Take a Step Back and Create a Strong Process to Improve Your Talent Strategy

One of your company’s biggest focal points is finding top talent. When you have the best professionals working for you, your business stays competitive. Therefore, you want to always be improving on your recruiting strategies. Here are some tips for creating a strong process to improve your talent strategy.

Create Clear Job Descriptions

Ask your co-workers what the nature of the position is and what qualifications are required. If an employee is working in a similar role, ask for their input as well. Update past job descriptions so they contain current information. When you use the descriptions to write job postings, you’ll know the key responsibilities required for the position, with whom the employee works and to whom they report, and how the employee can advance in the organization. Because candidates understand what qualifications you’re looking for, what their performance should look like, what the company’s management structure is and how the candidate may be promoted, you’ll be able to find the quality candidates you’re looking for.

Profile Your Ideal Candidate

Determine which skills and experience your ideal candidate has. This includes four to six easily observable characteristics that most skilled professionals in the same position share. The characteristics may be viewed from a candidate’s resume, application or screening interview and must be logically connected to being successful on the job. Ensure each characteristic is specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time-related (SMART).

Craft Your Pitch to Top Talent

The best candidates have a multitude of opportunities available to them. Therefore, you need to point out what you have to offer candidates that your competition does not. Ensure your pitch is personalized, concise, compelling and transparent. For example, include why your product/service is unique, who your target audience is and how you plan to reach that audience. Mention your quantitative goals such as revenue, profitability and number of employees for the next five and 10 years. In addition, bring up how your company can further a candidate’s career planning through additional training, mentorship and other professional development. State what your company culture is like and why employees enjoy working for you.

Work With a Leader in Accounting and Finance Staffing  

Work with a leader in accounting and finance staffing in Chicago. Get in touch with Casey Accounting & Finance Resources today!

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Our Top Financial Job Search Tips from 2017

As we head into the new year, you should be setting goals for what you want to accomplish in the next 12 months. One of your goals may be to find a new accounting or finance job. Here are our top financial job search tips from 2017.

Monitor Your LinkedIn Profile  

Because a hiring manager will likely view your LinkedIn profile when you apply for a position, you want to present yourself in a highly professional manner. For example, mention your accomplishments, such as how you helped your team secure a substantial account with a big client. Participate in LinkedIn Groups to interact with other professionals in your field and show you’re a thought leader. In addition, use Open Candidate to connect with hiring managers and recruiters without your current employer finding out.

Highlight Your Accounting Skills and Accomplishments   

List your technical skills, including proficiency in SAP, Oracle, Sage and other high-level software that set you apart from the competition. Also, mention the accomplishments you achieved in previous positions, such as taking on more responsibility and creating desired results. Ensure you quantify your success to show how strong your performance was. Mention how well you prepare an income statement, balance sheet, statement of retained earnings, statement of cash flow and other financial statements. Furthermore, explain how you pay attention to detail when performing financial analysis.

Find Work When You Are Unemployed

There are many methods of finding work when you’re unemployed. Use social media for networking. Update your Facebook profile to show what type of role you’re looking for and what your skills and experience are, then reach out to your friends and ask if they know of any openings. Use LinkedIn to connect with former colleagues, supervisors and executives you worked with and hiring managers at companies that interest you. Follow companies you’d like to work for on LinkedIn and Twitter so you can be notified when they have job openings. Continue building your skill set. Volunteer with a nonprofit organization that provides services you’re passionate about. Include the fundraising, email marketing, event management or other skills you gained on your resume. In addition, continue personal and professional development. Take on temporary and contract projects that enhance your skills and may lead to full-time work. Participate in a class or professional association related to your field. Furthermore, work with a recruiter who specializes in your industry. Contact them to see how they’d like to receive your cover letter and resume. Appropriately prepare for your interview. Follow up weekly without becoming bothersome. Show gratitude for the recruiter’s assistance.

Partner With a Leading Financial Staffing Agency in Chicago

While updating your resume and LinkedIn profile will help you find a job for the new year, take the next step and work with an award-winning financial staffing agency in Chicago. Contact Casey Accounting & Finance Resources!

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What Tools Are on Your List for 2018? 10 Innovative Technology Tools for Talent Acquisition

At a recent Illinois Search and Staffing Association meeting, various tools for talent acquisition were discussed.  During the presentation, the company Talent Tech Labs was identified as an industry leader in the evaluation of emerging technologies for talent acquisition.  Upon further research, according to Talent Tech Labs, the top and most innovative technology tools include:

  • Employer Branding – Technology for monitoring your reputation for your organization and, more importantly, your value proposition for your employees
  • Mobile Recruitment – Technology for addressing candidates through Smartphone applications and social technology
  • Analytics Platform – Taking big data and analyzing the information to help in achieving better informed decisions
  • Candidate Relationship Management – Technology to manage relationships with potential and future hires
  • Video Interviewing – Using video technology to streamline the interview process
  • Online Assessments – Talent assessments are used as a part of an online screening process to help determine which candidates have the skills required
  • Referral Platform – Automates your referral process to get more candidates and more hires
  • Job Marketing and Distribution – Technology to market your jobs and get the proper distribution out to the potential network of candidates
  • Recruitment Chatbots/AI Enhanced Processing – To improve the candidate’s experience, a Chatbot can help recruiters collect information on candidates, ask screening questions, answer frequently asked questions and schedule interviews with human recruiters.
  • Digital Reference Checks – Automate the reference checking process

Talent Tech Labs engages in investigation, research, validation, and acceleration of emerging technologies that can improve the state of play in talent acquisition through collaboration and connecting early-stage companies with forward thinkers in the industry. To keep on top of talent acquisition technology, learn more at www.TalentTechLabs.com.

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Short-Term and Long-Term Goals Will Improve Your Employee Experience

Your employee experience involves feeling connected to co-workers at all levels, finding meaning in the work, having an impact on the organization, and receiving specific, real-time appreciation for one’s contributions. Because these issues are interrelated, they all have an impact on your company’s success. Therefore, you want to do all you can to ensure your employees are satisfied in all areas. Here are some tips for setting short- and long-term goals to improve your employee experience.

Incorporate Feedback into Company Culture

Create short-and long-term goals for incorporating regular feedback into company culture. Giving and accepting feedback in real time is much more effective than the traditional completion of an annual survey. Therefore, you need to encourage leaders to request and accept feedback and employees to follow specific criteria to most effectively provide feedback. Ask about the effectiveness of your onboarding process and how it may be improved. Also, ask about an employee’s experience in having their work performance evaluated and how the process could be better.

Create Employee Insight Teams

Set short- and long-term goals for creating dedicated employee insight teams. The teams must possess the skills and systems necessary to collect, analyze and act on employee experience data. Also, leaders must be trained to interpret the data reports, discuss the feedback with their teams and prioritize areas that need action.

Set Up Employee Systems

Ensure each leader has a current list of their employees. Also, provide methods of communication between leaders and employees through phones or the internet.

Implement Ongoing Initiatives

Ensure that your goals involve ongoing initiatives, rather than one-time programs. Shifts in improving your employee experience need to become permanent elements of operating your company. However, incorporate your goals for one initiative at a time, rather than all at once. The first version of your employee experience program will need to improve over time. Therefore, focus your efforts on one initiative until you’re satisfied with your results. You can always take a look at it again after implementing your goals for other initiatives.

Measure Business Impact

Set long- and short-term goals to measure your impact on reaching business goals. For example, HR professionals need to create feedback programs to identify, measure and interpret employee experiences and use feedback to improve their HR processes. Also, leaders need to accept and act on positive and negative feedback. In addition, employees need to provide honest feedback without concern for adverse consequences.

Contact Casey Accounting & Finance Resources

To secure top financial professionals, contact Casey Accounting & Finance Resources and work with an award-winning financial recruiter in Chicago!

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Bring Value to the Job Interview by Showing You Play Well with Others

During an interview, the hiring manager is looking for which hard and soft skills you possess. In addition to having the qualifications necessary for the role, you need to demonstrate you’re a good fit with company culture. Therefore, you need to show you get along well with your co-workers. Follow these guidelines to show you play well with others.

Share Stories

Tell stories that are relevant to the position you want and illustrate your ability to work with others. For example, review the job posting before your interview to determine how the company and the role define “teamwork,” then tailor your stories accordingly. Also, discuss your role in a team project and how often you interacted with your teammates. In addition, make sure your stories show you’re adaptable to working with new colleagues and enjoy doing your part to solve problems and complete projects. Remember to use the STAR method: discuss a situation or task, (ST), the action you took (A) and results you achieved (R).

