How FP&A Jobs Actually Get Filled: Networking for Finance Professionals

Two finance professionals apply for the same FP&A analyst role. The one with the stronger CV does not get the interview.

That can feel unfair. But after more than a decade in FP&A at Citi, Pfizer, and Coursera, and experience on both sides of the hiring table, I have learned something important: skills help you succeed in the interview, but relationships can help you get into the interview in the first place.

If you are sending application after application and hearing nothing back, your CV may not be the only problem. It may be that nobody inside the company knows you or understands how you think.

Networking for finance professionals is not about collecting contacts or asking strangers for favors. It is about building the trust that a CV cannot communicate.

Why a Stronger CV Does Not Always Win

Consider Neha and Karan. Both apply for an FP&A analyst position at a midsize consumer company.

Neha looks stronger on paper. She is a qualified accountant with three years of audit experience, advanced Excel skills, and a Power BI certificate. She applies through the company’s careers page alongside a few hundred other candidates.

Karan has a good CV, but it is not quite as strong. What he does have is a relationship with the FP&A manager. They met at a finance meetup six months earlier, and he has since engaged thoughtfully with her LinkedIn posts about rolling forecasts.

When a role opens, Karan is someone she already knows. He gets a conversation and an interview. Neha gets an automated acknowledgment.

Does that guarantee Karan the job? Of course not. Does it make Neha’s qualifications irrelevant? Absolutely not.

The difference is access. A referral opens the door. It does not replace the capability needed to earn an offer.

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Why FP&A Hiring Runs on Trust

A hiring manager can test if you know an Excel lookup quickly. The harder questions concern judgment, ownership, and reliability.

When I think about the risk involved in hiring an FP&A analyst, three questions stand out:

Can this person handle a difficult business conversation? For example, can they sit across from a sales director who has missed a target and keep the discussion calm and useful?
Will this person own the numbers under pressure? During budget season, assumptions change, deadlines tighten, and someone has to take responsibility.
Can I trust this person with a board pack? Technical ability matters, but so do care, judgment, and dependability.

A credible referral gives the hiring manager something a CV cannot: another trusted person’s experience of how the candidate thinks and works.

That is why referrals can carry weight in FP&A hiring. They help reduce uncertainty. But if your forecasting, financial modeling, or business partnering skills are weak, the interview will expose those gaps.

I would never advise choosing between skills and relationships. You need both.

You Already Use the Core Networking Skills in FP&A

Finance professionals often tell me, “I am comfortable with numbers, but not with people. I am an introvert. Networking is not for me.”

My response is to look at what an FP&A role actually involves.

You speak with the head of sales to understand the pipeline. You contact the plant controller to investigate a cost increase. You explain an unfavorable variance to a marketing director who would rather not hear it.

That is business partnering. And business partnering is relationship building inside the company.

Networking outside the company uses many of the same skills:

Curiosity: In FP&A, you ask why a number moved. In networking, you ask about someone’s work, challenges, and where you might be useful.
Listening: A good business partner listens for the real driver behind a result. A good networker listens for what the other person genuinely cares about.
Follow-up: You would not send a forecast and disappear. Relationships deserve the same consistency.

You do not have to become a different person to network well. You have to apply these skills beyond your immediate team.

There is another reason to treat your internal relationships well: they may become external relationships over time. The sales director you support today could be a CEO at another company five years from now. Your network grows as the people around you move.

Build Your FP&A Network With the T Model

Sending hundreds of random LinkedIn requests to recruiters, CEOs, and anyone with “finance” in their title can create a large contact list without creating a useful network.

A connection count is not the same as a network. A LinkedIn connection may not remember your name. A meaningful professional relationship involves someone who knows what you do and has a reason to vouch for you.

I use the T model to explain the two dimensions you need:

Breadth: The horizontal line represents people who can find you and understand what you do.
Depth: The vertical line represents a smaller group of people who genuinely know you.

Build Breadth With a Clear Target

Start on LinkedIn, but decide who you want to connect with before sending requests.

Choose an industry. Is your focus FMCG, SaaS, pharmaceuticals, banking, or another sector?
Identify five to ten target companies. Be clear about where you would like to work.
Find five to ten relevant people. Focus on people connected to the work you want to do, rather than senior titles alone.

For an FP&A career, relevant people include:

FP&A managers and heads of FP&A at your target companies.
Finance business partners.
People from your CA, CMA, or MBA cohort who have moved into FP&A.
Professionals who regularly share useful FP&A content.

Build Depth Through Real Conversations

Go where finance professionals actually meet: finance and CFO meetups in your city, FP&A community sessions, and webinars where you can ask a thoughtful question.

Breadth and depth support each other. A LinkedIn connection can make an event conversation easier. A good event conversation gives you a genuine reason to follow up on LinkedIn.

The honest catch is that this takes months, not weeks. That is exactly why I recommend starting before you need a job.

Use the 3:1 Rule Before Asking for Help

I regularly receive messages from people I have never spoken with asking for an FP&A referral, with a CV attached.

