How To Overcome the Challenges of Hiring Accounting Professionals in a Saturated Market

Posted by Clayton Recruitment on 5th January 2021 -

As an employer or a hiring manager, recruiting right now is as challenging as it can get. 

And that’s down to the fact that we are in a saturated market. The Covid crisis has caused job losses in some sectors. Still, more so, it has caused movement in the market from accounting professionals speculatively applying for roles as they think and consider their future like never before. 

This poses a problem, as the most valuable candidates become swamped by a sea of possibilities. 

So how can you hire the ‘right’ accounting candidate when the odds are stacked against you? 

Today, we look at the dangers of hiring in a saturated market, and some expert recruitment strategies which can help. 

1. GETTING YOUR PERSON SPEC RIGHT 

One of the most significant challenges of hiring in a saturated market is not knowing exactly what you’re looking for. When you narrow down what you’re looking for to the exact skills, attributes and personality traits you want, this makes the search easier. 

We are currently helping organisations define their finance and accounting job specifications, which has become invaluable in their recruiting process as they redefine their roles for a post-Covid market. 

• Have the skills you need in your next accounting professional changed?
• Do you need to hire finance experts with the skills of tomorrow, but aren’t sure what to look for? 

We can help you define your finance and accounting roles and person specs to narrow down your search – get in touch with us here to find out more. 

2. HIRING FOR CULTURE 

Another huge change in accountancy recruitment since the pandemic is the need for team players who can be flexible and adaptable while having the organisation’s best interests at heart. 

During the Covid crisis, many organisations realised for the first time which of their finance team were true team players, and which were disengaged in their roles. 

A successful finance team includes individuals whose values and culture align with their employer, whether that’s in a financial practice or a larger organisation’s finance team. 

Any management guide will tell you that cultivating a positive and unified culture in your team is necessary for success. Yet, so many hiring managers still put this low down on their list of priorities. 

Creating a set of non-negotiable values that you want your team to have will narrow down your candidate search even further, which is essential when hiring in a saturated market. 

3. ORGANISING YOUR RECRUITING TIMELINE 

Making some key changes to your recruitment process will allow you to make difficult hiring decisions much easier. 

Improve the speed of your hiring process so that recruitment isn’t taking up weeks or even months of your valuable time. Start with the end date in mind – the date that your new recruit needs to be in their role by, and work backwards from here. A Benchmark survey on career timelines found that the average recruitment process takes 24.5 days, how long does yours take? 

Ensure you have a stringent timeline and stick to it. When you start pushing dates backwards or worse – hiring without consulting with all stakeholders - this can create a messy and stressful recruiting experience for everyone involved. 

4. ‘SELLING’ YOUR ORGANISATION TO THE RIGHT CANDIDATES 

At a time like this when you want to attract the best candidates, it might just be time to re-evaluate all of your recruitment collateral and employer branding, so you attract the candidates you want and repel the ones you don’t. 

A few questions for you. 

• Do you have an excellent employer branding strategy 
• Do you regularly update and share about your company on social media? 
• Does your hiring manager respond in a timely way to candidates both online and during the recruitment process? 

Right now, developing your brand awareness as an employer of choice needs to be a part of your recruitment strategy. 

5. WORKING WITH A RECRUITER 

Finally, the most valuable step you can take right now is to work with a recruiter. 

At Clayton Recruitment, we can take care of all the stages we have outlined here, which, at the moment, is a big undertaking for HR departments which are already pushed for time and resources. 

Making the right hiring decision is so critical right now, the last thing any organisation wants is to find out that they have made the ‘wrong’ accounting hire shortly after appointing them. 

Your finance team needs to be full of the most talented, best-suited experts for your organisation. 

NEXT STEPS 

If you have struggled to attract the finance candidates you want and have found that recruitment is becoming a challenging task as you are faced with an increasing amount of CVs and applicants, we can help. 

Please get in contact with our expert recruitment team today to find out more about our recruitment service. We don’t just guarantee that we will find you the best possible candidate, we also protect your investment so that if the candidate doesn’t work out, you get your full investment back. 

Don’t run the risk of making the ‘wrong’ hire from the many candidates available; use our guaranteed recruitment service to find your ideal candidate in a saturated market. 

Call us on 01772 259 121 or contact us here to find out how we can help.