In a tough market, it’s important that you can demonstrate that you have the edge over other accountancy professionals. Businesses will always want you to be able to show you have the core skills – that’s a given.
However, it’s expertise in areas such as helping to drive growth and engaging with stakeholders that could mean the difference between landing a role and coming second. Making sure you work on these areas and presenting the examples as powerfully as possible on your CV will mean companies are more likely to want to hire you.
Influencing skills
Accountancy professionals can really stand out with their ‘softer’ skills. While fitting in with the culture of the organisation is considered important, what many companies really want in the current market are accountants with the ability to engage with other key people in the business, and all importantly, the knack of convincing others of your arguments.
The ability to identify growth opportunities is so valuable in the current market.
Businesses want accountants who can build strong relationships and present the finance function in a credible manner – so rather than hide behind emails, get out from behind your desk and be the sort of person who would rather seek buy-in by speaking to people face-to-face.
If this doesn’t come naturally, just try it. Keep practising and you’ll soon mark yourself out as the most credible finance person in your business. Just by forcing yourself out of your comfort zone a little will make a big impact. Don’t forget, you can also develop your influencing skills by asking your manager to send you on a relevant training course.
Facilitating growth
The ability to identify growth opportunities is so valuable in the current market and, as a result, businesses in all sectors have been focusing on hiring forward-thinking accountants at the mid to senior level. If you can develop this skill in your current role, it will stand you in good stead when you seek new opportunities.
Accountants who can demonstrate specific examples of where and how they have helped facilitate growth in their own business areas are likely to be the most successful in securing jobs.
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Robert Walters is a specialist accounting recruitment consultancy with over 30 years of experience in finding accounting professionals their perfect accounting job. Search here for Switzerland’s best accounting jobs.
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