If you’re growing your accounting firm, finding the best staff for your business can be one of the most challenging aspects. It can be difficult to know where to look and find staff that will meet your needs, are reliable and have the appropriate experience. Here are our tips for hiring staff for your accounting practice.
Set expectations
In order to find qualified staff, you firstly need to set an outline of what you require for the role. Consider what you want your staff to do, if their tasks will stay the same over the course of their employment, or if they might encounter changes. Think about how much experience you want your staff to have- will it matter if they are newly qualified, or new to the industry? You might have time, and resources to take on new staff members and train them so it might be worth offering those with little experience a chance to apply. If overtime hours are expected, this is another point that should be included. Some people will be unable to fulfil this because of other commitments, so it’s important that they are aware of these conditions before applying so that you don’t get applicants who are unable to fulfil this. Your job descriptions should contain all this information so that it attracts the correct type of applicants.
Advertise
When looking for staff for accounting firms, you must advertise right. Think of the level of experience that you’re looking for and where you’ll find those people. For example, those with more experience might be looking on platforms such as indeed for job positions. Social media advertising is a good option for positions which require less experience. Reach out to your connections, and current employees- they might have someone that they can refer for the job, not to mention a good understanding of how that person works.
Promote your work culture
Do you have an attribute that sets you out from the rest? Maybe work values that make the company what it is- make sure that you promote these. You want to find people who will fit into this culture, so it’s important that applicants show a willingness to participate in these values. For example, if you have team bonding activities once a month, you’ll want someone who will be eager to participate and get involved with such adventures. Making candidates aware of this from the start will help them to identify if this role is for them and help you to get the right people for the job.
Leave it to the experts
There are already people out there who specialise in finding staff for your accounting firm, so let the experts take control. Experts in staff recruitment know exactly what to look for based on your specifications, and where to look. It’s worth looking into this option as it can save you a lot of time as well as the hassle of the hiring process.
Co-Source
If you want to take the stress out of finding staff completely, you can use the co-sourcing method. With Totus Finance, you won’t have to pay a recruitment fee, and you will remain in complete control. Bookkeeping and Payroll services can be used on a flexible basis so that you can choose the hours that you require and make sure that your workload is being completed by totally qualified staff. Not only is this a more cost-effective option, but it also takes the stress out of managing aspects of having employees such as having to organise pension, leave cover, and equipment costs. Totus Finance will find appropriate staff for you based on your needs, letting you step back and only have to participate in the interview process to find the best fit for your company.
Prepare for the interview process
If you’ve found some potential CV hires, the next step is to start the interview process. The average number of people that apply for a job is 188. That’s a lot of CVs to narrow down! Once you’ve picked out a few good fits, send out invites to attend interviews either online or in person. It’s important to consider what questions you’ll be asking the candidates carefully. Interviews should last between 45 minutes- 1 hour to give you an adequate amount of time to get to know the applicants. Check each applicant’s CV before interviewing them, so that you can design questions to evidence their experience and qualifications. Don’t forget to get to know the person as well as their experience and be prepared for questions they might have such as holiday allowance and shift patterns.
Ask for references
Ensure that your applicants provide you with references so that you can be sure that you can ask a previous employer any questions you might have about work, and check that their logged experience is valid. Asking for references might also pick out those key skills that the applicant has and if you wish to proceed in hiring them, this might help you when contemplating what type of responsibilities to give them.
Think outside the box
When asking questions to candidates, it could be valuable to think about questions that aren’t typically employment questions, but more about how the candidate will fit into the team and company. For example, you could ask them about why they have applied to this particular job role, how they see their growth in the company, and why they chose this career path. It’s so important to get to know the person as well as their skills and experience.
Value candidates
It’s not all about meeting requirements on paper, your candidates are going to be much more likely to want to work with you if you show them value. Taking the time to get to know them individually and showing them respect will go a long way in the hiring process. Even if they don’t meet your requirements at this moment in time, there might come a time in the future when they do.
