Marketing For Accountants In Practice

So, you’ve got an interview, congratulations. Now, don’t blow it.

In previous columns, I’ve talked about how to put your resume together. We’ve examined what to do in an interview and we’ve talked about negotiating an offer.

We’ve looked at what your skill set might be worth in the marketplace and we’ve looked at a wide range of tips and skills that you’ll find useful in developing you career. And there’s much more to come.

But I still find that some candidates blow it when they get in front of a client. In November 2002’s issue of The Bottom line, I wrote about the interview in an article entitled ‘The Interview – Sixty Minutes To Change Your Life’, but in my work with clients, hiring authorities with a need, I still get the occasional feedback on candidates that really is unbecoming of a professional man or woman.

Are these issues that I, as a professional recruiter should have spotted before they were put in front of an unsuspecting client?

At first glance you’d say yes, and in theory you’d be right, but sometimes certain things only come out when the candidate is in front of someone who has the power to hire them.

So this issue I will talk about some of the cardinal sins candidates make (it seems some people just can’t help themselves from committing them) in the hope that the guilty and potentially guilty will take heed.

Let’s look at Jennifer. Jennifer is 32, a Chartered Accountant with a ten-partner firm in the City, where she has worked for the last five years. She’s content in her present job but is getting frustrated at an apparent ‘glass ceiling’ in her existing firm. There just aren’t the openings for her to advance beyond ‘Manager’.

She’ll sometimes see outsiders hired over her head and wonder why she wasn’t considered for promotion instead.

Her performance reviews are ‘satisfactory’ and her salary is a steady $75,000. She doesn’t feel that her boss is being fair in placing more demands on her if she wants to advance, after all, who would take care of her young children?

She doesn’t get as much client contact as she would like and hasn’t received a bonus for three consecutive years. ‘They always make excuses’ she says. Jennifer feels ready to look at her options elsewhere.

Raymond is a Chartered Accountant who, at 29, has been identified by his national firm as ‘future partnership material’.

He arrives early, leaves late and works very effectively. He’s very popular amongst peers, superiors and subordinates. Everybody loves Raymond. He is about to start the Institute’s ‘In-Depth’ tax course, paid for by his firm.

Raymond is already a Manager and is earning $86,500, plus bonus. He loves the direct contact with clients and he learned a great deal from a Partner who recently retired. Raymond sought out this person not long after qualifying and asked him to mentor him during his last few years.

Jennifer answered an advert on Workopolis, posted by Frank, a sole practitioner looking for a Manager or Senior Manager (according to the job posting) at a salary between $80,000 and $100,000. He has fifteen staff and $1.5 million in billings and is experiencing rapid growth. He needs an experienced hand to help manage the growing workflow.

She sent in her resume and covering letter, and Frank forgave the spelling mistakes and typos in the resume and covering letter, assuming that she was really busy and applying online from her office.

He liked her background in a bigger firm and thought that her salary expectations represented good value, so he asked if they could meet.

Jennifer turns up for the interview fifteen minutes late. Her hair is untidy, there’s a huge ladder in her nylons, her shoes are scruffy and there’s a ‘baby vomit’ stain on the back of her cardigan.

She’s conscious that the morning’s coffee might be on her breath, so she chews gum throughout the entire interview.

When Frank asks about her passion for public accounting she replies: ‘Well, I’m also looking at opportunities in industry, after all, I’ve been in public accounting long enough now’.

The interview lasted thirty-five minutes.

Frank was, frankly, looking for someone way more professional and certainly wouldn’t want her to be his ambassador to clients when he wasn’t available. ‘She might not even stay that long if the right opportunity in industry came along’ Frank muses.

‘I’m not surprised that she isn’t getting the chance for promotion’ Frank said aloud to himself after she left.

Raymond meets Frank after Frank has engaged a search firm, as the quality of candidates he was able to generate on his own efforts just weren’t cutting it for him. He chose to work with a headhunter who only works with public accounting firms.

Raymond arrives ten minutes early. He visits the washroom and combs his hair, wipes his nose and brushes his teeth. He puts his washing kit away in his briefcase as he looks down at the floor to see his reflection in his shining shoes.

After a confident handshake, Raymond asks Frank what his clients thought about his newly designed web site and how much traffic was it getting?

Raymond explained his passion for helping smaller businesses create and protect wealth, how he loved meeting with clients and earning their trust and confidence and how he really got a ‘buzz’ out of helping clients achieve more.

The interview lasted an hour and three-quarters, and the time seemed to fly by.

‘Wow’ thought Frank, as Raymond walked to the elevators ‘I’d love to have him involved in my practice, I know my clients would just love him’.

I’m pretty sure I don’t have to point out all the difference between the two candidates, and tell you who got a job offer of $97,500…

Do I?