Dubin & Lee Blog

Why Demand is Up for Accounting & Finance Professionals

  

 Email Article  

Tweet  

  

The Journal of Accountancy just reported that CFOs are having difficulty finding accounting and finance talent. This difficulty is up 7% from the previous quarter which means there is desire to find talent that can hit the ground running.

Here are 5 reasons why the demand for Accounting & Finance Professionals is high.

1. The musts are REALLY musts.  The criteria for the jobs we work on are crucial to the candidate being successful in the role. There seems to be very little ability to hire someone who does not possess key skills sets and credentials. The issue occurs because the knowledge base changes so quickly that if you have not done "it" recently, it is like you have not done "it" at all.
2. Succession Planning!  This is a good thing.  As the job market continues to pick up, hiring companies know that it will only get harder to find job seekers later.  It is best if they can find someone who will be great for the current job opening as well as be a great asset for the future.
3. Finance wants CPAs now, too.  Because the corporate environment is becoming more and more regulated with all the new FINRA, even Corporate Finance is leaning towards people who started their career in Accounting.  Go figure….literally.
4. Communication and leadership skills seem to be what is missing from the Corporate Accounting & Finance Departments who are looking to hire from the outside. When a client calls me with an Accounting or Finance staffing need, I ask them what seems to be missing with the current staff which prevents them from stepping up to this role. Most of the time, the first criteria mentioned is either communication skills or leadership skills.  Because a Corporate Accounting & Finance Department, now more than ever, is involved in implementing policies and procedures cross functionally, the need to influence without authority is immense. Also, effective managers need leadership skills, and many companies have not implemented adequate in house leadership training.  The result is that if the employee does not take it upon him/herself to develop these skills, the company will hire externally.  Seek out communication skills and leadership training now!
5. Corporate Accounting & Finance professionals are working too many hours to look for better job opportunities.  The ones that manage to keep an eye peeled for a greener pasture are the ones getting the best career opportunities right now.

Check out this week’s featured job opportunities.