CAREER SHIFT. FROM ENGINEERING TO FINANCE?

It’s never late to make changes. It may seem too enthusiastic to believe that a person even in one’s 40s could switch to another profession and succeed in it much faster than even a younger colleague. The question is how to make a significant shift in your life and not to make your life worse?

There are always risks concerning a career change, but people always strive for something more appropriate to their needs and desires even if they have to get used to completely different field at first glance.

The road from an Engineer to a CFO

It’s true that in any company a CFO (Chief Financial Officer) is a second person after the president (CEO) as a CFO governs its financial system. A CFO is like brains in a human body whereas other organs of the company also stand out and prove their significance, still they can be substituted to another transplant. A good CFO is valued and tolerated whatever character whims this person has.

A CFO’s responsibilities

Job Description duties to this position are so impressive that you begin questioning how anyone can survive through such an ordeal of various tasks? However, this complexity of responsibilities is surprisingly well-managed by many engineers. And it turned out that such a shift helped most of them to succeed and build their career from a completely new start.

Basically, a CFO is required:

• to control, support and report about the company’s present and past financial situation providing accurate information to employees, shareholders, creditors or analysts.
• to report to a CEO about company’s expenses, income and investments.
• to oversee all company’s financial activities and capital structure in terms of equity, debt and internal financing.
• to monitor the cash flow and present operating budget.
• to suggest improvements for the analyzed company’s financial weaknesses.
• to supervise finance and accounting departments and ensure accuracy and completeness of all financial reports.
• to provide economic strategy and forecast possible risks.

What do engineers have in common with CFOs?

It’s already proven that experts in both professions have the same thinking and set of necessary skills.

• Strategic. Both are taught to define the problem and find the best solutions to it.
• Analytical and factual, objective, systematic and outcome-oriented.
• Decision-making, argument-proving, a scientific approach to target achieving.

How to switch from engineering to a Chief Financial Officer (CFO)?

Having ascertained in how well engineering matches with finance, you need to make exact steps to begin a gradual shifting from your current position!

1. Get CPA and MBA certificates.
2. Broaden your operational and business skills.
3. Get ready to deal with investors. Find out their basic needs and preferences.
4. Open yourself to innovations in technology to understand its benefits and possible risks to the financial system of a company.
5. Try yourself on one of controlling positions to understand how the complexity of duties works.