Throughout our years working in the field of finance and accounting, we have repeatedly seen similar mistakes made during the recruitment process for financial management professionals.
Common mistakes stem from two key points: either the hiring manager doesn't know exactly what they're looking for in a financial manager position, or they're unsure how to assess candidates during the interview process.
Below, we present simple steps to identify what your business truly needs and is looking for in candidates, along with helpful tips for measuring this criterion to help recruiters select the most suitable financial management professionals.
1. Understand the importance of the interview.
An interview is often the first time a candidate meets a company representative. A successful interview will help the candidate gain a positive understanding of the company's culture and people. Many job postings are generic, only providing minor details of a position. During the interview, the interviewer can provide the candidate with more information about what a financial management position entails, as well as the salary, benefits, and career development opportunities.
With a resume, candidates can only provide a limited amount of information about themselves. Therefore, the interview is an opportunity for the interviewer to gather more information about the candidate. This information can range from the candidate's educational background to their work history, and highlights of their skills and experience. However, only during the interview can you verify whether the candidate possesses the unique skills mentioned in their application.
During an interview, you need to assess not only each candidate's diligence or expertise, but also their overall qualities such as soft skills, cultural fit, and career goals.
2. Assessing professional financial management skills
What are the necessary professional requirements for the financial management position you are seeking? This could include leadership, analytical skills, mathematical proficiency, or technological skills… Hard skills are assessable based on experience, daily job responsibilities, and training. Therefore, carefully review the job description and consult with your direct manager and the financial management department to determine the essential hard skills needed to succeed in this position.
The question is, how can you assess a candidate's hard skills during the interview process?
- First, carefully prepare competency-based interview questions that encourage candidates to provide examples of times they have demonstrated financial management skills in the past. Competency-based interview questions are the best way to understand and assess job-related skills and knowledge.
- Design a skills test for candidates to complete before or during the interview. Such assessments should accurately reflect the skills needed to succeed in the job position.
- Design assessment scenarios to accurately determine how candidates react to specific situations related to the job you are interviewing them for.
3. Assessing the soft skills needed to recruit financial management professionals.
In addition to professional competence, soft skills are also essential when evaluating a candidate for a financial management position. Soft skills are non-technical, intangible, and difficult to measure and define clearly. So how can we determine which soft skills a suitable candidate for a financial management position should possess?
Go back to the job description and think about what soft skills would be beneficial for someone in this position. For example, a financial manager needs a high sense of responsibility, a positive attitude and mindset, dynamic and flexible problem-solving skills, communication skills, teamwork, strong analytical, learning, and adaptability skills, the ability to work under pressure, and effective time management skills.
When a candidate is standing in front of you, how can you assess their soft skills during an interview?
- Again, you can build competency-based interview questions to gain a deeper understanding of the candidate's soft skills. For example: Can you describe how you build relationships with colleagues? How do you manage your time during the day for work? Tell me about a time you made a mistake and how you resolved it? You could describe an innovative solution you once proposed and how it benefited your previous work.
- You also need to be observant, listen attentively, and analyze the psychology of each candidate to see how they demonstrate soft skills, such as how they speak to you, and to assess whether they are confident individuals capable of building good relationships with key decision-makers. Listening to candidates' questions will also help you understand how they diagnose problems and process data.
Soft skills are crucial in interviews for financial management talent, and they are the key to differentiating between a good professional on paper and a good professional in practice.
4. Determine cultural fit during the interview.
In addition to professional knowledge and soft skills, the candidate's fit with the team, organization, and company culture is also something that businesses need to pay close attention to when recruiting.
Many recruiters often focus too much on skills and forget that fit is also a crucial factor in developing a strong team and business.
To avoid this mistake and select the most suitable financial management expert for your company, before the interview, take the time to analyze the description of your team, organization, and culture. From there, formulate appropriate questions and specific assessment scenarios.
For example:
Your company is a place where everyone is friendly and team-oriented, where collaboration and a collaborative mindset are valued in solving customer problems. Present specific scenarios to identify these characteristics in candidates during the interview.
You can also introduce candidates for the finance management position to other members of the company. Let these people know exactly what you're evaluating the candidate for, so they can discuss, ask questions, and provide feedback on each candidate, helping the company understand their fit with the company culture.
5. Define your career goals during the interview.
Finally, consider career development goals and the training and development opportunities available for the financial management position. Then, during your interviews, ask questions to identify each candidate's career goals and analyze whether they are capable of taking advantage of these available opportunities. If a candidate cannot provide detailed and relevant answers demonstrating their potential to become a long-term employee, this may not be the right job or opportunity for them.
You should also find out their expectations regarding training and career development. If internal advancement and development are a core part of your employee retention strategy, you'll want to hire a candidate whose career goals and expectations align with yours.
TakeawaysWhen selecting the most suitable financial management professional, it's crucial to assess not only their professional knowledge but also their soft skills, work style, and ambition. While these factors are difficult to pinpoint, taking the time to research and evaluate them will increase your chances of finding, hiring, and retaining the best candidates for the job.