Leaders of Modern Finance Ep. 13 – How Hiring in Finance Will Evolve in 2022 ft. Tony Tilleskjor and Andy Dunayczan
On this episode of the Leaders of Modern Finance podcast, host Derek DeWinter welcomes Tony Tilleskjor and Andy Dunayczan for a roundtable discussion. They talk about the state of the finance and accounting talent acquisition market today based on their experiences at the DeWinter Group, a 21-year-old talent search firm in the Bay Area that specializes in finance, accounting, technology, HR and board search services. The trio also looks into their crystal ball to discuss the future of this incredibly hot market.
A Historically Fast Market
Derek, Tony, and Andy all agree that this is a historically robust time in recruiting. As a result, clients have to be ready to move quickly. Many of the traditional ways of doing things are changing, and clients need to keep up. They have had clients drag their feet, and lose out on candidates who went to other companies that moved quickly through the interview process.
Because so many companies are competing for top talent from the same talent pool, speed matters. Candidates are regularly getting multiple offers to choose from, which results in more turndown than the group has ever seen.
Top Roles Are Changing
The lower position roles being recruited are spread out in a similar fashion to years past, but there are changes in the top roles that CFOs and VPs of Finance are seeking to fill. The hottest role right now is Corporate Controller. As the CFO role evolves into more of a strategic one, the day-to-day transactional work of the controller is becoming more important — and companies want the best for that role.
The second most sought after role is the Director of Technical Accounting and SEC Reporting. There has been a flurry of companies going public, either through the traditional S-1 route or the SPAC route, making that role in increasingly high demand.
Remote Ready
When the move to remote work when possible spiked due to the pandemic, nobody knew exactly how it would turn out. The world has shown that people can get their jobs done remotely with all the technology available, and many people prefer it over a traditional office setting.
That makes it a subject that can make or break a company attracting the best talent.
The firm splits up the subject into three categories. The first is fully remote, meaning the candidate’s location makes no difference, and they can live where they choose. The second is a hybrid, where the company requires two or three days in the office a week. The third is the traditional five-day work week on site.
Tony says that about 90% of their clients are being more flexible about allowing remote work, and there are several reasons for that. One is that talent is in the driver’s seat right now, and that is what some of the top candidates want. If you don’t offer it, they will go work somewhere else.
It can also completely open up the talent pool. When living within driving distance is no longer a requirement, clients can look at the whole west coast, the whole country, or in some cases the entire globe for candidates to fill vital positions. On the other hand, if a company insists on a traditional five-day work week on site, they are cutting out all the candidates that want at least a hybrid situation.
Easy Interviews
Another big change in the market today is that it is much easier to interview for both clients and prospects than it has been in years past. A candidate no longer needs to take a day of personal time or call in sick and drive to an office for an interview. Now, a candidate can interview from home during normal business hours.
That means that many candidates are introduced to many more companies than they physically had time for in the past, and in many cases, that means an increase in the number of offers. Since it is so easy to get on call after call, there is a noticeable increase in waste of time during the interview process, especially on the client side. Fortunately for the DeWinter Group, they have been in the market for a long time and are familiar with most of the candidates that they present. Actually knowing a candidate in person and not just through a LinkedIn introduction goes a long way toward eliminating that waste of time.
2022 and Beyond
Moving forward, it is going to be critical to create a superior candidate experience in order to attract and retain top talent. And that is one thing that is tougher to do in today’s 2D experience than it was in the 3D world of the past. When a candidate comes into an office and meets everyone in the organization and sees first hand a great culture and great team, it is easy to sell them on the job.
It is tougher to get that across in today’s Zoom world. For a client to set themselves apart, they need to put an emphasis on their culture and values to make themselves an attractive company people want to work for. Conversely, candidates need to ask a lot of questions about culture and values to make sure they don’t end up taking a job where they’re a bad fit.
The world is changing, and it’s not going back. Successful companies have to be creative in the ways they attract talent.
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