From time to time we meet with very talented and qualified financial professionals who tell us they don’t need to know recruiters because they are perfectly happy with their current employment. Furthermore, they sometimes express the sentiment that they are “perfect” for the job they already have.

Being experienced in the field of staffing, this sometimes leads us to follow up questions. That’s because we know that a lot of people really aren’t as satisfied as they claim… and certainly not as happy with their employment situation as they could be. Instead, what they are typically expressing is the feeling that they are feeling complacent enough to avoid looking for new opportunities.

That’s easy to understand, but why close off your options by turning away the occasional piece of information about a new opening that could suit you even better? They cost you virtually nothing in terms of time and effort to stay in touch with a financial recruiter, and we could help you find a position that improves your working life in a number of ways, including:

 

A Higher Salary

Good financial professionals are almost always in demand. That’s particularly true for those with the right skills, experience, and qualifications. Some of the men and women we work with are genuinely surprised to find out just how much of a raise they could get by moving on to a new company or position. What does it hurt to learn what you might be worth to a different employer on the open market?

 

A Stronger Benefits Package

As we always like to remind people, your salary is only part of your compensation – benefits like insurance, paid time off, and continuing education have to factor into the mix, as well. If you already have great benefits, it might not be much of a concern. However, if you have a growing family or different needs, it never hurts to see what’s going on in the financial job market.

 

The Chance to Work in a Different Location

There are a lot of reasons to want to move to another part of the country, or even a different corner of the globe. By changing locales you might be able to enjoy a better climate, get closer to loved ones, or simply enjoy a lifestyle you’ve always wanted to sample. Financial skills travel well, and a good recruiter can show you opportunities from around the country and the world if you let them know you’re open to hearing about them.

 

More Excitement and a Change of Pace

Sometimes, “easy” and “boring” get to be closely related at work. Familiarity can be a good thing, but it can also stop you from challenging yourself and learning new skills. By remaining open to new financial job opportunities, you could put yourself in a situation where you can enjoy a little more excitement in your day-to-day life, or at least a change of pace from what you already know.

There’s nothing wrong with having a great job, or sticking with a position for so long that it comes easy for you. However, when you shut the door to new opportunities, you also put a limit on your own growth and happiness. So ask yourself, is your current employment situation really perfect, or are you simply afraid to consider making a change?

If you want to learn about financial employment opportunities that might be right for you, contact the AF Staffing team today!

Are you looking for a job as an accountant, bookkeeper, or financial professional? If so, it’s possible you’re making mistakes that could ultimately end up hurting your compensation or leave you unfulfilled in your new position.

We know this because our work as financial recruiters gives us a unique perspective on the way people look for jobs and are hired for them. When you can see both sides of a relationship or negotiation it gets easier to spot the kinds of blunders and misestimations that employers and job hunters make again and again.

Today, we want to give you a few pieces of advice you can use to avoid common but predictable blunders. Let’s look at four huge mistakes financial job seekers make every day…

 

#1 Looking Only at Salaries

Financial professionals know as well as anyone else that money is important and that the figures in any job offer need to add up. However, it’s also true that the salary you are offered for a position is only part of your compensation. Don’t forget to think carefully about things like location, benefits, and work-life balance factors. These can end up making you feel happier and more satisfied than an extra couple thousand dollars a year might.

 

#2 Ignoring Temporary or Temp-to-Hire Openings

Temporary financial jobs get a bad reputation, but they can provide wonderful opportunities. Not only do they tend to come with high per-hour pay, but can provide opportunities for travel, learning new skills, and fresh connections. Plus, working on a temporary basis can give you a foothold into a company where you want to earn permanent employment, especially under a temp-to-hire arrangement.

 

#3 Failing to Negotiate Important Terms

Usually, when a company is looking to hire any bookkeeper, accountant, or financial professional they have a range of salaries and bonus structures to offer. You don’t want to overplay your hand, particularly if the opportunity is a perfect fit for your skills and ambitions. Still, it never hurts to ask if you have questions and see whether a slightly higher salary might be available for the perfect candidate.

 

#4 Staying Out of the Market for Too Long

Obviously, it’s a great thing to be happy with your current position. However, every serious financial professional should be in the habit of looking for new openings. Not only will it keep you in tune with the skills employers want (and the salaries they command), but it will also leave you covered in the unlikely event that you suddenly need to find a new job or move your career in a new direction.

Whether you’re looking for a financial job right now, or are simply keeping an ear to the ground for new opportunities that might come around later, you can’t afford to make any of these mistakes. So, think carefully about all the openings and opportunities that are out there, and the kind of working life you want to create for yourself in the future.

