Are you comfortable that your present employer has been given more than a fair opportunity to meet your needs?
- Have you first communicated your career goals to your current employer and have confirmed that your current employer cannot meet your career wants and needs?
- Ask yourself this question: “Is there anything else your current employer could offer that would motivate you to accept a counter offer if you resigned?”
Click here for pre-job search due diligence factors.
The more “activity” you have, the more likely and quickly you will find the opportunity that you are seeking. First, make sure you don’t miss available jobs, create a detailed Job Agent.
Networking is the key. Don’t be shy or fear rejection. Talk to key people about your job search and career goals:
- Tax professional contacts you may have.
- Communicate with our Career Coaches and tax professional peers in the Tax Talk.
- Any recruiters you may know or have spoken to in the past.
A cover letter is your first, and possibly only opportunity to engage a prospective employer. It should be used as a tool to entice the reader to read your resume and consider interviewing you. You will need to do research on the employer and the job before writing the letter. A great cover letter should not restate your resume, but should:
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Tell the employer what it is about the job that is attractive to you.
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Tell the employer why you want to work for them.
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Communicate your specific skills not apparent in your resume.
Click Here to view a sample printable cover letter.
Working directly with candidates and hiring authorities, we have made thousands of placements, matching the "right" opportunity with the "right" candidate. Based upon that experience we have provided you with resume writing tools to help you customize and feature your specific skills and background so you can stand-out and have an edge on your competition.
Along with the video below, we have attached our resume and addendum guidelines with examples for your reference. These are also some excellent resume writing requirements:
- Feature specific work history relevant to the position you are applying for.
- Make sure to show your accomplishments, skills and abilities.
- Start each sentence with an action verb. Descriptive action verbs such as established, implemented, created, and streamlined add power to your sentences.
- Describe your level of knowledge.
- Show skills you have that set you apart.
- Structure language in a way that non-tax people who may be screening your resume can understand.
Click here to view a sample resume outline
It is critical to define your experience and skills with both a resume and an addendum, which is essentially a list of representative projects and accomplishments. The addendum should be broken down into three subsets of data that can educate the hiring authority on accomplishments in your background that match the employer’s needs.
The three addendum subsets are:
1) Technical Projects Related To This Assignment
2) Leadership and Project Management Skills
3) Communication and Teamwork Skills
We have attached our resume and addendum “guidelines and sample”, as well as optional wizard tools for your benefit.
Click Here to view a sample addendum outline
Whether you are looking for a position in the public or private sector, the key to a successful interview is being a well-informed, proactive candidate. By creating and implementing a strategy prior to your interview, you will place yourself in the upper echelon of candidates for the position at hand, and who knows, you may even just land your next dream job!
Click here for Interview Strategy and Preparation guide.
Click here for post-interview evaluation questions.
If you have followed this process, you will have already approached your company to discuss your issues and have determined they cannot provide your needs.
There are several reasons accepting a counter offer can be a negative move for your career.
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It puts your current employer in a defensive situation.
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Delaying an offer while waiting for a counter offer can hurt your professional reputation.
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Your loyalty may be questioned going forward.
Click here for reasons you should not consider a counter offer.
The way you behave during the resigning process can have an effect on your references and will make a lasting impression on your reputation and employment future. No matter how your employers take the news, it is important to always behave with professionalism and dignity. Here’s what we have found needs to be included in writing an effective resignation letter:
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Be positive and thankful for the opportunities you were provided.
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Be friendly but formal.
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Make it clear you are leaving for a unique opportunity.
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Give fair amount of notice (minimum of 2 weeks).
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List current projects assigned to you and your willingness to help with the transitioning.
Click here for how to approach your resignation.
Click here to view a printable sample resignation letter.
We created the Job Seeker Toolkit because we believe we can improve the process for tax professionals that are embarking on a new job search, updating their most recent projects, or need of a way to exit out of their current employer. The Job Seeker Toolkit is a one-stop shop where you can create tax specific cover letters, resumes, addenda, and resignation letters with ease!