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The average Senior Financial Executive changes jobs about
once every two years. I’ve met with a number of senior financial
executives recently who are either in transition, or are about to be.
Creating a resume is often a painful experience for financial
professionals. Its tough for someone who is trained in thinking about the
logical financial details of running a business to change mental tracks to
practice creative writing. Many do a poor job with their first attempt. I
have noticed a common theme on their resumes.
Financial executives usually do a good job of displaying their historical
contributions. They tell about their responsibilities, and sometimes major
projects they have completed, but that’s where the story ends. There is no
clear path to what value they can bring to their next career opportunity.
I like to see executives build a bridge to their next job. The financial
executive must create a clear and compelling picture to the ‘consumer’ who
may be their new boss. Executives need to show what problems they are
prepared to solve in their new role. It’s not enough to display history
and expect the reader of the resume to have a clear understanding of what
they can do for the new company.
I like to view a resume as an advertisement. As with print advertising,
the goal is to catch the reader’s attention quickly. The average resume
receives only about 15 seconds of scan time by the reader. The primary
reason why a Hiring Manager looks at a resume is because they have some
type of problem that they are trying to resolve. Why not let them know
right up front whether or not you are interested in solving their problem
and whether you are prepared to solve their problem?
I believe the place on the resume for this description should be just
below your name and contact information. The heading could be something
like “Key Strengths” or “Areas of Expertise” or another heading that you
feel comfortable with. Under the heading should be at most 8 or 10
specialty areas, each described in about 3 or 4 words, max. Arrange these
descriptions in two columns for the optimal attention grabber. If you do a
good job with your descriptions, the Hiring Manager will be more likely to
review the remaining parts of the resume.
The rest of the resume would then flow under the heading of “Experience”
or the like. This is where you support the areas described above. Some
general tips:
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Avoid hiding your key accomplishments in long paragraphs.
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Use bullets to describe key accomplishments beginning
each bullet with an action verb.
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Include dates of employment for each employer
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Include all of your prior employers
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Include dates of your College and Post-graduate
education.
I just
received a note from a CFO in transition who said “I started sending out
the new resume format on Monday and I've already had 3 positive inquiries
to the 11 that I sent. I never thought that the format would make that
much difference but this is the best response I've gotten in quite a
while. Thank you for bringing this to my attention”
If you would like to see a sample resume, email your request to me at
Advantage Talent Inc. at
mlevine@advantagetalentinc.com.
Happy hunting!
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Renewal offers are
usually inferior to what new tenants are getting.
Many tenants assume their lease will be renewed on reasonable terms and
accordingly leave a perfunctory amount of time for the renewal to be
handled. Then it turns out that the landlord's draft proposal involves
substantially higher costs than anticipated. Because there isn't enough
time to determine if a better alternative can be negotiated elsewhere,
such tenants are stuck.
At the very least, you can bet that as a renewing tenant, your landlord
will offer terms inferior to what is being offered to new tenants now.
After all, new tenants are in the market shopping around. To attract new
tenants, the landlord must be willing to match the competition in terms of
rent, free rent, building systems, communications capability, security
systems, electrical capacity, lobby appearance and other factors. But if
you are a tenant interested in a renewal, the landlord presumes – and
tends to be right – that you’re not shopping around much. The landlord
figures you’re mainly concerned with avoiding the cost and disruption of a
move, and he can probably keep you in the building without offering you
nearly as much as he offers a new tenant.
If you assume the cost and disruption of moving are so high that your only
good option is to renew your lease, it will become your only option. You
will be a captive market, and you could easily miss substantial benefits
your landlord offers as inducements for new tenants.
Here's a proven strategy for maximizing the value of any renewal -- even
if you are 100% committed to staying at your current location.
1. Use time to your advantage
You need to start early enough so you have time for all the normal phases
of site selection, financial negotiation and analysis, lease negotiation
-- plus time to walk away from a bad deal and continue negotiations
elsewhere if need be. This means if you plan to renew at your current
location, for a lease in the 20,000 sq. ft. range, you should be actively
assessing your options at least 18 months before your target
move-in/renewal date.
2. Understand your options in the marketplace
If you don't have a good idea what lease terms other tenants in the
marketplace are getting now, then you have no way of determining whether a
landlord's proposed renewal is a good deal or a bad deal. Your landlord’s
offer could easily be inferior to what tenants around Atlanta and across
the country are getting, in which case it would qualify as a bad deal even
though it might be an improvement over your original lease.
3. Use your inside knowledge of your current building and/or landlord's
operations to formulate the terms of your renewal deal.
As a long-time resident of the building where you plan to renew, you have
a key advantage that can help you secure improved lease terms. You know
the physical characteristics of the building and how it has functioned in
the past. If you have always been dissatisfied with the way the common
area lavatories look, elevator waiting times, how the HVAC system
functions, etc., your advisor should be specific about these issues in
negotiating your lease renewal. Seek specific quantifiable improvements.
