There was an interesting – and very important – post in the CFO Careers group on Linkedin this week. If you are a Chief Financial Offer and you are not in my private and exclusive CFO group but would like to be, please send me a request to join.
The posting CFO received an email from one of the top-tier recruiting firms saying that the firm would now be using, exclusively, Linkedin as a pre-qualifier of potential candidates. “Moving forward, we will not retain registrant résumés submitted to us by email.”
Shocked? Surprised? I’m not. I’ve been saying for years that Finance Chiefs can NOT afford to NOT be on Linkedin today. Now, recruiting firms, including national brand recruiting firms, are telling you the same thing. To not be on Linkedin is to not exist on the firm’s radar screen.
Here’s a direct quote he received in an email:
<<In place of the registration process, you will now be able to provide access to information about your career and experience via LinkedIn, the professional networking site. By giving us permission to access your LinkedIn profile, you will allow us to review your CV and qualifications to see if they match up with relevant leadership opportunities. This is a completely secure method for sharing your information, and Recruiting Firm will only contact you when a search professional qualifies you as a potential match for a current opportunity.>>
If you’ve been hesitating to jump on Linkedin -or- if your profile is incomplete -or- your settings are not set to public … you WILL miss opportunities. Linkedin will be (and actually has been for awhile) your online identity and professional presence.
This methodology of using Linkedin as a pre-qualifier also points to the power of the “pull vs. the “push” strategy. A compelling, and complete, profile “pulls” recruiters to you rather than you “pushing” your resume at recruiters. The pull strategy gives you, the CFO candidate, more power, better positioning, and gets you access to the best opportunities that are a fit for your skills and ability. It is ALWAYS a good sign when recruiters are coming to you with opportunities that align with your level of expertise and your capabilities.
But this new normal raises uncomfortable and troubling questions for many CFOs.
– How much information is too much?
– How much information is enough?
– Shouldn’t the details of my performance be kept in my resume and not made public?
– Should I upload my resume to my profile?
Those are great questions – and critically important questions – that I’ll dig into in my next blog post. But know this, the days of being anonymous and private are over for those who WANT to be receiving top-tier opportunities. You are either in the game, visible, and accessible … or you don’t exist.
Cindy,
The questions you raise are legitimate. Since LinkedIn is public, someone who is employed will want to exercise ‘discretion’ in what is out there, yet if firms are going to rely solely on LinkedIn, this may put pressure to go past that line. Or force them underground.
It’s definitely a dance, David. The new game of “job search” and “career management” is uncomfortable for many CFOs and other Finance Executives. You can’t win if you don’t play, so how can you play smartly? THAT is the $6M question!