A recent blog piece on ERE.net called Fishing in a Small Pond discusses, from the recruiter and company perspective, whether LinkedIn is the best source for candidates when looking to hire.
Our own research shows that LinkedIn is not as great a source for CFO candidates as people think. Our 
CFO Moves Blog, which is the most regular and comprehensive source detailing CFO hires and unhires across America, is the only list that refers to the CFO’s LinkedIn Profile. If the CFO has a LinkedIn Profile, CFO Moves provides the direct link to it. Take a look for yourself.
Look at the blog and you will notice that not all CFOs are on LinkedIn. A good number of them aren’t.
Shocked? Don’t be.
Also, look at the links to CFO LinkedIn Profiles in our CFO Moves Blog. You will notice that of those CFOs that are on LinkedIn, a good number of them have weak or ineffective profiles, with few connections (Category: I’m here, but leave me alone), and what appears to be no real investment in looking out for building their personal brand.
Lessons to be learned:
| For… | Lesson to be learned | Recommendation |
| A company looking to hire your next CFO | LinkedIn is not sufficient to do a proper search for the best candidates meeting your needs. | Engage a Search firm that not only understands what you need, but how and where to find them. |
| A CFO actively looking for their next opportunity | Your LinkedIn Profile can give you a competitive advantage, if done right. | Be active and visible to those looking for CFOs that are too lazy to do any other type of search. |
| A CFO who iskeeping their eyes open for their next opportunity | Other CFOs are not on LinkedIn or not taking LinkedIn seriously. | Build your personal brand, including being active on LinkedIn, and opportunities may find you. |
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Ok. So what does a CFO candidate do to be found by those search firms/headhunters?
Allen
Thank you for sharing your question.
The post was written from the perspective of hiring a CFO, which is important to deal with.
My friend and Colleague Cindy Kraft wrote a very strong response ( http://www.cfo-coach.com/2011/12/2406.html ) to this blog, from the candidate perspective, which may answer most of your question.
You need to be aware though that Search Firms look for CFOs to meet their client needs in places other than LinkedIn. Executive Search has placed candidates long before LinkedIn has come on the scene, and will continue to do so. I could share all the sources that I use to find the CFO that my client is looking for, but that is not the point.
The point is – you need to build a reputation, you need to be findable, and you need to build your network.
By the point a finance professional reaches the CFO ranks, they will be hired as much for fit as what they know. At this stage of the game, “Who you know” is as important (and can sometimes be more important) than “What you know”.
I’ve said it before and I will say it again. CFOs ALWAYS need to be in networking mode, not just when they have left their last employer.
If you’d like to discuss this further, send me an email.
All the best,
Samuel
Thank you for the response and the link, which I followed and found . . . confirming.
Thanks Samuel for referring Allen to my blog post (http://www.cfo-coach.com/2011/12/2406.html).
I don’t have a lot to add beyond my blog post with regard to Linked In, but remember this Allen … well-branded credibility and visibility are key components to garnering the interest of recruiters. Linked In seems to be the place most CFOs are comfortable with – if they are using social media.
However, there are other social media platforms a CFO could leverage as well as a personal/professional blog or portfolio, writing articles, posting comments on articles or blogs … to name a few. And all of these strategies add density and credibility to your digital footprint. In other words, you realy are who your Linked In profile – and Google – say you are.
All the best,
Cindy