Milestones are a funny thing, they force you to reflect and do a SWOT analysis on yourself and your journey so far. Recently I celebrated my five year anniversary within recruitment and specialising within the CA space. I am well into the swing of my sixth year, they say time flies when you’re having fun, right?
During my time I have seen many changes in the market and some things remain the same.
Increase in outsourcing
Compliance being outsourced has been happening in the industry for over 20 years, when I first started this was only 10% of firms and has increased to around 30% of firms. There is mixed feedback around this depending on if you have your own team set up or if you use a specialist company like Connect. This affects the market as a whole as this has created a gap for Juniors not preparing compliance and a larger demand for Seniors who can review but only time will tell.
People all want the same thing
Whether you are a client or a candidate we are all human and want the same things – to be happy and to be successful in whichever way you measure that. Most of us spend more time at work with colleagues than we do with friends and family so it really has to be the right fit. Interviews that are interrogations are out, casual and conversational coffee meetings are more common to make sure it is a fit on both sides. People buy into people not the company name above the door.
AI in so EQ is in demand
Technology has well and truly revolutionised any compliance, data entry, coding and paper files into something of the past but what does this mean for talent? Now more than ever, anything process driven is going to be replaced by robots. If you are content with being the back office accountant crunching numbers, this will be obsolete in a matter of years. Your clients want someone they can relate to and talk business with. Highly regarded skills are adding value with advisory, strategy, true business partnering so emotional intelligence and attitude is paramount.
Covid = Conservative
Due to the first lockdown March 2020 and the other three in Auckland since, Covid has undoubtedly had an effect on both clients and candidates. What people would move on two years ago has drastically changed from both sides of the fence. Anyone looking for a new opportunity has to be solid with their true push and pull factors because counter offers are aggressive and repetitive.
For context my first “real job” was in a CA firm where I learnt an immense amount of transferable skills within professional services. After three years of six minute timesheets, I reached a glass ceiling so decided to move on and wanted to try a new industry. Three years in insurance was an interesting learning curve, I tried living in Aussie and missed my family so moved back.
So there I was, immediately available when a recruiter calls me about a role with refreshing honesty that I had never come across before. I go into the meeting regarding an opportunity within insurance and she flips the script and talks to me about recruitment. At a crossroads in my career I took the plunge and here I am five years later with this lovely lady.
Recruitment is a rollercoaster in general, it is commonly referred to as champagne and razor blades. Truthfully there are very high highs and very low lows but if you get a kick out of changing people’s lives with a commercial spin – it’s the place to be. Like with anything it depends on a few differing factors as to which will be the right fit for you: market/desk, leadership team, training, development, level of role, flexibility, office culture, size of firm and structure.
In my opinion it’s the people who make the business and I have some exceptional people around me who I consider family. Success breeds success and when you’re in an adult environment, when you can be your authentic self and also bring your dogs into the office – that’s where I want to stay.
On that note, due to our CA team’s success I am actively recruiting to grow our team with a Recruitment Consultant who purely resources for candidates in a candidate short market. If you think this could be your type of opportunity, get in touch for a confidential conversation.