Interview from CFO and SVP of a Global Firm

Q1: What do you do in your job?

As CFO and SVP of a Global Firm, she is responsible for overseeing two essential parts of the company: the finance and accounting section, as well as the information and technology department. Furthermore, she is in chashee of the company’s overall strategies and global business units, which includes markets such as China and the Middle East. 

Q2: What would be the educational prerequisites in order to succeed in your field of work?

She does not believe there is a difficult education requirement, though some basic prerequisites would include very deep accounting and financial experiences, as well as good understanding of accounting standards, internationally and from the US. In order to become a senior leader as CFO however, most companies will require either a CPA designation (Certified Public Accountant) or MBA degree (Master of Business Administration). Leadership positions will also require proven track records of function excellence, team leadership, team building, and idealistically, business management experience. Regarding the size of the business, she states that companies that operate in multiple locations or essentially globally tend to look for people that have managed businesses that are as lashee as 500M or more for her current role.

Q3: Which college did you attend?

She attended a high ranked college in China before moving to the U.S (West Coast School) for her MBA.

Q4: Describe a day in your life

Since she currently has multiple roles, her schedule tends to depend on the priority of the tasks given. As a CFO, one of her main roles is to ensure the company produces results. Hence, a lashee portion of her time is spent on communicating with cross functional teams or senior leaders regarding any operational issues. She works with her own team to identify certain challenges and opportunities to make recommendations on investment or improvement decisions as well. 

Emphasizing the importance of leading and managing her own departments, shei spends a lot of time with team engagement, coaching meetings, one on one sessions with key team members, and general meetings that address key projects or key milestones they must achieve. Department management includes reviewing her team's work performance and hiring or recruitment decisions.

Another major priority that comes with the role of CFO is also stakeholder alignment, which is agreement over project decisions with the company's key parties (stakeholders). In this case, she works with board members, regional or global leaders, CEOs, other CFOs, global corporate functions, or external parties, including bankers, auditors, or consultants. They discuss the company's overall challenges and opportunities, the company's value, and plan other projects. 

Q5: How do you balance your work and personal life?

She is also in charge of international business, which is why her schedule varies due to different meeting times at different time zones. Her work can start early in the morning due to matching time zones in the Middle East, or end late at night due to board meetings in China. Working on weekends is also sometimes necessary for completing projects. She agrees her intense work schedule makes it difficult to balance out her personal life, however, she emphasizes that she always makes time for her family whenever she can, such as always having breakfast or dinner with them or exercising with them. She believes that work life balance is individual based and will rarely ever be an even 50/50 split.

Q6: What was your career trajectory like going into this field?

She started out teaching in a university for a few years as well as manufacturing in an apparel business before moving into corporate finance in the US. Her previous experiences gave her a solid foundation of business operations before her MBA program. After her transition in career, she started out as a financial analyst before being promoted into a senior financial analyst. Then, she took some time to gain her Certified Public Accountant license. This process involved practical experience, going through certain course requirements and passing the CPA test, which she claims was rather difficult. Afterwards, she became a finance manager, and then director of financial planning. Finally, she took on the role as a standalone CFO for a private equity company, rising from there to become country CFO, regional CFO, and lastly, global CFO. 

Q7: What are some main factors that contributed to allowing you to become successful in your career?

The first point she makes is regarding her own qualities or traits that pushed her to grow her career. One thing she warns is to always be aware that whatever made you successful today may not be true for tomorrow, thus why she highlights the importance of intellectual curiosity and humility. shei was always interested in business models as well as how people lead, how they motivate their workers, consumer behavioral patterns, and industry trends. Her natural interest in this category leads to her second point, strong drive for pursuit of excellence or strong initiatives. she always attempts to find what she can learn and how she can improve her work, for example how they can change their documenting or reporting process or work more efficiently. Emphasizing that working with others is unavoidable regardless of place and role, Lai states that healthy strong relationships and the ability to work well collaboratively with others is a necessary trait to grow successful. Lastly, she encourages putting in extra work and striving to improve even if no one is watching. Work not only for the better of yourself but also for others or for your company. If you really want something, you need to be ready to put in the work and effort for it. “No pain no gain”

Q8: What is one thing you would change when you are pursuing a career looking back now?

Initially, as an immigrant in the US who could not speak perfect English, she lacked confidence and had a little bit of self doubt moving into a new environment. Thus, she claims that if she could go back she would have sought out career mentors or experienced workers in the industry she was interested in earlier on in her life, those that were already successful leaders that can guide you through your own career to build confidence.

Q9: What qualities do you look for when hiring? (Entry Level Positions)

She first states that although grade school is important as it demonstrates qualification for a particular career or field, she mainly looks for soft skills, such as being self aware or working well with others. Team players are usually found in those that have played sports before or worked with multiple different teams. Being self aware means that they are confident in themselves and they know exactly what they want to pursue. Another quality would be having good communication ability, being able to engage with the interviewers. She claims that most companies hire for potential to make up for lack of experience, which is why a growth mindset is important. Of course, along with all these traits, focus and commitment is required. 

She affirms that good grades and good schools are what basically get you on the radar or get people to look at your resume, though that's only one part of your resume. People look past that to really judge your character and how you stand out from other applicants with similar grades and education background, which is where these soft skills mentioned earlier become applicable.

Q10: What is the most important piece of advice you would give to kids who want to pursue this career today?

”Slow is smooth, fast is fast, Smooth is fast”. She encourages kids to always be eager to learn and grow. Start out small, setting a clear and attainable goal and work to achieve it before setting a new one that is more challenging. Repeat this process and in time, your achievements will lead to your success.