Has your business been on the hunt lately for an accountant who could easily join your team and blend seamlessly into the office culture? Although you may be able to tick off a checklist of desired qualifications when searching for job candidates, ensuring your chosen candidates are a good cultural match for your specific company can be tricky. Fortunately, you can help narrow down your pool of candidates and more easily tell whether a given candidate would be a good match by following a handful of essential steps. Take a look at the top five ways you can match accountant applicants to your unique company culture and environment.
1. All Your Basic Qualification Requirements Are Met
Before you can start diving into the details of a particular job application, it’s important to make sure that all your minimum requirements are met. In order for accountants to blend seamlessly into your workspace, they first need to have the core qualifications you’re looking for. For example, you may require a CPA certification, a master’s degree or several years’ work experience for a certain position, or you may require that all employees, regardless of department, have undergone a specific type of training. Whatever your particular requirements, be sure the candidates you’re considering meet your baseline.
2. The Candidate Has Extensive Experience in Your Specific Industry
Although your entire pool of applicants may have experience in accounting, knowing the ins and outs of a specific industry can make a big difference. That’s why you may want to search for accountants who already have extensive experience working in your specific industry. This can not only save you time on training and adjustment but can make your new hire feel more comfortable from the start as well. Some common industries your applicants may have worked in include, but are not limited to, the following.
- Financial products and services
- Consumer goods
- Manufacturing
- International trade
- Banking and local commerce
3. Your New Hire Would Fit Right Into Your Company’s Culture
In order to be a great match, any new hire needs to fit well into your company’s existing culture. While corporate cultures can vary widely, it’s important to check that prospective employees wouldn’t feel uncomfortable or out of place in your particular office. For example, you may want to avoid hiring an excessively casual candidate if your workplace is typically very formal and professional at all times. In order to ensure a good fit, look for signs that your potential candidate has:
- A sense of ease with your company’s type of organizational structure
- Demonstrated compatibility with core company values
- The ability to blend in with important aspects of your office culture, from a “hard work” mentality to Casual Fridays flexibility and more
4. You Feel The Candidate Is Reliable and Trustworthy
All companies depend on reliable and trustworthy employees to lead the business to success, and the accounting world is no exception. Whomever you end up hiring, it’s important to know your new employee is dependable and can be entrusted with critical matters. This is especially important when you’re looking to fill high-level corporate positions, but also makes a big difference in lower-level staff positions. Without integrity, your candidate may have a hard time fitting into any honest company.
5. Interviews and More Have Demonstrated the Candidate’s Attention to Detail
Accounting is one field where attention to detail is an indispensable skill, and if you operate a meticulous workplace, you’ll want to make sure your candidate has demonstrated this ability. You can screen for detail-oriented minds throughout the interview and search process to ensure that whomever you bring on board is ready to tackle fine-grained issues and pinpoint potential problems before they arise. Be sure to design your interview questions to check for:
- The ability to screen documents for minor errors and other details
- The technical know-how to spot company vulnerabilities early
- The commitment required to consistently turn in high-quality work products
Even if your company prides itself on conducting thorough interviews and picking out the best applicants from a wide pool of qualified candidates, ensuring your new accountant is a good match for your company’s culture can be a complicated endeavor. Thankfully, you can help simplify this process by making sure your candidate meets all of your key requirements, feels comfortable in your industry and performs well in interviews. By following these five pieces of advice, you can help ensure a great match.