I saw someone experience one of my own personal nightmares the other day.

Their event had completely flopped.

Lots of people had booked…

And no one showed up.

They’d posted about it on LinkedIn, but what struck me was that their frustration was aimed at the people who hadn’t come.

And I have to admit, I looked at it very differently…

Because I’ve had events where attendance has been disappointing.

In fact, one of our Treasury Career Corner LIVE events was probably the toughest one we’ve ever run.

Everything that could have gone wrong did.

The venue turned out to be much harder to reach than I’d realised.

It was the end of a long working day, so people were already tired.

One of my panellists had to pull out at the last minute.

It would have been very easy to blame the people who didn’t show up.

But honestly… how could I?

No one owes me their evening.

People have jobs and families. Trains get delayed. Meetings overrun. Life can get in the way.

If someone decides my event isn’t worth attending, or they simply can’t make it, that’s my problem to solve, not theirs.

So instead of getting annoyed, I asked myself a different question:

What could I do better?

And that one event has changed how we run ALL of our events today.

We make sure the location is easy to get to.

We became more selective about our speakers.

We thought far more carefully about the experience from the moment someone arrives.

And another big change came after I noticed something at another of our events…

There were several name badges left on the registration desk at the end of the evening. Most belonged to treasurers in junior roles. And that made me wonder…

Maybe the event wasn’t giving enough value to people earlier in their treasury careers?

I could’ve complained that they hadn’t turned up, but instead, we created something specifically for them.

Our new Ask the Treasurer sessions now give junior treasury professionals the opportunity to sit down with experienced Group Treasurers and ask whatever they want.

The response to Ask the Treasurer has been incredible.

People have told me how much they’ve enjoyed the sessions, but the biggest proof is that more junior treasury professionals are now turning up.

And more bums in seats tells me we created something they genuinely value.

So I don’t believe in shaming people who don’t attend your event.

Frankly, I think that’s just rude.

My job is to make the next event so good that people don’t want to miss it.

Of course, attending an event during or after a busy working day takes effort.

But it is also an investment in yourself.

An investment in your network, your knowledge and your treasury career.

And surely that’s worth making time for?

Best regards,

Mike

P.S. Our next Treasury Career Corner LIVE events are already filling up for this year! If you’d like to join us, I’d love to see you there. You can find all the upcoming events and locations here.

Every week, I sit down to write this newsletter with one question in mind:

What’s the conversation treasury professionals need to be having right now?

It could be about careers. Sometimes it’s about hiring. Or usually it’s something from a conversation I’ve had with a candidate, a treasurer, or a hiring manager that I think deserves a wider audience.

Either way, over the past year, thousands of treasury professionals have read, shared and commented on these newsletters…

Some sparked debate, some might’ve even struck a nerve. And a few of them have generated more messages in my inbox than almost anything else I’ve written.

So I thought I’d do something a little different this week…

Rather than writing something completely new, I wanted to look back at the newsletters that resonated most with you.

If you missed any of these the first time around, they’re well worth a read.

And if you’ve already read them… perhaps they’re worth another look.

The treasury profession is moving quickly, and many of these lessons are just as relevant today as when they were first published.

So, let’s start…

5. After 25 Years in Treasury Recruitment… One Thing Is Clear

After more than two decades of recruiting treasury professionals, I reflected on one lesson that has become impossible to ignore.

The people who build exceptional treasury careers rarely leave everything to chance. 

They make deliberate decisions about their development, their network and the opportunities they pursue.

Inside this newsletter, you’ll discover:

• Why the best treasury careers are built intentionally rather than accidentally.
• The habits that consistently separate high-performing treasury professionals from everyone else.

Read it here.

4. My Event Didn’t Go the Way I Expected

Sometimes the best lessons come from the moments that don’t go according to plan.

In this newsletter, I talked about an event in a new place that really challenged my expectations and reinforced an important truth about what treasury professionals really value when they come together.

Inside you’ll discover:

• Why authentic conversations matter far more than polished presentations.
• What successful treasury networking really looks like in practice.

Read it here.

