CFO Resume: Samples and Writing Guide

A Chief Financial Officer (CFO) is the key to a company’s success. As a CFO, you are the leading role of the company’s finances and financial reporting, and you should assess financial opportunities and risks, set financial goals and budgets, and lead lower-level financial managers and accountants to optimize the company’s profitability.

Since CFO is crucial to a company’s financial performance and operations, most recruiters set a high bar in the recruitment process. To apply for a CFO position, you should have a well-written CFO resume and cover letter to showcase your professional capability and experience to stand out from a ton of competitors.

Below are 6 essential steps to follow while writing a Chief Financial Officer (CFO) resume.

Generally, recruiters will ask applicants to provide a CFO resume or a CV in the recruitment process. Hence, applicants need to understand the differences between these documents.

CV stands for “Curriculum Vitae,” which refers to “course of life” in Latin. It’s generally a 2- or 3-page long document describing the genuine and throughout course of the applicant’s professional background in detail. It contains the applicant’s work experience, education background, publications, or accomplishments. 

Unlike a CFO CV, a CFO resume is a 1-page overview of the applicant’s background regarding your work history, educational background, or projects that are relevant to the requirements of the opening position. 

In general, there are 4 commonly used formats for applicants to choose from.

1. Chronological resume format 
   

A chronological CFO resume lists down the applicant’s work history in reverse chronological order.

2. Functional resume format 

It’s a skill-based CFO resume focusing on the applicant’s professional skills rather than work experience. A functional resume shows the applicant’s skills instead of job titles in the first section.

3. Hybrid/Combination resume format 

A hybrid/combination CFO resume is a hybrid of the chronological resume and functional resume. It shows the applicant’s skills in the first section, then lists down the work experience in reverse chronological order. 

4. Targeted resume format 

A targeted resume is a resume tailored for a specific company or opening position. It’s highly recommended since recruiters are more likely to be attracted by a tailored CFO resume instead of a generic one. 

To create a targeted resume, applicants should research the company and job opening to understand what recruiters are looking for. Despite the huge amount of time and effort it takes to finish a targeted resume, applicants are more likely to get an interview for it.

By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail. Before writing the resume, applicants should look up CFO resume templates and examples to understand the industry terms and trends, as well as figure out their strengths compared to others. Cakeresume and Linkedin are frequently used websites to search for CFO resume examples.

A tailored CFO resume is more attractive to recruiters compared to a generic one. Apart from the opening position, applicants are highly suggested to research the industry, company, and the department of the position to tailor the resume and increase your chances of getting an interview.

When receiving application documents, a CFO cover letter is the first to come into a recruiter’s sight. Hence, it’s crucial to craft a cover letter to briefly explain your professional background, personality, and reasons that make you a good fit for the job.

Before submitting your documents, it’s recommended to proofread your CFO resume and cover letter to minimize errors. Applicants could use online grammar and spelling checkers like Grammarly and GrammarCheck to check for errors and polish words.

Below are 8 standard and optional sections to put on a CFO resume.

Section 1: Resume Profile (Personal Information)

A CFO resume profile provides a summary of an applicant’s information like full name, job title, email address, location, and phone number. 

Applicants are also suggested to list LinkedIn URL, personal websites, and social media accounts on CFO resume to share more about your work.

Section 2: Resume Headline

A CFO resume headline is a title summarizing the whole resume. Applicants could use strong, catchy words and outline their greatest achievements in this section to show their value.

Section 3: Resume Summary

A CFO resume summary refers to 2 to 3 sentences outlining an applicant’s work experience, academic achievements, or skills to show why they’re qualified for the position.

Section 4: Resume Objective

A CFO resume objective means 1 to 2 sentences introducing the applicant’s career goals. It helps the applicant capture the attention of the recruiter and showcase their passion.

Section 5: Skills

A CFO resume skill section shows the applicant’s professional skills that are relevant to the opening position.

Section 6: Work Experience

A CFO resume work experience section shows the applicant’s work history including company names, job positions, job duties, project achievements, and work period. 

Section 7: Education

A CFO resume education section lists down the applicant’s educational history including the highest degree, year of graduation, majors, and year of graduation. You could add the GPA to the CFO resume as well. 

Section 8: Additional Information: Certifications, Projects & Hobbies

A CFO resume additional information includes professional accomplishments like certifications, projects. Applicants could add hobbies or interests when they are relevant to the opening position or the company.

Below are 5 useful tips to writing an impressive CFO resume that makes you stand out from competitors.

A CFO cover letter is the key to distinguish yourself from other competitors. Below are 5 standard parts for a successful CFO cover letter.