Interview Skills You Should Brush Up On to Succeed!

As companies move forward during The Great Resignation, they need to hire the right employees. This requires effective interview skills.

It takes a significant amount of time for a hiring manager and HR to discuss the job requirements, source and screen candidates, and conduct interviews. It also takes time to conduct background checks, finalize the candidate selections, and wait for candidates to accept offers and begin working.

As a result, hiring managers should participate in training now to refresh their interview skills. This helps build candidate pipelines for current and future hiring needs.

Discover some benefits of hiring managers brushing up on their interview skills and topics to discuss during training.

Advantages of Refreshing Interview Skills

Proving a refresher for hiring managers’ interview skills training lets them practice in a safe environment. Because these managers may not have conducted interviews for a significant time, a mini session would be advantageous.

Refresher training ensures hiring managers and HR are on the same page regarding interviewing. This increases success in hiring the best candidates.

Topics to Discuss When Refreshing Interview Skills

Intake meeting: Talk about the meeting between the hiring manager and HR to discuss the job requirements and sourcing strategy. For instance, emphasize the importance of the candidate experience throughout the hiring process. Also, discuss specific ways to show commitment to diversity and inclusion so candidates feel they are welcome and can be themselves at work.

Discussing the intake meeting ensures the hiring manager and HR are following the same policies and procedures for interviewing. This speeds up the hiring process, increasing the likelihood of hiring top candidates.

Interview questions: Emphasize the importance of asking effective, compliant behavioral interview questions. These questions provide insight into a candidate’s experience.

You may want to use the STAR method to create interview questions. This involves asking a candidate about a situation they encountered, the task they needed to accomplish, the action they took, and the results they attained.

Ensure the hiring manager asks follow-up questions to gather enough detail for a complete picture of the situation, task, action, and result. This helps provide the necessary information to make a hiring decision.

Candidate selection: Remind hiring managers to look past their unconscious biases when choosing the best candidate. This can be accomplished through an online training program that may be included in your diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) efforts.

Need Help with Hiring?

Refreshing hiring managers’ interview skills ensures managers and HR are on the same page throughout the hiring process. Sharing details about the intake meeting, interview questions, and the candidate selection process increases the likelihood of hiring the most qualified candidates.

For additional help with hiring, partner with Casey Accounting & Finance Resources. Get started today.

Struggling to Get Applicants? Why You Need to Examine Your Hiring Process and How Long It Takes to Hear Back

Like many employers, you may be having difficulty filling your job openings. One of the reasons may be that you take too long to respond to candidates.

Regular follow-up throughout your hiring process is important. This may include letting candidates know you received their application, would like to schedule an interview or are considering offering them a job. It also involves what the next steps in the process are and when the candidate should expect to hear from you.

Discover why regular communication throughout your hiring process is an effective way to hire the best applicants.

Respect

Responding to each candidate shows you respect their time. Applying for a job takes a significant amount of research and decision-making. Expressing interest in working for your company says a great deal about your organization. Showing appreciation is important.

Realistically, you may be unable to personally respond to each candidate. As a result, you might want to automate your responses with your applicant tracking system (ATS). This helps provide a positive candidate experience.

Candidate Engagement

Top candidates have many employment options. Following up with them throughout your hiring process helps keep them engaged. This increases the odds that your best candidates will accept potential job offers from you.

Be sure to let each candidate know when they should expect to hear from you. Also, fulfill these expectations as much as possible. If you need to extend a timeframe, let each candidate know as soon as possible.

Candidate Experience

Effectively following up throughout your hiring process improves the candidate experience. This helps set your company apart from the competition. It also helps you hire more high-quality candidates.

Even if you’re not ready to provide a job offer, share with your most desirable candidates feedback on their interviews. This encourages them to want to work for your organization.

Talent Pipelines

The more you keep in contact with candidates, the more your talent pipelines remain filled. A candidate who has a positive experience with your company but isn’t offered a job may apply for a role in the future. They also might refer other candidates to your organization.

Employer Brand

Regular follow-up with each candidate enhances your employer brand. The more you communicate with candidates, the more positive your company’s reputation remains.

Many candidates post reviews on Glassdoor and other employer review sites. They’re likely to share positive reviews when you follow up on an ongoing basis. This encourages other candidates to apply to your organization.

Want Help Hiring?

If you’re not regularly following up with candidates, you may be having trouble filling your jobs. Ongoing communication with candidates promotes respect for their time, engagement in the hiring process, and a positive candidate experience. It also helps keep your talent pipeline full and your employer brand positive.

