If you’ve decided on a career in accounting and are looking for a more specialized role in that field, a job as an Audit Associate may be a fantastic opportunity. These specialists are often tasked with a wide range of financial duties – preparing financial statements and budgets, verifying organizational finances, and conducting detailed financial audits. To successfully compete for one of these roles, however, you’ll need a stellar Audit Associate resume that can make the right impression on employers.
Fortunately, we’ve compiled this Audit Associate resume guide to help you navigate the complex resume creation process. Within this guide, you’ll find helpful advice, tips, and tricks that you can use to ensure that your resume delivers the right message about your skills, experience, and achievements. We’ve even included a resume example that you can use as a guide or template as you craft your own resume.
How to write a resume
Crafting a compelling resume may seem like an insurmountable challenge – especially if it’s your first time creating this type of job search document. And make no mistake; it does require you to do more than just create a list of your skills and previous jobs. Still, there are some simple rules that you can follow to ensure that you create a truly modern resume that can help you stand out from the competition.
Throughout the rest of this guide, we will explain the type of format and structure that you should use, the best way to highlight your potential value as an employee, and how to ensure that your resume can get past any applicant tracking systems employers may be utilizing to screen resumes. Let’s begin!
Choosing your format
First, let’s examine the format for your resume. There are three main options, including the functional, reverse-chronological, and hybrid formats. Of the three, employers prefer the reverse-chronological option, which is why we typically recommend it for most job seekers. It is easy to use, easy for employers to follow, and highly effective for delivering a clear overview of your career trajectory.
To use it, you simply list the last ten to fifteen years of work experience in reverse order, starting with your most recent job and working back in time. Employers can then review your work history with a glance to see how you’ve progressed throughout your career.
Expert Tip
If you use the reverse-chronological format, apply it to your education section as well by listing your educational achievements in reverse order.
Creating a simple but solid resume structure
In addition to choosing a format, you’ll also need to select a structure. This is important because employers don’t want to read an essay; they want to review a resume document that they can scan in just a few minutes.
As such, your structure needs to compartmentalize distinct types of information into separate sections. Below is one common structure that most job seekers use for their resumes:
Contact details: This section is just what it says: your contact information. Include your name, phone number, location, email, and LinkedIn URL – if you have one and it is properly optimized.
Resume headline: This should be a pithy line of text that includes the job title and some descriptive language that sets you apart from other candidates. For example: “Detail-Oriented Audit Associate and Risk Manager.”
Summary statement: This three to five-sentence paragraph should highlight your key skills, experiences, and one or two measurable achievements that demonstrate your value.
Core competencies or skills: Your skill section should include between nine and twelve hard and soft skills – more on this in a later section.
Professional experience: List the job title, company, and dates of employment for each of your previous job roles. Include four or more bullet point examples of achievements below each job listing.
Education: This is where you include details about your education, including the name of your school, dates of attendance, and degree earned. You can also include additional education like certifications, continuing education, and licenses.
How to demonstrate value
Of course, your resume also needs to show value. One of the easiest ways to do this is to use the bullet point examples in your work history to showcase quantifiable achievements. Instead of just listing your responsibilities, highlight the things you’ve accomplished in each role – using real numbers that demonstrate value.
For example:
Led IT audit team tasked with identifying risk mitigation opportunities, resulting in a 33% reduction in security concerns.
Contributed to ongoing verification of audit closures and actionablee follow-through for client accounts valued at more than $10 million.
Audit Associate resume example
One of the easiest ways to internalize these types of tips is to see them in action. That’s why we’ve created an Audit Associate resume example that can help you visualize how these crucial elements work together to create a compelling narrative. You can use the example below as a reference or a template as you begin to craft your message.
Name
Title
City, State or Country if international
Phone | Email
LinkedIn URL
AUDIT ASSOCIATE PROFESSIONAL
Highly motivated Audit Professional with the skills to achieve compliance with internal and external control procedures by examining records, reports, operating practices, regulations, and documentation. Exceptional interpersonal skills, with the ability to communicate risks and issues and work with various teams and staff to implement improvements. Completes all projects on time with the highest level of scrutiny and attention to detail to ensure results exceed expectations. Strong leadership skills with experience working in a team environment, able to collaborate with individuals from diverse backgrounds.
