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Your Job Opportunity
- Do they understand the job opportunity and your company?
- Are they asking intelligent questions about the job and the job opportunity?
- What appeals to them about this particular opportunity and what do they bring to the table?
- What value will they immediately add to the company? How will their experience benefit the company?
- What does their compensation history look like and does this opportunity make sense from a financial perspective? If not, why would they take a pay cut? (No one ever wants to take a pay cut no matter they tell you and they must prove to you logically why it makes sense.)
- Does the commute work for them and have they had a similar commute for many years? Check to see how long they lasted the last time their commute was this long. (No one wants to drive farther regardless of what they tell you and again it is on them to prove to you why they would do that.)
- What concerns do they have about moving forward in the process and is there anything that would keep them from being interested in the opportunity at this point? Do they have questions for you and/or anything else they would like to share with you?
Job History
- Is the candidate currently employed full time?
- What is their reason for considering a new opportunity?
- What are their reasons for movement over the last several years?
- Specifically, what made them leave each position and move to the next one?
- Does the candidate have good tenure in each of their last few positions?
- Have they progressed nicely in their career into higher-level roles?
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Communication
- Do they communicate extremely well?
- Are they high energy?
- Do they speak loud and clearly or are they timid and reserved?
- Are they more introverted or extroverted?
- Do they make you pull questions out of them or do they explain their ideas fully, take cues from you, listen at the right time and speak at the right time?
- Do they speak English fluently, smoothly and eloquently?
- Is it easy to understand what they are saying, and do they make sense when they are talking to you without you having to put effort into understanding them?
- Do they talk too much, or are they overbearing?
- Do they say things that are politically incorrect?
- Do they speak abrasively or harshly?
- Do they speak negatively about a former employer or co-worker?
- Are they likeable and were you able to develop good rapport with them?
Personality
- Are they irritated, or do you sense any frustration when you ask them to explain things in detail or ask them difficult questions?
- Do they stay positive and embrace the questions or do they seem distant, cold, short, frustrated, or irritated with you for asking them?
- Ask situational questions specific to the opportunity
- Describe a time when you made a bad decision that impacted your team in a negative way and what the outcome was
- Tell me about a time that you and a board member did not agree
- What was one project you never finished for the President/CEO
Industry Experience
- How does their experience align with the position? Do they have experience within the same industry?
- Have they been at companies that are the same size, smaller or larger than your company?
- Is there anything relevant to this position that they have not done and if so how will they get up to speed quickly and overcome those challenges? Have they faced this situation in the past?
- Do they meet all requirements on the job description? Ask them which areas they are stronger in and which areas they are weaker in and then ask for specific examples of their experience.
Professional Accomplishments
- What have they done to improve the margins and profits at their current company? What financial strategies have they implemented that had a positive outcome at their current or past company? Give specific examples.
- How have they contributed to the bottom line growth in previous companies? Specifically, what steps were taken to increase annual revenues? Improve EBITDA? Add locations?
- What are some examples of improvements that they have made?
- Automated processes?
- Increased efficiencies by implementing new ways of doing things?
- System or software implementations?
- Have they increased profits? How?
- Have they increased growth? How?
- Have they cut costs? How?
Management Style & Experience
- Have they managed a group of people about the same size or larger?
- What is their management style and would their employees have good things to say about them?
- Do they lead with an iron fist or is it more of a respect situation where they are a natural leader and people want to follow them? Give specific examples.
- Are they a hands-on manager? Give examples
- Are they willing to get down in the trenches, roll up their sleeves and do whatever it takes? What would their employees say about them? What would their supervisors say about them?
- How do they feel about working overtime or coming in on weekends?
- Do they leave at 5:00pm every day? Do they leave at 6:00pm every day?
- How do they handle having too much to do?
- How do they prioritize their workload?
- How do they do in a stressful chaotic environment?
- How do they deal with difficult people?
- Are they able separate their emotions from situations that are challenging and are they able to respond in a cool, calm, collective way?
- Do they like to understand the details behind every process or are they a higher-level manager who likes to manage from a distance relying upon their staff? How do they stay sharp and up to date if others are completing tasks for them?
- Are they heavier on the accounting side or the finance side and if so what will they do to make up for their weakness on the weaker side?
- Are they proactive in their execution? Do they constantly look for new of opportunities, increasing efficiencies, cutting costs and producing more, etc. What new ideas will they bring to the table?
- Are they more of heads down accountant or more of a higher energy outgoing individual?
- How do they handle difficult staff and how do you determine how much time to spend mentoring them before letting them go?
- How do they build relationships with other team members, investors, employees, board members and is there a difference in how you interact?
Software Experience
- Do they have extensive experience with the ERP or accounting system that the company utilizes?
- Do they have experience with a similar system?
- Are they comfortable learning a new ERP?
- What ERP systems have they used or implemented?
- How is their technical ability with computers, systems, etc.?
- What were some of the challenges they faced when implementing a certain ERP system?
- How do their technical skills (computer skills) rank with those of other CFOs that they know? Are they the “go to” person to answer questions and help others or are they the ones that are technically challenged?
Private Equity/ Venture Capital/ IPO/ SEC
- Do they have significant capital raising experience, and do they bring PE/ VC contacts with them?
- How extensive is their network of contacts should the company find itself in a position of need to raise additional funds?
- Do they have private equity/ venture capital experience, where/ when?
- Do they have technical accounting and strong financial reporting experience?
- Have they ever filed an IPO, are they SEC experienced, 10K, 10Q?
Cowen Partners, a leading CFO search firm, has a strong record of identifying and recruiting Chief Financial Officers for public, private, and non-profit organizations. Contact us to discuss recruiting an exceptional CFO for your company.
Check out some of more industry-leading guides, resources, and case studies below to discover how Cowen Partners can assist with any CFO search and recruiting needs: