Hiring accountants who have the right education, training, and skills can help you get a team of experts who do their job with precision and effectiveness. However, you can make mistakes in the hiring process when you are not careful. You could end up hiring an acquaintance instead of a qualified applicant, choose an applicant’s reputation over their experience, or overlook candidates who have diverse skill sets. Such mistakes can result in performance problems down the road. The following are other mistakes you could make when hiring an accountant:
Hiring a Friend Instead of a Competent Candidate
While you may want to work with those you know personally, this can result in different issues beyond basic inefficiencies such as material accounting mistakes, co-worker complaints, and missed opportunities. It is better to hire a Phoenix accountant who has solid competencies even if they are new to your company.
Not Considering Practical Experience
As you review resumes, a candidate’s degree and association with an established accounting firm may impress you. You may not be able to turn down an accountant who has this kind of reputation, but this may benefit your organization depending on the position you want to be filled in. If you want to hire an accountant who fits into your accounting department, a previous auditor or an associate from a big accounting firm may not be the right fit. The reason is that they may not have the necessary skills to perform complex accounting balancing or account reconciliations. But these professionals are ideal for a technical accounting position. So, because finance professionals have diverse accounting and finance skills, you should look beyond what they highlight in their resumes to determine the candidate who has the practical skills.
Not Paying Attention to Non-Accounting Experience
When hiring managers assess accounting staff candidates, they focus on those whose experience meets their specific job requirements. They may ignore job titles and other important achievements they think are not directly related to the position they wish to be filled in. However, this can result in poor hiring decisions. For instance, an accountant who has extensive experience in operational quality can be more valuable than those who don’t have this experience. Hiring candidates who have diverse backgrounds can make an accounting team more effective and efficient down the road. But these candidates need the job description’s basic requirements. By hiring the right accountants, the team will outclass other teams in your company.
