How newly qualified accountants can get their CV right

You’ve earned your qualification; now make it count. Siobhán Sexton, Associate Director at Barden, outlines how a clear, compelling CV can work quietly for your career long after exams finish

You’ve worked hard throughout your training contract to gain experience and pass your exams—it’s a journey to be proud of! Now it’s time to show case it!

We advise talent every day on updating their CVs. It’s a task most finance professionals don’t enjoy and often postpone until a role becomes urgent. However, if you invest the time to get it right once, your CV will work tirelessly for you long into the future.

A well-written CV gives the hiring manager insight into your work ethic, judgment and attention to detail. It is your professional representative in the market; often your first and only chance to secure a conversation about a role that could shape your career.

So, what does a “good” CV really look like?

Start with a strong summary

Your CV should open with a concise professional summary that sets the tone for everything that follows. This is not a generic introduction. It should clearly outline your background, the clients you’ve worked with, the areas of finance you’ve supported and the types of roles you’re targeting next.

For newly qualified accountants in particular, this section is crucial. Tailor it to the role you’re applying for and use it to demonstrate relevance rather than ambition.

Avoid vague soft skills here; focus instead on what you’ve done and where you add value. This is where you can really set yourself apart.

Be clear, concise and intentional

Think carefully about your audience. Recruiters and hiring managers are scanning CVs quickly, often under time pressure. Clear structure and concise wording make it easy for them to understand your background at a glance.

Use professional, consistent language throughout. Words like overseeing, managing, partnering and leading signal responsibility and seniority. Mirroring language from job descriptions you’re targeting can also help position your experience more effectively.

Provide context, not just responsibilities

For each role, include a short company description. This should give context around what the business does, its size, structure and scale. Details such as the number of employees and how the organisation operates all help the reader understand the environments you have worked.

When listing responsibilities, focus on your main accountabilities rather than producing an exhaustive list of tasks. Eight to ten bullet points for recent roles are more than sufficient.

Older or less relevant roles (e.g. college part-time jobs) should naturally contain less detail.

Avoid repetition wherever possible. Show progression and variety in your experience, rather than repeating the same responsibilities across multiple roles.

Education and training: keep it relevant

Education should be listed in reverse chronological order. Bold the qualification and results, keep formatting clean and consistent and avoid unnecessary detail. This helps hiring managers quickly understand the scope of your exposure.

Showcase what makes your experience different

One area that is often underutilised, especially by newly qualified accountants, is the client and project context. Include examples of key clients, secondments or notable projects, particularly where this experience differentiates you from others in your intake.

Anything in the public domain can be referenced. What matters most is the context: industry, scale, organisational complexity and your level of involvement.

A useful tip is to order client experience based on relevance to the role you’re applying for—for example, prioritising Irish PLC exposure when applying to an Irish PLC.

The “other stuff” still matters

By the time a hiring manager reaches the final section of your CV, they’ve often already formed a view on whether to interview you. That said, interests, achievements and non-work activities can still play an important role.

This section humanises you. It provides conversation starters, signals personality and can sometimes tip the balance, particularly in culture-led hiring decisions.
Done well, it helps the reader see you as more than just a list of roles. After all, nobody wants to hire a robot!

Length, AI and common myths

Don’t feel constrained by the two-page myth. While anything beyond three pages is likely excessive at the newly qualified level, forcing your CV into two pages can mean omitting valuable experience. Let relevance, not arbitrary limits, dictate length.

Please be cautious when using artificial intelligence tools. While they can help structure ideas, overuse often results in generic, inauthentic language, which experienced readers will spot immediately.

Why it all matters

Your CV is too important to leave to chance. It represents you when you’re not in the room. It captures your professional story and holds the key to future opportunities, ambitions and career progression.

Get it right, and it will open doors and work hard on your behalf. Get it wrong, and it may close doors before you even realise they exist.

CVs are simple in theory, but tricky in practice. Fortunately, time and preparation makes all the difference.