CFO Career Track: Can a CFO change industries?

CFOs, like many senior executives, get ‘pigeon-holed’ as they get more senior. In CFO Search, we continually hear these kinds of comments in our needs assessment process at the beginning of a Search:

• “We want our new CFO to come from a competitor”
• “The new CFO will need ___________ (fill in the blank) industry experience”
• “She should have only worked for entrepreneurial companies”
• “He must have IPO experience”

The challenge for any company as they begin their CFO Search process is to properly define what they really need. We still see too many companies treat this part of the search process as a waste of time. Usually, these are the same companies that hire wrong.

I came across this story in the CFO Journal (a new daily Wall Street Journal online publication) “Time Warner Looks Far Afield for CFO Pick”. The article talks about how Time Warner’s new CFO is not from their industry, but from financial services. It is difficult to be privy to the back room conversations that happened for this CFO Search, but I would like to believe that it was done well – not by looking just at the experience of the candidates based on what they have done before, but doing a proper assessment of what the company really needed, and matching the best possible candidates for the role.

My guess is that Time Warner and their Search Firm did their job.

For CFOs planning your career track, be aware that change is possible. You may not be stuck in that ‘pigeon-hole’. One of the challenges you face in career change is to truly understand what the company really needs from their next CFO. Do you own needs assessment. If you understand what the company needs, you will be able to sell yourself appropriately and increase your chances of getting that great new CFO role in a company and an industry that you may not have been considered for otherwise.