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Can a qualified treasurer move easily to another discipline?
You’ve completed your exams, dreaded them, survived them and on occasion maybe even enjoyed them. But what next?
The traditional treasury career path is opening up before you - a treasury manager role, perhaps, which could see you reviewing cash management structures and advising on risk management issues while helping the group treasurer with the latest bond issue. Good news if that is what you want. But what if you decide that a traditional treasury role is not for you?
What now?
The first step is to assess your career until this point and decide where you want to go if it’s not to be within banking or corporate treasury. Your options are probably much wider than you think. The treasury qualification has given you a variety of experiences including financial analysis, taxation, business law and corporate funding. They also offer a unique exposure to the assessment and management of corporate risk, which is an essential pre-requisite for both general finance managers and future business leaders. The result is that this can help unlock many doors across industry, banking, corporate finance and consultancy.
I have found that candidates who have completed AMCT have an excellent understanding of financial markets that new employers value highly. Many employers feel that the technical study demanded by the AMCT enables an understanding of the theories behind many principles of financial management, which means that successful candidates are able to deal with difficult business problems more effectively. Similarly, those well-versed in risk management are extremely marketable and are likely to make an immediate positive impact to any group finance team.
You could, at this stage, use your recently developed treasury expertise as a springboard to explore opportunities that would have previously remained closed. A role within accounting / financial control where you can use broader balance sheet analysis skills to understand corporate risk and accounting may be a possibility. Another route may be a consultancy role for either an accounting firm or a treasury systems supplier - allowing you to assess the problems facing a range of different treasury clients and develop solutions for their problems without working within a specific corporate treasury role. At the very least, this type of role will allow you to explore other parts of a business, which could help you decide where your future career lies.
Finding a new job in a different sector need not be complicated. One you have identified who you want to work for and the role you are seeking, the quickest route is to approach the organisation directly with a strong covering letter and a well-written CV, explaining why you wish to work for them and the difference you will make to their department and organisation. If you don’t feel comfortable with this approach or need more advice before following this path then speak to an experienced recruitment consultant who knows the client or company well and who is able to give constructive advice on how to initiate discussions.
Another obvious place to look is the Financial Times Appointments section on either a Monday or Thursday. The pages are full of general finance vacancies that may hold appeal if you are looking for a role outside mainstream treasury.
The AMCT treasury qualification helps open a number of doors but, as always within the topsy turvy world of treasury recruitment, it can be a bumpy ride. Don’t be put off, keep persevering - that next job is out there for you somewhere!MR |
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