Detail Your Contributions

Point out your individual accomplishments as well as your team’s accomplishments. Also, mention how your accomplishments helped your team reach its goal. In addition, show how you were one of the high-performing contributors who motivated your teammates to complete their work and helped out as needed.

Discuss How You Handle Conflict

Your colleagues may have diverse backgrounds, personalities and ideas for completing a project and may disagree on how to complete the work. Therefore, you need to show how you productively interact with your teammates to resolve issues and achieve common goals. Demonstrate you can effectively mediate, motivate or lead when needed.

Be Honest

If you embellish your stories, the hiring manager will most likely find out and decide not to hire you. If you lack experience as a team leader, rather than making up a story, emphasize the skills you have that will help you excel in a leadership role.

Connect with Casey Accounting & Finance Resources

For assistance with securing your next financial role, connect with Casey Accounting & Finance Resources and work with an award-winning financial recruiter in Chicago!

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A Season of Thanks!

As Thanksgiving is upon us, we once again reflect on how fortunate we are and what we are grateful for in our everyday lives! We hope everyone has a Happy Thanksgiving!!!

• I am grateful that I have been able to work with such gifted and motivated people. We are a group of people that works hard AND plays hard! I am also grateful for my orange cat, Hans, who can always make me smile no matter what kind of day I’m having. Beverly

• I am grateful for the people in my life that are my cheerleaders and support me in everything I do! Cheryl

• I am grateful to the organization that I work for. I am grateful to the clients and candidates that I assist and continue to build long lasting relationships. Lastly, I am very grateful to the leadership team of both Arlington Resources and Casey Accounting & Finance Resources. Their dedication, vision and loyalty are very admirable. Eileen

• I’m thankful to be part of a great group of recruiters working for a company that truly values its employees. Adam

• I am grateful for being part of a team that is dedicated to making an amazing difference in the lives of our clients, candidates, and colleagues. I am also very thankful that I am able to participate in rescuing responsibly and saving precious lives by fostering and volunteering with an incredible dog rescue. Chrisoula

• I’m thankful for the terrific team of people I work with each day. Pete

• I’m thankful for having the means to have traveled so much this year, for my family’s health, and being able to provide for them by doing what I love, with a company I believe in. Noori

• I am thankful for being a part of an amazing team and getting to work with candidates who truly have a passion for what they do! I am also grateful for my amazing fiancé and my little furry family who have put a smile on my face every day! Elizabeth

• I am grateful for my health, family, friends, and for my continued career with Arlington Resources! Erika

• I’m grateful for the opportunity to work with such wonderful people: co-workers, clients and candidates! I’m also grateful for my old horse that still likes to go out on trail rides. Freedom is a wonderful thing! Denise

• I’m thankful that my co-workers trust me with their IT issues, and that my Arlington Resources family is always keeping me on my toes.” Jake

• I am thankful for bringing a baby boy into this world and being able to juggle working fulltime at a job that impacts people’s lives! Erin

• I am thankful for my health, success, and happiness. I am grateful for the company I work for and the relationships I have made with candidates, clients, and coworkers over the past 2 years! Brooke

• I am thankful for all the opportunities I have been given working for a truly exceptional company as well as the amazing candidates and clients we serve! Jess

• I am grateful, once again, to be a part of this wonderful team! Renee

• I am grateful for the opportunity to work in the staffing industry for the past 30 years! Little did I know what a great career this would be when I first starting calling on clients to see how we could help make a difference in their lives by finding them great candidates. Our new mission statement sums it all up: We are dedicated to making an amazing difference in the lives of our clients, candidates and colleagues! I have been blessed working with great people and having an amazing, supportive family! Patty

5 Must-Follow Tips for Successful Open Enrollment Communication

When open enrollment arrives each year, you need to be prepared. Choosing benefits is often stressful for employees. They need enough information and time to determine which benefits best meet their needs. Therefore, you need to begin preparing well in advance. Here are five must-follow tips to successful open enrollment communication.

