recruiter

What Does Your Positioning Say About You?

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One of my recruiter friends, Samuel Dergel of CFO2Grow in Canada, added an important comment to my blog post yesterday about business cards. It reminded me that this blog post has been sitting on the back burner for months and perhaps now was the time to get it finished and posted.

Samuel addressed the importance of having your business cards “professionally” developed. He’s right. If you’re at a networking event, your business card is the last impression people take with them. Is the Finance Executive they just shook hands with the same professional reflected on the business card they have in their hand? If it’s cheap or if there is advertising on the back (that means they were free) … what message is that sending? And, is it the message you intend to send?

The same can be said should you decide to create a blog or upload your resume to the Web. If you choose a free site, it means you are also choosing a page that is overrun with advertising … ads over which you have no control either! But my point is about the image that landing page (whether blog or resume) sends. Does it exude executive branding (this guy is worth every cent if we can get him) or is it a poster for commodity (average, just one of many)?

I do believe that a credible online and offline presence is key for Chief Financial Officers and other Senior Finance Executives. If you choose to have business cards and a web presence, then choose to create them in a way that furthers your brand rather than detracting from it.

Remember Your High School Girlfriend?

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Last week I was catching up with some of my colleagues and one delightful conversation was with one of my favorite CFO recruiters. Naturally, we talked shop.

One of our topics was the “passive candidate trumps an unemployed candidate” which has been getting a lot of press (and outrage) these days. It isn’t fair, is it? Sadly, life is far from fair. 

He once again affirmed that from his professional experience the statement is true, has been true for quite awhile, and will continue to be true long into the future. And then he used the high school girlfriend analogy to make his point. 

Back in high school having a girlfriend meant you were cool, in demand, and popular. You were envied and everyone wanted a piece of you. Then she dumped you and suddenly, you were uncool and unpopular with no Friday night destination invitations. 

The same is true about your career. When you’re holding the title and visible to your target audience, you’re hunted, high-value, and in demand. When you don’t, you aren’t.  Sad, unfair, but true.

CFOs, Gen Y’s, and SMAGs

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There’s a fascinating (well at least I thought so) post on Antisocial Recruiter Networking by Michael Goldberg, a talent acquisition leader. His article is based on a New York Times article on the effects of social media on our kids.

What in the world does that have to do with you? Stay with me for a moment.

Last week’s poll in SmartBrief for CFOs was around using social media in the workplace. There was a 50 / 50 split between those who had a social media policy in place or were investigating one and those who had a firewall prohibiting it or were just clueless. 

There is so much to lose on both a personal and professional level for executives who choose not to embrace the power of Web 2.0 technology. Social media is here and it’s trending north. 

When kids get cell phones at the age of 8 and spend all day texting and FBing friends … recognize they are your potential hires when they graduate from college. Young adults are, and will be, more tech-savvy than any of us old-timers can ever hope to be. Will they want to work for an executive team that has a strict anti-social networking policy in place or is clueless about what engaging with the public and customers or clients through social media can do for the business? If you did manage to hire them, would you expect them to stay in a culture of dinosaurs for long? Recruiting is expensive. Recruiting top talent … and keeping them … is painful.

And for finance executives who still have years left to contribute to a brilliant career … will you ever be able to compete with a social media savvy 45-year old finance executive candidate when you are 55? I hear “age discrimination” bandied about frequently. No question it exists. Some of it though is brought about by a defiance around change. It’s not how I got to the top and I have no intention of learning/using/participating now. 

Isn’t it great that we have free will and free choice … accompanied, of course, by taking responsibility for our decisions! 

BTW, SMAG = Social Media Age Group

The CFO Market is Moving

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I had a long conversation with one of my favorite finance executive recruiters yesterday. Among other things, we compared notes on what’s happening in the CFO market. We agree … after 12-18 months of hunkering down, senior finance executives are now confidently looking around and beginning to move. 

My poll at SmartBrief for CFOs last week confirmed this observation with a whopping 20% of respondents saying they were heading out the door. 

Two possible reasons CFOs are stretching and beginning to flex their muscles …

— CFOs are making the command decision that it’s once again safe to test the waters. And they need to be proactive. Hunkering down is merely survival mode and ensures nothing.

— PEs, VCs, and Boards are looking at their companies and saying,  … thanks Mr. CFO, but now that you have restructured debt and streamlined processes, we need a CFO who will guide our growth strategy and it’s time to change leadership.

Survival mode is giving up control of your career to someone else. Someone who doesn’t have “your” best interests in mind, but rather, has their company’s (investment) best interests at heart. What is good for the company in the short term is not always what is good for the sitting Chief Financial Officer.

If you haven’t clarified your unique value proposition (what do you have that a company is willing to pay to get), created compelling marketing documents, Googled your name to see what others are finding about you, and begun a proactive campaign to raise your visibility and credibility … you might just find yourself left in the dust.

