Hiring a new finance team member is an exciting, yet daunting task for any company. While it’s wonderful to breathe new life into your finance department with a new hire, the search for the perfect candidate can be a lengthy task, especially if you’ve personally never gone down this road before.
Thankfully, recruiting your dream employee doesn’t have to be a terrifying or difficult endeavour. By learning about these 6 mistakes to avoid, you’ll narrow-down your dream finance department addition in no time!
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1. Beginning the Recruitment Process Without an Internal Assessment First
For a more streamlined approach, start your recruitment process by internally assessing what you require for the role and why. Ensure key stakeholders are involved in this assessment and brainstorm a list of “must haves” that the successful candidate must possess. Having this prior knowledge allows you to be more confident and efficient when hiring your next finance team member.
2. Not Being Honest About What the Candidate can Expect from their Role
Among employees who quit their jobs, 20.2% do so because they don’t consider the company being a “good fit” for them. Therefore, when advertising the position and interviewing candidates, you’ll want to be honest and transparent about what they can expect in this role. Explain what your company culture is all about, the hours they will be expected to work, and any other details that will affect their day-to-day experience in this job.
3. Only Asking General Interview Questions
In order to gauge if a candidate is suitable for your finance team, it’s best that you ask a number of questions specifically related to the job’s requirements and responsibilities, rather than general and personality-based questions. This helps you get down to what’s most important, rather than wasting time by going through the same basic questions you think you have to ask.
Some recommended questions might include:
What best practices are the cornerstone of a good financial model?
How do you explain complex accounting problems to people without a financial background?
If you were our accountant, what would keep you awake at night?
4. Hiring an Employee Based on Cost
Sometimes, an employer might be influenced by a candidate’s low salary expectation and choose them for the job, rather than a more experienced candidate requiring higher pay. Your financial team is one of the most important teams of your entire company, and therefore, should be paid accordingly. In some cases, a candidate’s low salary expectations can indicate inexperience.
5. Not Considering Recruitment Assistance
The recruitment process for any employee – particularly when seeking a finance worker – can be time-consuming. If you lack the internal recruitment team or proven methodology to go through the hiring process, consider bringing a financial recruitment agency on board to assist you. This is particularly helpful for small businesses who need every minute of hands-on action they can muster.
6. Hiring a Finance Team Member who isn’t Up-To-Speed with Digital Methods
Tech-savvy businesses have digitally transformed bookkeeping and other vital financial tasks, meaning that in this digital era, it’s important for your candidate to possess familiarity with the online tools and systems your current finance team utilises to overcome its challenges. If you’re currently in the process of digitalising financial tasks such as expense management or supplier invoices, then ExpenseIn is a faster, simpler, and smarter approach.
