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Three Ways Accountants Can Use Performance Reviews to Polish Their Résumés

Posted on by Daniel Braddock

One of the complaints I oftentimes hear from my colleagues who begin the job search is, “I haven’t updated my resumé in (insert absurd amount of time here) years. I don’t have a clue where to begin.” Combine an outdated resumé with the fact that speaking highly of oneself without sounding pompous can be difficult at best, and it’s understandable why putting a resumé together is typically the biggest hurdle in committing to looking for a new job.

Today’s lesson in common sense – use what you’ve got. No, not those red pencils. I’m talking performance reviews.


For those of you who are KPMG Kampers, Down Towners and the GT shipmates, you should all have your performance reviews signed, sealed, and stamped with a rating. (Sources say that Uncle Ernie’s are ongoing; calls in to P. Dubs were met with a “We do not participate in surveys, sir.” So let us know where your processes stand). Here’s what you can do with your performance reviews when drafting a resumé:

Keep the technical – Remember how you’re constantly being reminded that you need to stay until making manager in order to develop your people skills? Or that rebuilding New Orleans makes you a well-rounded employee? No one cares. Okay, okay – people care, but these are not the skills that should dominate your resumé. Recruiters and their clients want to see technical marks. Talk about the FASBs you deal with; the financial products your banking client invests in; the material mistakes you uncovered. Anything soft skills related should be pushed towards the bottom of your bullet points.

Sell your resumé like you sell your peformance – It’s probably safe to assume that you spent more than 12 minutes on your performance reviews. For this reason and others, your performance reviews are a detailed, year-by-year, role-by-role account of your accomplishments. Scour through them next time you look at your resumé. Don’t be scared to brag on your resumé like you do in your reviews. If you’re not bragging, you’re selling yourself short. You have to be true to the work you’ve accomplished. With enough effort you’ll be able to understand where your strengths lie; working with your recruiter to understand how these experiences fit with target jobs is the next step.

Ask for feedback – The hardest thing to do is honestly capture your personality and experiences on a few pieces of paper. That said, no one knows you better than your peers. We all have former colleagues who have moved on to the private sector; seek their feedback. It’s one thing to have your significant other or a family member proofread your resumé (and you should seek this kind of advice), but unless your mother is a senior partner in the firm, there’s little feedback she can provide about the technical weight of your resumé. Seek the advice and critical eye of someone who worked with you. Most importantly, be open to criticism; it’s for your benefit.

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Newsflash: Accounting Candidates Are Stalked

In what should come as no surprise, social media and its effect on the job market continues to be a conversational presser. The topic is often discussed by nobodies (like myself) in online environments like Twitter and blogs (here’s looking at you, GC), but as the topic shifts from the Wild West of the Internet blog-o-sphere and into dinner conversation circles, CNN is jumping on the topic.

CNN’s article expanded on a recent study by Microsoft that “found that 79 percent of United States hiring managers and job recruiters surveyed reviewed online information about job applicants. In fact, 70 percent of United States hiring managers in the study say they have rejected candidates based on what they found.”


You read that correctly – 79 percent of recruiters and hiring managers Google stalk their candidates. If this was a toothpaste study, that’d be 4 out of 5 dentists. Convincing, right?

As busy season winds down and the itch to test the job market becomes irresistible, what should you do? Many of the people interviewed in CNN’s piece changed their Facebook profile names to be something other than their first and last names. This is all fine and dandy except for the fact that profiles can still be searched by email address, employer and school networks, and geographical location. So yeah, switching your name from Jay Smith to Jay Tizzy is great until your recruiter types the email address on top of your resume into Facebook and finds your page.

What should you do? I covered the importance of Facebook etiquette a few weeks back (refresher can be found here), and I can’t stress how important it is to take advantage of their privacy settings. Once you set them accordingly you should test them out yourself. Log out of Facebook, Google yourself, and click on the search result that is for your public profile. What you’re able to see this way is exactly what your recruiter or potential new boss is limited to.

Pictures of last weekend’s rager? Probably not a good idea. Tighten up your security settings until you’re satisfied with how you’re represented online.

A Friendly HR Reminder: The Workplace Is Not a Dating Service

Yes, your calendar is correct. Sir Caleb asked me to post on Whisky Wednesday. Fill up your glass, kick back in your chair, and let’s do this, shall we?

An area that I want to address is a topic that is otherwise whispered about or downright ignored by most engagement teams at accounting firms – dating in the workplace. For the purpose of this post, we’re going to let “dating” stand for anything from a one night stand to full fledge monogamous relationships. When done correctly and professionally, there is nothing wrong (from a legal or career perspective) with dating a co-worker. However – at least from my observations – the majority of cases do not fall under this description.

Sleepin’ your way to the top; shacking up with the enemy; earning an Encore award; shagging the secretary; deserving an early promo. Whatever you want to call it, getting drunk and hooking up with a coworker falls into a grey area. And by grey area, I mean the “what the hell were you thinking” area. I suggest treading lightly.


Why it happens – Birds and bees conversation aside, I’m talking about why so many accountants hook up with one another. On paper, it makes sense – similar backgrounds and interests, close and frequent exposure to one another, the lack of time to spend with others outside the office, and of course your campus recruiting department did a kick-ass job when “randomly” selecting resumés. Sure, your associate seems like a catch – but whom have you compared him/her to? Your manager? The mailroom staff? Security!? Come on. Your firm is not Match.com or the Casual Encounters section of Craigslist.

People talk – Newsflash of the day – your co-workers are a bunch of gossip mongers. Again, some of this is due to the “work is my life” mantra. Gossip flies around larger engagement teams when cliques are prevalent – do yourself a favor and head it off from the start of things – DON’T HOOK UP WITH SOMEONE FROM YOUR ENGAGEMENT TEAM. If you absolutely must “keep it in the accounting family,” try a different practice. (Didn’t you hear? Internal audit advisory services is saturated with hotties.) But really, avoid associating yourself with this kind of gossip. As time goes on and people get promoted and shuffled around, you never know who you’re going to be working with. Avoid the guaranteed awkwardness.

It can hurt your career – I’m not saying this is common, because it’s really not. It’s not ethical, but when it comes time for reviews, managers and partners are human. Non-work related factors – like sleeping your way around the block – can have an impact.

If you’re going to date someone from work…keep both of your careers in mind. Be honest with one another, and talk about things. A lot of factors can come into play – what practice lines you’re in, the possibility of working together, and long-term promotion paths are just a few. When marriage becomes a realistic possibility or you are unsure of how to proceed at any time, speak to someone in HR. They can help you better understand your firm’s HR policy and how it relates to your particular situation.

But for you horned up co-eds out there, listen up. Next time you’re out sipping the alcoholic Kool-aid at a partner sponsored “bonding event,” think twice before downing your drink remnants and hopping in a cab with the second year with the nice eyes. You’ll thank me the next morning when you don’t walk in wearing the same peach schnapps stained shirt you had on the night before.

Have a personal experience or bit of advice you want to share? Email me or comment below.

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