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This has been in my mind for a little while…what really makes a good accountant?
If you were a hiring manager, who would you hire and why?
Candidate No 1 – ACCA qualified, with over 3 years experience, 25 years old
Candidate No 2 – ACCA part qualified, with over 10 years experience, 35 years old
Candidate No 3 – AAT/ CAT Qualified, with over 20 years experience, 40 years old
Well as a company I’d wonder why candidate 2 is only part qualified. If they had only just started that’s OK,but if they had started 10 years ago you’d wonder if they had given up, weren’t capable of completing or just needed more support/ funding. Maybe from their perspective, giving someone a boost to finish might be cheaper than training someone from scratch, conversely it could be a sunk investment if they wanted someone who was capable of finishing ACCA but this person wasn’t.
Between the other 2 annoying as this answer is, it depends on the role. Some companies /roles want someone with more experience, some want them with more expertise.
I have, and do, recruit people of all the descriptions noted.
Key questions however (industry biased):
– What experience does the ACCA qualified have? There is a big difference between a candidate with two years of purchase level then a year of forecasting and project accounting, and another who spent two years preparing management accounts and a year building financial models while managing a small department.
– is candidate 2 progressing with exams or did they stop years ago?
In practice, the decision comes down to what you want out of the candidate. Candidate 1 would likely earn more and look for quick progression, candidates 2 and 3 are more likely to stay in the role long term (and might require less training to start with).
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