Questions to Ask Accounting Job Applicants

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When interviewing accounting candidates, are you asking the right questions? Candidates’ answers can reveal insight into their background and uncover their hard and soft skills to help determine which candidate is the best fit for the role. Here are five questions hiring managers should be asking accounting job applicants:

  • What Are Three Top Skills Every Accountant Needs?

This question determines what a candidate believes their three best attributes are. Candidates’ answers should include a mix of hard and soft skills, such as understanding big data concepts and displaying strong communication skills. Candidates should also provide examples of how they developed and used these skills in previous positions.

  • How Do You Remain Updated on Accounting Legislation, Rules and Policies?

This question tests a candidate’s knowledge of the industry and critical thinking skills. Although no candidate can be completely updated on every new development, the top candidate will describe the methods they use to remain as current as possible with major industry news. For example, a candidate may actively read accounting magazines, attend seminars or conferences, or participate in professional organizations such as the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA). Also, note whether a candidate provides a specific example of a recent change to accounting standards, especially as it relates to the position, to determine the authenticity of the candidate’s answer.

  • What Criteria Do You Use to Evaluate the Reliability of Financial Information You Are Given?

This question tests a candidate’s relevant skills. Candidates should mention generally accepted standards for evaluating the reliability of data, such as standards offered by the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB). Look for terms such as “neutrality,” “verifiability” and “materiality” and how candidates describe how those terms work. For example, “Neutrality is choosing accounting alternatives that are bias-free.”

  • Which Enterprise Resource Planning System Have You Used?

This question determines a candidate’s relevant skills. The top candidate should describe the brand or system they used and how it specifically benefitted the company. For example, the ERP system may have helped produce the annual financial statements 30 days sooner than before. Keep in mind that some companies are switching to cloud technology rather than using an ERP system, meaning a candidate may need additional training. Also, candidates with experience working for smaller companies may have used a more customized or hybrid ERP solution.

  • How Do You Handle Urgent Accounting Deadlines?

This question determines whether a candidate can effectively organize their work to ensure everything is completed on time. For example, a candidate may record all deadlines on a calendar, prioritize projects according to importance and how much time they may take, and complete the most important and less time-consuming projects first. If multiple projects have the same deadline, the candidate may come in early, work through lunch and/or stay late to complete their work. Also, the candidate may mention that they avoid answering phone calls or talking with colleagues unrelated to the project. In addition, the candidate may ask for help from their colleagues or manager or request more time if the deadline cannot be met.

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These are five questions to ask accounting job candidates. For help with securing top accounting professionals, contact WinCorp Solutions today.

Encourage Employee Growth and Development

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Investing time and money in employee development is important to a company. Employees who focus on developing their knowledge, skills and experience help the organization move forward. Here are six ways to encourage employee growth and development:

  • Provide Resources

Ensure employees have a variety of resources to enhance professional development. For example, maintain a database of professional seminars or conferences employees can attend, classes they can take or organizations they can participate in. Employees will stay current on industry news and trends as they develop. Consider providing tuition/expense reimbursement for these professional activities/memberships. Also, provide as many online, on-demand learning opportunities as possible to accommodate employees’ schedules. In addition, offer coaching and mentoring programs for employees to increase their knowledge base and skill set, develop as leaders and help your company remain competitive. Furthermore, ensure different learning options cater to employees’ different learning styles for maximum results.

  • Develop Specific Skills

Encourage employees to focus on specific skills that need enhancement. For example, employees may take a class to develop their writing skills or participate in a local Toastmasters club to enhance their public speaking skills. Employees who pursue professional growth will increase their level of contributions to the company, perform better in teams and help the organization stay competitive.

  • Implement Cross-Training

Let employees cross-train in departments that interest them. For example, provide a lunch and learn or job shadowing program where employees can learn about job requirements in different departments and decide whether they may be interested in filling a different position or collaborating with different departments. Being able to take on different roles within the organization will result in a better understanding of company operations and potentially uncover ways to save time and money by streamlining systems. Employees may also remain loyal to the company longer because they’re staying engaged in their tasks.

