Dubin & Lee Blog

Saundra's 2 Minute Resume Tips

The resume is just the initial game in the jobs search but a few quick things could improve the submition:response ratio.

Here are my 2 minute, quick tips to better resume response.

Do You Believe in a Glass Ceiling?

I am not sure one exists.  I do know that there is a shortage of female C level executives.  We recently hosted an IFRS update luncheon for CFOs and sent an invitation to every CFO of a publicly traded company in the Boston area and I only came up with 2 females CFO out of 70. 

Is it a “glass ceiling” or something else?

I believe it is something else or maybe a combination of these 2 observations...

1)  Women tend to approach the professional workforce differently than men. Women are usually more lone fighters in a battle field as where men tend to create alliances through building relationships and networking. Many women tend to view that sort of thing as a waste of time when there is so much to be done. I have seen the “alliance” strategy to be more long term beneficial to a career path. The most successful women that I have interviewed have credited networking and relationships built over time as a large part of their success.

2)  So many women are way too insecure about being a woman in the workforce and try to over compensate by being abrasive with their assertiveness. I do believe we need more role models of women with a demeanor that is assertive, firm, intelligent without being abrasive or arrogant for females entering the worksforce.

Maybe I just see what I want to see but I think women can be their own worst enemy. 

Am I wrong?

Posted by:
Saundra Lee
President
Dubin & Lee

Where in 4.3 Million Jobs Go This Year?

Nearly 4.3 million Americans were hired in June of 2010 alone, according to the Labor Department.

Where!

The National Employment Law Project, an organization focused on workers' issues and economic development, recently looked at occupations that added jobs between December 2009 and July 2010.  According to them, the Top 5 are:

1.       Registered Nurse

2.       Receptionist & Information Clerk

3.       General  &  Operations Manager

4.       Accounting

5.       Security Guard

I am NOT a believer in choosing a career path based on what is “trending up” because you will always find the most success in what you are truly passionate about. I must admit, in the over 10 years that I have recruited for Accounting & Finance, Accountants have never not been in demand!

How is that possible?

Every time the economy takes a …ummm…well …let’s say “dive,” there is usually some sort of new Accounting compliance that comes along to “prevent it from happening again.”  In the early 2000s it was the Sarbanes Oxley Act (SOX or SOA) that was born to prevent corporate corruption to the likes of Enron. 

This time it is IFRS!  At the G8 Conference last year, it was made clear by the rest of the world that we all had to be on the same set of accounting principles in order to invest in US companies.  We use US GAAP (Generally Accepted Accounting Principles) and the rest of the world uses IFRS (International Financial Reporting Standards)              

Guess who won?

As US companies scramble to find CPAs that know IFRS and whatever other sort of Financial Regulation (FinReg) that comes down the pike, like those in Big 4, the Accounting profession continues to be in demand.

To learn more about IFRS, read what Patrick Chilcott, an expert in the field, has to say about what is happening now.

To learn more about accounting jobs and upward mobility in your accounting career, contact a Dubin & Lee Consultant.