Vaco Los Angeles recently facilitated the career development workshop for the Financial Executives International members interested in the topic of hiring trends and how to make their skill sets "recession proof." We explored the past decade of hiring trends, observing that we are still in an all-time high unemployment rate today over any time since 1999. However, unemployment for specialized roles in accounting and finance personnel remains lower than the overall national unemployment average.

The good news is hiring for financial professionals has seen a marked improvement this year over 2009 and 2010 per the increased demand Vaco sees for executive searches and special project consulting engagements.

After breaking out into three different groups of executives for optimal participation, the teams aptly named themselves: Dodgers (because it's a team and, hey, they were finally sold by McCourt); FinPro (short for Financial Professionals); and Aero (because we had a powerful and influential aerospace exec in the group). We then competed on which team could create the most helpful tips and comprehensive list of "how to recession proof your skill set." 

The outcome was as follows:

Team FinPro gave the following tips: learn global treasury management; stay up to date on technology; gain Sarbanes-Oxley documentation and testing experience; and learn areas such as IFRS, Financial Risk Management, fraud prevention, training and public speaking. Finally, get new certifications, network, use social media, hone your expertise, and join relevant organizations.

The Aero team said that systems such as TM1, Cognos, SAP, Oracle, etc., and certifications as well as Big 4 experience coupled with writing well, solid communication skills and Excel skills would best safeguard against turnover and downsizing.

Lastly, Dodgers had the winning advice when they approached this topic more specifically with tips as follows: gain experience in multiple industries to hedge your bets; learn new technologies and multiple financial systems; and enhance your existing job by adding value to your company, whether by streamlining or using your network to create cost effective service solutions with banking, CPAs, insurance and leasing. Keep your network intact and be visible. Volunteering is also important to give back. You never can tell how volunteering will open new doors.

We then discussed how a Deloitte survey of CFOs ranked success factors vs. how they felt CEOs ranked success factors. Several members shared with me later that becoming ill or having excessive travel time away from family were not worth it to be judged as a success or failure.

Ultimately, finding an equilibrium or a balance to life is necessary to sustain a happy and enriched life.