With fewer senior level openings within finance at many companies, it’s important to put your best foot forward when applying for those spots, career coach Ron Monteiro told CFO Dive in a recent interview. 

“We create our own destiny,” said Monteiro, who wrote the business culture book “Love Mondays!” and has held finance positions at such companies as the soup and snack maker Campbell’s and the packaged food giant Kraft-Heinz. “The market is softer than it was, but there is still opportunity everywhere.” 

Indeed, the so-called period of the “great resignation,” which saw a surge of workers quitting for better paying gigs in 2021 and 2022, has evolved into what some have called the “great stay,” as businesses have pulled back on hiring, according to a recent CNBC report. 

But a solid resume remains an important part of seizing opportunities that are out there. Monteiro said that finance leaders’ resumes should tailor the resume to the specific position they are seeking, highlighting relevant experiences and competencies particular to the job. This keeps the resume concise, which is important to employers. A cover letter is still relevant as well, he said, as it is an opportunity for candidates to paint a specific picture of how you can help the business. 

“If you were [an employer] interviewing me, I’d research your company, your role, what your pain point is, and structure the resume and cover letter towards that,” he said. 

It’s also important for the resume to reflect both technical skills and soft skills, as today’s finance leaders are expected to be able to handle both routine accounting tasks and broader business strategy. Monteiro said companies want to see skill sets for cross-cultural understandings of the entire business, not just the finance side. 

While the best time to demonstrate soft skills is the interview, Monteiro says they can also be highlighted in the resume. He doesn’t recommend adding “great listener” or “really funny” to a list of skills, but job candidates could link to a speech they gave or a podcast interview they did. What’s important, he said, is showing yourself “in action.” 

He added that pretty much every company today is seeking AI skills, so people should highlight their expertise with the technology if they have it.

Then too, it’s important to remember that technology has dramatically transformed job searches. While job hunts “used to be a primarily resume and cover letter approach, send it over to HR to process and they make a decision,” today there are many more paths. 

Networking is one of those additional routes that have become more important. Monteiro noted that almost all the senior level jobs he’s had over the years came not from responding to job postings, but having conversations with the right people. This also serves to directly demonstrate the soft skills companies are looking for today. He added that knowing someone on the inside of the company (who you may have met through networking) can also help bypass the AI algorithms that serve as a first filter for applications. 

Then there is social media, particularly LinkedIn, something Montiero himself said has been effective in generating business for his own company. Utilizing LinkedIn takes time as you need to establish yourself as a subject matter expert there, but with enough persistence, and enough high quality content, people will start noticing you, he said.

“Build yourself as a subject matter expert and people will start noticing if the content is good. … Develop that expertise and become known as the person in this space,” Monteiro said. “Then people will start finding you.”