The first thing you need to define when building your CFO Resume – either yourself or with the help of an executive resume writer – is your focus of direction. Your resume should be built to the position you want, rather than a historical narrative of where you have been and what you can do. If you apply this principal and do your due diligence regarding your refocus of direction (which can include public vs private, profit vs nonprofit, regional vs global, industry, company size, etc.) your resume will ultimately give you more market leverage. I wrote in greater detail how to get focused here.
Once you have determined your focus, here are 5 additional important components to integrate into your resume:
Your Branding
You may perform many responsibilities very well, but what particular areas do you excel in? Is it fostering banking relationships? Reorganizations? Fast growth situations? Turnarounds? Strategic Planning? Once you have defined your top skills, how does this align with your career goals moving forward? If you have picked your next move well, there should be a harmony between your career choices and your top skills. Providing there is, you can begin to weave your top skills into your branding message, including your introductory statements, tagline and keywords at the top of your resume. You can check out multiple branding messages on my executive resume samples page.
The Breadth of Your Financial Acumen
Make sure to detail all areas of your financial expertise including accounting and finance, treasury, financial reporting, strategic planning, budgeting, tax strategy, insurance, internal audit, corporate compliance, and contract analysis and negotiations. Of course, include any supporting degrees or certifications such as CPA and MBA.
Metrics
Match up your metrics with your career goals. If you are gunning for a position with a large global company and that expertise aligns with your background, at the top of your resume provide metrics, including the most P&L you have ever managed, teams, and geographical scope. So you might say, “P&L to $500M, Teams to 1600, and Global Scope: North America/Asia Pacific.”
Your Core Competencies
These should align and support your financial acumen. Identify your other leadership capabilities such as executive stewardship, enterprise strategy, performance management, team development and strategic growth plans.
Cutting Edge Technologies and Strategies
Today there is ever-increasing interest in cloud-based consolidated technologies that simplify processes and consolidate data. If you have any expertise with cloud-based financial and administrative systems, be sure to emphasis this front and center on your resume.
Your ability to demonstrate how you have achieved or revived fiscal health in your previous positions, though your utilization of metrics and quantifiable achievements, will add tremendous value to your CFO resume. Remember too, exemplary, well-balanced designs (with a respect for white space) and focused content that categorizes and calls out your accomplishments in short sound bites, are all critical factors in today’s leadership resumes.
Once your resume is aligned and written to the position you want next, you can start to explore which executive level job search strategies are best for your career transition.
