Taking FEI From Job to Job.

Today's financial executives manage their careers more actively, assessing where they are and planning for what's ahead. Like their role in business y are sowing the seeds now for harvest later.

Today, when companies like eBay become household names in months, change is the only constant. In the January/February Financial Executive, we asked GE Capital Services CEO Dennis Dammerman what's the single biggest challenge facing financial executives. His answer: the need to be flexible. In his words, "Flexibility is the key to success in the global environment ... anticipate change, recognize it, think of it as opportunity, and be quick to assess the risks that accompany it." That's sound career advice.

FEI is a natural place for members to turn for help in managing their careers. Our diverse membership from companies of all sizes, from all industries, provides a great networking resource. But managing your career is more than networking and job-hunting. It's about performing a critical self-assessment, understanding the skills you need to develop and actively seeking the experience you may be lacking. Financial executives need to pay particular attention to broadening their general business experience, improving their communication skills and becoming more strategist than tactician.

That said, how can FEI help members excel in their careers? First off, we need to vastly improve, both on the national and chapter levels, our career services offerings. In a recent member survey, 48 percent rated career services as very important or extremely important as a membership benefit. But only 17 percent said they were very satisfied or extremely satisfied with FEI's career services. So there's plenty of room for improvement; that's our impetus for change.

The Internet will drive what we do in transforming career services by expanding our offerings and reaching out to more members. To me, one of the more critical needs is to deliver job opportunities online. We posted our first jobs in May at www.fei.org and plan to offer more. Members will soon have the capability to sign-up for an e-mail service that will alert them to new jobs as they're posted. We'll also allow members to post their professional profile online, so search firms can get in touch with qualified candidates. We're automating the process for enrolling in the national career services program, too. By year-end, members will simply register online via FEI's web site. We're also looking into an online "career coach" offering members an instant "report card" from a professional career consultant on identifying marketable skills and how to develop them.

Providing links beyond FEI to other career-related services and information will also be a big part of what we offer. Right now members can access several offerings via the FEI Careers Center at www.fei.org - including additional job postings, outplacement services, executive coaching services and more - some for free and others at a discount for FEI members. And we'll continue to add services and links to the center.

Today's "portable" financial executive stays in the same position three to five years on average, so members need FEI for career support. I welcome your input on how the Institute can help you. E-mail me at [e-mail]