Finance Cover Letters That Get You Noticed
-
Code #A013
By Louise Garver, CPRW, MCDP, JCTC, CEIP,
CM, President, Career Directions, LLC
"I am writing in response to your ad for a
Vice President of Finance."
"In response to your recent online ad for a
Treasurer, please find my resume."
“I am looking for an opportunity with your
company as a Financial Analyst."
"My enclosed resume indicates that my
background as a Controller matches your ad
requirements."
What do all of the above
opening statements on a
cover letter have in common?
All of them will bring forth
the following reaction from
the hiring manager or human
resources professional:
B-O-R-I-N-G.
According to an employer
survey conducted by an
international association
for professionals in the
careers industry (Career
Masters Institute), an
overwhelming majority
consider the cover letter
very important and expect to
see one included with
resumes. They place great
stock on letters as a
reflection of your writing
style, communications
skills, personal qualities
and ability to meet their
needs. Yet, most job seekers
will begin their cover
letters with lackluster
opening lines that do
anything but capture the
employer’s attention.
How do you entice decision
makers or recruiters to
continue reading your
letter?
Just like a product or
service, your cover letter
needs to demonstrate how you
are the answer to an
employer’s problem. To
create powerful covers
letter that position you as
the solution to the problem,
begin with a two-step
process.
-
First, analyze the
position’s requirements
and identify the
important finance skills
as well as other
qualifications the
employer or recruiter is
seeking.
-
Next, specifically
address all the
requirements to
illustrate how you will
meet the employer’s
needs as the head or
contributing member of
the finance or treasury
organization.
Most cover letters miss the
mark because the job seeker
focuses on general
facts—that could apply to
anyone with a similar
background in finance,
accounting or
treasury—rather than zeroing
in the employer’s needs.
They fail to demonstrate how
the organization can benefit
from that background.
To develop a cover letter
that grabs attention and
targets an employer’s needs,
ask yourself:
-
What finance and other expertise do I offer that
is key to this position
and the employer?
-
What are my relevant projects or success stories
that I can present in my
finance career?
-
What is special about me that differentiates my
qualifications from
other finance
professionals?
These questions will help
you focus your cover letter
and answer the questions
that every employer will
want to know about you:
“What can you do for me? Why
should I interview you?
Start by identifying your
skills, abilities and
experience. For example:
-
18 years of experience
in corporate finance and
treasury management,
both domestic and
international operations
-
Extensive knowledge of
accounting or treasury
systems
-
Skills in financial
analysis and reporting,
banking relations,
budgeting, etc.
Now describe the benefits
you can offer an employer
based on your skills,
abilities and experience.
For instance:
-
My experience in
corporate finance and
treasury operations is
valuable because I can
build a financial
infrastructure or lead
an effective treasury
organization and staff
the department with
skilled people.
-
My extensive knowledge
of accounting and
treasury systems is
important because I can
spearhead the
implementation of these
systems to save company
money and improve
accuracy.
-
My skills in financial
analysis and reporting
are critical because I
can provide management
with accurate, on-time
information to make
business decisions.
Next, you will want to
identify and jot down
several specific examples of
how you applied your skills
and knowledge to benefit
your recent or prior
organizations. For instance:
-
When I joined company X,
it lacked a solid
financial infrastructure
and had an antiquated an
accounting system.
Financial reports were
not produced on a timely
basis. I established the
financial
infrastructure, hired
the right talent,
improved data integrity
and provided on-time
reporting in just a few
months.
-
Our company acquired
another organization,
and I provided the
leadership to seamlessly
integrate the new
acquisition’s treasury
department within our
company. This included
system design and
implementation,
re-engineering, human
resources and process
integration. In this
effort, I streamlined
staff and saved our
company $250K in annual
in bank fees.
-
My responsibility is to
review and analyze
monthly statements to
ensure that accurate
charges are applied to
our customers for cash
management services. I
created a spreadsheet to
effectively manage the
cash management income.
As a result, I reduced
redundancy in merchant
service chargebacks,
which saved time while
increasing operational
efficiency.
Then choose three of your
best examples that relate to
your target employer’s
need—without duplicating
those listed on your
resume—and craft
results-oriented statements
that illustrate your success
stories and promise a
benefit.
Close your letters with an
expression of interest (or a
statement about your
knowledge of the company and
why you want to join it), a
reiteration of the valuable
contributions you can make
and a call to action. An
example would be: “I am
excited about this
opportunity as it matches
your need for a senior-level
manager to provide strategic
planning and leadership to
the finance organization and
my track record of success
in this area. I would be
pleased to discuss my
expertise first hand. Or,
you can choose to end your
letter with a promise to
contact the company.
However, if you so, make
sure you plan to follow
through.
If you apply the structure
outlined in this article for
each letter, you will create
impact letters that resonate
with employers, showcase the
value you offer and
differentiate you from the
competition.
Copyright © 2004 Association
for Financial Professionals.
All Rights Reserved.
Ambassador Presence: The Way You Look and
Act Counts in Finance -
Code #A014
Betty Penzner, AFP
April 10, 2006
From the April 2006
issue of AFP Exchagne magazine
At all levels of
finance, the way you look and act counts.
Style consultant Gloria Starr shares some
key points on what today's financial
professionals should be doing with their
appearance to be more successful.
Today's financial
professionals have become
more like public figures
than ever. Their skills must
extend beyond those of
treasurer, CFO and
controller to communicator
and facilitator. With this
comes a necessary presence
that exceeds anything
learned in business school.
Their reputation risk
includes their physical
presence: the way they
present themselves, the
clothes they wear, the way
are likely to be perceived
by others.
Exchange
spoke with Gloria Starr,
respected style consultant
to executives at Merrill
Lynch, JP Morgan and
Accenture, among others,
about the image of today's
CFO, treasurer and finance
professional.
"The men and women of the
financial world should think
of themselves as ambassadors
for themselves, their
companies and their
organizations," Starr said.
"One of the most essential
skills is their judgment
with clothing, their body
language and their posture.
They should have high levels
in all these areas."
One of the first areas Starr
addresses is what she calls
"Ambassador" skills.
"Everything you say and do,
leaves a lasting impression
with others," Starr
explains. Here are five key
Ambassador skills that
should be addressed when
financial professionals
present themselves.
-
Be first to introduce yourself in a greeting
situation
-
Always stand to shake hands
-
Use open handed gestures
-
Pay attention to details with your attire
-
Pay attention to the way you speak and gesture
"Because of their roles in
the finance industry,
(financial professionals)
should represent stability
and longevity," Starr adds.
Attire speaks volumes about
a professional. Here are
some hints from Gloria Starr
on women's and men's attire.
Women's Attire
The Suit and Blouse
The woman's suit remains
intact, says Starr. It
doesn't have to be
fashionable. But take that
white blouse and replace it
with color. Add color to a
navy suit such as peach,
coral or yellow blouse —but
the tailored suit remains.
Wear a broach or pin with
your ensemble to add your
personal flair. On one
occasion, Starr has worn a
hat to make a personal
statement. Scarves can do
the same thing.
She cautions against wearing
jewelry that is noisy and
cautions against dangly
earrings.
Today's camisole tops for
suits are a no-no, even
though they are in fashion.
If you would like to
introduce another color,
make sure it has quality and
styling. You can select a
pink, emerald or
raspberry-colored suit
because the suit is still
structured, suggests Starr.
Just be sure it is one color
dressing from top to bottom.
Always have a matched skirt
and jacket. She says it is
acceptable to wear a trouser
suit that is tailored.
Shoes
Shoes need to be as dark
as your hemline. A simple
pump is recommended.
Handbags don't need to match
but they can blend. Cream
shoes are preferred over
white shoes.
"Quality is something that
only hurts when you pay the
bill," notes Starr.
Men's Attire
"We're seeing a lot of
noticeable pinstripe suits
today," Starr notes.
"Pinstripes should be subtle
otherwise it won't go with
many ties."
She suggests, "It's better
to have fewer items of
higher quality so cost per
wearing is much less."
Shirts
Now here is a lesson on
the hierarchy of shirts from
Gloria Starr: White shirt
has highest level of
authority, then blue, then
other colors, then patterns.
If you are wearing a jacket
or sports jacket, wear a
long-sleeved shirt.
Ties
The signature item of a
man's ensemble is his tie.
Starr warns, beware of the
heavy fabric ties that are
shown today. "Heavy fabric
ties are quite
counterproductive,"
according to Starr. They
don't work for most people.
Your ties should tie into a
neat half Windsor knot and
the bottom should reach the
bottom of the belt buckle.
Not every pattern fits every
man. For example, big men
can wear the larger
patterns.