3. Are You Missing This?

Many treasury professionals work incredibly hard, build strong technical expertise and deliver excellent results… yet still wonder why someone else gets promoted first.

Often, it’s because they’re overlooking something hiding in plain sight.

Inside you’ll discover:

• The career advantage many treasury professionals underestimate.
• Practical ways to become more visible without becoming more self-promotional.
• And what really gets you hired.

Read it here.

2. The Treasury Talent You’ll Never See on LinkedIn

One of the biggest misconceptions in recruitment is that the best candidates are the easiest to find.

They’re not.

Many of the strongest treasury professionals aren’t actively posting, updating their profiles or applying for jobs. They’re doing their job, and doing it well.

This newsletter explains why that’s important, whether you’re hiring talent or thinking about your own career.

Inside you’ll discover:

• Why the strongest treasury candidates are often invisible online.
• What hiring managers need to do differently if they want to reach them.

Read it here.

1. Why I Only Do Corporate Treasury Recruitment (NOT Banking Treasury Recruitment)

This was comfortably the most popular newsletter of the year.

People often ask me why I’ve spent my entire career specialising in corporate treasury rather than broadening into banking, finance or accountancy recruitment.

The answer isn’t because those markets aren’t interesting to me…

It’s because I believe specialists create better outcomes for clients and candidates alike.

When you spend decades immersed in one profession, you build deeper relationships, understand the market more intimately and can offer advice that generalists simply can’t.

If you read just one of these newsletters, read this one.

Inside you’ll discover:

• Why deep specialisation has shaped every part of my business.
• How treasury professionals benefit when their recruiter genuinely understands their world.

Read it here.

That’s a wrap!

Thank you to everyone who has read, commented on, and shared the Treasury Career Corner Newsletter over the past year…

Whether you’ve been here since the beginning or only subscribed recently, I genuinely appreciate you spending a few minutes of your week with me.

Now I’m curious…

Which newsletter has been your favourite, and what would you like me to write about next?

Best regards,

Mike

People often ask me why we put so much effort into our treasury events.

After all, they’re free to attend, so what’s in it for me?

And the answer is pretty simple.

Because when I looked around the treasury profession a few years ago, I realised something was missing.

There were conferences, industry events, and networking evenings.

But too often there was an agenda attached.

A service would want to sell something, or a sponsor would want stage time (I know because I’ve had to turn down plenty of them myself!).

I wanted something different…

My goal was to create a space where treasury professionals could simply learn from and meet each other without the sales pitch.

That vision came to life once again at what has now become our biggest-ever Treasury Career Corner LIVE event in London last month.

We had 32  senior treasury practitioners sitting around the room from 3pm to 6pm discussing the challenges they’re facing right NOW!

What’s working.

What’s not working.

Career development.

How they’re approaching treasury systems. New technology.

It was amazing, but to me, it wasn’t the best bit.

You see, I’m often at events filled with people at the start of their treasury careers… but how often do those people actually get the chance to sit down with an experienced Group Treasurer and ask whatever they want?

For most people, probably never.

But we gave people the chance to change that; to learn from people who’d already walked the path ahead of them.

We had 24 treasury professionals from Treasury Assistant to Senior Treasury Manager sitting with Stuart Case the Treasurer at Sky, Louise Woodroffe, Head of Treasury at Hastings Direct and Tanja Holden the International Treasurer from Acrisure sit with each group and answer the questions they wanted to ask about their treasury careers.

• How did they get into treasury?
• What mistakes did they make?
• What would they do differently?
• What advice would they give their younger selves?

Those are the sorts of questions that can genuinely change someone’s career trajectory.

And afterwards, I got the same feedback from everyone…

“That was incredible.”

People often think networking means awkward conversations, business cards and LinkedIn requests. But that couldn’t be more wrong.

The best networking happens when people are learning together, sharing experiences, and building relationships BEFORE they actually need them.

That’s what this event was designed to do.

And this event itself was a great reminder of why networking matters.

Because throughout the questions, conversations, and stories, one theme kept coming up:

The strongest careers are rarely built alone.

