There is now a cautious optimism amongst our clients in certain sectors with increased recruitment activity.
The recent uplift in the market has been experienced across a broad cross section of the economy.
Practice
Corporate Recovery
Our clients in this sector have seen a surge in companies seeking services and advice in the area of liquidations and insolvency. As this is a growing area and one in which we have not needed the pool of experience up to recently, it can prove challenging for firms to recruit experienced professionals with the relevant skills and knowledge. Chartered Accountants Ireland is helping to bridge this gap by offering members the opportunity to complete a Diploma course in Insolvency.
Accounting Services
Many companies now require professional assistance with the preparation of financial information for the banks and the Revenue Commissioners. Candidates with experience of dealing with financial institutions are proving very valuable. Frequently companies do not have this skillset internally. To assist with the day to day management of their business and strategic cost control, many firms now require the assistance of their accountants in the preparation of detailed management information such as cash flow and break even analysis.
New markets
Firms are also entering new markets and areas in an effort to add value to their clients and to source new revenue streams. To facilitate this transition there will be a requirement to recruit to acquire the additional specialist knowledge and intellectual capital.
Taxation
Following an initial scaling back of resources in the area of tax, practices are now seeing the need to increase resources in this area once again. Some of the uplift in activity has been fuelled by the growth in corporate recovery as clients seek advice in relation to the associated tax implications.
Meeting the standards
Companies across all sectors are seeking additional support with compliance issues. Hence candidates with up to date technical knowledge and practical experience with compliance and risk matters are currently in demand.
Business
Banking and financial services
One of the features of the improvement in the job market has been the increased demand for accountants with experience in the financial services sector both within the sector itself but also within the practices that provide services to it. Candidates with specialist skills and knowledge within this sector particularly in risk, compliance and corporate governance are increasingly sought after.
NAMA related projects are also providing job opportunities for accountants with experience in the areas of lending, corporate finance, corporate recovery. This is also set to continue for the foreseeable future.
Insurance
There have been a number of recent job creation announcements in the insurance sector including within life, non life and general insurance. We have also seen a pick up in terms of start up operations in this sector. This is a result of the favourable regime under which they can operate in Ireland. Candidates with exposure to Solvency 11 are in particular demand with the growing focus on compliance and regulatory matters.
Multi nationals and corporate recruitment
Overall this sector of the Irish economy has been holding up well. However levels of recruitment have also been impacted as a result of the global economic situation. Often as staff left the organisations they were not being replaced. This has given rise to a pent up recruitment need that has been consistently increasing in recent months. In many instances now these organisations have made the strategic decision to tap into the talent currently available in the market. Many companies are now returning to recruitment mode again. To date the multi national sector has proved its resilience in the face of the Irish and international downturn.
Businesses focused on international trade and business to business activities are tending to perform better and hence these are likely to be the sectors that will experience a further need to recruit.
Internal Audit
There continues to be a demand for Chartered Accountants within internal audit across all sectors of the economy. Candidates with experience in the area are in particular demand. However companies are also quite prepared to consider newly/recently qualified members for roles within internal audit and provide them with the necessary training and support to bring them up to speed. Due to the shortage of experienced candidates in this area organisations are prepared to invest in the training and development.
Also from the 20th November 2010 the establishment of an audit committee will for the first time be mandatory for certain companies. This may require them to recruit experienced professionals to assist them with this task.
Contract and Interim roles
Traditionally during a recession the level of recruitment for contract roles increases. This has been no different during this down turn and the contract market for accountancy and finance professional continues to expand. Firms recruiting in this space are tending to be very specific and linear in terms of their requirements as they need candidates to add value immediately. This is due to a continued emphasis on costs and efficiencies. Companies are seeking candidates with specific industry and systems experience. Technical knowledge, project management experience including systems implementations as well as exposure to introducing cost reduction initiatives are also influencing the hiring decision.
International opportunities
The appeal of the Irish Chartered Accountancy qualification in international markets continues to be strong. Both the Australian and UK markets are experiencing an increase in demand for suitably qualified finance professionals with companies now actively seeking to recruit qualified Irish CAs. Irish corporates with international operations are cautiously beginning to emerge from recruitment embargoes. They are seeking to build on their pool of talent to position them to take full advantage of any economic recovery.
Key Features of the market
We have seen a distinct change in the mindset of companies recruiting. They are now more structured and decisive in terms of their approach and in most instances know exactly what they are looking for.
Competition for roles will remain strong as the level of candidates in most areas will outweigh the number of opportunities available. This places the onus on candidates at all levels to ensure that their skills and knowledge are current and that they can prove in both their applications and in interview that they can add value to an organisation. A combination of technical knowledge and practical experience will continue to be paramount. There will also be a continued emphasis on business critical soft skills such as communication and negotiation skills as well as management, motivational and leadership qualities. Up skilling and retraining will be vital to all candidates in a tight market.
The recruitment process
Recruitment processes will remain protracted with many companies requiring candidates to attend up to 4 interviews to meet with an increased number of stakeholders. The use of practical tests such as case studies is increasing as employers seek to discover how a candidate may work on the job. Psychometric tests are being used by many recruiters to assist them with the increasingly difficult task of shortlisting candidates from a larger pool of applicants.
Companies are seeking to recruit the best possible candidate for the role in question and are investing more time and resources in to this process. If you want to be in with a chance you have to be sure to really sell YOUR unique selling points (USPs).
Cautious optimism
During a recession the natural cycle of life still continues and people will leave jobs for various reasons such as retirement, career change, to go travelling, illness etc. The challenge to recruit and retain talent still exists albeit at a reduced level. However as the international and domestic economies improve companies will need to invest further in their pool of available talent.
The challenges ahead
However as we look with cautious optimism towards 2011 the prospects for the job market will very much depend on how Ireland Inc deals with the challenging economic conditions facing it. Any continuing uncertainty in relation to the macro economic picture for Ireland will impact on recruitment trends for 2011. This article was written in advance of budget 2011.