Help? Review my Craigslist resume ad? (CV, employees, consulting, applying)

[Wartrace]

I am an older career changer and I am not getting anywhere with the traditional job search techniques. Most of the jobs advertised in the area I am pursuing (QuickBooks accounting) are placed by temporary firms that will not consider applicants that do not meet their clients exact specifications.(most require "two years experience"- I am working with a client fixing the mistakes made by an "experienced" quickBooks user in my side business right now)

The reason I want a job in this area is to gain more experience and to get some steady revenue coming in for a couple of years. I am working in QuickBooks consulting on the side with the goal of eventually doing it full time (I am not telling potential employers this)
I am omitting the fact I have passed the CMA exam in my advertisement because I feel it would scare off potential employers as being "overkill".

I feel the only way to reach potential employers is by running a Craigslist Ad. This is my latest incarnation of the advertisement. I am looking for general suggestions on improving it/critique of its contents.

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Do you have a business need for complete QuickBooks accounting in your organization? Are you looking for someone who can help you use your accounting data to improve business results? I offer complete and accurate QuickBooks accounting adhering to the standards set by Intuit for properly using the QuickBooks accounting systems. I am able to produce advanced reporting from a QuickBooks data file using both the internal reporting and exported data tables in external reporting and analysis programs. I have managerial accounting knowledge allowing managers to use the accumulated accounting/business data in QuickBooks to improve business operations.
· Excellent financial accounting skills; Trained in the best practices for QuickBooks accounting by official Intuit training programs. Current member of the Intuit QuickBooks pro advisor program and continuing education programs.
· Certified QuickBooks pro advisor in all editions (online, pro, all premier editions) of QuickBooks (2010, 2011).
· Pro advisor certified in Enterprise solutions (v9, v11) and Point of Sale (v8, v10).
· Intuit QuickBooks add-on components and tools; Lacerte tax, Intuit payroll, Intuit merchant services, Intuit gopayment, fixed asset manager, statement writer and CDR tool.
· Tax knowledge (Federal, excise, Payroll, sales). Solid understanding of federal tax issues and how the tax laws affect business decisions.
· Advanced QuickBooks reporting using QB’s internal reporting, exported QB’s ODBC in SAP Crystal reports, SAP Dashboard design, SAP BI on demand and Excel.
· Advanced excel skills including VBA, pivots with calculated fields, regression analysis…ect
· Intermediate to advanced skills in the remaining M/S office suite.
· QuickBooks Cost management/Data analysis. Budgets, forecasts, budget variance analysis using SPC, cash planning, financial management, cost/pricing, product mix, customer profitability, inventory management, capital investment analysis and more.
· B.S. degree in Managerial Accounting.
I am changing careers from manufacturing quality/operations; I only have expectations of entry level compensation. I have some experience through contract work I have been engaged in. I feel that I have created considerable value for an employer with my career development efforts and have a demonstrated commitment to mastering every area of QuickBooks/managerial accounting.

[MrRational]

Originally Posted by Wartrace

I am an older career changer and I am not getting anywhere with the traditional job search techniques. Most of the jobs advertised in the area I am pursuing (QuickBooks accounting) are placed by temporary firms that will not consider applicants that do not meet their clients exact specifications.(most require "two years experience"- I am working with a client fixing the mistakes made by an "experienced" quickBooks user in my side business right now)

"the best man in a junk yard... is still a junk man"

QuickBooks accounting is (at best) small business software.

If you have real expertise with it then get in with other experts (like a public accounting firm?) who have clients who may use QB and will that need expertise periodically... rather than trying to get in with the small companies using the sw that won't ever be their clients and will only ever really need a bookkeeper.

hth

[D. Scott]

Was this the cover letter and CV all together? I think they should be separate. The resume has some great skills but must be able to stand out. List some accomplishments perhaps (Did you save a company lots of $$? Did you develop anything or do any training? etc) Are you only limited to QB?

A resume must be able to stand out and grab attention on a smartphone in 15 seconds, otherwise it will probably be discarded.

[Wartrace]

Originally Posted by MrRational

"the best man in a junk yard... is still a junk man"

QuickBooks accounting is (at best) small business software.

If you have real expertise with it then get in with other experts (like a public accounting firm?) who have clients who may still use QB and will that need expertise periodically... rather than trying to get in with the small companies that won't ever be their clients and will only ever really need a bookkeeper.

hth

Thanks for the input MrRational, the problem I am finding with the local CPA firms is that they tend to want younger entry level people who are pursuing the CPA.

The Enterprise solutions system is designed for mid market companies with 20 to 500 employees and sales in the 20 to 50 million dollar range. There are some companies using premier with sales upwards of 20 million and I am working with a client right now using the most basic version (pro) for his company with 1.8 million in sales. There is opportunity for accounting work in the market and even a need for some degree of managerial accounting work.

I am just trying to get some operational experience to supplement my technical skills. I would be open to any role in this type of accounting be it accounting clerk, bookkeeper or janitor for all I care.

