Dear Samuel,
I’m a CFO that is considering looking for my next career opportunity. Business conditions seem tough, and I’m concerned that this is not a good time to look for a new CFO role.
How is the CFO job market?
Worried in Wichita
Dear Worried,
You ask a question that almost every CFO I speak with asks, whether they are actively looking for a new CFO role, or are just keeping an ear open to potential opportunities.
The short answer is: CFOs are getting new jobs, even in a difficult economy.
How do I know this? Simple. My firm tracks CFO Moves across the United States. As of last week, we started sharing this information with the public in our sister blog, CFO Moves. You can view our blog, which is updated every Monday with CFO Moves for the previous week. (If you want to get a weekly update on these CFO Moves, click on the “Sign me Up!” button on the right side of the blog).
So, to answer your question: How is the CFO job market? Good.
Can it be better? Absolutely.
What can you do about it? Be visible, build your CFO brand, network and smile (no one wants to hire a Grumpy CFO).
Samuel
If you would have a question to Ask Samuel, click here to send him your question.
I could not agree more, Samuel. Critically important strategies for Chief Financial Officers include …
Being visible … You can be the greatest thing since sliced bread, but if no one knows about you – or – the right people don’t know about you, does it really matter?
Building your CFO brand … Culture fit is THE most difficult piece of the hiring process. And while most articles speak to a company getting it right, I think it is equally important for candidates to get it right. I doubt any senior executive really wants to make a wrong decision and end up in job search mode almost immediately. I wrote about this in my blog post on “Branding & Culture Fit.” (http://b.cfo-coach.com/q0JAvL)
Networking … Today, the definition of networking is not who you know, but who knows about you! Which takes us right back to the top of the list … visibility!
Cindy Kraft
the CFO-Coach