cover Letter Preparation for Professional Service Firms

1. Resume and Cover Letter Preparation for Professional Service Firms September 6, 2011

2. Purpose of Today’s Discussion: • This session is an attempt to give you the information necessary to make your resumes and cover letters attractive to professional service firms and to get you started on upcomingInfo Sessions.

3. Assumptions: • I assume you have been to the Career Services Center and know the basics about creating a resume and cover letter. This session is about tailoring, not starting from scratch! • I don’t think format makes much difference, content, polish makes it best!

4. Your Resume Should: • Summarize your education, work experience and extracurricular activities- must be all on ONE page, no more, no exceptions • Be clear and to the point, not ramble on… • Show your Leadership and Teamwork activities! • Show what you did each summer since freshman year, be specific, concise and do not embellish duties • Show your GPA, no matter what it is…

5. Your Resume Should NOT: • Contain high school accomplishments, few exceptions… • Contain spelling or grammatical mistakes! It must be perfect… • Contain embellishments, exaggerated duties or pompous comments. Be able to back up any claim made. • Be late! Timeliness is important!

6. Your Cover Letter Should: • Be addressed to someone, always, every time… when in doubt, use recruiter’s name • State position you are applying for • Summarize why you are qualified for the position offered • Focus on Leadership and Teamwork! • Resume/Cover letter should illustrate who you are as a person… show something you are passionate about!

7. Your Cover Letter Should: • Answer why you chose accounting as career • Why a professional service firm? • Why EY? (or PwC, KPMG, Big 4 vs Regional vs Small firm… etc • State what you can bring to the firm • Be tailored to each employer or use… don’t think it is “good enough”… • Be grammatically correct… proper spelling, read well, good flow

8. Your Cover Letter Should NOT: • Simply regurgitate your resume… tie together, make a point, tell who you are, not repeat

9. Info Sessions • Be visible! Introduce yourself! Re-introduce yourself! • Talk, ask questions, do not monopolize! • Friendly, outgoing, ask appropriate questions for the person you are talking to. • No questions about salary, benefits, billing rates, specific clients, etc • Engage… don’t watch from sideline!

10. Info Sessions • Read website info ahead of time for each company! You should not ask question about content that is available on website (makes them think you did not do your homework) ask follow on questions (makes them think you did your homework, then thought about it) • Know their service lines! What is assurance? What is advisory?

11. Info Sessions • Know what your qualifications are relative to what position you are applying for… don’t apply for assurance if you are not 150 hour eligible. Better have a good reason why you are applying for advisory if you are 150 hour eligible! • It is OK to still be gathering info… don’t act clueless

12. General Info • The interview starts when you lay eyes on the recruiter… you are always being interviewed/evaluated, by everyone at every level you meet! • They want to see the right blend of academics, extracurriculars, Leadership/Teamwork… and personal communication skill sets to make good hires.

13. General Info • Have your resume and 150 hour plan (if applicable) with you at all times. They will NOT accept it directly from you at these gathering, but you can refer to it, ask questions about it and generally use it as a talk sheet. • Do not miss drop deadlines! • Follow all instructions! Don’t ask questions that are readily available from the instructions! • Be on time, dress appropriately for the situation