“Your Career Advisor” is responding this week to:

• Should my CV include my responsibilities or my achievements? (b)
• What to do if every employer is only seeking experienced staff? (b)
• How can I join an Accounting & Audit firm? (b)
• Would my MBA studies hurt my employment prospects? (d)

All reasonable questions related to careers, skill development or employment related issues – sent to advisor@skill-link.com - would be addressed in this section every week.

Q1: Should my CV include my responsibilities or my achievements?

I graduated with a B.Sc. in Mechanical Engineering (Power) from Zagazig University in the early 1990s; I also earned a Diploma in Project Management from the American University in Cairo a few years later. Over the years, I have been working with large manufacturing companies in a variety of production, process and quality control roles.

I am currently seeking to move to a new job. During my the latest interview, the interviewer advised me to write my achievements during each employment period experience instead of the responsibilities. What do you think ? Could you please review my attached resume and advise me if there is something wrong.

T. A. (Giza)

Replying:

Dear Mr. A.

You have a strong experience as per your CV, whether it is the education or quality courses you attended. Also, you career progress and industry relevance are all in your favor.

Your last interviewer provided you with sound advice, you have spent too much describing your responsibilities, without mentioning what you did about them. In other words, it would be of added value to state under each job experience any particular achievements you had: eg. reduced defects by x%; introduced new method to increase efficiency from x tons per shift to y tons etc…. That is because, most of your job responsibilities would be generally obvious to potential interviews, who would probably have a strong technical background, and can understand what your job was all about.

What we would advise for each employment period is that you include the following:

1. Two or three lines about the company (activities, production capacity, sales volumes, product range, technology usef etc…); to establish image in the mind of the reader, without - of course revealing any confidential information not known to outsiders.
2. Two or three lines about your role and objective of the position, without including a detailed job description as you did. You may however, elaborate a bit more on your current job since it will be considered the most relevant by the reader(s).
3. A few lines (two or three) about your key achievements in that particular job, as previously mentioned.

In general, your CV is well presented, it is however a bit too long (5 pages); we suggest it does not exceed 3 pages maximum. There are certain information you can easily delete since it is of little use or it just makes it more crowded. For example, you can get rid of : religion (who cares ? and your name is very obvious); the "Other Skills" section: hard worker, motivated, team player, problem solver etc… these are very subjective and every one could claims them… hence, the reader just ignores them. Also, when listing your training courses, there is not need to mention the day and months… just the year is more than enough.

And finally, you may wish to consider using less "bold" paragraphs in your CV, it makes it easier to read.

We hope the above was of some use to you.

Good Luck

Q2: What to do if every employer is only seeking experienced staff?

I graduated from Cairo University' s Faculty of Commerce with a B.Sc. in Accounting, a few years later I also obtained a B.Sc. from the same faculty in Business Administration. I am a Microsoft certified (MCSE), CISCO certified (CCNA), I am an A+ ( Comptia ) and attended many other course including a diploma in graphics design.

The problem is I cannot find a job till now, because every company needs experience ... How can I get the experience without work.... without a start ?!

So .. I am so confused

Please tell me what to do and how to find a job ? My CV is attached for your review, it is also posted on skill-link.com
.
H. M. (Egypt)

Replying:

Dear Mr. M.

First of all, your CV reveals you have worked before in a number of places and in various roles all related to IT: trainer, graphics designer etc… so you cannot really say you have zero experience or that you cannot find a job till now….

By the way, it is not clear to us, why several years after obtaining your B.Sc. in Commerce (Accounting) you decided to go for another degree in Business Administration. While it does not hurt of course, it seems a bit odd, specially that every thing else indicates you are very interested in information technology. Just an observation.

Your CV for someone of your age is a bit too long (3 pages), we suggest you get it in 2 pages and reorganize it to have your work experience come before your long list of education and training… that will be the priority in the reader (employer)'s mind. You can have your CV shorter by getting rid of certain sections, such as "Career Objective" which should go in your cover letter, "Personal Attributes" & "Interests and Activities"- no added value, and your university grades… no one really cares that you obtained a "good" and a "pass"… may be if they were "Excellent" we would tell you to keep.

With regards to your CV posted on skill-link.com, it is well written, however it was only added by you in April 2003 while you have been employed for a few years… why is that ? Over the last 3 years, skill-link.com has had many vacancies for professionals with your background and qualifications… so do not blame the job market.. the opportunity was there !

An finally, it is not true employers (companies) are only searching for staff with experience, otherwise no new graduates would ever find a job…. So of course it does not make sense… employers hire new graduates, experience professionals and senior managers. One just has to be on the look. For more on that issue and what employers are really looking for, we would refer you to a recent article on the "Interest Zone" , click here, which you may have missed.

Good Luck

Q3: How can I join an Accounting & Audit firm?

I am 23 year old graduate of the South Valley University's Faculty of Commerce (English Section). I did not find a job till now, despite having graduated a year ago.

