Two perspectives making the right fit at the senior level: companies need exceptional leaders who can help navigate the organization successfully into the future. Similarly, executive candidates want to join a business that will benefit from their talents and strengths. Here are tips on matching these goals for a perfect fit.

• Author: McDonald, Paul
• Position: Career

Finding and hiring the right people can be one of the most challenging aspects of an executive's role. As executives advance in their careers and take on more strategic responsibilities over the years, attracting and retaining top talent for the organization has no doubt taken more time and attention. They know the importance of hiring smart and what can happen when the fit doesn't stand the test of time.

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The current employment market has most companies placing a magnifying glass on their hiring process--a candidate-rich market often makes the process more complicated, and the repercussions of making the wrong decision can be even more costly. But as companies look for ways to improve their selection process, are they neglecting an important segment? This appears to be the case, with many firms having greater difficulties hiring at the senior executive level.

This is not entirely surprising, given that companies have a smaller number of senior-level roles and recruit for them less frequently than other positions. Further, many of the articles and resources available on hiring focus on staff and middle-management levels, and thus do not provide insight on the nuances and caveats that deserve attention when hiring for such roles as chief financial officer, senior vice president vice president and controller.

The following examines how to determine the suitability of top-level prospects to reduce the likelihood of making a hiring mistake. The elements of finding the right fit are examined from two standpoints--the employer's and the employee's. For the sake of simplicity, the examples cited throughout this piece reference the CFO, but the concepts apply to other senior positions as well.

RELATED ARTICLE: The Hiring Environment

To better understand how mismatches can occur at the senior level, a snapshot of the current environment may be helpful. At the time of this writing, the national unemployment rate is 8.5 percent overall, while unemployment for college-educated workers is less than half of this figure (4.1 percent). The rates for some specialized accounting and finance roles are even lower, according to quarterly figures released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. For example, the rate for CFOs is 2.8 percent and for compliance officers it is 3.3 percent.

Though demand is strong for the best talent, it remains an extremely competitive market for senior finance and accounting executives for a number of reasons:

Upgraded Roles--Positions continue to evolve and expand. A number of companies are deciding to upgrade their CFO, vice president of finance and director of finance positions to help them enter a new phase of growth, go public or make an acquisition.

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