Finding & Hiring the Perfect Accountant or Auditor

Tampa, FL June 4, 2010 – Finding the perfect candidate to join your accounting or audit team can be a frustrating and time-consuming task. As with any group of professionals, not all candidates are created equal. Subtle nuances in experience, personality, character, etc., can mean the difference between a successful hire that adds value and complements your team and an unsuccessful hire that ruins your department’s morale and reputation. Whether you use external recruiting services or rely on internal resources, there are several considerations that every hiring manager should think about.

1. Realistically define your requirements and expectations – This is the most important step in the process. Defining the qualities, experience, and qualifications of your target accountant/auditor sets the stage for the results. Not every accountant or auditor needs to have a CPA certification and Big Four experience. More often than not, there should be a normal profile range of experience that fits most accounting and audit job descriptions. That is, you won’t find many degreed accountants with a CPA and five years of Big Four experience applying for your $25K Staff Accountant job unless there are unusual or unique circumstances, which more often than not will outweigh the desirable traits for which you were originally looking. Define your requirements and be realistic about experiences, skills, personalities, appearances, etc. Don’t try to look for a good deal…focus on finding the right fit that makes logical sense. Hiring the right person the first time will always be cheaper than having to make several hiring iterations to replace bad hires.

2. Have several people, internal and external to your team as well as superior and subordinate to the position, interview prospective candidates – Obviously, these interviews would be completed only after the field has been narrowed down. But having multiple parties from throughout the organization interview prospective candidates can provide multiple points-of-view and demonstrate a candidate’s ability to communicate and interact with varied personalities and departments. Such interviews don’t have to be structured, technical or lengthy…the focus should be on normal conversation and interaction. Again, try to simulate normal work environment.

3. Conduct casual, last minute interviews in addition to formal scheduled interviews – Formal interviews provide a wealth of information, but they can only take you so far. Pick up the phone and call your prospective candidate (if they are local) for lunch or coffee. You’ll get to see how they dress on a day-to-day basis and how they interact in a more casual, social environment.

4. Look for conversational usage of technical information– Candidates that are able to hold conversation about certain technical topics are more likely to have working knowledge and direct experience of that concept than those that can’t. It takes more than just a quick night-before study session to become conversationally fluent with many accounting and audit topics. Look for those candidates that can voice an opinion on topics central their desired position. Also make sure that candidates have appreciation for the bigger picture, even if they will only be dealing with a small segment.

5. Make sure past work experiences follow a natural progression that is consistent with your requirements – If you are looking for a staff accountant that will just process a transaction over and over for 20 years, you may be OK with the fifty year-old accountant that was laid off from his job as a staff accountant, a position which he held for the past thirty years. But if you are looking for someone to make value-added suggestions, drive change, and eventually manage the department, you might be better off with the accountant with two years of experience looking for a new challenge and a slight pay increase. Past behavior is almost certainly indicative of future performance.

6. Make sure candidates do all he other stuff too – It goes without saying (but we’ll say it anyway just to drive home the point) that any candidate should do all that other stuff that we’ve all heard about since college graduation. Show up on time. Dress appropriately. Know the position and the company. Have questions ready. Maintain eye contact. Firm handshake. Copies of your resume. Follow-up with a thank-you.

7. Don’t settle – It’s a lot easier to hire someone than to fire someone. Take your time and make sure that the prospective candidate is a good fit for the department and the company. The costs associated with additional search time will always be cheaper than the cost of making a bad hiring decision.

Finding and hiring the right addition to your team is not easy. But with a little patience, some good advice, and a solid game plan, the process becomes much more tolerable.