Building Your Accounting Team: 5 Ways to Attract Millennials

With waves of baby boomers approaching or exceeding retirement age, companies across industries – including accounting – need to get serious about recruiting the next generation of professionals. But even more than being a necessity, reaching out to a younger generation of accountants can help you bring fresh ideas, cutting-edge perspectives, and youthful enthusiasm into your organization. Use these five strategies to start attracting more millennials:

Simplify the Application Process

No job seeker likes a confusing and drawn-out application process, but millennials have shown themselves to be particularly averse. Take a close look at what it takes for a candidate to find your vacancies and navigate through the application process. If it’s more complicated than it needs to be, you are likely scaring away promising young talent.

Offer Opportunities for Growth

Millennials who are just starting out in their careers want to work for companies where they have a real chance of moving up the ladder. Many have already worked entry-level jobs and felt like they would have to languish at the bottom for years until they had a chance to make more money and take on more responsibility. Establish yourself a company the promotes from within and rewards accomplishment.

Get Active on Social Media

It’s a safe bet that the millennial accountant you hope to recruit are active on at least one social media site, and probably several. Make sure that you are active on these sites as well, and use your profile as yet another place to post your job listings. And remember, social media is all about being proactive. Make the effort to find communities of millennials and reach out to them directly.

Host an Event

There is a lot of great accounting talent that is still finishing up school. Connect with local colleges and universities and find out if they host a career fair or offer job placement assistance. If they don’t, find out if you can advertise on campus for an event that you are holding in your office. This is a tried-and-true strategy that still works remarkably well.

Make Your Decisions Quickly

Most millennials have grown up with cell phones and email accounts, meaning they have little patience for slow communication. After you have conducted your interviews, make your hiring decision as quickly as possible. If you wait weeks or even months, restless millennials are likely to look for opportunities elsewhere.

Now is the time to start recruiting younger. If you want to connect with an established roster of promising young talent, contact the accounting staffing specialists at The Squires Group.


Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *