Six Ways To Transform Your CFO Resume From Process-Focused To Value-Centric

The role of the chief financial officer is evolving. As a CFO, you're likely considered a strategic business partner and a critical member of the C-suite in your company. Not only do you manage the financial aspects of a company, but you also play a role in driving business growth. I've found that when many CFOs are searching for new positions, they have trouble crafting resumes that reflect this unique brand.

As an executive resume writer and career coach, I've developed a few ways you can take your CFO resume to the next level and do away with the number-crunching resume you might have now:

Highlight the implementation of financial strategies in alignment with the company’s future-stage needs.

CFOs have been entrusted to optimize the financial processes of businesses and build new financial frameworks. To demonstrate to your new employer that you strategize beyond putting in place the right financial rigors, align your actions with the aspirations of the C-suite, the board-level vision, and the stakeholders' needs. What did they want next, and how did you scale the company’s financial backbone to make that happen? 

You will accomplish this by connecting the dots across to other business units and the results they reaped.

Did you help accelerate revenue?

Launch new products?

What role did you play in supporting these initiatives?

The answers should be included in your resume's summary section.

Break away from traditional CFO responsibilities.

How did you reinvent the CFO role? For example, did you assume the responsibilities of a chief operating officer?

Did you lead through the eyes of a CEO by uncovering opportunities to strengthen the company’s brand and global growth opportunities?

Did you maximize returns to stakeholders?

You see, the strategic CFO evaluates, strategizes and executes through broader lenses.

Instead of beginning each job description with an account of your responsibilities, shift focus. Lead each tenure with the strategic business impact your financial leadership made.

Share your career journey.

A CFO is responsible for the company’s financial stability, business processes, and financial teams. However, I believe the coveted CFO also enables success and guides other C-suite members through periods of turbulence.

Did you step up as a change agent during a period of revolving leadership?

What critical turnaround did you help your team weather with the implementation of robust back-office operations and the right financial tools, and financial planning & analysis?

In other words, how agile were your financial strategies in helping your company emerge stronger in the face of fluid market conditions?

To highlight this on your resume, don't list bullets of accountabilities. Instead, include the answers to these questions as your resume achievement bullets.

Promote your influence on culture creation.

The CFO who thinks like a business partner creates cultures that operate beyond financial processes. One of my CFO clients often says, “I am proud to have built teams of leaders who think like mini CFOs.”

Value-add financial organizations are key contributors to helping companies mitigate risk and optimize gains. When you market yourself beyond being able to excel in financial leadership and show you can be another business strategist on the team, you soar above other CFO candidates.

To assess your influence on company culture, ask yourself:

Have you hired high potentials?

Have you created new training programs?

Have you mentored tomorrow’s executives?

The answers to these questions, when framed correctly and in alignment with your financial skills, will provide your candidacy a differentiating angle. Place the answers to these questions in a highlights section on your resume or as bullet points under each job role.

Qualify and quantify scale.

Ironically, though I've observed CFOs are often numbers-driven, their resumes tend to lack big-picture quantification. You deserve credit for the financial growth of your company — not just cash flow, profits and losses, and budget control. I've found the new breed of CFO focuses not only on control and containment but also on unleashing growth potential.

? Beyond mergers and acquisitions due diligence, did you help with product deployment?

? How much organic and inorganic growth did you help accelerate?

? What other ways have you helped with marketing, sales, and brand equity?

? Were you part of the commercialization team?

? Did you help set up subsidiary startups?

? Have you positioned corporations for lucrative sales?

The above will help you showcase experience breadth and seniority. When I work with my clients on identifying these distinct qualifications, we weave these critical points into a highlights section on the resume, on LinkedIn, and in the cover letter — punctuate your CFO value offer.

?Ask yourself if you are leveraging new technology.

Robotics, artificial intelligence, and machine learning are not only keywords to include in your resume, but I've found they can also be critical competitive "plays" for your future employer. When your employer can leverage cutting-edge technology to improve business processes, reduce errors, and address customer needs faster, you have empowered them with a competitive edge. In other words, I believe a CFO who has a keen understanding of how to utilize cutting-edge technology to automate, modernize and create fully integrated business functions that improve a company's go-to-market strategy and serve its B2B/B2C customers is a strategic advantage.

The CFO of tomorrow powers the top and bottom lines and strengthens competitive stance. The CFO who rises above process-oriented thinking is a highly sought-after candidate. If you have adopted this value-oriented CFO view already, that's great. Now, it is time for your resume to break away from the old and mirror the new you.

Rosa Elizabeth Vargas

www.careersteering.com