So, a huge thank you to everyone who attended and contributed to making our London event such a success.

Whether you joined the roundtables, the panel discussion, the networking afterwards, or all three – you helped create exactly the sort of conversations we wanted these events to encourage.

And if you missed this one…

Don’t make the mistake of saying “Maybe next time.” Instead, make sure you’re there!

I’ll see you at the next one.

Best regards,

Mike

I got called a treasury influencer last week…

It made my skin crawl.

Now I know they meant it as a compliment, but I still hate it.

Maybe it’s because when I hear the word influencer, I immediately think of people trying to get attention for attention’s sake.

• Look at me!
• Look what I’m doing!
• Look where I am!

But that’s never been what I’ve been trying to do.

In fact, if you go right back to why I started most of the things we do today, none of them began as some grand marketing plan.

I simply wanted to help treasury professionals.

17 years ago, when my daughter was eight.

She asked me;

“Dad, what do you do for a job?”

I started to try to explain about treasury, what corporate treasury was and how it fitted into the finance team, etc…

In response, I got a very blank-faced look from Emma, and another question: “So what do you do?”

After a bit more thought on how to help, it makes sense, I vividly remember saying;

“I get people jobs.”

And that’s still probably the best description.

Everything else has grown around that.

The podcast came from wanting treasury professionals to share their stories…

The salary survey came from wanting to help people understand what they were worth….

The live events came from wanting to help treasury professionals network in a constructive, education-filled environment…

This very newsletter you’re reading came from wanting to share the advice I found myself sharing each week.

None of it was designed to make me the centre of attention. Quite the opposite.

That’s why in our podcast, I’m never the star. The guest is.

I’ve spent over 25+  years talking to treasury professionals, and I find their careers and the stories of their careers fascinating.

• How did they get into corporate treasury?
• What mistakes did they make?
• How did they build their careers?

Those are the stories worth hearing. Not mine.

What happened over time was something I never really planned…

Our salary survey gained traction. Our events expanded. The newsletters were shared.

The Treasury Career Corner podcast has grown to over 430 episodes and over 280,000 downloads.

Eventually, they all started connecting together.

And it all helps me to help other people in different ways.

Some people come to us because they’re looking for a role, others want hiring advice.

Some people want networking opportunities, others want to benchmark their salary.

The funny thing is that recruitment itself comes down to two things:

1. Are you looking for a new role? Or…
2. Do you need to recruit someone for a treasury role?

That’s it.

Because for some recruiters, that’s where the relationship begins and ends.

A quick conversation. A transaction. Then silence until the next vacancy appears.

I’ve never wanted to work that way.

Treasury professionals deserve more than a recruiter who only appears every six months asking, “Got any jobs?” or “Ready to move yet?”

Sometimes they need advice about a career decision.

Sometimes they want to understand what the market is doing.

And sometimes they just want to connect with other treasury professionals facing the same challenges.

That’s why I’ve always believed the relationship should be bigger than the transaction itself.

Sometimes all you need is a conversation to help you avoid making a mistake.

So am I a treasury influencer?

I still don’t think so. I’d much rather be known as someone who helps treasury professionals.

The podcast, events, salary survey, newsletter, and the videos are all just different ways of doing that.

And if that occasionally influences people along the way…

Well, I can live with that.

Best regards,

Mike

Seven and a half years ago, I started a podcast because I genuinely loved talking to treasury professionals.

That was it.

There was no grand strategy. I just thought treasury people were interesting.

I often joke that I fell into recruiting treasury professionals because recruiting specialists meant they were often paid more than generalists.

But when I got into the profession, I quickly realised that a lot of treasurers were very much like me:

Commercial, relationship-focused, often the first to the bar and the last to leave it

The more conversations I had, the more I realised treasury careers are packed full of stories nobody outside the profession ever hears.

Stuff like funding deals, cash crises, acquisitions and restructures, or career pivots.

So I started recording those conversations…

And from day one, the guests were always the stars of the show.

That’s why the podcast has lasted more than seven years and grown to over 430+ episodes.

And then something interesting happened…

People started talking about it.