Then, take a moment to contact the AF Staffing team and see how easy it is to become part of our network of financial professionals today!

When you’re looking for help from a financial recruiting partner, is bigger necessarily better?

This is a question new clients sometimes ask in an indirect way. We can understand their concern – in a lot of areas of business, you can get better value from a huge provider than you can a smaller one. However, when it comes to staffing, economies of scale don’t really work the same way.

In fact, you’re going to get better service, attention, and rates from working with a smaller financial recruiting company (but not necessarily a solo recruiting professional). You could certainly say that we are biased, but real-world experiences backup our point of view.

Let’s look at a few of the reasons smaller is better when it comes to financial recruiting…

 

This is a Relationships Business

The most important part of our work is maintaining good relationships with both employers and talented professionals. That’s easy to do in a small firm where everyone is involved. Conversely, no one has a “great relationship” with a giant company. When someone is looking for recruiting help for the perfect job opportunity, they want to be able to turn to the right individual. That’s what they get at a boutique firm.

 

Your Financial Recruiter Needs Two Kinds of Experience

There are really two types of experience that matter for a financial recruiter. The first is related to finding candidates within the industry. We have 18+ years of success stories behind us, and it shows when we work with our clients. The second type of experience is working with your business. A good recruiter should know your company, culture, compensation structure, and other details so they can find the right people for you. You’ll get that service from a small firm, but not necessarily from an industry behemoth.

 

Smaller Staffing Companies Can Charge a Little Less

It’s fun to visit massive businesses with huge offices in expensive downtown areas. It’s less fun to see your monthly or quarterly invoices from those firms and realize you are the one paying for their office space, furniture, and large payroll. Small staffing companies have lower overhead, which translates into a more client-friendly fee structure for every project.

 

Your Business Means More to a Smaller Recruiting Company

In our experience, boutique financial recruiting firms tend to work harder for their clients than we have to. Because we stay in business by providing a superior level of service to a smaller number of companies, customer satisfaction is key. We can’t simply run a massive ad blitz every time we want, so we work harder than anyone to ensure you are happy with the results we provide.

When you start looking for help with financial recruiting, it’s because you want better candidates, faster service, and to fill your openings with talented employees who will remain with you for the long run. Those are all benefits that are easier to get from a smaller staffing company than a larger one.

Want to see just what we can do for your company? Contact the AF Staffing team today and let us put our expertise to work for you!

You probably already know that a financial recruiting company can help you find better candidates for your job openings. However, before you can enjoy those benefits, you have to have a relationship with the right agency to begin with.

How do you go about choosing a recruiting service when there so many competing for your business? What makes a financial staffing company great?

We are glad you asked, because today we’re going to point out a few qualities that separate the best from the rest. Here is what you should be looking for in a financial staffing firm…

 

Industry Experience

Every business or industry has its quirks, but the financial field is particularly specialized. Someone who has stellar qualifications for one job might not be equipped to handle another position that seems closely related on paper. In nearly two decades of work, we have learned what it takes to match the right person with the right opportunity. You shouldn’t settle for a financial recruiter that doesn’t understand the positions you need to fill.

 

Fast Response Times

In the world of financial recruiting, time is quite literally money. Every day that an opening goes unfilled, a business has to slow its productivity or potentially outsource work to a third party. The same goes for temporary openings, which may involve projects and tight deadlines. For those reasons, your financial staffing company should respond to calls and requests quickly so you can get to work finding the people you need rather than waiting for results.

 

One-on-One Service

Financial recruiting is a service industry. We aren’t just valuable because we know about the ins and outs of resumes and job listings – we get to know candidates and client companies alike so we can make the right introductions at the right times. Those kinds of introductions have huge value to your business, but they can’t take place unless your staffing professional gives you one-on-one service and understands your needs and preferences.

 

A Great Reputation With Financial Professionals

We are proud that so many companies of all sizes have put their trust in us. But we are equally proud to say that financial professionals at every level like working with us, too. That means we can keep drawing qualified men and women into our network and help fill all kinds of openings. You definitely want to work with a staffing firm that is well-regarded by jobseekers. Otherwise, they won’t be able expand your search to include the very best in the field.

If you can find a financial recruiting company with these qualities, you’ll always have an easier time finding great candidates and keeping your business running more smoothly. So, don’t settle for an agency that just collects resumes – find a true industry partner who will give you the expertise and service you deserve.

