Stay on top of local business award events...

There are a number of organizations that celebrate the success of DFW businesses. Use these events in several ways:

1) Winners of the events will link directly to your network... who do you know who that works there or is an advisor to the winner. What a great excuse to call somebody and network.

2) Generally, these events have a public meeting event to celebrate the winners. Pay the $30 door fee and go there to network.

3) These companies are moving the market. It's important to stay on top of the movements.

Several that come to mind are:

The Dallas 100, sponsored by SMU.

The Best Places to Work by the Dallas Business Journal

The Top 25 Most Dynamic Companies published by the Addison and North Dallas Corridor
Magazine.

Others are reported in the Dallas Morning News and the Dallas Business Journal all the time.

Look out for them.

Keep track of changes to important web sites...

A friend recently introduced me to www.changedetection.com. You can sign up for a free account and cut/past URLs to websites that are important to monitor. Change Detection monitors the website and sends you an email when changes are made to the site.

It's a good way to keep track of target company career opportunity pages or investor relation alerts. I'm sure there are many other good uses I haven't thought of yet as well.

Keep up to date on the technical stuff...

I know a lot of senior financial people who are great at what they do, but have not stayed current with technical accounting and tax matters.

I'm not suggesting everyone should be a technical guru, but I do suggest that all financial folks (especially CPAs in industry) maintain a CURRENT and CONSTANTLY DEVELOPING awareness of technical developments. It's one of many ways to avoid becoming old.

The easiest way to do this is to subscribe to one of the Big 4 newsletters that generally come out weekly via email. They are generally well written and have meaningful headlines. Deloitte has a good one called Heads Up that can be subscribed to HERE.

Crossroads... What do you really want to do???

This is my first abstract post to date, but I think it's important...

OK. So you're in a search (voluntary or not) and you have a tremendous financial background... What are you going to do???

Many folks I have met default to trying to find something like their last job. This may not be in your best interests. Take a moment and consider...

- The Fortune 1000 environment you are accustomed to may not be an option.
- Do you really want to be a CFO, controller, etc. again?
- What are your goals (beyond the obvious of getting a pay check)?
- What kind of environment will get you up in the morning charged and ready to go?

Before you launch the search, spend a considerable amount of time thinking about this. I know more than a few folks who have gone down a search path that did nothing but lead to frustration and a drawn-out emptying of the bank account.

You're at a crossroads... What do you really want to do???

Are you networking???

Depending on your background and interests, there are likely hundreds of networking groups around. Pick a few of interest, contribute and try not to spread yourself too thin.

Below are some representative financial/business links that come to mind...

• Institute of Management Accountant - Dallas chapter
• Dallas CPA Society
• Financial Executives International
• Financial Executives Networking Group
• Association for Corporate Growth
• The Finance Forum
• Turnaround Management Association
• Texchange

Too much time spent searching the net...

Many job seekers spend WAY too much time searching the internet for job leads. Here's some bits of advice:

1. Use www.indeed.com. This site covers all the major job boards' postings.
2. Set up a daily email alert (aka agent) and check once a day outside normal business hours.
3. Beyond this, spend no more time on the job boards. That's more than enough.

Updated DFW Top 200 lists are out...

Today, the Dallas Morning News published it's annual DFW Top 200 guide. Be sure to take a read.

As I mentioned in an earlier post, it's an excellent resource for identifying target employers. It's also an outstanding tool for identifying networking targets with top law firms and private equity groups.

The lists can be viewed online HERE and are downloadable into Excel. You may have to register with the site before it allows access to the link.

DFW contracting / consulting landscape...

First of all, there is a decision to be made... contracting as an interim source of income or consulting as a career option. Only you can decide this one.

The firms below offer differing options to candidates.

If interested, be sure to check out the following sources for contracting / consulting opportunities. You will have to network your way into each group.

Tatum LLC- http://www.tatumllc.com/ - these guys are at the top of the “rent a CFO" food chain. My understanding is they admit qualified partners with an initial required investment in the firm. The association is an effective marketing tool to obtain CFO projects; however the firm takes a percentage of gross billings. If you have not been a seasoned CFO in the past, Tatum Partners is probably not a viable option on the executive services side.