When you buy a tie, take the
suit jacket with you to
match the texture and color.
If the suit is patterned you
can use a patterned tie but
not a patterned shirt.
Ignore what you see on TV.
"Just because it's in the
stores doesn't make it
right."
Shoes, etc.
If you are tired of
wearing black shoes go to
cordovan (burgundy) for
shoes and belt.
Keep that razor blade sharp.
"Facial hair is
ill-advised," Starr
admonishes.
Did you ever think of a
writing implement as an
accessory? Starr says a high
quality pen is one of the
most important accessories
for men or women.
A Few Meeting Etiquette
Pointers
-
In sessions when wearing a name tag, always place
it on your right side.
-
If in a situation where jackets are to come off,
wait for the highest
ranking male to remove
his jacket first before
removing yours.
-
Women should not take off their jackets. They lose
authority in just a
blouse.
"People in the financial
industry should showcase
their leadership skills by
dressing impeccably during
business hours. Their attire
should be as impeccable as
their annual report." Starr
calls this "The no wiggle
room policy".
Copyright © 2006 Association
for Financial Professionals.
All Rights Reserved.
Save the Date! IMA’s 2nd Annual Global
Conference
-
Code #A011
Planning is
underway for IMA’s 2nd Annual Global
Conference to take place 6-9 May,
2007 at the JW Marriott in Dubai, UAE.
IMA returns to Dubai following a
successful event in 2006, which
attracted nearly 200 accounting and
finance professionals and nearly 20
presenters from around the world.
“In today’s
changing global business world, there is
inevitably a gap between the needs of
businesses and the skills delivered by
professionals,” said Paul Sharman, IMA
president and CEO. “IMA’s Global
Conference is an important offering to
our international members to provide
practical skills and knowledge they can
use on the job every day.”
At the 2007
event, IMA will present three days
of engaging talks from leading
experts. Invited speakers represent
global companies, including IBM, Eli
Lilly-Turkey, and SAS. Session
topics will include planning and
budgeting, risk management,
regulatory compliance, internal
controls, global costing practices,
and the latest trends in technology
enablement. The event is
appropriate for accounting and
finance professionals of all levels,
including CFOs, controllers,
treasurers, analysts, and auditors.
Conference
attendees will also have the chance
to network and engage with other
professionals and IMA’s senior
leaders, including Mr. Sharman; Jeff
Thomson, vice president, Research
and Applications Development; Jim
Gurowka, international development
leader; Bill Brower, IMA chair and
retired group vice president,
Johnson & Johnson; and John Pollara,
IMA chair elect.
“Last year’s
Global Conference was an intimate
and inviting event. Unlike large
industry events, IMA’s Global
Conference offers more opportunities
for networking and one-on-one
interaction with presenters. We’re
pleased to return to Dubai next
spring to host an event that is
informative, interesting and
educational,” said Mr. Sharman.
IMA will begin
accepting conference registrations
beginning in January 2007.
Information will be made available
at IMA’s Global Conference Web site
at
www.imadubai.org.
|
Q&A with
Paul Sharman
-
Code #A015
Interview by Christine
Fawaz, Morgan’s Regional Marketing
Coordinator
November 14, 2006
The Institute of
Management Accountants has taken an entirely
new direction under the management of Paul
Sharman, president and CEO since 2004. A
strategy focusing on internationalization
and a redesign of the certification
processes are high on the agenda.
I met up with Paul
Sharman at the 17th World Congress of
Accountants in Turkey for a discussion on
the IMA and the future of the accounting
profession.
|
 |
Q: What is your strategy regarding the
IMA’s global expansion?
A:
Well, the fundamental issue here is that
the global economy is growing so rapidly
that by the year 2020, the economists
forecast that the Chinese economy will
be larger than the American economy and
that the Indian economy will be almost
as large which suggests that if we do
not participate in establishing the
accounting community is those emerging
markets then others will or they will
make up their own records in which case
the IMA will be marginalized
internationally which would be an
unfortunate result. So we made quite a
significant commitment to the
internationalization strategy. Part of
doing that has been to look at the
various key markets and determining
which ones would be the most significant
opportunity and those of course include
China. In the Middle East we’re already
very well represented and certain parts
of Europe. We’re also looking at India
and with Fadi Ganni’s (Managing Partner
of Morgan International) involvement who
is introducing us to many new people
we’ll be there earlier in the New Year.
But fundamentally to put our energy
where we perceive there’s the most
interest and the most opportunities.
