Archives for April 2012

April 27, 2012 By Samuel Dergel Leave a Comment

5 LinkedIn Tips for Employed CFOs (+ more 3 Tips for Unemployed ones)

Last week I wrote “Does a CFO Need a Résumé?” I don’t try to be controversial in my blogging, but saying what I think can sometimes have benefits. My friend, CFO Coach Cindy Kraft turned her comments on my blog into a blog of her own, and my posting on Proformative was widely viewed. (Side note: If you’re a CFO and not on Proformative, I highly recommend that you join).

My premise was that LinkedIn is more important for an employed CFO than a résumé. LinkedIn is a major component of CFO Personal Branding today, even if it is only 1 part of a multi-level effort.

LinkedIn Tips for Employed CFOs.

Update. Have an updated and complete LinkedIn Profile. Your profile should not only include your previous employers and dates of employment, but locations, industry and a short description of your roles. You should also have a short, readable and effective summary. People reading this summary should be able to quickly understand your unique value proposition.

Groups. Being a member of LinkedIn Groups allows other members in your group to view your profile, even if they are not closely connected to you. CFO Groups, like Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Network – The #1 Group for CFOs or Linked:Chief Financial Officers will allow people looking to hire CFOs to find and contact you. Industry Groups and Alumni Groups are other Groups that can allow you to be found. (You can visit my LinkedIn Profile to see which Groups I’m a part of.)

Smile. Photos are not a standard for North American résumés. On LinkedIn, your photo sets the tone for the image you want to project. However, no photo is better than an inappropriate one.

Connect. I have discussed my opinion about connections on LinkedIn before. (Read: LinkedIn Connections – What is your Policy?). The more people you are connected to on LinkedIn increases the numbers of people that can find you when they are looking for someone just like you.

Participate. Create updates to share with your network. Let your people know when you’ve read an interesting article. Comment on what your connections are sharing. Share your career successes. Participation creates visibility which allows you to stay top of mind so that people you know can remember you for opportunities that come across their path.

Plus, Tips for the Unemployed CFO.

InMail. Go to your settings and accept OpenLink messages. This allows people looking to communicate with you via InMails without it costing them (LinkedIn otherwise charges for InMails).

Let the world know. Change your profile heading and summary to indicate that you are looking for your next opportunity. This will let people who are looking for someone like you know that you are open to speaking with someone like them.

References. LinkedIn’s reference tool is very valuable. It allows other people you are connect with on LinkedIn to vouch for you. But use it wisely. If you want someone to provide a reference to you, I don’t recommend blasting people in your network. Choose wisely who you ask and how you ask – it will impact the quality of your public references as well as well as the quality of the people who give you references.

What are your recommendations for an effective LinkedIn Profile for CFOs?

April 19, 2012 By Samuel Dergel 6 Comments

Does a CFO Need a Résumé?

Focus has its benefits. So does the world of social media.

Working in Executive Search, I have focused on delivering human resources of the financial kind to companies for over 11 years now. For the past couple of years, I have put significant time into a sustained and targeted social media effort to let companies (new, current and previous) and CFOs know that I understand them.

As part of this focus and effort, companies ask me to help them hire their CFOs, Chief Financial Officers ask me to help them build their finance teams, and Finance Executives reach out to me when they are in between career opportunities.

When I speak with CFOs, they ask me for my feedback on their résumé. Although I can say that I have read thousands of résumés in my career, I do not consider myself a résumé expert. From time to time I may have a piece of advice that could make the document more effective, but this is not where I add value to a Finance Executive in search of their next opportunity.

On the topic or résumés, I came across a couple of items that piqued my interest recently.

CFO Magazine published an article by David Rosenbaum entitled No Résumés Required. The title interested me. The article was interesting and worth reading, but it wasn’t what I thought it would be about. It did give me the impetus to write this blog piece, so I’m grateful to CFO Magazine for publishing it and to David for writing it.

Cindy Kraft wrote a blog titled I Just Disagree…, where she discusses her disagreement with résumé experts who recommend regular modifying of résumés depending on the position job applications. My comments on Cindy’s blog caused her to disagree with me (finally – we see eye to eye on many topics). It wasn’t actually a disagreement, but when someone says “Interesting perspective, Samuel” what they really mean is…

The premise I made in my comments on Cindy’s blog were:

CFOs who are working don’t need a résumé to attract a new opportunity. All they need is a well done LinkedIn Profile. If the person that finds them needs a résumé, they can use their LinkedIn Profile as a base. I’ve interviewed many quality people based on their LinkedIn Profile alone.

If a CFO has really done their homework and is visible, marketable and branded, the only time they need a résumé is when they are actively looking for their next opportunity.

In essence, there are 2 types of CFOs that can be hired.

Employed
Unemployed

The Unemployed CFO certainly does need a résumé, because it is (for now, this may change in the coming years) the recognized tool of a job seeker and the people that take employment applications.