I Never Heard Back

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I’m hearing this from some of my CFOs …

–A recruiter called me, said he had a great opportunity for me, asked for my resume, and I never heard back from him.

–I had an interview 3 weeks ago and was told I’d hear back in two weeks, but, I haven’t heard back from anyone.

–After lunch with a CEO, and a great prospect, he indicated he would talk with the senior leadership team and get back to me by the end of the week, but I never heard back. 

So I’m wondering …. Have we lost all professionalism and courtesy in this country? Does anyone who says they will follow up within a specific time frame actually follow up anymore? Does our me-centric world revolve around us to such a degree that we can no longer exercise any form of etiquette to others? 

While we certainly cannot control the behavior of others, we can control what we do. 

— Say what you mean and mean what you say. If YOU utter the words … I’ll follow up with you within XXXX days or weeks … do it. Even if it is only an update to say no progress has been made, do it. Treat others with the same courtesy you expect. Your reputation is at stake here and apparently, it will take very little to differentiate yourself from others … simply be courteous.

— If you’re a recruiter and you’ve given a Chief Financial Officer the cold shoulder, letting him hang after you’ve thrown him a bone … he won’t forget. They tell me they won’t forget. So don’t be surprised to find yourself snubbed when he’s landed and sitting inside the nice corner office refusing to take your phone calls.

What Are You Contributing to the Conversation?

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Nothing? Noise? Value? 

There’s a global conversation happening and you can either choose to be a part of it or refuse to engage. If the choice is to not participate, you do so at your own peril … because the conversation will go on without you.

If you do engage, what are you contributing? Is it something of value that benefits your target audience? Or, is it self-indulgent noise that detracts from your executive brand? What you say, how you say, and how often you participate … does matter.

Blank slate … In the evolving Web 2.0 world, this finance executive might show up but he contributes nothing to the conversation. Either he is too busy, is networking-challenged, or perhaps sees no value in engaging. If he shows up, his Linked In profile is bereft of any details that would position him as a high-value candidate. At best, this executive is a place holder. At worst, he may be spiraling towards extinction.

Branding nightmare … It’s all about me. It’s the other guy’s fault. That company discriminates. That recruiter isn’t listening. Noise … and it sends the wrong message. Since authenticity is key in creating a branded, visible presence … you ARE sending a message with every post whether you realize it or not.

Differentiation … What are you reading? What conferences or seminars are you attending? Are you presenting or serving on a panel discussion? What resources have you found? Are you in a leadership position with an organization such as FEI? What are you curious about from a professional perspective? Social media is about sharing, not selling. Finance executives who embrace this mentality create visible distinction for themselves as subject matter experts and high-value targets.

Do you show up and if so, what are you contributing to the conversation?

A No Win Scenario

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In yesterday’s coaching session, my client (we’ll call him Jim) told me that, before engaging my services, he received a phone call from a contingency recruiter in California. Jim didn’t know the recruiter, but was told by the recruiter that he had about five or so contacts where he could present Jim. Ahhh, the lure of an opportunity. 

Jim sent off his resume and heard … nothing. He still has heard nothing. My advice, write to the recruiter and inquire to whom he presented his resume, when, and put him on notice that he was not authorized to present his resume to anyone else without Jim’s knowledge and consent. 

Why? Because in this situation, every one stands to lose. 

The recruiter randomly blasts out Jim’s resume to companies in his database so “if” there is an opening at any of those companies, the recruiter can say “he” presented the candidate and claim a fee. If the company doesn’t want to pay the fee, he simply doesn’t hire that … perhaps very qualified … candidate. If the company does hire the candidate, he just might face a lawsuit from the recruiter. Everyone loses.

Sound crazy? Read the story directly from this recruiter on ERE.net. 

Did you notice this sentence? 

“Our candidate put his resume on career builder.”

If you are currently working with recruiters or intend to work with recruiters in the future, the rest of the story is one good reason, and there are many, why CFOs and other senior-level executives should NOT post resumes on public job boards, in my humble opinion. 

The best way to work with recruiters is to build relationships with them before you need them. Most recruiters are professional and credible. It is the recruiters like the one who called Jim that can cause problems for everyone. The only way you, as a candidate, can discern which recruiter(s) is the best fit for you is to have a solid relationship in place long before you find yourself in the job search market. 

Are You … Tainted?

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One of my CFO clients called me yesterday to get my thoughts on a conversation he had with a recruiter in New York earlier this week. The recruiter told him, “if you don’t find a position by June (which would be 6 months after he worked himself out of a job), you’re basically tainted and no recruiter will work with you after that.”

Ouch! It is a cold, cruel world out there … particularly in the shark infested waters of job searching.