They would mention a guest I’d recently spoken to. Or say that a particular episode really helped them. Or just straight up complement the podcast.

Then Pat Culkin at the AFP suggested something that changed everything.

He said:

“Have you ever thought about getting the podcast accredited for CTP credits?”

I didn’t even know that was possible, but it sounded amazing! So I went for it.

(Turns out that was a huge amount of work…)

To make the podcast officially accredited, everything had to be structured properly:

• quizzes
• verification
• scoring
• certificates
• tracking

And starting out, every quiz was manual.

I had to review transcripts, create questions, upload answers and verify everything individually. Each episode probably added another few hours of admin on top of recording it.

All I can say now is thank you Claude.ai for helping me create them…

I kept thinking…

This is worth doing.

Because treasurers were already listening while commuting, travelling, at the gym or simply walking the dog – and now they could earn CTP credits while doing it.

Previously, you’d have to attend conferences or webinars to maintain your credits, which was never convenient.

But now, the podcast makes it easy:

1. Listen when you want.
2. Complete a short quiz.
3. Receive verified credits.

Simple.

And because the episodes are based on real treasury careers and real treasury leadership, people actually seem to enjoy doing it.

And for me, one of the best parts is that people often end up networking with podcast guests afterwards…

One episode leads to a LinkedIn connection, then a conversation, and for some, it’s even led to a future opportunity.

Now, more than 250,000 downloads later, the idea behind the podcast still hasn’t really changed…

Treasury professionals sharing what they’ve learned and helping other treasury professionals.

Just now, you can get it with your CTP credits attached!

You’re welcome

Best regards,

Mike

I recently connected with Pat Culkin, Head of the US Association of Financial Professionals.

During our conversation, he asked me a simple question, but it caught me off guard.

He said, “So… are you a recruiter, Mike?”

It made me stop because, to myself, it was obvious.

I was about to reply, “Of course!”

But he followed by saying he was unsure because he’d seen me in:

• The Treasury Career Corner Podcast
• Treasury Career Corner LIVE events
• The Treasury Salary Survey
• Roundtables and community discussions
• And on top of that… treasury recruitment!

So then I understood why he was asking.

And to anyone who’s wondered the same, yes. First and foremost, I’m a treasury recruiter.

But there’s a reason I do everything else…

Because, to me, there’s nothing worse than the classic recruiter approach I like to call “the Ghostbuster”.

They phone you up and say: “Hello, got any jobs?

“If you do, call me!”

That’s it.

No insight. No advice. No value.

Those recruiters are hardly what you’d call a consultant.

And when you consider that most treasury professionals change jobs every 3 to 5 years, if you only ever hear from a recruiter when they want a job brief, you should ask yourself…

What value have they actually added in the years between those conversations?

That’s why we’ve built what I call our ecosystem.

Everything we do is designed to support treasury professionals, not just fill jobs.

That includes:

• The Treasury Career Corner Podcast
• The Treasury Salary Survey
• Treasury Career Corner LIVE events
• And smaller, more focused roundtables where treasurers can speak openly with peers

All of these things exist for one reason: to help the treasury community.

Yes, I earn a living from recruitment, but I believe you earn that opportunity by adding value first.

So yes, I am a recruiter.

And if you’ve got a job, you certainly can call me (call any of the Ghostbusters out there at your own risk!).

But my goal has always been much bigger than that.

That’s why we’re always continuing to build on that ecosystem…

More events. More roundtables.  And more ways for treasury professionals to learn from each other.

Because when the treasury community grows stronger, everyone wins.

Best regards,

Mike

Over the next 8 weeks, I’ll be travelling 21,000 miles to make sure of it.

Let me explain…

I had a different newsletter planned for today. But over Easter, I stopped and reflected…

In 4 days’ time, I will get on a plane to host my next Treasury Career Corner Podcast LIVE panel at TEXPO, in Dallas, Texas.

A week later, I’m back.

8 days after that, I’ll head to the West coast of the US.

In May it’s Dublin. Then Amsterdam. Then London.

That’s a lot of air miles. But it’s worth it.