Calculate a reasonable dollar value for each improvement to be made and
stipulate a penalty or consequence if changes agreed upon are not made
within an agreed-upon time period.
4. Analyze your current lease in terms of business and operational terms
that have been inadequate, too costly, or not operated as you expected and
intended they might.
5. Let your landlord know you are actively seeking alternative solutions
for your space needs.
Preserving good relations with a current landlord is often cited by
tenants as a reason for "going it alone" when it comes to handling a lease
renewal. The unfortunate effect of such a strategy is that it reinforces
ownership's belief that you have no options and don't take the prospect of
lease negotiations seriously. It's a clear sign that you are prepared to
settle for whatever is offered.
Handling a lease renewal should be treated like any other business
operation -- the management team makes a reasoned assessment of all
relevant options and selects the best fit. It's important to let ownership
know that this is your approach to whatever terms they might offer -- or
expect you to accept in a lease renewal.
6. Understand what it will cost your landlord if you move out.
A common stumbling block in renewal negotiations is the undeniable fact
that no matter how a good a deal you will get by moving, you will also
incur costs that may be substantial -- the cost of the physical move, new
telecommunications wiring, perhaps costs of building out their new space
that go beyond what ownership will supply, new stationery, perhaps new
furniture, etc.
Yet the landlord, too, will incur substantial costs if you leave for more
favorable terms elsewhere. For instance, potentially lost revenue,
promotional costs, brokerage commissions, infrastructure refurbishment,
demolition costs and build-out costs. In every situation, these costs can
be quantified with a high degree of accuracy, and should be part of
discussions with landlord to maximize the value you get as a renewing
tenant.
The differential in these costs -- what a landlord will spend to attract a
new tenant, and what they will spend to retain you -- can be substantial,
and easily exceed a year's rent. With an astute tenant representative and
a properly structured negotiation -- some portion at least, of these
savings, can be used to further reduce your costs should you elect to
renew at a current location.
7. Be prepared to move if you can't get market-rate terms.
Ultimately, if your analysis of the market, taking into account all
relevant factors shows that a substantially lower present value occupancy
cost will result from moving; this is probably the option you should
select. Moving for marginal savings – 2% or 3% -- might not be warranted,
but if projected savings are 5% or more, this is likely to be your better
option. No matter how specialized your facility, no matter how convenient
its location, no matter what the cost of build-out, if a comprehensive
site selection process, financial and lease analysis shows you can get
better terms elsewhere, it may be time to move on.
Managing occupancy costs is a critical corporate responsibility. When
landlords understand that lease renewals are not a "sure thing" and when
tenants regularly subject lease renewals to an objective, market-driven
process, the result is likely to be reduce occupancy costs across the
board.
James Fitzgibbon (jf@bmcrs.com)
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Part 1 – HR Knowledge Management
HR is a fascinating challenge. HR
staff, if you have any, is usually focused on people issues (hiring,
training, and employee satisfaction). No one argues that hiring right,
training properly, and keeping motivated employees is critical to
corporate success.
To manage these areas, high people skills are required. HR staff resources
are usually consumed with the tyranny of the urgent and are stretched very
thin. If you, as the CFO, also have HR responsibility, then you know how
overwhelming the task can be; particularly in the area of regulations and
employee relationship management.
The dilemma is getting worse due to increasing litigation (2,000% increase
since 1995) and employment regulations (40,000+ pages of federal
regulations and thousands of constantly changing state and local
regulations). If your company has multiple sites in multiple states, the
challenge can be daunting.
Businesses need a comprehensive, cost-effective HR solution to meet their
HR obligations without diverting time and money from their core business
operations. Traditional approaches are to hire more junior HR staff, to
retain attorneys, and/or to hire consultants. Certainly each traditional
approach has its place – and high cost.
There is a low cost alternative to help you better manage employee
relations and issues, reduce the risk of HR-related lawsuits and audits,
and help you grow in a sustainable way. It combines the convenience of the
web (24 hours a day 365 days a year) with information and resources at
subscribers fingertips, personalized advice (real HR pros through email or
phone), and trusted expertise (average of 20 years HR experience for each
professional).
In essence, this solution is an outsourced HR Service Center.
Resources includes employee handbooks, HR forms, Job Descriptions,
terminology glossary, State and Federal laws, and >2,500 frequently asked
questions. Access to HR Pros is an option. One HR Director told me that
this service would save him 90%+ of the HR cost of attorneys and
consultants. The Finance Director of the Wood Group stated, “…this is just
what I needed.” Jerry Cross, CPA & Peer Review Editor, Texas Society of
CPAs stated, “The handbook, alone, is well worth the subscription fee.”
Why am I covering this topic? At less than $900 per license this is the
most cost effective solution that we have found. Other readers may know of
equal or better solutions – and I would be interested in knowing about
them. When it comes to managing HR costs, there are now additional options
that can help keep you legal, in control, and within a tight budget.
If you are interested in knowing more, email me at
Jim.Villwock@IEMcorp.com.
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