Review Last Year’s Results

Review your previous year’s open enrollment results to determine areas that were successful and areas that needed improvement. You’ll face similar challenges this year, and you want to learn from previous mistakes. Meet with key team members to review what worked and didn’t work last year. Ensure each member leaves with action items and deadlines. Also, define your open enrollment objectives and how you will measure success. Use that information to decide who your audiences are and what your overall and targeted messages will be. Then, determine what media you’ll use, what your timeline is and what barriers you may face in achieving your goals.

Set Goals

Determine hard goals, such as the number of new enrollees you’d like to see in your company retirement plan. Also, determine one to three soft goals to make the enrollment process easier and more understandable. For example, ask how well an employee feels they understand your company’s benefits, how aware of the benefit process they are and how they would rate the effort needed to sign up for benefits.

Use Data Analytics

Have year-over-year data showing how benefits are being used to determine what training materials may help employees take better advantage of underused or under-valued choices. Keep track of and compare enrollment data in a manner that gives useful insight into how employees choose their benefits, which can show where additional education is needed during open enrollment.

Highlight Key Information

Because your employees are busy, highlight key information in all open enrollment communication. When you send employees printed material or an email, ensure the information can be read in 30 seconds, the amount of time an employee will devote to looking at the material. Use bold graphics and clear, concise language to increase engagement and comprehension of the information.

Emphasize a Call to Action

Stress a call to action at the end of each communication. Your employees must know what they need to do after reading the information to make it most effective.

Contact Casey Accounting & Finance Resources

For assistance with finding top accounting and financial candidates, contact Casey Accounting & Finance Resources! As an award-winning financial staffing agency, we have the process and team ready to help your business!

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Which Questions Must You Ask a Financial Recruiter in a Phone Call?

As a skilled accounting or finance professional, you’re most likely receiving phone calls from recruiters. Whether you’re looking to change positions or keep the role you have, you need to be prepared to talk with recruiters. Even if you don’t want their services now, you may change your mind in the future. Here are four questions you should ask when a recruiter calls.

What Are the Three Main Qualifications the Company Is Looking For?

Determine whether you’re qualified for the role so you can decide whether to continue the conversation. Although the recruiter most likely has a list of desired skills and experience, candidates typically need to possess only three or four main ones. If you lack in any of those areas, let the recruiter know. Also, if you’re looking for a different position, mention what type of work you’d like and your qualifications. The recruiter may be able to discuss a more suitable opportunity with you.

What Is the Job Description?

You need to ensure the role fits your interests and adds to your skill set. Also, make sure you can fulfill the job responsibilities each day and have room for advancement within the organization.

Are You Working Exclusively With This Employer?

Uncover how far the recruiter is in their search and how likely you may be to get the position. If the recruiter is the only one asked to fill the role, you have a greater chance of having your resume reviewed by the hiring manager. However, if the recruiter shares the placement with others, the odds of having your resume seen are reduced. As a result, you’ll need to invest more time following up with the recruiter to determine where you’re at in the process. Also, the hiring process may take longer because there are more resumes to review and candidates to interview.

Why Is the Job Available?

The previous employee may have been promoted, or the position may have high turnover. Find out how long the position has been vacant. If it hasn’t been long, or you’re the first candidate to interview, you may have to wait a while as the hiring manager meets with other candidates. If the role has been vacant a while, determine what didn’t work with the candidates who interviewed. You’ll know whether you have a better chance of being offered the role. In addition, find out the longevity of the rest of the team. Determine approximately how long each member remains in their role and advances in or leaves the organization. You’ll gain an idea of what path you may take with the company.

Reach out to Casey Accounting & Finance Resources

For help with finding your next professional role, reach out to Casey Accounting & Finance Resources and work with an award-winning financial recruiter in Chicago!

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Trends in Contingent Staffing

At a recent conference for the National Association of Personnel Services, the following trends were identified for the contingent workforce:

  • 96% of companies use contract staffing
  • 83% of companies say that contractors work harder than full-time employees
  • It is projected that 73% of companies will switch to having their full-time employees be C-Suite level and the rest will be part-time and contract employees

In addition, according to Staffing Industry Analysts, when they asked the companies, “What is the size of your contingent workforce?” the average response for 2017 was 20%.  They anticipate by 2027 their contingent workforce will be 25% of their workforce including:  Direct Temporary Workers, Independent Contractors, Human Cloud Workers and Agency Temporaries.