When I was thinking about this it reminded me of a discussion I had with Jim, a senior treasury professional and a great friend to the business, who I caught up with when I was last speaking at the Windy City Summit Conference in Chicago.

Jim came up to me and said: “Mike, you seem to be everywhere at the moment!”

I said, “I’m not everywhere… I’m just where you are. I want to be here in the room with you.”

He smiled and said: “That makes sense. You do all this travel so you’re here with us. You’re not just talking the talk, you’re walking the walk.”

Early in my career, I used to think getting on planes all the time would be brilliant. Then you hit your third trip of the year… your third airline meal… and you realise it’s not quite as glamorous as you imagined.

So, what makes it worth it?

Being in the room with treasury professionals.

Here’s the reality…

I see people talking about how important it is to network with treasury professionals.

Recently, one of my competitors said exactly that.

But then in the next breath they told me they hadn’t met a single treasury professional face-to-face in the past 4 months.

That’s not networking. That’s talking about networking.

But credibility comes from showing up, not from sitting in your home office!

I did get asked recently whether I thought I was spreading myself too thin?

No, I replied. I’m backed by a great team.

My job is to be where you are.

Meeting you. Talking to you. Understanding what’s going on.

Right now, that means:

• I’m working on roles in Texas, so I need to be in Texas.
• I’ve just started recruiting a new role position in Atlanta. So, when I head to KYRIBA LIVE on the West Coast in 3 weeks’ time I will be meeting candidates who are based in Atlanta.
• Plus, the treasury professionals who I’m meeting over the next 3 weeks are often open to relocating for the right role.

This is a link to the position I’m recruiting in Atlanta, GA – CLICK HERE

These aren’t LinkedIn conversations. They’re real conversations, face-to-face.

Here’s what the next 8 weeks looks like

• TEXPO, Dallas, Texas: 750+ treasury professionals
• KyribaLive, West Coast, USA: 900+ treasury and finance leaders
• NeuGroup West Coast, USA: 100+ treasury professionals
• Dublin: 70+
• Amsterdam: 80+
• London: 100+

That’s over 2,000 treasury professionals. In 8 weeks. In the room.

And yes, there’s a cost to that…

• UK Dallas return: ~9,500 miles
• UK West Coast (US) return: ~10,800 miles
• UK Dublin return: ~900 miles
• UK Amsterdam return: ~650 miles

That’s over 21,000 miles travelled. Back and forth. Then back again.

But I’m happy to do it.

Because it let’s me see what’s happening in treasury. I hear what’s really going on, what’s keeping you up at night, where your team is stretched, the challenges you’re facing when hiring or looking for your next role.

And rather than just listen, it let’s me help and advise. I can connect you to opportunities, and to the people you need in your team.

Plus, that’s how I hear about roles as well. Because I’m there. In the conversation.

We talk about your treasury career, where you are now, what’s missing, and where you want to get to.

And I don’t only meet with candidates; if you’re someone who’s hiring, I can find out what challenges you’re seeing, who you’re really looking for, and what you need to do to attract the right talent.

I can find out ALL of this because I’m sitting with treasury professionals all day, every day, in the same room, having the conversations others aren’t part of.

So when people ask why I keep getting on planes – why I’m spending time in rooms with 50, 80, 100 treasury professionals at a time…

It’s simple.

This is where I do my best work. This is where I understand you.

And honestly, it’s my happy place.

Best regards,

Mike

P.S. If you’re coming to one of the upcoming events, come to my sessions. Come and find me. Let’s grab a coffee or a beer. Let’s have a proper chat about your treasury career and how I can help you or your team.

I’ve been hearing a new phrase a lot lately: “AI slop.”

It’s the term being used for content that’s entirely AI-created.

We’ve all seen it: synthetic voices, generated scripts, no human presence. Podcasts created in bulk. Articles written at scale. Images produced on demand.

One shocking example I’ve come across is a so-called “podcast factory,” reportedly producing 3,000 episodes a week, all with the aim of racking up hits rather than offering anything of value.

Maybe I should be worried. But to tell the truth, I’m not.

