Kate Plourd, CFO Magazine
November 2, 2007

ShowUsYourFuture

I applaud the Big 4 for their approach to recruiting, and CFO Magazine for its coverage, but let's not forget that firms both large and small are all vying for access to candidates. Which begs the question: is their approach truly original or do they merely have deeper pockets? The middle market has also been hard at work exploring new and innovative ways to attract candidates. For example, in August, Aronson & Company launched the Show Us Your Future video submission contest geared toward college accounting and finance majors entering the job market. In order to win the grand prize, a student-to-professional makeover now worth more than $5000, entrants are asked to submit a three minute video that creatively demonstrates where they see themselves after graduation. The video entries will be posted on YouTube.com and streamed to the contest website, www.showusyourfuture.com, where people can watch all of the videos, rate them and add comments. So, while this story does a great job at informing readers about how the 500 lb gorilla is addressing the problem of recruiting, I think this article would have been a more interesting read if the reporter addressed how the rest of the pack is also competing for access.

Posted by Stephen White | Nov 2, 2007 12:47 PM ET

Public Accounting Recruitment Pains

"Accounting can seem dry and boring," says Black. "This is another way to introduce it as an exciting profession."

Accounting is interesting but more so from a theoretical and research viewpoint. Actual public practice and their hypercompetitive practices and poor compensation for starting employees relative to industry--including some firms that do not pay for exorbitant overtime --is extremely unattractive. Exorbitant overtime does not need to exist and it is not ?the nature of the beast? since work organization can always be restructured. Similarly, the management motto of ?work hard, play hard? is outdated. A healthy outlook is ?work moderate, live moderate?. Those previous negative reasons are examples of why public accounting firms cannot--and should not--have it easy when recruiting.

Until they change the audit labour process to be humane and they compensate fairly for skilled labour entrants who provide skills to earn income for Partners and Managers, public accounting firms will suffer recruitment pains.

Posted by David Newman | Nov 2, 2007 12:03 PM ET