  • Promote Networking

Encourage employees to constantly be networking. Developing relationships with industry professionals helps employees gain new insights, skills and perspectives to excel in their roles. Networking also increases employees’ visibility and builds their reputation as being knowledgeable and supportive. In addition, employees learn industry developments, best practices and ways to handle common challenges. Furthermore, networking helps employees contribute more and help the company move forward.

  • Encourage Regular Feedback

Ensure managers and employees provide each other with regular feedback to ensure their work is adequately challenging and their needs are being met. Managers and employees can also ask and answer questions, discuss problems and find solutions. In addition, managers can praise employees for achieving desired results and discuss ways they can work on areas that need improvement.

  • Lead by Example

Ensure all managers and executives lead by example. When staff see higher-level employees actively engaged in professional growth and development, staff are more likely to participate as well. Because workers crave transparency from leaders, workers typically are more willing to engage in behaviors that leaders request of them when they see those behaviors being modeled. This helps build a trusting, collaborative culture within an organization.

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These are six ways to encourage employee growth and development. For assistance with finding top industry professionals, contact WinCorp Solutions today.

Regularly Meeting With Your Staff Is a Must

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As a manager, you need to help move your company forward. To do so, you need a great team in place. To maximize your team’s productivity, host regular meetings with them. Here are five reasons why regularly meeting with your staff is a must.

  • Keep Team Members Informed

When a member discovers something new, completes their part of a project or has an issue arise, they can ensure others are aware of the new development and how it affects their project. Team members can ask questions or provide their input accordingly. Also, if a significant amount of information needs to be discussed, a staff meeting is the perfect opportunity to share the information and answer questions.

  • Solve Problems

When your team gets together, they can voice their problems and concerns, share what solutions worked in the past and collaborate to find new ones. Because your members most likely come from different generations, have different life experiences and hold different values and beliefs, you will receive a variety of viewpoints on how to best handle the issue. Your team will work more cohesively when members know they have the information and support necessary for completing their work.

  • Innovate

Your team members can suggest methods to more efficiently and effectively complete processes to save the company time and/or money. Members can share their visions for the organization, such as new products/services that may be offered to stay competitive, along with ways to implement those ideas. When team members play a role in moving the company forward, they feel greater job satisfaction, stay engaged in their work, and remain loyal to the company longer.

  • Provide Feedback

You can discuss company policies and operating procedures to determine whether they’re being adhered to and/or need altering. Additionally, you can discuss your team and company goals, ensure each member understands their role in helping achieve those goals and provide feedback on how well your team is working toward the results. In addition, if your company is making substantial changes, your team can remain informed on what’s happening and why.

  • Recognize

Participating in regular staff meetings helps your team recognize their accomplishments. When each team member’s contributions are acknowledged, they feel appreciated and want to work harder to increase their performance. Teams then form stronger bonds, work more collaboratively, and help move the company forward.

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These are five reasons why regularly meeting with your staff is a must. For assistance with finding the right professionals for your company, get in touch with WinCorp Solutions today.

The Importance of Staffing Firms

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Staffing firms recruit, train and manage workers who help with companies’ production on an as-needed basis. Whether providing qualified workers for a few days or months or on a potentially permanent basis, utilizing staffing firms’ services can provide advantages for employers. Here are five reasons why staffing firms are important.

Expertise

Staffing firms’ employees are experts in their field. Because they typically have higher levels of education, skills and work experience, the employees are highly knowledgeable about companies’ job requirements, employment trends and best recruitment practices. Firms’ employees also remain current with news and trends in their industry, especially if they specialize in a specific niche, which provides additional value when sending workers to a company. In addition, because firms’ employees collectively have a larger network than a typical company does, firms can quickly provide qualified workers to fill job vacancies when needed. Furthermore, firms’ employees are well-trained in prescreening job candidates to fill an organization’s needs.

Flexibility

Working with staffing firms provides flexibility.  For example, if a company’s employee is absent due to a planned event such as a vacation or unplanned circumstances such as illness, using an employee from a staffing firm can replace the employee for as long as necessary. Also, if an employer is looking to fill a long-term position, they can offer a temporary-to-permanent position that allows the employer to observe a worker’s qualifications, personality and job performance before deciding whether to hire the worker as a permanent employee.

