May 2007

EDITOR’S COLUMN: FINDING QUALITY EMPLOYEES — ‘IT AIN’T EASY!’

Remember the old Beatles song? Well, it came to mind as a result of trying to hire an accountant for one of my clients. After spending about two months and thousands of dollars, we whittled the search down to a final candidate, who seemed excited about coming to work for our client. We did the personality test, the skills test, the substantive knowledge exams, follow-up interviews, you name it. We then made her an offer — and she responded with a one-line e-mail stating that she was going to stay at the CPA firm she was working at because they made her an offer to go from temporary to full-time employment (this being the same CPA firm that she didn’t want to work for during our interviews). When I tried to follow up with her, she didn’t return my e-mail or phone call.

So we started the process all over again. The next fellow I interviewed on the phone came across great. When I interviewed him in person, our meeting started well. Then I asked him, “Your resume seems too good for you being here. Is there anything else I should know about you?”

He sighed, looked at me, and stated, “You’re good. Yes, there is, I’m a convicted felon. Does this mean our interview is over?” Since he got caught in a financial scandal with a financial services group, and that’s exactly what my client does, yes, he was out of the interview process!

The following day I had four additional interviews scheduled. When the first person didn’t show up for a 9:00 a.m. meeting, my assistant called at 9:45 and woke him up. He said “I was sick last night, and took too much medication and it knocked me out this morning.” He wanted to know if we could set something up for that afternoon. I told my assistant to let him know I wasn’t interested in interviewing him or having him get me sick.

Then my 10:00 a.m. appointment did not show up. When we called her she stated, “Oh, I thought it was at 1:00 pm.” When asked if she could make it at 1:00 p.m., she said she had to go meet her daughter (an adult) who had been in a minor auto accident a few days earlier. There was no interview with her, either.

The third appointment was with a young woman who recently moved here from India. She was certainly pleasant enough, but had little experience. When I asked to review her college transcripts, it turned out that she had some of her lowest grades in the financial arena. I didn’t care to hire an accountant who got straight Cs in her accounting courses. Moreover, when I asked her where she saw herself in a few years she stated, “Being a CPA and running my own business.” I guess she was looking for my client to be her training ground. End of that interview as well.

The fourth interview went well. He was a quiet, adventurous type and seemed to move around a bit but I didn’t hold that against him; in today’s market, if you can find and keep a great employee for three years you’re far ahead of the curve. The problem: He had a “side business” that he intended to keep and my client wasn’t interested in taking the risk of the distractions it would cause.

Because my client was a small company it was difficult to lure employees away from existing jobs with the promise of a greater salary or benefits. The best they could offer was an “entrepreneurial environment.” Accountants by nature are not risk takers and their turnover statistics are lower than most job classifications. So we kept searching.

Being an employer isn’t easy these days! If every employer has to put up with this type of insanity, I don’t know why anyone would want employees. Do they enjoy the torture? Is it the drama they are after? Is their life boring otherwise? Perhaps the question to ask is this: If you aren’t in a position to attract the best and brightest, how do you grow your business without having to hire any new employees?