Show off: firms share their strategies for recruiting the best and brightest.

• Author: Ascierto, Jerry

Where have all the qualified job candidates gone?

That's what CPA firms across the country are asking in a job market short on supply and heavy on demand.

While attracting qualified staff has always been at the fore of a CPA firm's practice management concerns, the increased demand for qualified employees driven by Sarbanes-Oxley engagements and the decreasing number of available accountants has given the recruitment process a new urgency.

In fact, attracting and retaining qualified staff is the No. 1 business concern facing California CPAs, according to a December 2005 CalCPA survey of more than 1,400 member and nonmember CPAs.

And strategies such as focusing on your firm's culture, offering flexible working hours, instituting internship programs and beefing up benefit packages can help secure entry or mid-level personnel.

WHAT YOUNG RECRUITS WANT

But what are these hot recruits looking for in a prospective employer?

Jimmy Campos, a staff accountant in the audit division of Rothstein Kass' Beverly Hills office, received a job offer before graduating college. While a senior at Woodbury University and a CalCPA student member, Campos made contact with several Los Angeles-area CPAs by participating in chapter events.

Campos says the most important aspects of his job search included good compensation and finding a firm with a good reputation--as well as professional development the firm could offer. He wanted to balance large firm resources with the smaller firms' meritocracy.

"I wanted a firm where I would be given the opportunity to grow as fast as I possibly could, and that had the resources to help me do it," he says.

Though his accounting professors painted a rosy job market outlook, "it did surprise me to get a job as quickly as I did," Campos says. "But RK made a great impression on me through the recruitment process."

Underscoring the phrase "little things can mean a lot," Campos says Rothstein Kass set itself apart during the recruitment process by using a nontraditional calling card.

"One small thing they did was to send me a box of chocolates during my final exams. I really appreciated that. Although I hadn't decided to go with RK at that point, it sparked a greater interest in the firm," Campos says.

ACCENTUATE THE POSITIVE

Small and mid-size firms often have a hard time competing with their bigger brethren when it comes to recruiting, but their size can be used to differentiate themselves and entice candidates.

Such firms often emphasize flexible hours, work/life balance and a congenial atmosphere when pitching to recruits. And small firms often can offer more rapid advancement and a wider breadth of training than the larger firms.

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