As a highly skilled and experienced accountant, you would expect that the process of landing your next accounting job would be pretty straightforward.
Of course the reality is very different.
I’ve seen people at all levels struggle with landing their next job.
When I was building my career in accounting and finance, I too had struggles at different parts of my career.
I was doing a LinkedIn Poll a while back to find out where in the process people were struggling most to get in the process of landing their next job.
The results didn’t surprise me.
It seems that it’s not just converting the job interview into the job offer that’s the struggle.
Getting to the interview itself is the hardest part.
Maybe that’s not such a surprise.
Online job boards and social media have made the process of applying for jobs easy.
It’s easy to get lost in the mass of speculative applicants who are just applying for everything.
So how do you overcome this?
Get clear on what you want
Not just in terms of job title.
Think also about the type of organisation, the sector, the people you want to be working with.
Get clear on what you can offer
Hiring someone is a big decision and big investment.
Especially someone in finance who is probably going to be pretty well paid.
You need to be able to demonstrate what you can offer.
You need to be able to showcase what you have achieved.
You need to demonstrate your potential and value.
Get targeted with job applications
It’s not about the number of applications you make but the number of relevant applications you make.
Being targeted and applying for those roles where there’s a strong link between what you want, what you can offer and what’s required will help a lot.
It seems counter intuitive but less really is more when it comes to job applications.
What I’ve noticed working with accountants is that few spend anything like enough time on getting clear on what they want and what they can offer. As a result the process of landing their next accounting job is more of a struggle than it needs to be.