Want the best financial recruiting minds working on your temporary and permanent openings? Contact the AF Staffing team today so we can get started working for you!

In an age when you can post a job opening on any one of a number of employment sites and start receiving resumes from candidates within hours, why would a business owner, executive, or department head need to work with financial staffing firm?

As it turns out, there are a number of ways we can help you make the hiring process faster and easier, while also ensuring you find the right person for your opening. Let’s look at four of the most important benefits of using a financial staffing firm…

 

#1 We Speed the Hiring Process Up

As it turns out, being buried under a blizzard of financial resumes is in a good thing. In fact, the sheer volume of responses you likely receive from every ad can make it harder, not easier, to find the right person for your position. A good financial recruiter can help screen candidates so you only look at serious contenders who are ready to step in and work from the moment they are hired.

 

#2 We Know the Financial Industry

Because we know the ins and outs of bookkeeping, accounting, and other financial jobs, we can help you find the perfect person with the right skills and qualifications. That means you won’t have to spend time or money training them on aspects of the position they should already know. It also means we won’t set you up with a candidate who isn’t going to meet your expectations for knowledge or performance.

 

#3 We Can Expand Your Candidate Search

Some of the best candidates for your financial opening might not see your job listing, or could be currently employed and not seeking new opportunities. By working through our existing network and seeking referrals, we can help introduce you to men and women who might not have come to your attention in any other way. That means a wider job search, and better odds of finding the perfect person.

 

#4 A Good Financial Recruiter Knows Your Business

As financial recruiters, it’s our business to get to know individuals and companies. In the same way that we want to match candidate skills and personalities to openings, we like to get to know the businesses and managers we do business with so we can make appropriate recommendations. Those kinds of relationships become more valuable over time, making it easier and easier for you to fill openings as they come up.

Technology has made it easy to find candidates for your financial job openings, but it can’t replace the kind of expertise you gain over 18+ years helping to match talented individuals with the right opportunities. If you want better candidates, faster service, and a more stable company, why not let the professionals step in and help with the hiring process?

 

The team at AF Staffing is ready to jump in and help with your financial recruiting needs. Call us today to get started!

One thing experienced executives and department heads love about working with financial recruiters is that we can bring them better candidates. That’s partly because we can read between the lines on candidate resumes, and partly because we pre-screen interviewees before we bring them in for a meeting.

The net effect of this is that busy people don’t have to spend as much time getting to know potential new hires. We help them evaluate and understand job seekers in ways that go beyond basics. While things like education, qualifications, and job history are important, there some things you simply can’t get from financial resumes, such as…

 

A Sense of the Candidate’s Personality

Do you want someone who is steady and even, or high-energy? Is your company culture one of light humor, or serious bottom-line measures? Because we meet with financial professionals all the time, we can get a sense of their personality and which openings they might be right for. You can’t get those kinds of insights from a resume, which could make it easy to hire the wrong person.

 

Whether an Applicant Has “Soft Skills”

There are many qualities you might want in a financial applicant that wouldn’t necessarily show up on their resume. For instance, you could prefer someone who has a certain management style or is great at delegating tasks. Or, it could be that writing, time management, or other “soft skills” are integral to success in your position. It can be difficult to determine whether someone possesses these qualities from a resume, but a good financial recruiter can help you find the perfect person.

 

The Ambition of a Financial Candidate

Ambition is an important quality in a new hire, and something that doesn’t get discussed enough. If you want someone who is looking to advance, then it’s important not to bring in an employee who’s content with their current job. Or, if you need someone who will stay put in their position for years, it doesn’t make sense to recruit a professional who dreams of making it to the corner office. This is another area where a good financial recruiter can help screen applicants and find the perfect fit.

 

A Candidate’s Reputation in the Industry

A huge advantage we have over business owners, executives, and department heads is that we are always recruiting. That means we get to know the types of financial professionals others like and admire even when they aren’t looking for work. No applicant is going to give you a list of references that will give you the unfiltered truth, but a financial recruiter knows who the up-and-coming personalities in the industry are.

Each of these factors is critically important to finding the right person for your job opening. And, it’s important to remember that your ideal candidate might not even be actively looking for new opportunities at the moment, anyway. Put those facts together, and you can see why working with an experienced financial recruiter can make life so much easier.

 

To learn more, and see how we can help you find temporary and permanent employees for your organization, contact the AF Staffing team today!

Would you ever accept a temporary position as a bookkeeper, accountant, or other financial professional? Often, people who are new to our network say they wouldn’t. They are interested in full-time job opportunities only. That’s understandable, but it might also be a little short-sighted.

