This post actually started out as a comment to a post by my friend and colleague, Samuel Dergel. While we agree on almost everything related to Finance Chief careers, we we have/do disagree on the issue of whether or not CFOs, who are passive candidates, need a resume.
What Samuel and I definitely agree is on this: Finance Chiefs need a clear and compelling, branded marketable value proposition (MVP). It’s critically important to know your value and be able to articulate your value if you want to be competitive today.
Where we deviate is over the end product. If a
Samuel doesn’t “need” a resume when identifying candidates, but will instead rely on a complete and compelling Linkedin profile to assess a candidate’s worthiness. I will tell you that in my experience, he’s way ahead of his time. There are not many executive recruiters who are at that place ... at least not in my experience, nor in the experience of my clients. And, 99% of my clients are employed, not unemployed.
In fact, I just spoke with a recruiter from Spencer Stuart who places CFOs who said, “I am so glad to know about you. I constantly have senior finance executives who are totally clueless about where to even begin creating a resume.”
We might get to the point where resumes aren’t needed, but once again, in my opinion and from my experience, we are a long way from that place. And I liken the “advice” that a CFO doesn’t need a resume to the same “advice” given by some that everyone should write their own resume. It’s just NOT good advice for some Chief Financial Officers. And that advice is followed to their own detriment.
What happens if you buy in to the mindset that you no longer need a resume, get a call from the percentage of the recruiter population who has a dream job AND requests your resume ... and who isn’t at the place where a Linkedin profile is sufficient? Will you lose out on the opportunity for that dream job? You will if you’re willing to sacrifice a
Samuel and I do agree on one other thing ... companies hire people, not resumes. That is why a CFO MUST be crystal clear on his MVP.
Blog post
CFO Resumes: Are They Necessary?
Filed Under:
Human Capital