ITB December 2024/January 2025 - Magazine - Page 51
CAREER
PROSPECTS
Career progression needs to be tackled from many angles and
there’s no one method for getting ahead. Here’s a few hacks to try.
WORDS BETH WALLACE
T
he career landscape is evolving, especially
for accounting and finance professionals.
Career coaches, recruiters and tech
specialists offer their take on how to land
a new job or promotion.
1. UNCOVER THE ‘HIDDEN’
JOBS MARKET
Recruitment specialist Richard Triggs believes
people can find (and land) jobs that are not
advertised, or even create new ones for themselves.
His top tips? People should think about their
employers of choice, identify who the decision-makers
are within those organisations, then approach three
every day for a meeting. “That should result, in my
experience, in somebody achieving a new job within
a maximum of 12 weeks,” Triggs says.
When speaking with potential employers,
he recommends jobseekers ask about “pebbles
in their shoe” and how they could help to resolve
them. “Solving problems and taking away people’s
pain is what they want,” he says. “If you can
demonstrate that through your key achievements
and transferable skills, whether that’s in an interview
scenario or in a ‘Can I have 15 minutes just to ask your
advice about the market?’ scenario, that is how you
find these opportunities.”
2. ELEVATE YOUR TECHNOLOGY
MARKETABILITY
Automation is changing the role of finance
professionals, but how can people leverage
technology to benefit both their organisation
and their career?
According to Stephannie Jonovska FCPA,
chair of CPA Australia’s Digital Transformation
Centre of Excellence and head of finance operations
and transformation at Bluescope, people should
first determine their objectives, then build some
foundational skills that could be leveraged in AI
use. “Understanding the basic principles of data
governance, data analytics and management; as
well as some basic coding is probably the way to go,”
she says.
Next, build practical capability by putting your
AI knowledge into practice. “You may need to put
CAREERS intheblack.cpaaustralia.com.au 51
