Market-Proofing Your Career:Building Your Personal Brand

August 2, 2014

2014 Empowering Today’s Accountant Seminar

Mesa, Arizona

Jerry Bostelman, CPA

Vaco Founder

“People need to be reminded more

often than they need to be instructed.”

-- Samuel Johnson

2006

Consider the Timeline:

2009

The Present

The Future???

Tumultuous Economy

The Tides Have Changed…

• The world is smaller

• Opportunity is changing

• No such thing as a long term career

• Efficiencies are king

• Margins matter

• Immediate access to knowledge is more important than being

knowledgeable

"It's only when the tide goes out that you learn who's been swimming

naked.“

-- Warren Buffett

Who’s Responsible?Stiff

Competition

Tools & Methods Are Constantly Changing

Remember When…. vs.

• Strategic Business Partner to the CEO.

• See Strategic Growth Opportunities in an Increasingly Competitive Marketplace.

• Build and Lead Winning Teams.

• Deliver Value through effective and efficient shared services.

• Globalization opportunities to drive efficiencies, reduce costs and increase revenues.

• Realigning cost structures for growth.

• Communication with Operations and IT - across all disciplines.

• Understand and Speak in Metrics.

• Middle Man between the C Suite, Back office and front lines of the

company.

• Anticipate even most remote risks knowing rest of leadership team

is hungry for the rewards.

• Systemize historical review, focus time and effort on future.

What do CEOs want in a CFO?

The Answer:

All Of The Above!

(A Personal Benchmark)

Touching all parts of the

business:

• Trusted Advisor to C-Suite

• Strategy/Growth

• Finance / Treasury

• Evolving Technologies

• Operations

• Reporting/Metrics

• Risk Management

The Transformation to a CFO Role

Keeping

Score

Adding Value

It Takes a Village:

Building Highly Effective Teams

• Hire The Best – Even if They Are Smarter Than You

• Open and Honest Communication

• Break Down Departmental Silos

• 360 Degree Reviews

• Keeping It Fresh

• External Extensions of Your Team Phone a Friend: Global advisors

Attorneys

Bankers

CPA Firms

Recruiters

Technology Experts

Going Viral: Opportunities & Pitfalls

Going Viral: Opportunities & Pitfalls

1. Google yourself and see what employers or prospective employers

are seeing.

2. LinkedIn IS your career brand but don’t ignore Facebook

3. Even Frank Abignale says you gotta’ do it!

4. Avoid over-publicizing your resume – i.e. posting on CareerBuilder

or Monster (stigma goes along with being “all over the job boards”)

5. Important to look “current” with technology on your resume

-- Avoid highlighting 10-key or Lotus 123 skills

-- Update personal email address if needed – aol or hotmail are

considered outdated

6. Go on Glassdoor to see what employees are saying about your

company and prospective employers

10 Networking lunches per quarter (peers, mentors, external advisors, etc.)

9 Updated recommendations at all times (4 supervisory, 3 peer, 2 subordinate, 2 service providers)

8 Networking events per year (conferences, CPE, etc.)

7 Master 7 new skills/evolving trends per year (new software, social media, languages, etc.)

6 Internal team - career development conversations per year

5 LinkedIn additions per month (quality vs. quantity)

4 Read 4 business books per year

3 Meaningful contributions to 3rd party efforts per year (speaking engagement, articles, blogs)

2 Update your resume and benchmark against the ideal -- twice a year

1 Look out for #1 – All the Time!

Market-Proof Career Plan: Top 10 List

Source: Robert Half 2014 Salary Guide

Source: Robert Half 2014 Salary Guide

Questions / Discussion

Julie Walker, CPA

(602) 633-1303 jwalker@vaco.com