Productivity

Mixing temporary workers with employees helps improve productivity. For example, bringing aboard temporary workers during busy times can help reduce employee workloads, decrease work errors, lower absences and prevent burnout. Also, because staffing firms invest the time and money needed to recruit, train and retain temporary workers, hiring managers can focus on other production responsibilities.

Lower Cost

Partnering with staffing firms typically results in lower costs. For example, because temporary workers are the firm’s employees, the firm covers costs related to pre-employment testing, background checks, drug screens and other parts of the employment process. The firm also handles payroll processing and benefits administration, further reducing an employer’s labor costs. In addition, having the firm quickly provide workers when needed results in continued productivity rather than an open position that results in an employer spending time and money to do their own search. Furthermore, because workers are brought aboard only when needed, companies again save on labor costs.

Reduced Risk

Because there are many legal responsibilities involved with owning a company, bringing aboard temporary workers reduces risk. For example, being an employer involves paying payroll and different types of taxes; providing health, unemployment and other types of insurance; and complying with labor and employment laws. Also, employers face financial and operational risks such as hiring and firing employees or filling unexpected job vacancies. Since temporary workers are the staffing firm’s employees, the firm assumes associated risks.

Partner with WinCorp Solutions

Partnering with WinCorp Solutions will help fill your staffing needs. We ensure every candidate entering your office meets all your job requirements. Contact WinCorp Solutions today.

The Biggest Problems Recruiters Face and How to Overcome Them

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Recruiters face many issues each day. Whether it’s a shortage of talent or the market being too crowded, there are always challenges to defeat. Fortunately, there are steps recruiters can take to resolve those issues. Here are three of the biggest problems recruiters face and how to overcome them.

Hiring Managers May Not Collaborate Well

Hiring managers may not be as collaborative as they should be in the recruiting process. For example, managers in highly technical fields often believe sharing information with, or providing feedback to, recruiters is not worth their time because recruiters may not understand what is being said. However, without additional information and feedback, recruiters cannot provide the most qualified candidates for a position.

To encourage hiring managers to collaborate better, recruiters can work on strengthening relationships with them. For example, during the initial meeting, recruiters and hiring managers can set clear expectations for each other. Recruiters may use data to show managers the size of the hiring pool so managers can adjust their expectations accordingly. Both parties can agree to hold each other accountable for meeting the agreed-upon expectations. Also, recruiters and managers can regularly meet to discuss how many candidates applied, where the hiring manager is in the hiring process, whether a manager turned down a candidate or the role has been filled.

Qualified Talent Is Limited

Many fields may be facing a lack of qualified talent. As a result, many job openings remain vacant, and recruiters lose out on filling those opportunities.

To alleviate the lack of candidates who possess the skills and experience required for a position, recruiters can use data to determine the best places to focus their search. For example, LinkedIn’s Talent Pool Reports show where talent supply exceeds demand and provides more recruiting advantages.

Top Candidates Have Many Job Offers

Because highly qualified candidates may be actively pursuing opportunities through more than one recruiter, candidates may be deciding among multiple job offers. If a candidate accepts an offer that originated with one recruiter, despite all the time and effort invested in presenting the candidate with other opportunities, the other recruiters do not get paid.

To help reduce the frequency of losing candidates to another opportunity, recruiters should ensure each candidate has an exceptional interview experience. Ensure candidates have all their business questions answered during an interview. Also, because the interview that candidates care most about is the one with the hiring manager, recruiters can coach the candidate to make the interview more of a two-way conversation rather than an interrogation. In addition, because candidates appreciate meeting a company’s senior leader, recruiters can ask one to briefly talk with a candidate during the interview.

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Partner with a staffing firm that provides answers to recruiters’ problems. Contact WinCorp Solutions today.

Retaining Your Top Talent

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Retaining top talent is a critical part of a company’s success. Keeping skilled professionals results in increased revenue, decreased recruiting costs, more effective business planning and other benefits. Therefore, companies need to have a strategy for encouraging employees to remain with them long term. Here are six ways companies can retain top talent.

  • Establish a Strong Company Culture

Top professionals seek strong company culture. To create and maintain culture, employees at all levels should ensure the company’s mission and values are displayed through every interaction and decision. Also, employees at all levels should be kept informed about new hires, charitable events, company news and other pertinent information. Employees who actively participate in many aspects of an organization feel like valued team members and stay with the organization longer.

