How should I list an "unofficial" major on my resume?

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How should I list an "unofficial" major on my resume? [#permalink]

03 May 2012, 14:11

At my college, students are not allowed to major in more than one of the core (accounting, finance, marketing, management, operations management) business majors. So I officially majored in finance, but then took all of the accounting requirements as electives.

My question is this: is it appropriate to list accounting as a major on my resume even though it doesn't appear or my degree or transcript as a major? I could show the employer that I took all of the required classes if a question came up about it.

This won't be a big deal once I become a CPA and I will feel comfortable not having my resume say I was an accounting major at that point. But in the meantime, I was thinking that it might be nice for me to be able to show employers that I know a thing or two about accounting. I won't be able to actually become a CPA for at least 2 years.

Thanks for your opinions!

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Re: How should I list an "unofficial" major on my resume? [#permalink]

03 May 2012, 14:15

Dont list it as a major if it was not a true major. Any in fact, majors/minors require certain amount of credits in each course, and just b/c you took some extra accounting courses doesn't mean you should get credit for a major/minor. But I understand you situation.

My advice is list it as "concentration in Accounting" or "emphasis in Accounting". Don't list any type of major or minor though b/c you didn't actually get credit for this.
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Intern

Joined: 28 Jan 2012

Posts: 46

GMAT 1: 710 Q45 V42

GPA: 3.91

Followers: 0

Kudos [?]: 5 [0], given: 1

Re: How should I list an "unofficial" major on my resume? [#permalink]

03 May 2012, 14:32

I would just like to emphasize that I did take every course required for the major. Last time I met with an adviser in the school of management she said, "Oh so you unofficial majored in accounting". Any accounting major from my school would have taken the same accounting courses as I, which was why I thought it might not be a problem. I didn't just take some extra courses, I took 32 credits of accounting. However, I can see your point.

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Re: How should I list an "unofficial" major on my resume? [#permalink]

04 Jun 2012, 08:20

If this is for an MBA application, you'll be submitting your transcript anyway, so the adcoms will know that you've taken advanced coursework. If you're on the CPA track and applying for a job, employers will probably respect actual WE over any classwork anyway. I know you're just trying to get credit for your work, but I wouldn't technically misrepresent yourself even if you de facto majored in accounting -- not worth the risk of a background check coming back saying you weren't an accounting major and them dinging you without the chance to explain the situation.
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Re: How should I list an "unofficial" major on my resume? [#permalink] 04 Jun 2012, 08:20

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How should I list an "unofficial" major on my resume?

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How should I list an "unofficial" major on my resume?

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