A position as a chief financial officer, or CFO, can be the ideal role for someone pursuing a finance career path. When reviewing an executive job description, it's important to include specific information on your resume, like your strategic planning and financial management skills. Reviewing resume samples can also help you format your resume and order the different content sections correctly. In this article, you'll find steps for how to create a CFO resume and several examples you can reference when creating your own. When you're ready to apply for jobs, you can upload a resume file or build an Indeed Resume.To upload the template into Google Docs, go to File > Open > and select the correct downloaded file.
How to write a CFO resume
There are several steps you can take when writing a CFO resume:
1. Include a professional summary
A professional summary can be the first part of a resume that executives review and where they might reference your top achievements. You can include one to two of your top qualities and successes most relevant to the position for which you apply. This can include mentioning investment successes, cost savings, revenue growth or other ways your actions had direct effects on other companies.Related:How To Write an Executive Summary on a Resume
2. Detail your education
CFO positions often require advanced degrees in finance, business or accounting to enter this position. These can include master's or bachelor's degrees, though doctorate degrees can help hiring managers see you have more expertise in research and decision-making than other candidates. You can include the school where you earned the degree and the degree you earned.
3. Describe your finance leadership experience
Your professional experience section can list your roles at your previous jobs and the time you worked at each. With each role, list several of your top responsibilities and the effects of each. For example, you might say that you managed a budget of $5 million and reduced costs by 20%. You can also describe how you achieved these goals if job descriptions reference specific skills or tools that match your experience. Focusing on financial leadership achievements can show you can lead an organization to financial success and motivate teams.Related:Listing Professional Experience on Your Resume
4. List your skills
CFOs require several specific skills, including financial management, strategic planning and modeling. On your resume, you can simply list these in their own section. Consider reviewing the job description and including any of the key skills they list in the requirements to help you get through any automated scans companies might use.
Tips for writing a CFO resume
Here are some additional tips you can use when writing a CFO resume:
Review your formatting
Formatting can be essential for a CFO resume because companies often want their executives to be professional and have the ability to create clear documents. You can use a consistent font size and style throughout your resume, with section headings bolded or slightly bigger than the main text. Most hiring executives for CFOs also expect reverse chronological order with your job descriptions, so starting with your most recent position can be best. This can show your career development and how you've prepared for a CFO role.Related:Tips for Making an Executive's Resume
Specify your actions and results
Action verbs are important to show the specific tasks you've managed in your previous roles. For example, rather than sharing that you were responsible for international finances, you can mention that you oversaw the financial accounts for several global locations. It can help to quantify the results with percentages or other figures that show the effects of your work.Read more:195 Action Verbs to Make Your Resume Stand Out
Match the job description
Each CFO position can vary depending on the needs of the company. Some might hope to see growth, improvements in their financial operations or a reduction in cost. By reviewing each job description, you can match essential keywords and responsibilities with the expectations of the companies. This means you might have to update your resume for each job you apply for to ensure the content matches.Please note that none of the companies mentioned in this article are affiliated with Indeed.