  • Offer Flexibility

Remote work, flexible schedules and PTO are in high demand. Fitting in professional responsibilities around personal interests promotes greater work-life balance. As a result, employees are more engaged in their work, perform at higher levels and remain loyal to the company longer.

  • Improve Employee Engagement

Because the best employees are engaged in their work, companies should continuously provide the resources necessary for staying focused. Managers and colleagues should encourage open, frequent communication with team members. Also, managers should provide team members with the information and materials necessary to complete individual and team projects. Employees at all levels should be allowed to provide input on the company’s overall business strategy and further contribute to the organization’s success.

  • Provide Frequent Feedback

Skilled professionals benefit from frequent feedback on their performance. Managers should clarify expectations for each team member to help reach the company’s goals. They should consistently point out to each team member areas they excel in and discuss steps they can take for areas they need to improve in. In addition, managers should provide both verbal and monetary recognition in the form of bonuses, raises and promotions tied to accomplishments. Employees who have their contributions acknowledged feel valued, produce at higher levels and remain with the organization longer.

  • Invest in Technology

Maintaining current technology demonstrates a company’s commitment to evolving and improving business processes. Staying updated with technology helps an organization retain innovative employees who expand the organization.

  • Encourage Professional Development

The best employees expect to be offered opportunities for professional development. For example, companies can offer tuition reimbursement to encourage additional education, training or industry certification. Companies can provide online training to enhance employees’ qualifications for promotion. Employees consistently engaged in learning feel greater job satisfaction, increase their contributions to the organization and remain with the company longer.

For assistance securing skilled professionals for your organization, contact WinCorp Solutions today.

The Questions You Need to Be Asking As a Small or Mid Size Business Owner

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As a small business owner, you can’t afford to make a bad choice when it comes to hiring new staff. A ‘bad hire’ can cost you valuable time, money and mis-hire carnage.

No small business stands alone; the best small businesses are collaborative ventures. And that means the best candidates must be strong team players, willing to do what is necessary to reach a project goal or other business deliverable. But teamwork and an entrepreneurial and independent spirit can be challenging to identify on a resume. What questions should you be asking during the interview process to ensure you are choosing the right candidate?

Question #1

When do you do your best work – when working as part of a team or working alone on a single task or assignment.

We all enjoy a little peace and quiet every now and then. And intentional solitude has been proven to boost productivity, but if you’re interviewing a candidate who prefers isolation over teamwork, chances are they’re not the team player your small business needs.

Question #2:

What do you know about this company and why do you want to work here?

This question shows whether the candidate did research on your company. It is a great way to gauge their interest in the position and the organization. An individual who does their research before the interview will stand out as a more informed and competent candidate.

Question #3

Ask your candidate to describe a successful project they worked on, what their role was, and why the project was ultimately successful.

If a candidate quickly tells you about their personal achievements –  and why their role was vital to the project’s success – chances are they’ll be better suited to a position requiring less team focus.

But if the candidate was keen to elaborate on details about the project team – highlighting group actions and collaborative successes – you’ve just identified an ideal team player.

Question #4

We’ve all experienced conflict at some time. Anyone can have a bad day. And while conflict may be unavoidable, how someone chooses to deal with that conflict reveals a great deal about who they really are.

Ask a candidate to describe a situation where they had to deal with conflict and how they resolved the issue.

Did the candidate talk about something that happened months or maybe even years ago – but with very real, very current emotion? If they did, it’s a big red flag. A candidate who displays an emotional response to a work-related conflict is giving you a clear signal that they have a limited capability to thrive in group settings.

But, if your candidate was quick to describe something that happened in an even manner without overt sentiment, they’re demonstrating a strong ability to step aside from personal emotions and focus on moving forward for the benefit of the team. And that’s something only a great team player will do.

Knowing the right questions to ask a candidate can be tricky! If you run a small business, you can’t afford to hire the wrong person; you need to be confident your next employee is the right person for the job. And that’s where the specialized recruiters at WinCorp Solutions can help. They’re specialists, just like you are. Reach out to the team today and let them help you find your next SBS (small-business-superstar).