As with anything else in life, there are pros and cons to temp work as a financial professional. In some situations, the advantages might far outweigh the drawbacks. To help you understand why, let’s take a point-by-point look at both sides of the coin…

 

The Pros of Temporary or Short-Term Financial Openings

Temporary employment is often thought of as something people turn to only when a full-time job isn’t open. However, there are lots of advantages to short-term openings, including:

  • Temporary financial work often entails higher pay on a per-hour basis. That’s particularly true if you have a skill or specialty that is in-demand.
  • Work on short-term financial projects tends to move at a faster pace. Often, businesses are on a tight deadline to meet filing requirements, which lends a sense of excitement to the effort.
  • Because temporary financial job openings sometimes need to be filled quickly, companies will bring in an individual and then train them for the work that’s needed. So, you could end up with new skills or resume qualifications you didn’t have before.
  • Some temporary arrangements involve travel to fun destinations with expenses and accommodations covered. If you don’t need to stay close to home, a short-term project could offer the chance to get away.
  • Of course, it goes without saying that some temporary employees are hired as full-time staff members. If you’re great at what you do, a supervisor or executive is probably going to notice.

 

The Cons of Working as a Temporary Financial Employee

While there are undoubtedly some big advantages to working on a short-term basis, there are a couple of important drawbacks as well:

  • Temporary employment is by definition less stable. Eventually, the contractor position could end and you might have to start your next job search from scratch (although you could walk away from your assignment with new connections and recommendations).
  • Most temporary financial job openings don’t provide insurance or other benefits. That could be an issue for those who rely on coverage from their primary employer.

 

The Bottom Line on Financial Temp Work

There is necessarily no right answer about whether you should consider financial temp work or not. Instead, it’s a case that suits some individuals and not others; or, that it suits different employees at certain points in their lives, even if it doesn’t make sense all the time.

If you don’t necessarily need the security of a long-term job right now, or the extra benefits that come with traditional employment, then why not fill in your resume and have a bit of fun with a short-term opening? It could just provide the boost in income and career flexibility you need.

 

To learn about temporary or permanent financial openings in your field, talk to the expert recruiters at AF Staffing today!

Once in a while, we meet with a human resources manager or department head that is a bit skeptical of the work our financial staffing firm does. They may wonder how we can contribute to the hiring process, or even worry that we are out to replace them.

Of course, we don’t want to do either. Our job is simply to help them find better financial candidates, speed up the interview and on boarding process, and make it easier for them to get and retain the talent they need. That’s probably why so many veteran HR professionals love working with us – we do everything we can to make their lives easier.

If you’re in charge of bringing fresh faces into your organization or department, we think you’ll appreciate our work, too. Here are just a few of the simplest reasons why…

 

We Make it Easier to Find Financial Professionals

There are a lot of accountants, bookkeepers, and even financial executives out there. Unfortunately, they all have their own skills, qualifications, salary requirements, and so on. What starts out as a simple recruiting effort can easily turn into a needle-in-a-haystack search if you don’t know where to look.

A firm like ours specializes in financial recruiting. That means we know which rocks to turn over to find the best candidates, and can help you fill your openings faster.

 

Our Team Can Bring You “Hidden Talents” Who Aren’t Looking for Work

One Catch 22 within the financial recruiting business – and virtually every other field – is that the most talented and qualified individuals typically don’t find themselves looking for new jobs all that often. Sometimes you can’t find the person you really need because they are already employed by one of your colleagues or competitors.

As financial recruiters, we maintain a large network that includes many already-employed men and women. These “hidden talents” are open to hearing from us about the right job, even though they haven’t posted their resumes online.

 

We Can Save Your Company Time and Money

Often, a human resources representative will find themselves interviewing financial candidates who have resumes that are “close enough.” After they are hired, the company has to spend a bit of money training that person for the job, and possibly outsourcing work because the new professional isn’t ready to fill the position yet.

Because we can help you find the perfect person, we give you the opportunity to have someone step in and get to work on day one. That means less time and money wasted on training, waiting, and temporary employees.

 

We have yet to meet a human resources team that isn’t already stretched for time. By working with a financial recruiting firm, you get better candidates, spend less on training, and enjoy lower turnover. In other words, we make it easier for you to do your job effectively.

 

To learn more about our company and how we can boost your financial recruiting efforts, contact the AF Staffing team today!

When most men and women are looking for a job, they consider the basics: where a company is locating, what the position pays, and what benefits are being offered. Those are obviously big considerations and good things to consider right off the bat. However, there is more to a financial job opening than originally meets the eye.