Asking for a referral is not wrong. The difficulty is that a referral puts someone else’s name and reputation behind you. You are asking them to endorse a person they do not yet know.

I think of a referral as a signature. People need a reason to feel comfortable signing.

My practical guideline is the 3:1 rule: three genuine interactions before one ask.

Interaction 1: Engage With Their Thinking

If an FP&A manager posts about moving from annual budgets to rolling forecasts, contribute a real point rather than a generic compliment.

For example, if it reflects your experience, you might write:

When my team introduced a 12-month rolling forecast, keeping sales inputs current each month was the biggest challenge. What helped your team maintain that rhythm?

That creates a professional discussion and gives the other person a glimpse of how you think.

Interaction 2: Recognize a Milestone

A promotion, new role, or conference presentation is a natural opportunity to send a short, specific congratulations note. Make it about the actual achievement, not a disguised request for help.

Interaction 3: Share Something Useful

Send a relevant article on driver-based planning or a short case study you have built. Keep it useful and leave the ask out.

The point is not to manufacture three touches. It is to establish a genuine exchange before requesting someone’s time or support.

Then Make a Small, Specific Ask

I would ask for a short learning conversation before asking for a referral. A message could look like this:

Hi Anjali, your posts on rolling forecasts have been helpful, particularly your ideas on sales buy-in. I am an audit senior looking to move into FP&A, with a strong interest in consumer companies. Would you have 15 minutes next week to discuss what makes an analyst effective on your team?

Notice what is missing: no attached CV and no immediate request for an endorsement.

A referral can come later, once the person understands your thinking. And three interactions do not create an obligation. Some people will decline or be unavailable. That is fine.

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What to Discuss on a Networking Call

Once someone agrees to a 15-minute call, do not turn it into a ten-minute walk through your CV followed by a question about vacancies.

That approach leaves little room for a meaningful exchange. Worse, it can make you so focused on your next line that you stop listening.

I recommend making the conversation about their work. Ask questions that show curiosity about FP&A:

Planning cycle: How often does the team reforecast? Monthly, quarterly, or through a rolling forecast?
Reporting challenges: What is the most difficult part of month-end reporting for the team?
Technology: Is the planning process still primarily in Excel, or has the team moved to a planning tool?
Performance expectations: What separates the strongest analysts on the team from the rest?

Then listen. Really listen. Do not spend their answer rehearsing your response.

If the manager says the biggest challenge is getting business teams to own their numbers, that is your follow-up topic. A later message might say:

Anjali, your point about business ownership of the forecast stayed with me. I came across a short article on that challenge and thought it might be relevant to your team.

That message demonstrates two things: you paid attention, and you are thinking about the work. Those are much stronger foundations for a referral than repeatedly asking whether a role is available.

Three Networking Myths That Hold Finance Professionals Back

Myth 1: Networking Is Only for Extroverts

Many excellent FP&A professionals I know are introverts. So am I.

You do not need to be the loudest person in a room. Listening carefully, asking good questions, and remembering what matters to someone are valuable networking skills. They are also the qualities of a strong finance business partner.

Myth 2: Networking Is Fake

It becomes fake when you treat every person as a shortcut to a job.

That is not the approach I recommend. I am talking about relationships that can last ten, fifteen, or twenty years. You learn from each other, share what you know, and help where you can.

If networking feels uncomfortable, the Harvard Business Review article Learn to Love Networking offers additional perspective on approaching it through learning and genuine professional interests.

Myth 3: I Will Network When I Need a Job

This is the most costly belief. If you only reach out when your job search becomes urgent, that pressure can enter every conversation.

I recommend building relationships while things are going well. Use experiences from budget season or a strong quarter as opportunities to learn from experienced FP&A leaders. Ask where the function is heading. Find a mentor.

A future job may be one result. Learning and mentorship are just as valuable.

A Strong CV Is Necessary, but It Is Not Enough

My advice is simple: build your skills and your relationships together.

Use LinkedIn for breadth and professional gatherings for depth. Contribute before asking. Keep your first request small. In conversations, ask about the work and follow up on what you actually heard.

If you want a place to begin, the FP&A Professionals Institute community brings together more than 12,000 finance professionals across over 100 countries. Membership includes CV positioning, interview preparation, and a curated FP&A job board.

For skill development, the Certified Global FP&A Professional certification covers financial modeling, forecasting, management reporting, AI for finance, data storytelling, and business partnering.

Relationships help people discover your capability. Capability gives them a reason to trust you. Start developing both before your next job search depends on them.

Key Takeaways

Referrals build trust and can open the interview door, but FP&A skills still determine whether you earn the offer.
Curiosity, listening, and follow-up make business partnering skills useful for networking.
Use the T model: build breadth on LinkedIn and depth through real professional conversations.
Build relationships before you need a job, contribute before asking, and keep your first request small.

Check out my latest book: The Precision Trap – Stop Chasing Accuracy Start Driving Decisions.

Join the FP&A Community and Keep Learning

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You can find more information and bunch of free FP&A resources, including books, courses, and free templates, on the FP&A Professionals Institute website www.fpnaprofessionals.com

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