First, there are some recruiters who feel that way. Not all. However, the reality is … as I’ve said numerous times … companies don’t, as a rule, pay recruiters to find unemployed candidates.

Second, “why” you’re unemployed is important. There is a difference between losing a job and working yourself out of a job, so your story is important. Third party recommendations on Linked In from your most recent employer and letters of recommendation can certainly help your cause. So can a strong visible and credible digital footprint … do the people who need to know about you actually know about you?

Third, there is no question that once you walk out the door for the final time, even with a big severance package and everything else being exactly the same (talents, contributions, skills, etc.), your marketability takes a huge hit. If you’re unemployed, your challenge to win those competitive opportunities is infinitely more difficult. High-value targets are passive, socially well-connected, and credible. 

If you’re unemployed and looking … and not getting the results you want … get some help. Chances are extremely good that if you keep doing what you’ve been doing, you’ll keep getting what you’ve been getting. And, at least according to this recruiter, a long and protracted job search will only further hurt your chances.

If you are currently employed, now is the time to begin planning for your next move. You are, after all, only and always, between searches. You can do it the hard way or the easier way. It’s your choice. 

The Secret Weapon for CFOs is the Intangible

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One of the discussions by the recruiter panel at the CFO Rising conference was around the intangibles of being a Chief Financial Officer. Intangibles … as in presence. It won’t matter how great your finance acumen, skill sets, and deliverables are if you can’t, or don’t, communicate it compellingly. You won’t be able to sell it. If you don’t believe your greatness, no one else will buy it either. 

In addition to the solid finance skill set, operational contributions, and perhaps even the CPA and MBA designations, strategic CFOs who desire a seat at the executive table must bring personal presence, charisma, and the ability to inspire confidence. This is NOT an extrovert / introvert issue. It IS about having confidence combined with stellar communication skills. 

If you’ve been the catalyst that has led transformative initiatives, how are you talking about the problems you solved along the way?

If you’ve been a game changer that has led to growth, what’s the behind-the-scenes story that looks at the challenges and issues you waded through to deliver the growth?

If candidates can’t articulate these compelling stories with confidence, the stories will fall flat. 

Digging deep to uncover a compelling value proposition is hard work. However, as in most things, the hard work inspires confidence and confidence leads to self-belief. When you believe in yourself and your ability to do great things based on a solid record of contribution, you can sell it and companies will buy it. 

CFOs typically call me for the tangible … a resume. What they get is the intangible … a clear, compelling, and authentic value proposition that they can say, believe, and sell.

There is a Difference!

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Most Connected vs. Well Connected

Have you noticed these types of monikers attached to members on Linked In, Facebook, and Twitter? The “most connected” statement always makes me think Rolodex. Is it really possible to have a relationship with 16,000+ people on Linked In? Perhaps I’m a little old-fashioned but it seems to me that building relationships is about quality not quantity. Unless you are building a cold call contact list (like a recruiter), being well-connected to, and engaged with, a few will serve you better than merely collecting a lot of names.

Networking vs. Showing Up

These are very different. Many of my finance executives struggle with the networking concept. And I understand. For many CFOs, their jobs are demanding. Who needs one more thing to take time away from family and other priorities. 

However, networking today is defined as raising your visibility among those who need to know about you. That means engaging people. Just having a place holder on the various social networking sites with no picture, no interesting bio, and no conversation is merely showing up. Being a wallflower doesn’t raise visibility, it merely takes up oxygen.

Job Searching vs. Searching Posted Positions

A well-balanced job search strategy includes a variety of activities with searching posted positions as one of the “least” effective. And, the posted position game becomes even more ineffective the more senior your position. 

The best of all worlds is to do the things you need to do before you need to do them (managing your career) rather than being forced to give up power and do them because you have to do them (searching for a job). But, if you do fall into the latter category, move away from the job boards and diversify your search strategy.

And while we are speaking of job boards, the CFO recruiter who joined me on the Proformative Insight and Strategies for Seasoned Executives in Transition webinar told me he rarely, if ever, posts positions on public job boards. He’s not alone.

Branding vs. Marketing

This came up on the Proformative discussion boards following the Insights and Strategies webinar. There is an important distinction between authentic branding and marketing. Marketing is the pitch, persona, and perhaps even spin used in selling yourself. Branding, on the other hand, is leveraging the combination of your unique strengths, passions, and values that others … regardless of how they know you … all see in you and which attract “likeness”. This naturally pulls the kinds of opportunities that are a good fit with who you are. 

Branding occurs at the intersection of how others see you as it aligns with how you see yourself.  It requires honest feedback from people who know you and is why a person just can’t say I’m going to have this brand and then put it out for the world. If it isn’t who you really are, the world won’t buy it, at least not for long. 

Think of it this way. If you believe yourself to be a strategic finance leader but when asked, your team and the CEO and Board members all say they view you as a micro-managing bean counter … who are you really?