WHY GETTING RECRUITMENT RIGHT IS SO IMPORTANT

Trainee Accountant to Senior: How to Progress in Practice (Quickly!)

Throughout my career as a specialist recruiter in professional practice, I’ve had the privilege of working with many talented, ambitious accountants, and some have progressed faster than others. While every journey is unique, there are clear patterns in what helps people move from trainee roles into more senior finance jobs within professional practice. Drawing from this experience, I’ve put together a set of strategies any accountant can adopt to accelerate their career up the professional practice ladder. These tactics have proven to be highly effective for those aiming to achieve their professional goals efficiently and successfully. Embrace Increasing ResponsibilityAs you begin your career in accountancy, the scope of your duties often starts with basic tasks such as data entry, reconciling accounts, and preparing reports. While these tasks are important for building a foundation, taking on more responsibility is key to developing the skills and experience needed for progression in practice.Start by volunteering for more complex tasks that stretch your skillset, such as handling larger client accounts, managing financial forecasting, or (if possible) participating in audits. These challenges will expose you to new aspects of accountancy and allow you to learn beyond the day-to-day duties. Another way to progress quickly is by taking on leadership roles within a team or department. Taking on the responsibility of overseeing junior staff, delegating tasks, and ensuring deadlines are met can significantly enhance your development and provide you with the invaluable ‘management experience’ which is essential for trainee accountants looking to advance to the next step in their professional practice careers. Continuous Learning and Self-DevelopmentAs you challenge yourself with new responsibilities, actively pursuing knowledge and development goes hand in hand with completing further qualifications. Traditionally, most accountants I work with are newly or nearly AAT qualified which is a fantastic accomplishment in itself but for those with aspirations of climbing the ladder the next step should be further studies. Qualifications such as the ACA, ACCA or CTA (depending on your chosen specialism) will allow you to strengthen your technical expertise. It’s worth mentioning here that a good training contract and mentor are invaluable for the next step in your journey and should be a big factor when deciding to look for a new role after completing your AAT. Finding a Mentor Another important aspect of progressing quickly in accountancy is developing relationships with more experienced colleagues, supervisors, and managers. By seeking mentorship from more experienced professionals, you can gain insights into how they managed their career progression. Also, they can guide you in taking on appropriate challenges and responsibilities and help you navigate the complexities of the profession. Many of the most successful finance professionals credit their career growth to strong mentorship relationships established early in their journey. NetworkingNetworking is one of the most underutilised tools for career progression in finance. While it might feel intimidating at first, networking allows you to connect with and learn from likeminded individuals, stay informed about trends in professional practice, and discover new opportunities. One of the primary reasons networking is important is that it helps build valuable relationships that can last your career. By connecting with colleagues, senior professionals, and other stakeholders, you gain access to a wealth of knowledge, insights, and opportunities that can propel your career forward. Ultimately, networking is not just about what you can gain but also about what you can offer to others. By fostering meaningful relationships, you contribute to a collaborative and supportive community that benefits everyone involved. Here at Sharp Consultancy, we host events across the year and have a long-standing relationship with various institutions and training groups including S&DCASS (Sheffield and District Chartered Accountants Student Society), LCASS (Leeds Chartered Accountants Students Society) and First Intuition to host events that bring studiers together from various firms throughout Yorkshire. It really is a brilliant first step in your networking journey. Whether you're just starting out or already on your way up, accelerating your career in professional practice comes down to a mix of mindset, opportunity, and action. By embracing responsibility, committing to continuous learning, building genuine relationships, and tapping into the right support networks, you’ll put yourself in the best possible position to thrive. If you’d like to explore how to take that next step—or just want to chat through your options—I’d love to hear from you. Let’s connect and start shaping your future together. Charlie Marper, Business Manager, charliemarper@sharpconsultancy.com – 0114 261 1700 Looking for your next career move in finance or accountancy? At Sharp Consultancy, our expertise lies in matching your potential with the perfect temporary, interim, or permanent position. With a well-established presence in Leeds and Sheffield, our seasoned team of consultants extends their services across Yorkshire and beyond. Don't wait for opportunity to knock, reach out to us TODAYand let's chart your career path together.

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When looking to recruit a new member to the team, it is generally accepted that there is an element of risk involved. Making the wrong decision can have a significant impact on an organisation and the affects of a bad hire can run much deeper than simply having to restart the recruitment process.

As businesses continue to navigate the challenges COVID-19 throws their way, there is increased emphasis on ensuring that the right recruitment decisions are taken, with a wrong move likely to have a significant financial impact as well as a downturn in individual, department and company performance.

According to a report from the Recruitment & Employment Confederation (REC) , over a third of companies don’t believe recruiting a wrong hire will cost them anything at all. The reality is there are a number of costs - including productivity costs incurred through not having somebody in place, management costs and training costs – and having to repeat the recruitment process to rectify a poor appointment will see those costs double or even triple. The same report calculated that a poor hire at mid-manager level with a salary of £42,000 can end up costing a business over £132,000.

Whilst business grapple with the shifting sands of the current climate, many may find themselves attempting to handle recruitment in-house without truly being in the position of being able to dedicate the time and resource to ensuring the process is robust and will stand up to many pitfalls and obstacles that are likely to be encountered along the way.

There is a widespread view – fuelled by the on-going reports of rising unemployment as the effects of the pandemic take hold – that the job market is awash with a wealth of potential candidates crying out for opportunities with employers able to simply take their pick. The reality, however, is somewhat different.

Whilst the current situation is indeed having a devastating effect in certain areas, these effects are not widespread in the way they were during the banking crisis of 2007 with several industry sectors relatively unaffected or in some cases - such as logistics and food manufacture – positively booming. Combined with Government support in the shape of the furlough scheme, the considerable efforts made by businesses to retain their staff and employees adopting a risk adverse approach to new employment opportunities means that there’s little likelihood of organisations being able to bring someone onboard with an easy quick win.

Understandably, employers do not want to make a mistake; however this can see them limit themselves in their decision making and only consider ‘obvious’ selection criteria and restrict their talent pool as they seek to recruit like-for-like candidates who have previously been employed in a similar sector or competitor company.

A decision that is based upon ticking off a wish list of ‘safe’ boxes, however, is unlikely to result in identifying the best overall choice as you neglect to drill down and examine the essential requirements of the role to source individuals that will make a real difference to an organisation. An experienced recruitment practitioner will, with the benefit of their experience, ability to reach into the market and draw out candidates that may not currently be actively seeking new opportunities and having the time to dedicate to the process, be able to tease out a far more widespread range of critical factors - attitude, aptitude, culture fit – as well as a person’s knowledge and expertise, upon which to determine a robust, high quality short list.

One of the key outcomes of COVID-19 has been the increased volume of interviews taking place on platforms such as Zoom or Microsoft Teams. For those not involved in recruitment on a day-to-day basis, this in itself can be a steep learning curve that needs to be quickly navigated; even after almost of year of doing business ‘online’, whilst they may be well versed in utilising such platforms, the ability to confidently assess those qualities that you would normally rely heavily upon face-to-face interaction to determine – body language, expression, engagement – can be a new experience and one which takes time to master.

The cost of an incorrect recruitment decision can be considerable; whilst the money spent on training, for example, can be measurable there are many more costs which are not as easy to quantify. The impact of a bad hire on staff morale, productivity levels, output quality, client relationships and business reputation are easily overlooked but can have more wide reaching and long term consequences that are not as straight-forward to rectify by simply making an alternative appointment.

Sharp Consultancy specialises in the recruitment and executive search of finance and accountancy professionals. With offices in Leeds and Sheffield our highly experienced team of consultants recruit for temporary, interim and permanent roles across the full spectrum of positions throughout Yorkshire and beyond. CONTACT US today and speak to a member of our team about your recruitment needs or next career move.

WHY GETTING RECRUITMENT RIGHT IS SO IMPORTANT – AND NOW MORE THAN EVER!

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