In our 18+ years of experience as financial recruiters, we have learned that the details that make or break most opportunities aren’t the ones that are immediately obvious. That’s why we help the professionals we work with to get the best fit in all areas of their working lives.

To give you a sense of what that means, and why it’s so important, let’s take a look at three financial job opening details that are easy to overlook…

 

Company and Department Culture

It’s cliché, but every business and department is a bit like a family. They all have their own histories, individuals, and collective personalities. Two individuals with the same resume might not necessarily fit into the same companies, or be happy with their working environments.

A good financial recruiter doesn’t just know candidates, but also clients as well. We know the personality of each manager and organization we work with. That’s important, because it allows us to match you up with others who mesh well with your style and want to see you succeed.

 

Opportunity for Advancement

Nearly every employer is going to advertise an opening as having an “opportunity for advancement,” but we all know that some financial openings offer more room for growth than others. That might not matter to you if you’re content to hold your current position for many years to come, but it could become important if you want to increase your pay, skills, and responsibilities in the future.

We weigh both the opportunity within a specific job and a candidate’s ambitions together to help make good introductions. That’s the key to keeping everyone happy in the long run.

 

Travel, Excitement, and Other “Soft Benefits”

Although a lot of people don’t realize it, there really are a lot of different types of financial jobs out there. Many involve 9-to-5 work at the same office over a number of years, but there are temporary projects that bring extensive travel, specialty openings with fast-paced work and high compensation, as well as other positions with so-called “soft benefits.”

The point is that your lifestyle should match the job you’re looking to take, but it isn’t always easy to read between the lines from a simple employment listing. That’s where a financial recruiter can step in and help.

 

It’s only natural for financial professionals to focus on the financial details of an available position, along with tangible benefits and perks. However, we would remind you that the right fit isn’t just about the number that shows up on your paycheck – it’s about working in an environment you enjoy and being able to nudge your career in the right direction.

 

If you want to know what kinds of opportunities are available for someone with your skills and expertise, now is the perfect time to get to know the AF Staffing team. Contact us today to see how easy it is to join our network!

Assume for a moment that you are a happily-employed and well-compensated bookkeeper, accountant, or other financial professional. You like your job, and your career is moving in the right direction. There isn’t any reason for you to get to know a financial recruiter, right?

We can understand why you might think that way. And yet, at our staffing company we stay in touch with lots of men and women who aren’t actively looking for new openings. Most of the time, we don’t have much reason to talk. However, these forward-thinking professionals know there are a few benefits to keeping the relationship warm. Today, we’re going to look at a few of the biggest ones.

To help you understand why every financial professional should know a good recruiter, here are some things you should remember…

 

Life Can Change Quickly

It’s an unfortunate fact of life that even though you’re happily employed today you might not be tomorrow. Things like turnovers, buyouts, and corporate bankruptcies have always been a part of life, but the pace of change within the financial world has accelerated over the last couple of decades.

Think about it this way: it’s much better to know a financial recruiter and never need one than it is to suddenly find yourself out of work and starting from scratch.

 

It’s Possible Your Perfect Job is Out There

There is a big difference between being satisfied with your current job and working in a way that satisfies every item on your employment wish list. Even if you aren’t interested enough to look for new opportunities yourself, is it possible that a position with higher pay, better benefits, new challenges, or a different location would interest you?

A good financial recruiter can know what you value and keep an open eye for the perfect opportunity. A lot of financial job openings are never advertised, so we can help you spot the “hidden chances” that you might otherwise miss out on.

 

It Never Hurts to Know Your Options

Occasionally, we work with employers who have very distinct needs or have to fill an open position rapidly. In those cases, they may be willing to offer a higher than normal salary, or give a signing bonus to the right candidate. Even if you don’t end up taking a new job, it never hurts to know what your options are.

If nothing else, financial professionals can get more experience interviewing without a lot of pressure. And, they can use the opportunities we tell them about for negotiating points with their existing employers. It never hurts to look, and there’s no risk in hearing about what might be available.

As we’ve already mentioned, a lot of the financial professionals we know don’t have reason to talk with us all that often. And, if you’re in a position that makes you happy, there might not be any reason to move in the near future. However, there’s always the chance that something better will come along, or that your situation will change in a heartbeat. If that day arrives, you’ll be glad you have a good financial recruiter on your side.

 

Interested in becoming part of our network? Click here to contact the AF Staffing team and see how easy it is to learn about new opportunities, periodically.