Candidates with expertise in finance and accounting are highly sought after by many businesses. However, finding effective ways to approach these candidates is a major headache for recruiters. Therefore, this article will offer some suggestions on the best ways to approach and evaluate candidates for the finance and accounting department of a company.
To successfully recruit highly qualified accounting and finance personnel, businesses need to expand their candidate search network. However, how can a company's recruitment information reach the widest possible pool of qualified candidates?
1. Internal recruitment
Internal recruitment is a popular choice for many businesses, and recruitment experts advise prioritizing the recruitment of 15%–18% of vacant positions using existing staff. For example, when a company needs to recruit for the Finance and Accounting department, all finance and accounting staff within the company can apply or suggest suitable candidates.
Internal recruitment offers several advantages, including:
Save time and money.Because of the readily available workforce, businesses spend less time searching for potential candidates, and consequently, the investment cost for the recruitment process is reduced by approximately 50% compared to external recruitment.
Risk reductionFor businesses, because the candidates are existing employees, recruiters already have knowledge of their skills and information. This allows them to be more confident and make more informed decisions during the selection process. For employees, having worked at the company and being familiar with its culture and financial operations, they can trust the organization and adapt to their new role more quickly.
Creating conditions for talent development.Through internal recruitment, candidates within the company are given the opportunity to expand their careers. Trying out a new position is a good chance to develop talent and boost the morale of finance and accounting personnel.
2. Social media - the fastest way to reach young talents.
Currently, the popularity of social media is undeniable. Statistics show that Vietnamese youth spend an average of nearly 30 hours per week on online activities, including social media. Many use social media for entertainment and self-expression, but many others utilize it to search for information and job opportunities.
Therefore, businesses can create social media channels such as Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram, etc., to proactively post job openings and find quality resumes. Furthermore, because candidates use social media extensively, recruiters can easily interact and communicate with them. Additionally, recruiters can utilize specialized finance and accounting forums to find potential candidates for positions with specific requirements.
3. Make company and job information truly appealing.
Building a career path for employees is important, but finding and recruiting people who align with the company's vision is equally crucial. To make your business a desirable workplace and your job opening a dream job, recruiters should create an attractive job description that addresses the following:
Company cultureDescribe a typical workday at the company, emphasizing specific details about the company's unique characteristics and what employees enjoy about working there.
Propose a competitive salary and benefits package.This is one of the most decisive factors in recruiting candidates, especially for highly qualified candidates.
Make the job posting stand out and be more challenging.These are two major motivating factors for talented candidates: they desire a good job and the opportunity to learn new things from the challenges they face at work.
Flexible and differentiated benefits offersFor finance and accounting professionals, in addition to salary and career development opportunities, they also desire work-life balance. For example, flexible working hours, the ability to work from home, or benefits not offered by other companies would be attractive to talented candidates.
See more: Good salary and the right offer.
4. Use tests to screen candidates.
Previously, when businesses needed to recruit personnel, HR staff had to spend a lot of time reading and screening candidate resumes to create a shortlist of the most suitable and promising candidates from hundreds of submitted CVs. Now, many businesses are considering using personality assessments and tests to gain a deeper understanding of candidates and filter those best suited for finance and accounting positions. Using tests allows businesses to reach a pool of potential candidates without spending excessive time, resources, or costs on this screening process.
5. Build a list of potential candidate profiles.
Finally, after each interview round, the company will have a list of candidate profiles. Recruiters should retain the information of potential candidates who meet the requirements or who might be suitable for other positions that the company currently has vacant spots for. This will help recruiters build a large and solid database to consider when recruiting for a new position.
Additionally, HR personnel can gather more in-depth information about candidates when they introduce themselves, or they can contact someone on the candidate's reference list and ask further questions about them, delving into specific job roles within the company. The company can then contact these candidates when a suitable position becomes available.
6. The best way to evaluate financial accounting candidates.
To evaluate finance and accounting candidates, interviews are no longer the only assessment method. Using knowledge tests is not a new approach, but it helps businesses assess many essential qualities in candidates. Furthermore, interview questions need to be cleverly designed to better understand the candidate, identify their strengths and weaknesses, and assess their cultural fit with your company.
6.1. Knowledge Test
When businesses are looking to recruit talent in the finance and accounting field, a high level of specialized knowledge is essential. Therefore, businesses may require candidates to take a knowledge test to assess their abilities. When designing the test, the following points should be considered:
- The knowledge test should be designed to suit the professional requirements of each position. For example, a general accountant position will require a higher level of professional knowledge than an accounts payable position. Questions should include fundamental accounting knowledge, challenging questions, specific questions tailored to your company's business characteristics, and up-to-date knowledge to assess candidates' understanding of new regulations affecting accounting practices and financial reporting.
- A combined knowledge test can be designed with some IQ questions included to reduce stress for candidates and make the test more varied.
- The number of questions and the time allotted for the test should meet two criteria: ensuring a minimum time for completion and creating pressure for the candidate. Why is pressure necessary for this position? More than anyone else, an accountant needs to know how to manage time and be able to withstand work pressure.
The test should be scheduled in conjunction with the first interview. Employers should notify candidates in advance and provide a quiet, private space to help them concentrate best on the test. For online recruitment, design the test using applications or websites.
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6.2. Interviewing candidates
Interviews are an indispensable part of the recruitment process. To best evaluate finance and accounting candidates, recruiters need to carefully prepare all the necessary questions to achieve their recruitment goals, specifically:
- Design interview questions that focus on practical application of knowledge to leverage the candidate's strengths and experience, and subtly encourage them to apply that knowledge to provide solutions relevant to your business. Be careful not to create a sense of repetition with questions from a knowledge test the candidate has already completed.
- Design assessment scenarios to accurately determine how candidates respond to specific situations related to teamwork, adaptability, and communication skills.
- Establish general criteria for the interview: avoid judging candidates prematurely, and take notes on their answers. Evaluate each candidate based on the company's recruitment criteria, such as enthusiasm, attention to detail, honesty, body language, and personality suitability.
The finance and accounting department is interconnected with most other departments within a business. Therefore, in addition to professional knowledge, candidates in this department are required to possess strong communication skills and the ability to work effectively in a team. Especially for senior positions such as Chief Accountant, besides the skills mentioned above, the Chief Accountant also needs negotiation and decisiveness skills. To achieve interview goals, recruiters can consider group interviews. With this format, recruiters will have more time to observe and listen to candidates, leading to a fairer and more objective assessment.
In summary, there is no single model for evaluating finance and accounting candidates. Employers need to take the time to design and build recruitment methods to find finance and accounting candidates who are a good fit for the company's goals, and they also need policies to retain good candidates for long-term employment.