Why Some Accountants Do Not Like Their Jobs and How to Help

Traditional accounting career paths do not fit today’s accountants. This is why many accountants do not like their jobs.

Most accountants do not want to remain with the same company throughout their careers. Instead, they want to change employers to diversify their skill sets.

The lack of opportunities for advancement causes many accountants to be dissatisfied with their jobs. These accountants value professional development and promotions.

Employers tend to focus solely on having accountants complete their work at the office. However, today’s accountants typically desire flexibility, meaning, and purpose in their roles.

Discover why many accountants dislike their jobs and what managers can do to help.

Long Work Days

Many accountants are expected to work at least 60 hours each week. This can be longer during tax season. As a result, these accountants have limited time to fulfill personal responsibilities and interests.

Limited Professional Development

Many accountants work for companies with prestigious reputations. However, these accountants often lack opportunities to reach their full potential with the organization.

Accountants who work for large firms tend to specialize in audit, tax, materials and acquisitions, or another narrow field. As a result, these accountants do not learn how the business operates as a whole.

The lack of variety in accounting responsibilities can be frustrating. Accountants who are unable to develop their skills tend to be unfulfilled in their jobs.

Difficulty Changing Practices

Choosing between public and private practice impacts an accountant’s career. Each type of practice requires different personalities and skill sets. As a result, switching to the other practice after establishing a career can be difficult.

Accountants who change from private to public practice or vice versa may need to start from the bottom and work their way up. This can cause significant professional setbacks after years of career establishment.

Tips to Increase Job Satisfaction

Accountants tend to prioritize work-life balance. This means many accountants prefer jobs with remote or hybrid work and a flexible schedule over higher-paying jobs that require onsite work during set hours. Offering these perks can increase accountants’ job satisfaction.

Most accountants want variety in their jobs. Consider letting them cross-train to take on additional duties and responsibilities. These accountants can cover when their colleagues are off work.

Accountants typically desire meaningful work. Providing challenging tasks and projects that require creativity and problem-solving promotes engagement and productivity.

Want Help Sourcing Accountants?

Many accountants work long hours and have limited opportunities for professional development. This lack of skill development makes it difficult to switch between public or private practice after career establishment. Managers can alleviate these issues by allowing flexibility for work-life balance and diversifying job duties and responsibilities.

If you are having difficulty sourcing qualified accountants, Casey Accounting & Finance Resources can help. Reach out today.

Temporary Or Direct Hire: How Should You Fill Your Vacant Position?

When there are open jobs to fill, and not enough suitable candidates around — companies often find it difficult to make a decision on how they will conduct their recruitment.

Do they make a direct hire or do they hire a temporary worker?

What are the differences and advantages of hiring temps vs. direct hires?

A direct hire will become a regular, full-time member of your staff, while a temporary worker will have a brief contract to work at your company. Which is better for your company? Make the determination after reading through the following article:

Making a Direct Hire

Companies that want to make a direct hire usually know how much time and money is involved in this move. If your company has just one or two open jobs to fill, it might make more sense to make a direct hire. If the open jobs are for top-level management, sometimes a temporary employee can fill in until the right candidate is hired to give you more time to make the best decision. When it comes to filling lower level, non-manager jobs, the company needs to weigh some pros and cons before making a hiring decision. Often, temp employees make better sense.

If your company needs to fill long-term jobs, then a direct hire is the best option. Often, companies will receive more loyalty and commitment from direct hires compared to temporary workers. Another benefit of making a direct hire is that companies will be approached by higher levels of talent compared to searching for temporary workers. This means that companies will be able to recruit talent who are currently working, which increases the number of candidates available to interview for the position when making direct hires.

Some cons of making direct hires include the time spent interviewing candidates and the investment required. Direct hires need to go through a vigorous interview process and if hired, need to be provided benefits and other perks from the company. Should the direct hire not work, the process begins again for the company. The lengthy hiring process can be a hindrance, so the quickness and speed of getting a temporary employee in place can be very beneficial when you need someone to work right now.

Making a Temporary Hire

When short-term jobs need to be filled at companies, it is a better idea to make a temporary hire. The main benefit of hiring a temporary worker is that their contract length is flexible. You tell the staffing firm how long you need an employee and the contract comes to an end when you say. It can be for, one week, one month, a couple of months, or a year.

Temporary workers are excellent for companies that need to increase and decrease their staffing levels quickly. For example, peak periods occur during various times of the year depending upon your business, so being able to “right size” your staff for these peak periods, gives your company more flexibility.

An excellent benefit of hiring a temporary worker is the fact that companies can bring them on full time if they succeed in what they do, fit within the culture and go above and beyond their job duties. The company does not need to tell the employee they are being evaluated for full-time work, which makes the situation even better.

The bottom line here is that companies need to make the final decision on which type of candidates to hire for their open jobs based on their needs at the time.

Casey Resources provides a number of services for clients and candidates to be successful in their job search. Contact a leading staffing firm in Chicago to learn more  today.