My business goal is to develop my reporting/managerial accounting/third party software integration. I need to work for income while I cultivate this business.

[Wartrace]

Originally Posted by D. Scott

Was this the cover letter and CV all together? I think they should be separate. The resume has some great skills but must be able to stand out. List some accomplishments perhaps (Did you save a company lots of $$? Did you develop anything or do any training? etc) Are you only limited to QB?

A resume must be able to stand out and grab attention on a smartphone in 15 seconds, otherwise it will probably be discarded.

Hi D.Scott,
This is an advertisement I am running in the Craigslist resume section. I am not getting anywhere with going the traditional route of finding employment due to my situation being an older career changer with no operational experience.

I think that I have some real skills to offer an employer but the problem I am facing is having to go through temp placement services for the typical jobs I see advertised. When a client of a temp service says "two years experience" the temp service will adhere to that requirement and not give any consideration to additional training/skills that might compensate for the lack of experience.

[Hemlock140]

I may be wrong, but I cannot imagine anyone looking through Craigslist to fine new employees. These days all it takes is a sign in the window, or
an announcement on the company website to get 100 candidates. For
what you offer you might do better to visit small businesses in person,
though most that I know and work with do their own Quickbooks and
probably wouldn't be interested, since they don't realize how expert
help could make things easier and more effective for them. It would
be up to you to convince them otherwise.

[MrRational]

Originally Posted by Wartrace

Thanks for the input MrRational, the problem I am finding with the local CPA firms is that they tend to want younger entry level people who are pursuing the CPA.
I get that. The position I was referring to is based on personal experience of just that sort of para professional "back office guy" that many firms have and rely on... and often use to train up the new hires on the way to becoming the CPA's.

I'm going to stick with recommending that you with push toward this sort of gig.
Maybe not immediately... but as a direction.

I am just trying to get some operational experience to supplement my technical skills.
I would be open to any role in this type of accounting...
I assumed you already had this sort of experience.

The Enterprise solutions system...20 to 500 employees... sales in the 20 to 50 million dollar range.
But they're not likely to be looking on craigslist.

And frankly, neither are the small(er) companies you need to find to get that operational experience with.
They're far more likely to ask their CPA for a referral.

I need to work for income while I cultivate this business.
been there...

fwiw...Cold calling or even cold soliciting is tough.
but whatever industry or business that you have the most time in is going to be your best bet in attempting to parlay *something* that will meet into your current needs. Focus on appealing to the current operators in your area in whatever that is.

Good luck.

[Wartrace]

I agree that Craigslist is not the ideal venue to post your resume however I have had more calls using it than any other posting site. I have done business with a few of the callers on a contract basis but no full time leads yet.

I guess I will just keep plugging away and looking. It is really frustrating having the temp agencies being the "gatekeepers" to most jobs listed locally. They are not willing to even consider presenting your resume/skills unless you meet the clients exact specifications unlike applying to an employer directly who might see some advantages in having the extra capability.

[bande1102]

I thought that if you were a pro advisor, Intuit posted your name in their database so that potential customers could find you? Is that true/has that been generating any calls?

Personally, I'm not sure how profitable a QB consulting business would be to begin with. It's specifically set up for small business owners w/o accounting experience to keep their own books. The people that I know who do QB consulting tend to do one of two things: 1) set up QB or 2) fix a QB mess. This means that they are constantly having to find new clients with either of those two problems. I'd think you'd widen your customer base by offering accounting services as opposed to offering software-specific accounting services.

As far as your resume/CL post goes.....I thought it was too long. When I use CL, I spend only a few seconds on each ad since there are so many. If I were you, I'd post a super-short, attention-getting tag line with contact info. You don't need to put all your cards on the table right away--you just need to get someone to call you and then you can expound on your skills/experience.

[Wartrace]

Originally Posted by bande1102

I thought that if you were a pro advisor, Intuit posted your name in their database so that potential customers could find you? Is that true/has that been generating any calls?

Personally, I'm not sure how profitable a QB consulting business would be to begin with. It's specifically set up for small business owners w/o accounting experience to keep their own books. The people that I know who do QB consulting tend to do one of two things: 1) set up QB or 2) fix a QB mess. This means that they are constantly having to find new clients with either of those two problems. I'd think you'd widen your customer base by offering accounting services as opposed to offering software-specific accounting services.

As far as your resume/CL post goes.....I thought it was too long. When I use CL, I spend only a few seconds on each ad since there are so many. If I were you, I'd post a super-short, attention-getting tag line with contact info. You don't need to put all your cards on the table right away--you just need to get someone to call you and then you can expound on your skills/experience.

Hi bande1102,
Yes, the pro advisor program does have a web listing and I have been contacted by some clients but not enough to sustain me as I am starting out. The way I am approaching the business is working on a niche service to compliment the services of other pro advisors and will be marketing through them (I have that part of the plan thought out)

I have tried briefer ads but the results weren't any better, my thought is that if a person is interested they will continue reading the ad, if not they won't.