UPDATE: Tatum LLC acquires The Controller Group. This acquisition is an interesting addition to the Tatum service offering. It appears this will be a platform for growth in Tatum's consulting practice (vs. traditional executive services).

vCFO - http://www.virtualcfo.com/ - Austin based company that opened an Addison practice several years ago and more recently in Denver and Seattle. Their model historically was different than most in that they offered long-term outsourcing solutions from office manager up to CFO for emerging companies who cannot yet afford a full time staff with appropriate credentials. Most vCFO employees will work on a handful of clients at once, so there is a lot of variety. vCFO now also does a considerable amount of project work helping companies with due diligence, carve-outs and other corporate/operational accounting projects. vCFO offers career and contract opportunities.

Jefferson Wells – http://www.jeffersonwells.com/ - A private firm that has a similar practice as The Controller Group, but JW has a national reach and offers a broader range of services. They have over 1,800 professionals and a international reach. As of this writing, JW has over 200 professionals in their DFW practice.

Resources Global – http://www.resourcesglobal.com/ - Formerly known as Resources Connection, it’s a public firm (RECN) that had its roots with Deloitte. Similar to Jefferson Wells and The Controller Group. RECN also has a national and international reach.

Accretive Solutions - http://www.accretivesolutions.com/ - Formerly Horn, Murdock, Cole. Competes in very similar markets. Overall, a credible player in the middle market and specialty service provider to area public companies. Accretive also has a recruiting arm. Offers both contracting and full time options.

DLc - http://www.dlcinc.com/ - A recent entrant to the DFW market. DLc appears to be going after the Fortune 1000 and large private equity backed firms and have their roots in Los Angeles. They claim to offer their employees employment contracts.

IMHO, contracting opportunities with Robert Half, Kforce, Q&A and other “agencies” are less desirable than with the firms noted above. A key difference is that generally, these agencies are simply providing bodies for projects versus planning and managing projects. Pay rates can be unrealistically low and they can expect you to provide your own tools. These can be worth exploring, but don’t put all your eggs in these baskets.

What's in an email address???

I notice that many job seekers use email addresses that are less than memorable, or in some cases, unprofessional. Some examples that come to mind are:

- jdoe4873@yahoo.com
- MaryAndPhil@mail.com
- HarleyRider@msn.com
- SnorkelDude@comcast.net

You get the idea...

Other people I have known have had to change email services in the midst of a job search, which leads to confusion and difficulty in maintaining connections (i.e. Comcast switching to Time Warner service).

There are a number of services available to solve this problem forever. I referenced www.godaddy.com above, because it is my personal favorite.

For a small annual fee, you can select your own domain name and keep it forever. The email can be reached anywhere you have an internet connection, you can use Outlook, Eudora, etc. if you choose, and you can forward any other email accounts to your new personal account so you only have to look one place for all your messages.

I suggest that you spend a little time thinking about what your email address should be. .Com and .Net addresses are always best and your domain name should be easy to remember and be readily identifiable to you.

IMHO, it's a nice way to maintain email address continuity and present a positive image in email communications.

More legal matters...

I tripped across this SITE a while ago.

It appears to have some good basic information on non-compete and confidentiality agreements along with several current articles on related topics. It's an advertisement for Hughes & Luce LLP, but you know what they say about free lunches...

Link to a very useful Accounting / Technology weblog

I recently became aware of a very useful Blog from a fellow accounting professional who posts about accounting and technology matters. His practice is in Tennessee, but his postings are relevant nationally. Check it out at this LINK.

This is my first post for matters outside the DFW community, but I thought there were some learnings that would benefit all.

Google Alerts...

OK. Now you have identified your target lists for employers, networking contacts and relevant organizations that you want to keep track of. Google Alerts will help you do this.

Simply follow this LINK Enter your first search term, your notification preferences and your email address. A email will be sent to you confirming the alert. After that, you can go back to the link, sign in and enter more search terms in a convenient table format.

Using this tool will make sure you are always aware of those who are important to your career and/or job search. Remember that current news items are ALWAYS good excuses to pick up the phone and network!!!