The Employed CFO does not need a résumé, nor does he or she need to take the time to prepare one. They are not looking for a job. What an employed CFO needs is to have an appropriate Personal Brand developed, which includes, but certainly not limited to, an effective LinkedIn Profile. When I’m looking for CFOs, my research is wide and varied, and is based on the needs of my client. Whether an Employed CFO has a résumé or not is irrelevant to me. What is relevant is their experience. If they have a proper Personal Branding strategy that leaves an appropriate digital footprint, it certainly makes it easier for me and my team to find them.

I keep on being amazed every week when finalizing my team’s CFO Moves blog, and finding that CFOs who are being hired have a weak LinkedIn Profile, or none at all. In some ways, it makes me wonder how these CFOs get their new job. (Read: When hiring a CFO, is LinkedIn the place to look? ) It does prove that CFOs get their next career opportunities from various sources, but mostly from people that already know them and trust them.

Unemployed CFOs need marketing materials. A solid résumé is still necessary today, in addition to proper Personal Branding.

Employed CFOs do not need a résumé. They just need to have a proper Personal Branding Strategy. If a recruiter asks them for a résumé, they can politely mention that they are not actively looking for an opportunity at this time, and would ask them to refer to their (always) current LinkedIn Profile as a substitute.

Companies hire people, not résumés.

April 12, 2012 By Samuel Dergel 5 Comments

A New Intersection for Finance & Human Resources?

Will the sometimes tenuous relationship between HR and Finance get more involved?

A new proposed disclosure on Human Capital, developed by a committee at SHRM chaired by Lauri Bassi, CEO of McBassi & Co., is in process of being considered by ANSI (American National Standards Institute).

David McCann wrote an article on the proposed Human Capital Standard in CFO Magazine this week, and says that the proposal “could ultimately have a profound impact on investors’ understanding of why companies succeed or fail. Or it could have no impact at all.”

Whether the proposal will have an impact or not remains to be seen. I first learned of this proposed project in September 2010 when I had the opportunity to meet with Lee Webster, Director of HR Standards at SHRM at a conference. I was involved in a Taskforce at the beginning of the process, but I stopped being involved after a few meetings due to personal time constraints.

However, I was (and still am) enamored with the idea that a standardized manner of reporting human capital can add value to investors and other users of information. I believe that solely reporting financial capital to investors without giving valuable and relevant information on human capital gives them incomplete information on the assets and performance of an organization.

Most accounting and financial reporting standards develop over time. They need to start somewhere. Having human capital reporting standards that are voluntary can lead to better information which will lead to better decisions. So this is a good thing.

I’m curious as to what impact this reporting will have on the relationship between Finance and HR in organizations. Having identified HR as a key Relationship for CFO Success (Read: CFO Relationship Map), and surveyed CFOs relationships with HR (Read: CFO / HR Survey Results), CFOs and HR in many companies have challenges working together.

Will the need for HR and Finance to work closely together to make reporting on human capital have a positive impact on the Finance / HR Relationship?

I’m hopeful. What about you?

April 6, 2012 By Samuel Dergel 2 Comments

The 1 Thing Younger CFOs Should Not be Afraid of (and 2 Recommendations)

You may be aware that I have another blog called CFO Moves, which tracks CFO Movement across the United States on a weekly basis. I’m happy to share my team’s research with colleagues, clients, CFOs and even competitors. I gain some fascinating insights into Chief Financial Officers through this research, as well as learning from the CFOs I speak with each day.

Can you find the CFO?

The idea today that a CFO needs to be grey-haired (or no-haired) is no longer a given. Relevant experience is key, as well as the abilities, skills and knowledge that they bring to the table. What matters today is the results the Chief Financial Officer deliver to their employer.

Today, some CFOs are in their 30s or 40s. I’m not making a judgment on a CFO’s abilities based on age. Age is not relevant to whether a CFO can do the job needed or not.

However, I have seen Younger CFOs and finance executives who are afraid to hire people with more experience than they have. In my opinion, this fear comes from insecurities they have, whether they are conscious of them or not.

In a recent post, I discussed 5 Steps to Building Your Finance Dream Team, which summarizes my thoughts on how a CFO can build the best Finance Team possible.

Younger CFOs need to recognize that finance talent with more years than they have can bring them a perspective and approach that bright-eyed and bushy-tailed talent may not be able to deliver for them.

I highly recommend that a Younger CFO:

1) Include capable and experienced Finance talent that is older than they are; and

2) Develop the skills and confidence necessary to properly manage and further develop Older Finance Talent.

The Finance Team supports the CFO. The CFO needs the best talent for their team.

Remember: The best talent can come from all age groups. Don’t put yourself at a disadvantage by ignoring this important talent pool.

Archives for April 2012

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