Q: How does the IMA plan to increase
membership domestically?
A:
In the United States, we have a number
of initiatives working all at the same
time. We’ve completely redesigned the
way our volunteer communities work with
the IMA. For example, we have a
committee working on community
revitalization where the primary focus
is to analyze the characteristics of 5
million finance function workers in the
United States who are mostly involved
with management accounting. Our goal is
to define their needs and build the
services that will provide solutions.
Q: What are the benefits of being a
member of the IMA?
A: The IMA offers its members
many benefits. The IMA is primarily
interested in helping build the
community of management accountants
around the world by providing career
management tools, industry resources,
and networking opportunities. Members
can access a great deal of industry
information online and have the
opportunity to participate in the
development of leading practices through
conferences, webinars, white papers and
so on.
Q:
I know today is the inauguration of
the IMA society in Turkey. How many
societies have you got worldwide?
A:
11 and this is our twelfth.
Q: In which other locations are you next
planning on being present?
A:
There are a number of other locations
that are contemplating initiating
chapters certainly a number of them in
the Middle East, there are probably 5
there, and Saudi Arabia in January.
We’re still hoping that Shanghai will
get going in the near future so China is
of interest. Really, it’s a matter of
groups of people in various centers
around the world who have a personal
desire to get involved. We don’t
actually approach people and say let’s
set up a chapter, we go to markets where
we have a number of members and we
engage them in dialogue and ask them how
we can serve them better. What we find
is that they tend to collaborate and
begin to establish the chapters
themselves.
Q: What is the IMA’s vision for the next
couple of years?
A:
Well we have a heavy emphasis on
internationalizing IMA and meeting the
needs of our members around the world.
We are redesigning our certification
processes substantially; we recently
discontinued the Certified Financial
Manager certification as a stand-alone
item and what will happen over the next
few years is that we’ll merge with the
CMA so we’re very concerned about making
sure that our certification meets the
needs of candidates in their job life so
that as they go through each stage of
their career they can be doing the CMA
so that at some point they qualify and
it serves their career goals. But
meanwhile we’re also doing a substantial
amount of work on what we call our
Eleven Key Initiatives and that focuses
on things like branding, on introducing
new services, one of which is going to
be a brand new professional service
center, it’s a virtual campus on the
internet where we will have synchronous
education opportunities, we’ll have
communities online where people can
create collaborative learning
opportunities. So we have many things
like that going on.
Q: What do you think is the future of
the accounting profession both in the
USA and internationally, especially
after Sarbanes-Oxley?
A:
Wonderful question. According to the
institutions in the world that claim to
represent the accounting profession, the
accounting profession is primarily
defined by the public accountants whose
emphasis is in auditing and financial
reporting, we think that is a massive
deception and it is really incorrect.
Ninety percent of all finance function
workers including the auditors work
inside organizations, what I am saying
is ninety percent of the entire
community of which the auditors are one
group work inside organizations where
the appropriate education certification
does not include auditing and financial
reporting particularly. So what we see
is that there is going to be a very
heavy effort to redefine the word
accounting throughout the world so we
can move the emphasis onto legitimate
ethical reporting in accounting by
finance workers who work inside
organizations. When a CFO signs a
statement, that should be good enough
for the law.
Q: In the US, university
degrees/accounting degrees mainly
prepare students for the CPA
designation. How does the IMA fill that
gap?
A:
Only not mainly (laughs). Well, there
are some really interesting questions
about the legitimacy of that, in fact
the legality of it. We’re already
working with the American Accounting
Association, the Association of
Government Accountants and a variety of
other organizations to bring balance
into the education system. Recently
we’ve done a research document that
looks at all the previous reports done
by various agencies that clearly
demonstrates that the American
educational system is being controlled
by the State licensing boards and by the
accounting firms who pour money into the
universities and actually distract
people from their true career paths.
What we know is that 50 to 80% of all
young people who enter the accounting
firms after coming out of the accounting
undergraduate degree leave the
accounting firms and go into industry
where their education and certification
doesn’t address the type of work they
do. So we’re working at it.
SHRM Key Themes and Top Ten Trends
-
Code #A012
The following
findings are from the 2006 SHRM
Workplace Forecast, a survey of key
issues and trends influencing the
workplace and the HR profession. Based
on a random sample of 1,232 HR
professionals in the United States, the
report is divided into eight broad
categories including demographics,
economics, employment, international
issues, politics, technology, society
and the HR profession itself.
