Planning for success: navigate your career in finance

It usually takes about three years to complete an accountancy qualification, longer if you are also working in a demanding finance department, which is typical nowadays. Either way, it certainly involves hours of study, hard work and sometimes a significant financial investment if you are self-funding.

If you make the wrong career move, it can become close to impossible, or at the very least much more difficult, to reach your original career goals. This can happen in less than just three years working in the wrong position.
Over the years I have seen a lot of career mistakes made, some obvious, some less so, but I hold a firm belief that by following these simple tips, the vast majority can be avoided. 

1. Get on the path you want to follow as soon as you can

Once you know what you want to do, work your way into that type of business as soon as the opportunity arises. The more you build the relevant experience in a business similar to that of which you are hoping to one day hold a senior position with, the faster you will get there. Getting the right experience is key – chase the experience not the money, the money will come as your experience allows you to progress. You can make the jump from a smaller business to a larger one, and more easily a larger business to a smaller, but getting on the right track sooner usually saves time in reaching the top. 
Once you are on track and headed for the job you want, make sure you gain a breadth of experience along the way. This is particularly important in the SME world, where a finance director (FD) will be more involved in the wider business operations. Experience is absolutely essential if you would like the opportunity to take on the role of managing director (MD) after proving yourself a valuable FD. The extent of your working knowledge of the business will ultimately determine whether you are the top contender for the role, rather than your success in managing the company’s finances.

2. If you are not sure of your path keep your options open

Not everyone has a long-term view of where they want to go in their career, although most people I meet do want to have the opportunity to progress. As such, keeping your options open to give you a variety of opportunities for your next move is a useful ploy – but how do you do it? If for example, you are unsure whether you want to work in SME’s or larger businesses long-term, it is easier to move from a larger business to a smaller one, so initially, favour a move into a larger company. If you have been working in a highly focused financial reporting position and you know you want the option to do something different longer-term, aim for a broader role. Any position which has some element of operational or commercial business partnering to it will provide you with experience that will allow you to move more easily into different roles. 

3. Unless you want to be a specialist - don’t specialise

It doesn’t take long for the market to regard your CV as one that is aligned to a particular part of the finance function, be that financial reporting or internal audit. Either way, if you stay too long in one area it will make it more difficult to do something else. 
Typically after working just two consecutive roles in a particular function (on average about six years of your career), you will start to find it more difficult to access different finance roles in the market. This is especially true of statutory finance reporting roles, heavily focussed internal reporting roles and internal audit. On the other hand, business partnering and analytical roles in finance are seen as more transferable into other types of business partnering or analysis based positions.

4. If all else fails do what you love

If you really don’t have a plan, and you’re not too worried about the sort of role you work in, then my advice would be to do what you enjoy most in an environment you like working in. We all spend too long at work to not be happy with what we do, so try and pick the area of finance that you engage with the most (or perhaps avoid the areas you find least engaging). Base any career moves on how much you enjoy the work you are doing and the organisation you work for, rather than what would be the best move to achieve a particular career goal.  
Clearly there are many other areas that factor into career decisions we make such as family considerations, commute, flexible working etc. and the weight each person places on these will vary a great deal, making each situation somewhat unique. Often these factors can only be weighed up by the individual and those directly affected, but when combined with the four points above, you have a framework for thinking and decision making which will allow you to navigate your career path as effectively as possible.   
If you would like any advice or to explore your career options, please get in touch.
John Halton
T: +44 161 829 0491