Here are the keywords and skills that appear most frequently on recent Chief Operating 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 Operating Financial Officer posting you're applying to, and identify hard skills the company is looking for. For example, skills like Financial Analysis, Financial Modeling and Mergers & Acquisitions (M&A) 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 Operating 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.
Typically second in command to the company’s CEO, the COO is a human resources C-level executive. Unlike the CEO, who serves as the public-facing leader of a company, the COO is focused on internal affairs, including payroll, training, recruitment, and legal services. To land a COO position, you’ll need the ability to take charge, to understand the company’s bottom line, and to communicate business needs to other departments.
Soft skills like leadership and communication are essential for executive-level positions, but they don’t belong on your skills list. Instead, demonstrate those qualities through your bullet points by including accomplishments like leading a team or overseeing a marketing campaign. If you can point to specific ways your leadership helped the company’s bottom line, even better.
If you have achievements that you can quantify, do so. This is especially true for C-suite positions that are expected to directly influence company outcomes. An accomplishment like “drove 150+ employees in a consumer company to grow revenue from $150M to $450M over 5 years” is far more impressive than a vague “led a large team to drive revenue.”
As a COO, you’ll need to demonstrate your ability to lead first and foremost. You’ll be tasked with ensuring the company’s administrative and operational functions run smoothly, which requires strong leadership, management, communication, and analytical skills. Your resume should also include essential hard skills, including accounting and finance expertise, change management, and business and marketing strategy.
If you’re at the top of your career, you’re likely to have more than a few accomplishments you’re genuinely proud of. That doesn’t mean you need to include them all — when it comes to your resume, more isn’t necessarily better. Try to narrow it down to 3-5 bullet points from your most recent positions and 1-2 from older ones. You can and should leave out your less relevant positions to keep your resume to 2-3 pages.
The old adage “less is more” applies to your skills section, too. Don’t be tempted to include every skill you have, or even every skill you think you might possibly need on the job — that’s a lot! Instead, identify the top skills named in the job description and opt for those.
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.
Some popular Chief Operating Financial Officer hard skills are Mergers & Acquisitions (M&A), Finance, Private Equity, Financial Modeling, Financial Reporting, Financial Analysis, Corporate Finance and Start-ups.
Depending on the job you apply to, skills like Financial Planning, Managerial Finance, Forecasting, P&L Management and Accounting 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.