Key Themes and Top Ten Trends
Though a number of different issues made
it to the top of the list of trends,
three key ongoing themes appeared to
underlie the majority of the top trends:
-
The rising cost of health care.
-
The implications of increased global
competitiveness.
-
Demographic changes, especially the
aging of the workforce and the
impending mass retirement of the
baby boom generation.
As in 2004, the rising cost of health
care was the trend that HR professionals
felt would have the largest impact on
the workplace and the HR profession. Not
only did the rise in health care costs
in general reach the top of the list,
but several related issues, such as the
threat of health care costs on U.S.
economic competitiveness and the
increase in the number of individuals
and families without health insurance,
were also among the most important
trends HR professionals identified.
Global competitiveness was another
underlying force behind several of the
top trends in the survey, with the
increased use of offshoring rising to
the top of the list as second most
important
trend—a big climb from the 2004–2005
SHRM Workplace Forecast. Global
competition is highlighting the economic
disadvantage of increased health care
costs in the United States compared with
other countries, especially emerging
economies such as India and China. It is
also creating the need to get as much
value as possible from fewer employees,
leading to a growing focus on
productivity. Overall, global
competitiveness appeared to be a much
more important trend in 2006 than it was
in 2004.
For HR professionals, the most critical
demographic issues appeared to be the
large numbers of baby boomers slated to
retire around the same time and the
implications this trend had for
leadership, knowledge retention and
generational issues in the workplace.
However, at the same time, many
predicted that baby boomers would
approach aging and retirement in a new
way, which could result in many baby
boomers staying in the workplace in some
capacity and many others remaining
active in other ways, such as
volunteering.
Several of the trends are closely linked
to one another. The best example is the
rise in health care costs, which could
encourage the increased use of
offshoring to countries where costs are
much lower, the rise in the number of
individuals without health insurance and
the drive to reduce health care costs
through increased expectations of
employee productivity. Similarly, the
loss of a large proportion of workers
due to retirement could also encourage
the use of offshoring, while an aging
population could increase employee
caring responsibilities thus leading to
a greater demand for work/life balance.
Many trends indicate a potential rise in
employees’ feelings of insecurity
through more intense global competition
for jobs, more individuals without
access to health insurance and fears
about
data security, identity theft and the
vulnerability of technology to attack or
disaster. These circumstances could lead
to a reexamination of the relationship
between employers and employees,
especially employer obligations to
provide benefits such as health
insurance and pensions, as well as the
importance of feeling safe and secure to
employee job satisfaction.
Top Ten Trends Overall
-
Rising health care costs.
-
Increased use of outsourcing (offshoring)
of jobs to other countries.
-
Threat of increased health
care/medical costs on the economic
competitiveness of the United
States.
-
Increased demand for work/life
balance.
-
Retirement of large numbers of baby
boomers (those born between 1945 and
1964) around the same time.
-
New attitudes toward aging and
retirement as baby boomers reach
retirement age.
-
Rise in the number of individuals
and families without health
insurance.
-
Increase in identity theft.
-
Work intensification as employers
try to increase productivity with
fewer employees.
-
Vulnerability of technology to
attack or disaster.
Source:
Schramm, J. (2006) SHRM Workplace
Forecast. Alexandria, VA: Society
for Human Resource Management.
For more information on the SHRM
Workplace Forecast and HR trends go
to
www.shrm.org/trends
Becker at the 17th World Congress of
Accountants -
Code
#A017
Becker CPA Review
was one of the sponsors of the 17th
World Congress of Accountants held on
November 13-17, 2006 in Istanbul
-Turkey. Becker along with Morgan
International also exhibited their
products and services at the World
Congress and attendees had the
opportunity to meet with Mr. Steven Chou
(Becker’s Director of International
Business Operations) and Mr. Fadi Ganni
(Managing partner of Morgan
International). Over 4,000 people
attended the event, organized every four
years by the International Federation of
Accountants (IFAC).
The WCOA offered
attendees, participants and exhibitors a
variety of workshops around the theme:
“Generating Economic Growth and
Stability Worldwide”. Mr. Paul Sharman,
President and CEO of the IMA (Institute
of Management Accountants), served as
Chair for “The Business Reporting Model
of the Future” workshop. The many
influential speakers and Chairs at the
Congress included standard-setting
bodies, global organizations and
academics from all around the world.
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