Here are the keywords and skills that appear most frequently on recent Chief Financial Officer job postings. In other words, these are the most sought after skills by recruiters and hiring managers. Go to Sample Templates ↓ below to see how to include them on your resume.
Remember that every job is different. Instead of including all keywords on your resume, identify those that are most relevant to the job you're applying to. Use the free Targeted Resume tool to help with this.
Does your resume contain all the right skills? Paste in your resume in the AI Resume Scan ↓ section below and get an instant score.
Paste your resume below and our AI will identify which keywords are missing from your resume from the list above (and what you need to include). Including the right keywords will help you get past Applicant Tracking Systems (i.e. resume screeners) which may scan your resume for keywords to see if you're a match for the job.
Go through the Chief Financial Officer posting you're applying to, and identify hard skills the company is looking for. For example, skills like Corporate Finance, Finance and Business Strategy are possible skills. These are skills you should try to include on your resume.
The following word cloud highlights the most popular keywords that appear on Chief Financial Officer job descriptions. The bigger the word, the more frequently it shows up on employer's job postings. If you have experience with these keywords, include them on your resume.
Here are examples of proven resumes in related jobs and industries, approved by experienced hiring managers. Use them as inspiration when you're writing your own resume. You can even download and edit the resume template in Google Docs.
Experienced financial analysts may have opportunities to advance into more senior positions. Senior analysts develop high-level financial strategies for companies and help lead project teams. When you’re applying for this position, your resume should reflect an extensive work history in finance as well as leadership experience. Emphasize any prior leadership roles as well as promotions you’ve earned in the past.
To become a senior financial analyst, you’ll typically need several years of experience in finance-related positions. Focus your resume on jobs you’ve held that are directly relevant, and make sure to also highlight your achievements in these roles so hiring managers can see proof of your skills.
Senior financial analysts need to be leaders who can confidently make decisions, guide teams towards success, and positively influence companies. Having promotions on your resume tells recruiters that you’ve excelled in previous jobs and that you’ve been willing to take on increasing levels of responsibility and challenge.
Junior financial analysts typically collect and analyze data, create reports, and make policy recommendations based on their findings. While you can get this entry-level job with little to no prior work experience, you’ll be a more competitive candidate if you’ve studied business, finance, economics, or a related field in school. Use your resume to emphasize your educational background, and don’t forget to also list any relevant internships you’ve done.
If your work history is fairly short, it’s best to lead your resume with your educational history, especially if you majored in a relevant subject area. If you have a bachelor’s degree in business with a minor in analytics and management, mention that up-front to show hiring managers that you’re starting with at least some background in the field.
You may not have held many jobs at this stage in your career, but if you’ve interned in financial analytics, make sure to highlight your internships on your resume. Treat them as you would treat any work experience, adding bullet points to explain what you achieved (such as “generated 10+ new clients through cold calling”).
Real estate financial analysts gather market data, make projections, and offer recommendations to companies about opportunities to invest in property. For this position, your resume needs to show that you are adept at researching, analyzing data, making forecasts, and mitigating risk. Having an understanding of real estate is also a plus, although you don’t need to be an agent.
Being promoted by a former employer - especially if you began as an intern - tells recruiters that you’ve shown outstanding progress and potential. Highlight the additional responsibilities you took on (and what you accomplished) as you rose through the ranks at your previous company.
Real estate finance analytics requires specialized knowledge and skills. To show that you’re the right person for the job, tailor your resume to the position by highlighting your past experiences in real estate, analytics, and other financial roles. Make sure to include hard skills (such as financial modeling, investments, and asset management) in your skills section.
The CFO is the top finance position in major companies and the most senior leadership position in the financial industry. As a CFO, you’ll be responsible for your company’s financial actions, including cash flow, financial planning, taxation, and new business ventures. You’ll also be tasked with providing cost-benefit analysis of initiatives across different departments, meaning your resume needs to highlight soft skills like strategic communication alongside technical skills.
To land an executive-level role, you’ll need to demonstrate steady career progression. You can show promotions on your resume in two ways — by listing the job titles separately under one company heading, or by emphasizing higher responsibilities in your bullet points. Even without a formal promotion, you can use your accomplishments to demonstrate career growth.
With a long enough career under your belt, your past roles may include some outside the finance or business leadership sector. While it can be tempting to include everything, your resume doesn’t need to be a comprehensive overview of your entire job history. Focus on your roles specific to finance, or those demonstrating transferable skills if you’re a career changer.
If you’re applying for CFO positions, you’ll need to demonstrate skills in financial analysis and reporting, forecasting, portfolio management, and mergers and acquisitions. You should also emphasize a strong background in auditing or accounting, including a business or finance degree and often a professional finance or accounting qualification like Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA), Chartered Institute of Management Accountant (CIMA), or Certified Management Accountant (CMA) accreditation.
When it comes to your resume, first impressions count — and that goes for your bullet points, too. Start your accomplishments out on the strongest note by using action verbs at the start of each bullet point. Starting your sentences with words like “drove,” “maximized,” and “orchestrated” highlights the specific role you played in each of your achievements.
If you’re applying for a CFO position, your skills section needs to include hard finance skills including auditing, forecasting, and private equity. Don’t be tempted to clutter it with unrelated skills, no matter how impressive they are — keeping your skills list short and sweet keeps the focus on what you can bring to this job in particular.
E-Commerce is a growing trend, which means that some companies — particularly larger companies — are hiring specifically for E-Commerce CFOs rather than lumping it in with the regular finance department. As an E-Commerce CFO, you’ll generally need a traditional finance background alongside technical know-how, communication and marketing skills, and experience specifically in E-Commerce. On your resume, emphasize your past E-Commerce roles and highlight transferable skills through your bullet point accomplishments.
When applying for a job, it’s always a good idea to list the exact job title at the top of the resume. Where it’s applicable, list past job titles in the same format — for example, listing E-Commerce Chief Financial Officer or E-Commerce Executive Vice President rather than a slightly more generic job title.
If you’ve picked up a short course or extra qualification that’s relevant to E-Commerce, you can list that briefly in an additional information section at the bottom of your resume. This section should only be a few lines and should be restricted to the move relevant skills or certifications, like technical skills and E-Commerce bootcamps.
Some popular Chief Financial Officer hard skills are Finance, Financial Analysis, Financial Reporting, Business Planning, Corporate Finance, Business Strategy, Accounting and Budgeting.
Depending on the job you apply to, skills like Financial Audits, Forecasting, Due Diligence, Mergers & Acquisitions (M&A) and Management can also be good to include on your resume.
While the keywords above are a good indication of what skills you need on your resume, you should try to find additional keywords that are specific to the job. To do this, use the free Targeted Resume tool. It analyzes the job you are applying to and finds the most important keywords you need on your resume.
It is personalized to your resume, and is the best way to ensure your resume will pass the automated resume filters.
"My free resume review was truly eye-opening. I found out why I wasn't getting interviews and exactly what to add to get past resume screeners. I've already had way more callbacks since I used it. I recommend it to all my friends who are job searching."
Thank you for the checklist! I realized I was making so many mistakes on my resume that I've now fixed. I'm much more confident in my resume now.
