9. Improve your business acumen

Simply put, business acumen is understanding how your company makes money and achieves its goals and objectives. However, it is fundamental to be aware of how external factors within your industry can also have an effect on your company and its mission.  

There are several ways you can build and demonstrate this skill:  

  1. Know your company's vision and how your role will feed into reaching this goal.   

  2. Have an awareness of the stocks and shares of your company and their competitors. 

  3. A core understanding  of your business functions i.e. sales, marketing, operations, logistics, HR, Finance.  

  4. Identify issues within the sector, could these have an impact on your company and can you help them overcome these issues?  

Publications such as Forbes, The Economist, and The Wall Street Journal can be used to help you build your awareness of any external factors that could impact the finance sector and your company.  

Advice from Selby Jennings:

Our recruiters are often sharing a lot of market update and insights on their social media platforms, or you can talk to one of our consultants who can share updates with you directly.