A lot of the guidance you’ll find in books, websites and with typical advisors is quite analogous. Much of it is revised text from alternative sources (itself rehashed from elsewhere)! Most advice isn’t original, and as crazy as it sounds, it’s more likely that the person advising you how to write a CFO CV has never written one themselves in their life!
In addition to the likes of recruiters and career officers, some “advice” comes from webmasters, general copywriters, or even AI.
Fundamentally your CV is a sales This article has been written for CFOs by Paul, our head writer. (link to the writer’s page) Paul and his colleagues, Sylvia and Natalie all have vast experience creating top-quality CFO CVs. CFOs come to us from all around the world for help – many by recommendation.
We didn’t hit upon the art of great CFO CV writing by chance. An awful lot went into it, and over the course of numerous years. Years ago, Paul did assess typical advice from books, websites, career resources etc, but found much of it to be contradictory, unsound or even counterproductive. So much so. that he ended up devising his own (better) methods, that have their base in sales and marketing.
Please discover more on our Executive CV Service story page.
The aim of this article is to assist CFOs understand both where their CV is lacking, and how they can improve it. Examples are included.
The most obvious difference is the financial aspect. Naturally, CFO CVs need to focus on financial matters. This varies depending upon the job in question. For example, some CFO job specifications focus on tax savings, financial growth, profit margins etc, whereas others focus more on e.g., due diligence, M&As, integration, strategic exits etc.
So even for the same job title (CFO), sometimes the target differs somewhat, and by consequence, some CFO CVs differ accordingly.
However, in terms of appearance and sections a lot of CFO CVs aren’t too dissimilar to those of COOs, CEOs, CTOs and other C-level professionals.
That said, CFOs apply for chief financial officer jobs with CVs in a wide variety of formats. Some are dated, long and cluttered, whereas some are shorter, more modern and more presentable.
What is rarer, is for CFOs to apply for top finance jobs with one of those flashy CVs that are popular with students and those at the lower end of the career ladder.
Most CFOs have standard 2-page CVs. Others have even longer CVs (3 or 4 pages). That’s up to them, but it doesn’t help them stand out from the crowd. While it’s entirely up to you, these days more CFOs are turning to 1-page CVs to help them stand out more from high-calibre competitors. While CV length alone won’t persuade employers to hire you over and above competitors, at the very least it is a point of difference, and even visually, can help you catch the attention of employers.
Aside from Paul:
I conducted research with employers for my CV book. Notably, most not only preferred concise CVs, but most reached for 1-page CVs before longer ones. Coincidentally, some employers specifically said that they didn’t read CVs beyond a certain length (usually 3 pages).
Please discover more on the best CV length for CFOs.
Most CFOs appreciate that applicant tracking systems (ATS) is used by recruiters these days. At the same time, many don’t realise that ATS isn’t quite what many people are led to believe. Click to discover more about ATS.
Most CFO CVs have very standard openings. Usually they are longer than the optimum and recount a number of skills in a fairly matter-of-fact manner. Very few CFO CV openings are sharp, punchy and strategically targeted – yet this is what ties in with sales and marketing. Notably, employers prefer sharp, punchy, targeted and original to the usual long, typical and commonplace.
If you want a standout CFO CV, then one tip is to read your profile out loud.
Ask yourself, does it sound like the profiles of other finance professionals?
Or does it have a more original and higher impact feel to it?
Put yourself in the employer’s shoes. If someone sent you a CV with this opening, would you be excited to read more? Or would you just think it’s the ‘same old thing’ again?
If it’s the latter then you ought to revisit it.
Similarly many CFOs have very standard skills sections. These are usually short passive and matter of fact, such as:
- Finance
- Accounting
- Audits
- Reporting
- Taxation
- VAT
Etc.
Relevancy is good, but do try to be more proactive.
Naturally, this should reflect your seniority and finance experience.
It sounds simple but you’d be amazed how many CFOs have CVs that overcomplicate things by recounting their experience in a complex, convoluted, haphazard and/or longwinded manner. Sometimes people (and CV firms come to that) contrive to sabotage promising raw material into confused end products.
Try to pitch your CV at the right level and also keep the central messaging consistent.
Tip - try to avoid language that doesn’t sound natural. It’s sounds obvious, but you’d be surprised just how many CFOs have CVs from ‘professional’ CV firms with contrived, or unnatural language such as:
- Standardized MI and managed team of 10+ FDs through internationally recognized best practices for $2bn JV with APAC PE group
Tip - try reading your CV out loud as this will give you a better idea of how your phrasing fares. If it doesn’t sound natural when read out loud then this is a sign that something is amiss. Conversely, if it does sound natural, then that’s one less issue you need to worry about.
At C-level competition is fierce, and you ought to strike the right balance. Some CFO CVs look good but undersell. Some have decent quantifiable achievements but in a dated and cluttered format with contrived language.
The best CVs are sharp, concise and presentable with great first impressions, excellent legibility and powerful content.
When you create your CV, really you need to tick all those boxes. Anything less and you’re handing an advantage to those competitors who do (and at CFO level you should expect that at least some competitors will – yes, most won’t, but some will, and it’s those you need to outdo.)
Check out the sample below.
Please also read the body of the example for advice on how typical CFO CVs are frequently compromised. You can refer to this example to avoid pitfalls when creating your own CV.
Please click if you’d like to discover more about what makes for a good CV.
Please view our CFO CV sample.
The text on the example should help explain the logic behind our popular format (it came top in our tests for good reason).
Yes, and almost certainly dramatically.
Most CFOs are amazed at the radical transformation.
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