CORE COMPETENCIES
Audit Design
Training
Risk Management
Financial Analysis
Compliance
Data Mining
Business Acumen
Team Leadership
Internal Controls
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
Audit Associate
ZipJob, New York NY | Year to Year
Responsibilities
Identified and communicated accounting and auditing matters to seniors and managers.
Prepared PBC (Provided by Client) lists and confirmation requests.
Documented audit procedures and cross reference work papers.
Performed analytical procedures/analyses to detect unusual financial statement relationships.
Discussed audit findings, risks, opportunities, and recommendations with business and technical staff.
Created management representation letter comments and recommendations and draft audit reports for management review.
Payroll Representative
ZipJob, New York NY | Year to Year
Responsibilities
Conduct performance audits, complete special projects, and investigate reports of fraud, waste, or abuse.
Follows Generally Accepted Government Auditing Standards, which require us to be independent and objective.
Provide objective and credible information to the City Council, the citizens, and City management.
Develop and deliver reports through the City Council Audit and Finance Committee.
EDUCATION
Complete School Name, City, St/Country: List Graduation Years If Within the Last Ten Years
Complete Degree Name (Candidate) – Major (GPA: List if over 3.3)
Relevant Coursework: List coursework taken (even include those you are planning on taking)
Awards/Honors: List any awards, honors or big achievements
Clubs/Activities: List clubs and activities in which you participated
Relevant Projects: List 2-3 projects you have worked on
Key hard & soft skills for an Audit Associate
Choosing the right skills for your resume is one of the most important things you can do to sell yourself as the right candidate for the job. To do that effectively, however, you need to create a list of skills that properly highlight your most relevant hard and soft skills.
But how do you decide which skills are the most relevant? The following tips can help:
Review the job posting and role description very carefully. Take note of any qualifications that refer to specific skill requirements.
Create a list of those required skills using the exact terminology the company utilized in its posting. This is important since those terms are likely to be keywords that you’ll need to include in your resume to get past any ATS screening.
Compare the list of required skills with your own core competencies. In a perfect world, you’ll have all those listed skills and can confidently include them in your resume.
In addition to those relevant skills, you may also want to include some other common abilities found in many Audit Associate resumes. Below, we’ve compiled lists of both hard and soft skills that you may want to consider.
Hard skills for your Audit Associate resume
Hard skills include all the technical and other job-related abilities that are required to perform the role’s duties. Typically, these are the types of skills that you obtain through formal education in college, trade school, or other educational venues. However, many hard skills can also be learned through less formal avenues, like on-the-job training or self-study.
Expertise with accounting software
Project planning
Knowledge of U.S. GAAP and GAAS
Strong research skills
Financial analysis
Risk management
Soft Skills for your Audit Associate resume
Soft skills include personal traits and interpersonal skills that help you to interact with others and complete tasks. These skills are often acquired in less formal ways and improved through regular use over time. Below are some of the most common Audit Associate resume soft skills:
Verbal and written communication skills
Commitment to ethical standards for sensitive information
Team building
Attention to detail and accuracy
Time management skills
Analytical thinking
Summary & last words
There are few things more important to your job search success than a stellar resume. The good news is that you don’t have to settle for a dull, unimpressive Audit Associate resume if you take the time to learn the fundamentals of the resume creation process.
Using this guide, you should be able to successfully create a resume that highlights your key skills, work experiences, and notable achievements in a way that captures any hiring manager’s attention.
Introduction to ZipJob: Professional resume writers
Of course, many professionals like yourself take a different approach to resume creation to ensure that their resume document is as professional as possible. That’s where our team of expert resume writers can help. By partnering with our top resume experts, you can gain the peace of mind that comes from knowing that your job search tools deliver the most powerful and convincing message to prospective employers.
Why you should make use of our resume writing services to land your next job as an Audit Associate
At ZipJob, our team is made up of professional writers who not only understand how to craft a truly stellar resume, but who also have experience in your industry. That experience provides them with the insight they need to understand what employers want to see when they examine any candidate’s resume. That’s an insight they use to ensure that your resume speaks directly to those employers’ needs, highlighting your most relevant skills and achievements to present you as the best candidate for the job.
Resume writing service for Audit Associate: Let us write your resume
Relying on professional resume writing services for your resume is more than just a time-saving option; it’s an investment in your career. Contact us today to find out how you can benefit from working with one of our expert writers to craft a powerful Audit Associate resume that captures employers’ attention, yields more interview offers, and gets you on the path to even greater career success.