Survey: Honesty Still The Best Policy

Compiled ByTonya Vinas More than half of CFOs surveyed by Robert Half International Inc. recently ranked honesty and integrity as qualities that impress them most in job candidates. That attitude (58%) is up from 32% compared with five years ago, according to the executive recruiting firm. An independent research firm conducted the survey, which logged responses from 1,400 CFOs from a stratified random sample of U.S. companies with more than 20 employees. Also ranking high on the CFOs list for qualities that impress them in a job candidate: enthusiasm (14%); verbal skills (12%); and professional appearance (7%). A sense of humor (1%) is not quite as important as it was in 1997 (3%). Robert Half is based in Menlo Park, Calif.