The current rough state of the economy doesn’t mean there will be no finance jobs. It just means that the finance jobs will be fewer, and their competition will be steeper. So, if you are a finance professional and happen to be looking for a finance job in these tough economic times, here are three steps that, if properly taken, can push you ahead of the competition for the few finance jobs available.
1. Update Your Skill Set.
Unique circumstances call for special skills to sail through them successfully. Most professionals looking for top finance jobs have adequate skill sets for better times, but they might be considered inadequate in the current circumstances. But, to beat your competitors in the search for top finance jobs, you will need skills they don’t have. Having a unique skill set gives an employer a reason to consider you for a career in preference to another candidate. This applies whether you are looking for the top finance jobs in the financial sector, middle office finance jobs in governments and non-profit organizations, or even the more ordinary commerce and industry accounting jobs. The unique skills in question need not be anything fancy. For example, a certificate in project management (which you can earn in a couple of weeks) puts you ahead of another candidate without such a certificate, even if you have the same basic qualification.
Similarly, suppose you are looking for commerce and industry accounting jobs. In that case, you might be well advised to approach the potential employer with a basic understanding of the business or industry you are considering working in. Armed with such a basic understanding of the underlying industry or business puts you at least one step ahead of another equally qualified finance expert who lacks such knowledge.
2. Work on Your Resume.
Your resume’s presentation can make a great difference in your search for top finance jobs and is likely to influence the employer, even before they look at its contents. You might consider enlisting the help of a professional resume service to help with your resume presentation. Remember, the number of otherwise qualified candidates who get shoved out of the recruitment process simply because of poor resume presentation is huge – ensure you don’t fall for the same trap.
3. Consider enlisting the help of a finance recruitment agency.
Many employers are increasingly turning to recruitment agencies for their staffing needs to reduce the workload involved in the recruitment process. This is especially true for executive jobs, like the top finance jobs, whose recruitment process might involve some head-hunting and which employers might feel uneasy doing themselves, preferring to delegate it to recruitment agencies instead. Many employers are also increasingly turning to these finance recruitment agencies even for jobs that don’t necessarily involve head-hunting, such as commerce and industry accounting and other middle office finance jobs. This means that anyone looking for any finance job is best advised to at least deposit their resume with one of the major finance recruitment agencies. These finance recruitment agencies usually charge nominal fees for their services, and the services they provide are very often worth what they charge.