Speak out.

• Author: Posner, Philip
• Position: News&Trends - Letter to the editor

I read your article, "Spotlight on Retention" (California CPA, October 2006) with great interest as I have experienced the shortage of accounting talent in private industry on a firsthand basis.

As the CFO/CCO of a large private equity firm, I found it difficult to fill certain positions in the accounting and finance departments until my firm and I became more flexible with the requirements to fill these positions. To be more specific, we filled a position with the best talent available and did not get caught up with the candidate having specific private equity background. We would teach and train as necessary and found that these bright candidates could pick up the private equity industry requirements and become productive in a very short time.

On the other side of the coin, I decided to leave my firm after nearly 17 years and seek employment outside the private equity industry. With 20 years of public accounting experience, including tax, audit and business management in addition to my CFO/CCO background, I visited with many companies during my networking and interview process. Although I was able to transition to another position in a relatively short time, I found one overriding factor in my...