Last Diwali, Anish was really excited. He was moving into a new organisation. Cutting-edge industry, a challenging role, excellent money…. Okay, he knew he had to relocate alone to Mumbai. His family was not willing to leave their home in Indore to live in an unknown city, while Anish worked 12-hour days.
By the time he went home for Christmas, Anish had an appointment to meet his old boss in Indore to see if he could return to his earlier job. He was questioning his judgement in accepting the new role.
Sounds familiar? Why do job applicants often face disappointment soon after accepting a ‘job of their dreams’? Here are a few common myths and errors that a job seeker should assess before pursuing a career switch. Continue reading
Resumes have two objectives:
- Ensure you get called for that interview
- Subtle indication of your personality / soft skills
A hiring manager is very busy. He has 50 resumes to sift through, deal with multiple meetings and manage regular business all at the same time. He is going to ‘glance’ through each resume which lands on his desk. You want to make sure he gets excited, wants to read it in a bit more detail and YES… invite you for an interview.
A resume also reflects your personality. While reading a resume, subconsciously first impressions are being formed:
Structure – demonstrates thinking skills
Flow – logic Continue reading
Qualified as a Chartered Accountant – Congratulations! What are your next steps?
Do you plan to follow up your qualification with an MBA?
Do you want to become a CFO?
Is finance a passion?
Plan and strategise to ensure you apply for roles that match your career aspirations. Some of the roles in the Finance function of a manufacturing or services organization include:
Follow the technology adopted by the organisation to maintain books of account. Questions that will help you gauge the company and job profile are:
- Is there any foreign reporting?
- Does the company use SAP or another ERP?
- Are the accounts decentralised? Who are the auditors?
Analyse the balance sheet to understand the company’s approach to treasury.
- Cash rich – investment focus
- High debts – read about the bankers, understand the fund raising techniques approached by the organisation.
Reporting to the management.
Ask the interviewer about the quality of MIS output. Does the MIS team get good opportunities to present directly to senior management?
Read through the Notes to Accounts attached to the Balance Sheet. As an applicant for a tax role, it would be useful to understand if the company is facing tax litigation. The nature of business, source of earnings or location of a plant may offer the company tax benefits. Complete your research before you meet the organisation.
General finance and accounting policies followed by the organisation
It deals with sources of finance, how the organisation funds itself and the capital structure.
To get a deeper understanding on:
How to select a good role, prepare for an interview and build a successful career in the appropriate area of finance, write to: email@example.com
On average, most people spend 10 waking hours, 5 days a week at the workplace. If you are in a job that matches your personality and goals, the likelihood of enjoying a long, successful and fulfilling career increases exponentially. So, your strategy on how you choose a career is highly critical. Here are some pointers on what to look out for to find that “right fit”.
Personality – What kind of person are you? Are you aggressive or execution oriented? Or do you prefer to work behind-the-scenes? The job profile and day-to-day activities should match your personality type.
Skills – The job should offer two facets – leverage your existing skills and provide opportunities for you to enhance them. Simultaneously the job should allow for learning new skills. A challenging and stimulating environment will create a hunger to grow rapidly.
Compensation – Does the job provide a fair salary? Most companies describe which percentile fits the salary range offered by the organisation. A career consultant would be able to guide you on this factor. Understand company policy on flexible working arrangements, leave and basis of promotion. During the euphoria of being hired, a candidate sometimes does not dwell on the details. Later this can become a common issue that causes misunderstanding and is the basis used by an employer to calculate performance bonus.
Culture – The culture of the organisation and management style play a critical role on the office environment. Company values must align with your values. Enquire about the working style – is there a lot of team participation, do employees work in silos. Match the working environment with your personality type.
Future – Where can I go from here? An important factor to be considered while making a career decision centres on the likely future an individual has in the proposed role.
General factors – Growth opportunities, a good training program, a well-defined mentorship program are positives that a prospective employer can offer a potential employee.