Published in Accounting and Business
Just because you’ve made CFO or partner, don’t assume that your career has hit the ceiling. Your next step might even be a move away from finance, says Sally Percy
What’s great about a career in finance is that you can reach the top and still go on to do other exciting things. The two most obvious career options open to you if you are a CFO in industry are taking the CEO or managing director job and/or becoming an independent non-executive director with a portfolio of board directorships. If you are in practice with a decent-sized firm, you may be able to secure a senior leadership role within the partnership, and you could also pursue a non-executive career.
Undoubtedly you have some interesting opportunities for progression once you have made it to what other people would already regard as a very senior role within finance, but what do you need to do to seize them?
If you’re a CFO hankering after the CEO’s job, you can take heart from the fact this is a very well-trodden path. According to Robert Half’s 2016 FTSE 100 CEO Tracker, over half (55%) of chief executives of the UK’s largest companies come from a finance background. And there are a number of very good reasons why this should be the case.