At CASEY ACCOUNTING & FINANCE RESOURCES, we are dedicated to making an amazing difference in the lives of our clients, candidates and colleagues.  Some of our recent temporary accounting and finance placements include the following:

TEMPORARY A&F POSITIONS FILLED:

A/P Clerk-Temporary-Schaumburg, IL
Cash App Specialist-Temporary-Lincolnwood, IL
Staff Accountant-Temporary-Des Plaines, IL
A/R Specialist-Temporary-Elk Grove Village, IL
Accounting Clerk-Temporary-Deerfield, IL
Tax Accountant-Temporary-Arlington Heights, IL
Staff Accountant-Temporary-Chicago, IL
Payroll Manager-Temporary-Northbrook, IL
Collections-Temporary-Wood Dale, IL
Staff Accountant-Temporary-Lombard, IL
A/P Clerk-Temporary-Mount Prospect, IL
Sr. Accountant-Temporary-Bridgeview, IL
A/P Clerk-Temporary-Mount Prospect, IL
Credit Analyst-Temporary-Chicago, IL
A/P Clerk-Temporary-Northlake, IL
Staff Accountant-Temporary-Northlake, IL
Accountant-Temporary-Glenview, IL
Bookkeeper-Temporary-Schaumburg, IL
Payroll Associate-Temporary-Hoffman Estates, IL
A/P Clerk-Temporary-LaGrange, IL

In addition, we are busy helping our clients hire regular full-time staff to their teams!  Some of our recent placements include the following:

DIRECT HIRE A&F POSITIONS FILLED:

Credit Analyst-Chicago, IL
Sr. Accountant-Chicago, IL
Payroll Specialist-Northbrook, IL
Accountant-Schaumburg, IL
Financial Analyst-Northlake, IL
Accounting Clerk-Rolling Meadows, IL
Billing Analyst-Deerfield, IL
Payroll Manager-Chicago, IL
Bookkeeper-Schaumburg, IL
Sr. Accountant-Deerfield, IL
Payroll Manager-Chicago, IL
Financial Analyst-Schaumburg, IL
Sr. Accountant-Chicago, IL
Payroll Specialist-Rosemont, IL

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Considering Hiring a New Grad? Here’s a Guide to Making It Work

Hiring new grads can be beneficial for your company. Recent grads can use their knowledge-based foundation and transferrable skills to help move your organization forward. Follow these guidelines to successfully hire new grads.

Know How to Connect

Aside from recruiting at college career fairs, there are many ways to connect with new grads. Use your company website, social media and job boards to post openings and engage with followers. Also, have an employee referral program in place to find new talent as they enter the workforce. Ask for referrals from clients, vendors, consultants and other business partners to increase your candidate pool.

Market Your Company

Create engaging posts, photos and videos to provide information on your company mission and values, culture, available entry-level opportunities and potential for advancement. Emphasize that your interview process involves working with candidates to determine which position may be the best fit for them. In addition, mention the educational backgrounds you’re looking for without being too narrow in your search.

Help Visualize Employment

Introduce them to employees with similar backgrounds and experiences. Show candidates the area they’ll be working in if they’re offered a position. Discuss what will be expected of candidates daily.

Emphasize Soft Skills

Critical thinking, time management, leadership and strong communication skills are essential traits for any position. You can ask candidates to provide an example of how they successfully applied soft skills in a previous job, volunteer role, sports team or other extracurricular activities. After hiring candidates, you can provide direction on successfully applying soft skills to their new roles.

Welcome New Grads

Ensure each new grad has at least eight to 12 weeks of departmental or mentor-based training. You may want to assign both an experienced mentor and a recent college grad with two years’ experience to assist during the training process. Also, make sure your new grads begin contributing to the organization within weeks of their start date so they feel like valued members of your team. Utilize new grads’ technology skills to teach managers and coworkers how to use new software. Encourage new grads to provide input for company operations to help with innovation.

Provide Ongoing Constructive Feedback

Give new grads real-time constructive feedback to improve their performance. Praise proper behaviors while suggesting steps to improve in areas that need work. Address issues as they occur to improve current and future outcomes.

Work With a Top Financial Staffing Agency in Chicago

For help finding new accounting or finance candidates, contact Casey Accounting & Finance Resources and partner with a top financial recruiter in Chicago!

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