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Forget Astrology: Master the Magic of Hiring
Looking to hire the right accounting or bookkeeping candidate without resorting to astrology or hiring anyone with a pulse? You're in luck! We’ve compiled the best (and worst!) suggestions for every aspect of the hiring process. Check out the guide below to avoid outdated tactics and instead learn how to make attractive offers faster than you can say "You're hired!"
Hiring Process
- Don't Do: Post a 'Situations Vacant' at your local convenience store.
- Might Be Doing: Advertise on a job board or use a recruiter.
- Should Be Doing: Advertise on a job board or use a recruiter, AND leverage referral networks and social media, especially by involving the existing team in marketing the opportunity. You’re always looking for staff.
Assessing Skills Needed
- Don't Do: Rely solely on reading palms.. I mean, resumes.
- Might Be Doing: Ask some technical questions at the interview or using manual tests you’ve been using for years.
- Should Be Doing: Gather multiple data points across different knowledge areas using a legally compliant test.
Ensuring Team Fit
- Don't Do: Base hiring decisions on a candidate’s star sign.
- Might Be Doing: Asking questions at the interview, checking references, and / or using personality profiles that are not designed for hiring.
- Should Be Doing: Use a Big 5 model personality profile to generate competency-based questions for the interview.
Interview Process – What Can We Do In 45 Minutes
- Don't Do: Resort to tarot cards to answer your burning questions. Having a general chat over coffee is just about as effective.
- Might Be Doing: Use a standard interview template and leaving the last 2 minutes for candidate questions.
- Should Be Doing: Focus the interview on areas highlighted by the personality profile, using competency-based questions, and allocate time to sell the benefits of the job and your firm.
Decision Making
- Don't Do: Hire any candidate with a pulse.
- Might Be Doing: Choose the candidate you personally liked the best.
- Should Be Doing: Hire the candidate who best fits the requirements of the position profile.
Offering the Position
- Don't Do: Send an offer email in the witching hour, and not until the next full moon.
- Might Be Doing: Make the offer by phone a few days after the interview.
- Should Be Doing: Make the offer by phone the day after the interview, preferably involving the accounting manager who attended the interview.
In conclusion, methodologies over mythologies the are key to making magic happen with your next hiring campaign.
Giles Pearson | After 18 years as a partner with a large public accounting firm, Giles founded Accountests to help those recruiting accountants make better hiring decisions