Hint: if you are setting up an alert for a person or a key term with more than one word, put the search term in quotes (i.e. "Lee Raymond") to limit the search results to only that specific search item.

Del.icio.us...

Here's another post about free internet tools...

I don't know about you, but I always find myself moving between PCs during the week... Home... Laptop... Client's computer... Library...

It's frustrating to move between PCs because you don't have access to all your links.

Enter Del.icio.us.

This site allows you to save your favorites on the internet and access them anywhere. It also allows you to manage your links by the nature of the sites (technical sites, investing, personal, etc.).

I stopped using Explorer "favorites" entirely after finding this resource.

Google... More than a search engine...

OK. I'll admit it. I spend too much time online. I'm constantly looking for ways to increase the quality of the experience while saving time. Google has released some very useful tools recently...

Google Reader is a RSS (Really Simple Syndication) tool that allows you to keep on top of selected news, blog posting and search agents. Most news and job search sites offer RSS feed capabilities. Simply register with Google Reader and cut / paste the RSS URL of sites you want to track into your Reader account. News items and search headlines will be displayed in the browser as they are published. No need to go to multiple web sites anymore to keep up with the news. Instructions on how to use can be found HERE.

Google Finance offers services similar to Yahoo Finance. I like the layout and content better than Yahoo, and the stock charts have some really interesting tools for analyzing stocks. On the right hand side of the page, Google Finance does a nice job of displaying news items related to stocks you have recently researched.

Little white lies...

This may seem a little obvious, but let David Edmondson's (former Radio Shack CEO) recent headlines be a lesson. His career is ruined over a false statement of fact that has probably been on his resume since he got his first job out of college (notice I didn't say graduating from college). See Radio Shack's press release HERE.

Do youself a favor and review your resume in detail for factual content. Are there facts that are unsupported? Are there some "white lies" embedded in your CV? Fix them while you still have a chance.

Don't forget your HOME work...

Lot's of high powered executives find themselves out of work from time to time... it's the nature of the biz.

Many senior financial executives in this position have a hard time dealing with the grind of a job search. It's easy to get too focused on your job search, your feelings, your money issues, your need to advance your career by securing that next important post.

Don't forget about your family. You need their support to get through this rough patch, but they need you more. Take time out daily to attend to your HOME work...

Signing on the dotted-line...

If you're a six-figure financial executive, you probably would do well to establish a relationship with an employment attorney.

Executives are required to sign various types of agreements related to their employment from time to time... employment agreements, non-competes, releases, exit agreements, etc. These are all important documents and generally require that you forfeit certain rights in exchange for something.

Do yourself a favor and always consider having them reviewed by a competent attorney before you sign on the dotted-line. It's a small investment considering the value of your career.

CFO Magazine

If you're a financial executive, and don't subscribe to CFO Magazine, you're missing out on a very good resource. It's a monthly periodical that does an excellent job of covering current topics related to industry trends in the profession.

Best of all, it's free!

I'm not sure what their exact criteria is, but if you are a financial executive, or are in a role that would likely make you a candidate for a financial executive role in the not too distant future, they will send you the magazine for free.

Much of the content can be found online, or if you're a news junkie, try out their RSS newsfeed to keep on top of current events.

Do you brush your teeth and comb your hair interview...

On a more controversial note, imagine a young recruiter from one of those national contingency firms calls you and tells you about a fantastic confidential opportunity they are working, but they can’t share any more information with you to protect their client. They probably found you via an online resume or a blind ad you submitted your profile to.

After a five minute discussion, you are told the next step is to come by their office so they can meet you.

I submit that if you have anything else to do with your time – don’t do it. Further, if you have nothing else to do with your time – still consider politely passing on the opportunity.

Keep in mind that these search firms focus on the $25-80k market and rarely represent clients seeking $100k+ financial executives. It’s simply a market they don’t play in.

Their motives may include:

- They have an interview quota to meet to keep their bosses off their backs.
- They want your contacts.
- They are looking for candidates to blanket prospect companies with hoping your resume will open the door for them to get new work orders.
- They hope they will be able to conduct a search for you in the future.

