CV tips for senior finance professionals

CVs are still key in any recruitment process according to Lynsey Campbell Head of People Solutions – Dundee at Hutcheon Mearns. Read her top tips to creating an impactful CV.

You don’t need to look too far to find articles relating to the changing face of the recruitment market and whether CVs still have a place in inclusive recruitment processes. However, as it stands today, I believe the CV is a critical document during the process. It serves as an introduction and overview of an individual's experience and notable achievements. As you progress in your career, the form of the CV evolves from an initial "list-of-what-I've-done" into a document that showcases achievements, competencies and sector expertise.

Recruiting for professionals at director and c-suite level in the accountancy and finance sector, there are certain key tips I offer to individuals when they are considering a CV re-vamp. At this level, it is challenging to provide a succinct list of your experience and achievements without the CV becoming a lengthy and unmanageable document. It is therefore necessary to design your CV to portray the type of candidate you are, rather than just a job history listing.

What do employers need to know?

From an employer perspective, when recruiting a senior finance professional, there may be assumptions made about an individuals' accountancy knowledge and technical ability, when they have achieved their CA qualification. The truth is however, that this, and other experiential factors, vary from person to person, influenced by the career journey. In my experience, there are two tactics required and five key areas that CVs need to cover, to be able to present a well-rounded portrait of the senior finance professional.

Tactical CV design

1. CV tailoring: Have you designed your CV as a one-size-fits-all document? Do you send the same document to every interested party?  How do you describe yourself, and does that fit the description of the role or the company profile? CV tailoring isn't as basic as mirroring language on a job specification, rather it is about interpreting what the drivers of a role may be and whether you are portraying yourself as someone who matches that profile. Is the role looking for a leader, a technical expert, a business partner or a driver of change? Which are you, and how can you demonstrate this?
2. Context: Listing the name of your organisation and its location is a start, but it is absolutely crucial to present context to your future employer. Facts and information such as company business sector, turnover, team size, company structure (PE backed, owner managed, PLC, not-for-profit), all help to provide context as to the environment you have operated in and therefore, some of the expertise you might be able to bring to the table. Never assume that the company name is enough. Working as the Finance Director of a subsidiary of a global business is very different from working as a Finance Director at group level. Your CV should always answer more questions than it asks and should provide context about the environment you worked within. Misinterpretation of a CV based on the appearance of a company name without context, is extremely common.

The five facets of a senior finance CV

When it comes to the details of a CV, it is common for an individual to fall into the trap of providing face-value information and assuming that some elements of their experience are implicit. In my experience, most senior finance roles tend to look for a blend of one, several or all of the below attributes – does your CV speak to these areas of your experience?

1. Live technical ability: Depending on the size of your employer and the structure of your team, you may be either extremely close to the numbers or quite removed. It is important to put across your live accountancy skills. How hands on are you? Is all accounts preparation work delegated? Your involvement in this area will be quite different in an SME compared to a large group environment. Organisational context, again, here is key.
2. Leadership and/or management experience: When describing your leadership or management skills, it would be pertinent to describe the size of team you have led and challenges or wins in this arena. Have you developed individuals in a team, been a mentor or led change programmes in the finance team? If you have experience of turning around the performance of a team, this could be exactly what your next employer is looking for.
3. Involvement in business strategy: Are you on the board as the finance representative? Are you a Business Partner to the senior leadership team advising on finance matters? Do you report information to someone else who takes this role? Being clear on your role and involvement in wider business strategy can be crucial to articulate your prospective value to an organisation.
4. Projects: If you have been involved in a project that a prospective employer is planning to embark on, you make yourself instantly valuable. Projects can take many forms but can include business change, acquisitions/disposals, due diligence, integration, systems, redundancies, recruitment and entering new markets. Something that may have seemed “business as usual” to you, might be invaluable to your next employer.
5. Commercial acumen: Is your commercial acumen your secret ingredient? Can you exemplify what makes this an area of strength? I’ve seen accountants with sales backgrounds, and those who thrive interacting with customers, carve roles for themselves where their mix of commercial acumen and technical ability makes them stand out in the crowd.

Having achieved success in your career and progressed to senior finance level, now is the time to re-evaluate if your CV serves you. While there is opportunity in the job market, there is also competition. Your CV is a sales document. It represents who you are and what you can offer. Invest the time, and it will pay dividends.

Get in touch with Lynsey for more information on how you can perfect your CV to secure your next role: lynsey.campbell@hutcheonmearns.co.uk