If you need help hiring, Casey Accounting & Finance Resources can match you with qualified candidates to fill your business needs. Learn more today.

Top Talent Aren’t Getting Just One Offer! Here Is How You Should Approach a Counteroffer

When hiring accounting and finance professionals, your choice candidates likely will receive counteroffers from their current managers. Because employers do not want to lose their best talent, many will provide incentives for their staff to stay with their team. This is why you need to proactively address the issue with your shortlisted candidates. Providing reasons why applicants should turn down counteroffers increases the odds of having your top candidate decide to join your team.

Follow these guidelines to encourage your top accounting and finance applicants not to accept a counteroffer from their current employer.

Reinforce Each Candidate’s Reasons for Leaving

Remind your top applicants why they decided to look for a new job in the first place. Most of the time, it has nothing to do with making more money. This is why accepting a pay increase through a counteroffer likely will not retain the employee long-term. If the staff member does not get along well with their manager, they are not being challenged in their work, or there is no room for advancement, the issue is likely to remain.

Question Whether Staying Would Make Things Change

Ask each of your shortlisted candidates whether anything would improve long-term if they remained with their current employer. In most cases, the applicants began seeking new jobs because they felt restricted or unappreciated. They may have been passed over for a promotion or not given other opportunities to grow. Although the candidates may have expressed their concerns to their manager, the issues likely went unaddressed. Odds are these problems will remain even if the applicants decide to accept a counteroffer.

Point Out the Job Insecurity of Staying

Remind your best talent that once they submit their resignation, they damage the relationship with their employer. Even if your candidates accept a counteroffer, things will remain tense at work. Their manager may wonder how loyal they really are and whether they would accept an even better offer if it came along. Their employer also may begin making plans to replace the employee as soon as possible. Or, if the company wants to eliminate positions, the team member who tried to resign likely will be let go first.

Are You Looking for Top Accounting and Finance Professionals?

When adding skilled accounting and finance professionals to your team, they are likely to receive counteroffers from their current employers. One of the best ways to discourage your potential team members from accepting these offers is by pointing out why they decided to leave their jobs in the first place. You also can ask whether things truly will change by staying. Plus, you can point out how insecure the potential hires’ jobs may be once their managers know they want to leave.

When you need to add top talent to your team, get in touch with Casey Accounting & Finance Resources. We have the skilled professionals you need to reach your business goals.

Hire Fast! Great Accounting & Finance Candidates Land Quickly!

In the job market, finance and accounting candidates are easy to come by, but the really great ones are few and far between. This means the top companies are competing for high-performing finance and accounting candidates, before others can snatch them up. They do this using smart recruitment practices.

How can your company attract and hire great accounting and finance candidates fast before they land at other companies? Start with these tips.

Offer something the other companies don’t.

Do your research to find out what finance and accounting candidates are looking for. First, conduct a salary and compensation survey using the most recent data for your region and type of industry. PayScale is a good place to start, and you can also search at the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational data or Salary.com. Find out what the best finance and accounting employees are earning, what benefits they enjoy, and what the market trends point to, in terms of career opportunities. Make this the foundation of your recruitment offering.

Become an employer of choice for finance and accounting pros.

Finance and accounting professionals are very much like other working people – they want to work for a well-respected company in the industry. Therefore, if you want to land the best candidates, your efforts should be about making your workplace the best in the market. Provide excellent compensation packages, highly ethical work practices, and proactive ways of getting people to that place they dream about.

Provide flexible work arrangements and career growth.

Working in the accounting and finance fields can be exhausting. Accounting and finance pros often find themselves working grueling hours on time-sensitive projects that drain them. This is why a company should offer flexible scheduling that allows for generous amounts of time off when needed. On top of that, career growth is a big need for many who work in this area of business. Offering training and advancement opportunities speaks loudly to top candidates.

Don’t forget about passive finance candidates.

When trying to obtain the best finance and accounting candidates possible, think outside of recruiting active job seekers. Look further and start connecting with passive candidates who may be seeking something better in the future. Building relationships with passive finance and accounting candidates gives you a chance to attract those who are highly valued in the market, so when they are ready for a new job, they will consider your company first.

Hire on a temporary basis.

One of the best ways to attract and hire the top accounting professionals in the market is via temporary staffing agencies. Many accounting and finance pros are looking for better opportunities, and they will seek out temp projects going this route. This also works well for seasonal peaks in your business and those that demand specialists in finance and accounting topics.

Casey Accounting & Finance Resources, a winner of Inavero’s Best of Staffing® Client Award for the second consecutive year, can help your company meet all of its financial staffing needs. Contact our award-winning team today to get started!