I want to work at an "Accounting & Audit" firm, therefore could you tell me how that could be and are there any certificates (other than CPA certificate) that would help me applying to such firms.

I seriously need your advice.

M. M. (Luxor)

Replying:

Dear Mr. M.

Accounting & Audit firms, also known as Chartered Accounting firms recruit at various levels of experience. For entry level positions, they do not require any particular certifications other that a Bachelor of Commerce (Accounting), ideally with a "Good" or higher grade, reasonable English and PC skills. Some of the large firms would advertise, others (middle size and small ones) rely on the flow of job applications they regularly receive to choose from.

The largest in Egypt, KPMG Hazem Hassan, advertises once a year for 100 vacancies, for fresh graduates. You should know that Accounting & Audit firms regularly recruit junior auditors as their staff get promoted or leave the firm. Such firms are used to the fact that a large percentage of their experienced employees (Audit Managers and Audit Seniors) accept offers in other places, companies where they assume positions in the Finance, Accounting or Internal Audit departments of such entities. It is a fact that Accounting & Audit firms do not pay high salaries to their employees in the first few years, they attribute this to the fact that they provide them with training and professional development. Money would come later as they assume management positions or move to other organizations.

Certifications, are required to get promoted and be able to audit the accounts of joint stock companies (sharekat mosahma). These firm would expect their professional staff to pass the exams to become members of the Egyptian Society for Accountants and Auditors. The more ambitious professionals, decide to also go for the American CPA (Certified Public Accountant) certification, which require travelling to the USA to sit for the exam. However, as we said earlier, to join an Audit firm at an entry level you are not expected to have them.

Our advice to you would be to closely monitor advertised ads by Accounting & Audit firms, in addition to sending your job applications to others that may not advertise. You must however decide if you want to pursue your career in Luxor or in Cairo, since this will determine your target firms. Meanwhile, you should of course pursue other options, ie. job opportunities in other fields, and not restrict yourself to one industry.

We hope the above was of some use to you.

Good Luck

Q4: Would my MBA studies hurt my employment prospects?

Congratulations for the great effort you are doing on the site. I think its one of the richest employment sites addressed to the Arab population.

Well, I'm a newly graduated student-last year graduate- although I had the luxury of working for 2 year in our own family owned business- during my academic study beside a 7 months after graduation. I had to stop working in the family business because its located in Alexandria and I moved to live in Cairo.

After working for 7 months I had both the opportunity and the ability to study for an MBA degree. Such a decision puts me in dilemma because I really enjoy the learning process and it really adds a lot to my intellectual ability, my business perceptions and also adds a tremendous number of skills. But, I'm also very concerned about my career path and practical working experience. Because a lot of employers who have interviewed me are not very fond or impressed by a development-as they say: "Its takes away of your working concentration, time and dedication".- especially for the jobs that I always desire and have a promising career path for me. While the employers which were interested in hiring me offered positions that do not hold a bright future or even a sign of promotion.

A lot of people advised me to focus on one of the 2 options and decide education or working experience. But although I find and meet with lots of people who enjoy the best of both worlds and their employers don't show even the smallest rejection sign; sometimes they offer them help. So, my questions are:

• Should I stop looking for a job and focus completely on my education? or Should I take a job with a non-promising look ahead to future and most of the time underpaid?
• Should I mention in the interviews that I am an active MBA student or not?.

K. E. (Cairo)

Replying:

Dear Mr. E.

Thank you for your appreciation and kind words…our objective is for as many young professionals as possible to benefit and improve their careers.

Your message is one of the strangest we received. While we usually do not encourage people to leave their work for a full time MBA, unless it is in an exceptional business school (in the USA or Europe) and they think they will benefit a lot by attending it; we do not see any harm in pursuing such graduate studies while one is fully employed. Those comments you heard from some potential employers reflect poor judgement and narrow mindedness. Logic and our numerous observations tell us, that employers should encourage such an initiative, they should see in it a positive sign of a hard working young professional, eager to learn and invest the extra time, effort and financial commitment to further develop. These are not music or Greek history classes you are attending for your own self interest, but business, in other words they should expect to benefit from your widened knowledge. To further support this argument, a number of companies share part of the cost of such an advanced degree (and in other cases certification, in IT or finance) once their employee has successfully completed it. Others, would allow their staff to take exam days off without deducting these days from their vacation balance, as a sort of encouragement.

So, in brief, what they are saying is not correct, specially that you do not have to travel to another city to attend the courses. Do not listen to them. Actually, you may not wish to work for people who think that way.

The short answers to your questions:
1. No, do not stop looking for a job, work experience is the most important element of your career right now.
2. No, do not lie about your MBA, mention it in your CV. However, discuss the matter or elaborate on it only if an "interviewer" opens up the subject.

We hope the above was of some use to you.

Good Luck

Note from the editor: 
Employer names and inquiry sender names were withheld for confidentiality

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