Although it sounds simple, recruitment is one of the toughest parts of running a business. Most people think it simply involves hiring someone to fill in a certain position, but there are a lot of factors that need to be considered.
Good people are what enables a company to succeed. Without a strong and committed workforce, a company cannot perform to its highest potential and achieve great success. As a result, the people you hire must not only be competent and qualified, but they must also possess the correct work ethic and attitude that will make them valuable to the company.
Recruitment is particularly difficult for some sectors, such as finance. People who are recruited for finance positions in a company must be highly skilled at what they do, meaning that you do not have as big a talent pool to choose from compared with other professions. This is why many recruitment specialists exist for the finance sector, and why many companies end up consulting these agencies.
Here are some of the considerations to take into account when recruiting for a finance person:
Stringent guidelines for vetting
Given that the financial sector deals with a lot of sensitive information and regularly handles the money of others, many developed countries have strict guidelines as to who can work in such positions. For example, some laws may require that those who regularly deal with money or who are allowed to execute third party financial transactions must have a clear credit history. Without this, no matter how skilled or qualified a person is, the individual’s application will automatically be rejected.
Highly specialized qualifications
Working in finance is not easy and requires a great deal of knowledge and precision. As a result, many positions require either specialized education or a license for a person to be considered for the position. For example, accountants are usually required to have a degree in a related field, while bankers and financial analysts have their own forms of certifications that indicate that they possess the right knowledge to work in these positions.
These qualifications are not easy to obtain, and it can be difficult trying to convince people to follow these career paths. This makes the talent pool quite small and competitive, thus posing an even greater challenge to companies to identify and recruit the best of the best.
Wide and diverse set of experiences
Because of the rise of globalization and interconnectedness, even the finance employees — who used to simply spend hours at a desk crunching numbers — are increasingly pushed toward interaction with different people. For example, an investment banker would have to deal with banks and large companies from all around the world, while even bank tellers would have to interact with all the people that walk through the doors of a bank branch.
As a result, people who work in finance need not only have the skills to do the job accurately, but they must also possess people skills. Without these, it is unlikely that they would be able to provide the right financial services, or that customers would want to do business with your company. Furthermore, it is best if they have the necessary life experience and open mindset that would allow them to cultivate these soft skills, which will also make them easier to work with as well.