John Hughes has been the Director of Business Development at BDO USA, the fifth-largest global accounting, tax, and advisory firm for the last seven years. His prior roles in Dallas include Manager of Business Development at Wilson Perumal & Company, Head of Field Finance for FleetPride, and the Director of Finance-Operations & Supply Chain at Hostess Brands.

His prior professional experience includes Vice President of Financial Planning at Musician's Friend in Oregon, M&A and valuation projects in Latin America, as well as various financial leadership roles at IBM, The Coca-Cola Company, and Aramark. He leads the Ambassador Program in the Dallas FEI chapter.

John’s career coaching experience includes leading BDO’s Friend of the Firm Job Search Boot Camp and leading the Atlanta Chapter of FENG for three years, during which he led career search discussions twice a month. Since 2018, he has led BDO’s Friend of the Firm job search assistance program. Through these presentations and three progressively shorter career transitions, he developed the Five Essential Elements of a Successful Job Search process.

He utilized this process to move to Dallas without knowing anyone. How effective was it?

• Within four months, it resulted in a one-month project.

• Six months later, it resulted in a multi-year role.

• Years later, it facilitated a change in careers within two months.

• The last transition was ten weeks and resulted in offers in two different industries and roles.

John has an MBA in International Management and Finance from the Irish Management Institute in Dublin (with Fordham University), a Certificate in Strategic Leadership from Penn State, and a BS in Business Management from Le Moyne College in upstate New York. John currently resides in Florida and has been happily married for longer than he can remember and certainly longer than he deserves.