You see, I think people are already growing wise to it…

If you’re anything like me, as soon as you get a whiff of something being fully AI-generated, you switch off. 

I’ll read a few lines or listen for a few seconds, and if I suspect there’s no real person behind it, I’m out.

That’s why our podcast works: it’s real.

Every episode is a conversation with an actual treasury professional.

Real careers, real challenges, and real stories from people who have lived it.

That’s something AI can never do.

Now, don’t get me wrong, AI has its uses…

I use it as an editing tool to clean up audio (mostly removing the “ums” and “ahs”). But it never creates the content.

If I ever did that, I know I’d instantly ruin all the hard work I’ve put in and lose all the trust I’ve built. Because people would know in an instant.

Simply put, you can’t fake experience. Especially not in treasury…

We’re in a profession built on nuance, responsibility and context. Careers don’t follow scripts. And the people doing the job don’t speak in generic language (which AI only speaks in).

So when I hear about “AI slop”, I don’t see a threat. I see a reminder.

If you want speed and scale, you can try and generate it. But if you want trust, you still need a person.

And that’s what we’ll keep doing:

Real conversations with real treasurers, every week.

Best regards,

Mike

P.S. You can listen to the latest real Treasury Career Corner podcast here.

Show Your Love for Treasury

If you Love Treasury as much as we do, you might enjoy this!

We’ve created a The Treasury Recruitment Co. Store, with a handful of treasury-themed items you can use, gift, or keep on your desk to show your love for the profession we all spend our lives talking about!

It’s a bit of fun, and a way to show some appreciation for treasury and the community around it.

If that sounds like you, you can take a look here:
https://the-treasury-recruitment-co-store.myshopify.com/

Right, back to why I love treasury…

Valentine’s Day is just around the corner, so I thought I’d write about something close to my heart.

Any guesses?

It’s treasury, of course!

I’ll start with a quick story…

A few years ago at a conference, BELLIN Treasury Management used to ask treasury professionals LIVE on camera:

“Why do you love treasury?”

Most answers were what you’d expect.

They love challenges, problem-solving, every day is different, etc, etc.

So, when they asked me, I said:

“I love treasury because it pays my mortgage.”

It got a good laugh (and I meant it!), but here’s what I’d add to that:

Treasury has given me a career and job security.

It’s my passion. And now, I have a front-row seat, just as many treasury folks do, seeing how businesses actually run.

All in all, it’s been very, very good to me.

And I have a genuine respect for the role and those that work in the treasury profession.

Since then, that “love affair” has only grown…

Through the Treasury Career Corner podcast alone, I’ve spoken to hundreds of treasurers across the world. I’ve heard about the pressure, the challenges, the responsibility, and the moments where decisions have shaped the future of a business. 

I love talking about this stuff. And the more I listen, the more I understand just how important this profession is.

So, when people ask me what a treasurer actually does, I put it like this:

• You’ve got your tax team focused on minimising your tax bills.
• Your financial controller is accounting for all the finances.
• And then you’ve got the treasurer, looking after today’s money and what comes next…

That could be acquisitions, new markets, funding strategies, risk, liquidity – everything on the road ahead.

So, when a company wants to move, it asks its treasurer what to do.

That’s why I find the role so powerful.

The teams are often small, but the responsibility is huge.

But that’s just what I think. There’s the other side of it…

Not everyone who works in treasury always loves it.

Just this week, I heard from a treasurer who said she felt demoralised and was questioning whether to “stick it out”. And I hear that often.

But I think in most cases, it’s not that people have fallen out of love with treasury. They’ve just fallen out of love with a particular role, a particular environment, or a situation where their skills and the job simply aren’t aligned anymore.

So, in the spirit of Valentine’s Day, here’s my honest message:

If you love Treasury – brilliant! I love that you do…

However, if you’ve gone a bit cold on it lately, that doesn’t mean the relationship is over. Sometimes it just means you’re in the wrong role.

So, if you want help finding a position that reminds you why you chose this profession in the first place, you know where I am.

Happy Valentine’s.

Best regards,

Mike

P.S. Why do you love treasury?