It’s a fact- there is a shortage of CPA talent in the country right now. In a recent CPA Firm Top Issues Survey, the top issues for all respondents were staffing-related concerns. The challenge isn’t just that the field of qualified candidates is narrow; the need is also expanding.
The U.S. Bureau of Labor and Statistics reports that the job outlook for a career in accounting is growing at 10% from now until 2026. That’s significantly faster than the average rate.
As more jobs become available, there is even more competition to secure a qualified candidate to fill your vacant position.
Fortunately, there are ways that businesses can maximize their impact in the employment space and stand out from the vigorous completion to attract and secure top talent. Although it’s not easy to penetrate this tight market, knowledgeable CPA recruiters know the best practices that will help you shine.
Here, you’ll learn about the benefits of partnering with a financial recruitment agency that specializes in finding CPA talent, like VALiNTRYcpa.
Why You Should Work with a CPA Recruiter
“Whether you’re hiring for a temporary or permanent role in your organization, it’s critical that you find a candidate who matches your precise needs to fill your CPA vacancy,” says Joe DiGennaro, Placement Executive at VALiNTRYcpa.
An experienced financial recruiting firm will be able to help match your desired skill set and job description with a CPA candidate resume that will meet your needs completely.
DiGennaro cautions, “simply posting your vacancy to an accounting job board may not yield any viable candidates, or worse, you may spend your time weeding through resumes of people who don’t have the education, license, or experience you desire.”
Reputable recruiters recognize your time is valuable and help you to narrow down your criteria and clearly define your needs and niche to make it easier to identify talent. They also enable you only to spend time meeting with the best of the best and do the hard part of combing through potential candidates to find the best culture fits on your behalf.
Benefits of Using a CPA Recruiter
Although it’s possible to seek out and identify talent using resources inside your organization, there are numerous benefits to outsourcing part of the process to an agency who specializes in hiring CPAs and other finance & accounting jobs. Here are a few to consider.
Coaching and Positioning in the Market
Working with a full-service finance and accounting staffing agency like VALiNTRYfinanical means that you’ll get coaching and insight on how to position yourself to be attractive to job seekers in the market. You may need to adjust your approach to match your goals allowing you to attract top talent, recent college graduates, or someone with considerable experience in the field.
For example, new graduates are extremely social media savvy, and it’s likely they will search for your presence on their favorite networks. Having a relevant feed and updated job postings on these types of media may put you on their radar, and a recruiting firm can help you identify these opportunities.
Streamlined Interview and Hiring Process
If weeding through stacks of resumes of unqualified individuals isn’t your idea of a good way to spend your time, then you should look to a CPA headhunter to do the hard part for you.
Not only will they work with you individually to clearly define and understand your needs, but they will also craft a job description and job posting that outlines all of your most important criteria.
Next, the accounting recruiter will filter down the applicants to only those who are an excellent match and may also pre-screen the candidate over the phone to ensure that your time is well spent in the interview.
This means you won’t spend wasted hours with people who don’t have the appropriate skills and qualifications or don’t fit the culture of your office. When you do conduct an interview, it’s much more likely that you’ll find a match for your needs.
What’s more, you’ll likely fill your vacancy more rapidly and with a better-quality individual than if you had handled the process internally.
Advice on Compensation
Because the talent pool is so limited, and the need for CPAs is so great, you’ll want to put your best foot forward when it comes time to make an offer.
Recruiters in the space know every important detail about industry standards and the competition in your market. Often, they will know if another business is hiring a similar candidate for a CPA vacancy in your market and can give you advice on how you compare.
Any smart job seeker will interview for multiple roles and will choose which offer to accept based on several factors. For many, compensation sits at or near the top of the list.
You don’t want to miss out on hiring the perfect match for your company culture and team because you missed the salary mark by a few thousand dollars a year. What’s more, a recruiter will learn about the candidate and provide advice on other ways to sweeten the deal.
If things like flexible hours, work-from-home opportunities, vacation, health benefits, gym memberships, or other perks are attractive to the candidate, a recruiter can help you build an offer that will be irresistible.
Working with a recruiter allows you to be both competitive and fiscally responsible, which gives you an advantage when the time comes to close the deal on your new recruit.
Attracting New Graduates
Hiring recent college graduates is an excellent strategy for both large accounting firms looking to cultivate and develop new talent, and for businesses who want the opportunity to gain an employee with a fresh perspective who could stay with you for years to come.
Although new graduates are often desirable, they are also difficult to recruit.
“Talented students typically have numerous competitive job opportunities when they enter the market, and it’s up to businesses to find a way to woo them away from their competition,” advises Carla Wright, another National Sales Manager in the CPA division.
“Working with an accounting staffing agency who knows how to position your firm as an exciting place to work to an accounting graduate is critical to successfully attracting the best candidates,” she adds.
There are several tactics you can use to be relevant to these job seekers.
- Work with your recruiter to identify ways that you stand out and promote those in your communications to potential candidates.
- Ensure that your online presence reflects your values and gives a clear and accurate snapshot of the culture of your company. Update your website, social media pages, and monitor online reviews so that you are on top of how your business is portrayed online.
- Offer competitive salaries for entry-level staff and build overall compensation packages that offer options that are attractive to this demographic.
- Hire from within and show long-term growth opportunities as their careers progress.
The CPA talent of today and the future is not the same as the past. Today’s candidates have different expectations and desires of their employer and workplace, and it’s essential that you work to meet and exceed them to keep from having unwanted vacancies in your organization.
Ready to Learn More?
Are you ready to attract and hire top CPA talent for your business? Learn more about our CPA Candidate Availability List or post a job for us to fill today.