On the long-shot chance that they actually do have a solid executive search project on an exclusive basis, they will be able to provide more company information, will know the hiring manager and will be able to discuss specific search criteria. If not, it’s a waste of your time.

A good barometer for the DFW executive employment market...

Years ago, I observed that the newspaper in Singapore charted how long the line of steamships waiting to come in to port as an overall economic indicator. Fairly simple, in that a long line indicates a strong market.

For the DFW employment market, check out the Dallas Morning News business section each Sunday and watch how many pictures of newly appointed executives show up. Back in 2002, you might only see a handful. For much of 2006-2007 it was considerably stronger (normally about 30 announcements weekly). I just looked at it this morning (1/13/2008) and it was down to around 10. I hope that isn't a reflection of our near-term economy.

An added benefit is that if you see someone you know or an organization you follow, it's a great excuse to pick up the phone and network.

An unlikely source for leads...

Believe it or not, the DFW CraigsList community can be a good source for contracting leads. Any relevant jobs posted will show up in the daily Indeed agent I wrote about in an earlier post.

I have actually had some luck identifying contract opportunities by posting a blind profile in the resume section. Be sure NOT to list your name, phone #, email address or other identifying information, because there are some real nuts out there. A brief profile with keywords will do. People can email you through the anonymous email link that gets set up with the posting.

As long as you protect your anonymity, it can't hurt. You can always delete stray responses.

The People magazine of executive search...

Here's an interesting website to keep up with retained search activities on an international front. It's worth checking out several times a year to see what's shaking in the major leagues.

www.hunt-scanlon.com

More on The Dallas Business Journal...

I mentioned in a previous post the value of the Book of Lists published annually by this publication. I also mentioned the need to subscribe to the Journal if you plan to make a career in DFW.

Please also note that the DBJ offers FREE daily email notifications of major DFW business news stories.

Even if you subscribe, it's not a bad idea to subscribe to the email service.

The following link can be used to subscribe: http://www.bizjournals.com/dallas/

Thoughts on retained search recruiters...

These people are difficult to break through to, but if you already have, they are very important relationships to maintain.

Don't get discouraged. If and when they need you, they will want to talk with you. Otherwise, you may not get noticed.

Most of these firms allow you to register on their website. These firms can be most useful to the EMPLOYED executive who is open to relocation. Keep an eye out for networking contacts that may be able to arrange an introduction.

One thought... Retained search professionals are in the business of networking. If they call, and you don't return the call, THEY WILL REMEMBER! Always return their calls.

The list below covers some of the large international firms. There are thousands more who started with these firms and hung their shingles later in their career.

A.T. Kearney
Korn/Ferry
Heidrick & Struggles
SpencerStuart
Russell Reynolds
DHR International

Thoughts on contingent recruiters...

First of all, don’t make the mistake of registering with all of them, or you will run the risk of tripping over yourself in the market and wasting precious time.

Carefully select about three quality recruiters and stay in touch with them periodically. Network with some trusted colleagues to identify quality recruiters that specialize in your market and salary range. Keep in mind that most contingent recruiters don’t play much in the $100k+ range.

Also, keep confidential leads provided by recruiters to yourself. A breach in trust will eliminate you from consideration ever again with that recruiter.

Also, some contingent recruiters will try to get you to disclose your leads and/or interviews where you have been recently. DON’T offer this information. Best case scenario is that nothing happens. Worst case is that they try to “wedge” themselves into the action and create more competition for you.

Business cards are a must...

If you are actively in a search, don't leave the house without business cards.

www.vistaprint.com offers some nice looking cards that are dirt cheap (with their logo on the back), and just cheap if you elect not to have their advertisement present. Other firms offer similar services.

Some people have told me they think it is unprofessional to have the ad on the back. I personally don't think it matters.

One last point... stay away from the perforated business card stock that can be purchased at the local office supply store. They present poorly.

Should you use Execunet???

www.execunet.com is a good executive search website run by Dave Opton back East. It’s a paid service that runs about $30 a month.

It is most useful for the executive that is open to relocation. The site also has lots of career and career planning information and resources. Five years ago, this site was the gold standard. With much increased competition, explosive growth of the Web, blogs and RSS newsfeeds, the paid value of this site is becoming questionable.

Personally, I think it’s time for them to reinvent themselves, but they are still worth a look.

There are several other paid sites out there offering basically the same service. It probably doesn’t pay to join more than one of these services, as I’ve seen that most of the leads are generally posted on each site.

Is SOX going away???

See the link below to the December 8, 2005 press release from the SEC. The advisory committee on smaller public companies voted 18-1 in favor of eliminating and/or greatly reducing SOX 404 requirements for companies with market caps up to $700 million.

This group of companies makes up 80% of registrants!!!

http://www.sec.gov/news/press/2005-175.htm

UPDATED GUIDANCE: Below is an update from August 9, 2006 where the SEC seems to have come to grips for small, accelerated and foreign filers...

August 9, 2006 press release

Thinking of using a resume distribution service???

There are lots of paid resume distribution services out there. If you're out of work, it may be enticing, but DON'T do it!




In my opinion, here are just a few good reasons not to do it:

1. It's a waste of money.
2. It comes across as unprofessional.
3. If a contingency recruiter knows you have done this, they won't present you to clients for fear of not being able to collect a fee.

Don't forget Big 4 alumni programs...

Most of the Big 4 firms have a person (or department) that does nothing but provide placement services for client companies, alumni and/or “friends” of the firm. If you have Big 4 roots, you may want to go fishing to see if your firm offers this service. If you have prior relationships with partners or managers of firms from companies where you worked, by all means, give them a call to network.

Some networking / transition groups to consider...

I haven't attended either of these, but I understand they can be good resources.





Career Transition Workshop
Northwest Bible Church, Christian Life Ctr.
8585 Douglas Ave. Dallas, 75225
Mon 6:30 pm - 9:00 pm 6:00 pm [Orientation]
Facilitator: John McDorman, 972-516-4341

This service offers outplacement support for executives in transition. They meet Monday evenings and have structured programs similar to traditional outplacement services.

Career/Hi-Tech Connection
Preston Hollow Presbyterian Church
9800 Preston Rd. Dallas, 75230

This group leans more towards the <$100k networking, but it can't hurt.

Join the FENG and FEI if qualified...

www.thefeng.org

The FENG (Financial Executives Networking Group) is an outstanding resource for the financial executive with membership now totaling over 20,000 financial executives across the country and internationally. The site offers daily newsletters with good articles, tips and job leads. The Dallas chapter is particularly strong and meets monthly on the fourth Tuesday of each month. Your national FENG membership will automatically connect you to your designated local chapter.

You will need to be qualified to join, and will need a sponsor. Email me and I'll be glad to discuss.

P.S. Don’t forget FENG once you have secured a position. The group’s mantra is that when you find a job, you haven’t “landed” – you are simply between searches. Networking is more a way of life than a job search tool. Pay it forward and keep on networking.

www.fei.org

Membership to Financial Executives International is somewhat restricted and dues are significant. I believe you need to be employed as a Controller, CFO, Treasurer, VP Finance, etc. with a significant firm at the point where you apply for membership. FEI members are a top notch group of movers and shakers in the financial community.

Download target employer lists...

A good starting point for any job search is to develop a list of target companies. Two resources come to mind that are very useful.

1. The Book of Lists - published annually by The Dallas Business Journal (hint, the cost of subscription is cheaper than the book, and includes the book delivered to your door), and
2. The annual Dallas Morning News Top 200 lists.

The DMN lists can be filtered, searched, and downloaded to an Excel format at http://www.dallasnews.com/cgi-bin/2005/dfwtop200.cgi.

You may need to register with the Dallas Morning News website (free) to view the content.

Opening post

I've had the pleasure of networking with a lot of good people who have shared many tips, techniques and resources related to a job search. As a result, I've collected LOTS of information that may be useful to any senior financial job seeker in the Dallas-Fort Worth market.

This blog is dedicated to collecting and sharing this information.

I will attempt to make all posts as factual as possible and will state my opinion clearly where opinions are given.

If anyone who reads this has comments, suggestions, content, etc. I'd love to hear about it. Contributing credits will be given (unless you say you don't want it).

Go to the blog by clicking HERE

Hope this helps!