A Guide to Hiring People Who Become Your Organization

How you introduce your company to prospective employees sets a tone. Your communication can say, “Welcome in,” or leave people with an ambivalent “meh,” or worse, a “nah—thanks, but no.” It’s worth the time to be sure that your hiring process reflects the best version of your business. Who you want to become will ultimately emerge from the people you attract.

In this Guide to Hiring series, we’ll examine a sample role within a hiring category. We’ll consider how to create an experience that helps potential candidates get a real feel for what you are all about. We’ll also explore how you can hone in on their core skills and whether or not they fit in and add to your company’s depth, expertise, and human persona.

Financial Professionals

Every for-profit business exists to make money. Financial professionals are critical in helping the team understand the bottom line’s impacts and making strategic decisions about the company’s growth, equity, and financial performance. Let’s dive into the fundamentals and find a template that you can use to bring to life the opportunity your organization provides for talented finance people to succeed.

Job Descriptions

From a high level, a job description has a job to do—attract the best person for the role to your organization. There’s energy to it. When you read it, imagine yourself in the role. Do you feel excited about this opportunity? Is the role and its responsibilities clear and concise? Or is the laundry list of skills and requirements so complex and specific that you’re wondering where this magic person exists on the planet?

Write your job description with as few “buzzwords” as possible and avoid any internal acronyms. Keep your list of must-haves succinct, and make sure you’re not inadvertently excluding qualified people.

Opening:

Introduce your company’s mission or vision with enthusiasm. If you can include a description of the company’s unique approach, culture, and/or core values, that’s even better.

Example: Hi, we’re (XYZ). We’re known for (being nerds about revenue cycle management,) and helping our clients in the (healthcare industry effortlessly manage the complex world of billing and receivables.) We have big goals for reshaping the landscape of (this business through our special sauce) and with a steadfast commitment to innovation and integrity, we’re planning on growth and expansion.

We’re looking for an experienced (role) to (high-level contribution to the company.)

Overview Description—Mid Level Financial Analyst

An overview description should be a high-level summary of the role and how it fits into the organization:

The financial analyst will partner with other staff to understand and analyze revenue growth drivers and identify areas for improving gross margins. The analyst will support long-range planning, annual budgeting, and quarterly forecasting through financial modeling. As part of the finance team, the (title) will collaborate to elevate existing systems, reporting, and tools to support executive decision-making.

Objectives of this role:

Objectives will vary, but here are a few to get you started.

• Work with (teams/departments) to manage growth, profitability, and delivery forecasts across accounts/lines of business.
• Interpret, develop, implement, and monitor all accounting policies, processes, and procedures.
• Pursue new metrics that drive business performance while remaining in line with strategic priorities and minimizing risk.
• Prepare and publish monthly and quarterly financial reports to ensure that costs are controlled, and profit targets are met.
• Execute accurate reporting, make financial recommendations, and provide insight into business performance compared with competitor and industry trends, and considering economic conditions.
• Understand national regulatory compliance issues and comply with local financial regulations.

Responsibilities:

Some samples to get you started:

• Perform project-specific financial and risk analysis — with significant emphasis on planning — that includes input from the operations team.
• Collaborate with management to proactively identify business patterns through quantitative data analysis.
• Manage accounting procedures, including profit-and-loss (P&L) activity, balance sheet activity, and accounts receivable compliance with GAAP standards.
• Ensure alignment and communication across divisions, including variance reporting, budget risks and opportunities, timing, and spending calendarization.
• Provide insight on spending trends, cost-saving initiatives, and margin opportunities.

Skills and Qualifications:

Required 

• (X years) experience in finance or related field.
• Ability to think analytically and prioritize tasks.
• Understanding of profit and loss (P&L) statements.
• Superior financial modeling skills.
• High degree of professional integrity.

Preferred

• Experience in analyzing actuals against P&L budgets.
• Experience in an analytical role, financial modeling, and delivering opportunity insights across divisions.
• Collaborative approach to problem-solving.
• Savvy with accounting/business software such as (Excel, QuickBooks, Oracle, Tableau, etc.)
• Experience adapting to ad-hoc requests for reports.

Interview Questions:

The interview is your opportunity to get a feel for the candidate’s depth of understanding and how they think. To get you started in building your interview, below is a roundup of our top questions from Financial Strategists, Indeed and LinkedIn.

Hard Skills

• What factors should be considered when financing via debt vs equity?
• What are the best practices in developing a financial model for a new investment opportunity?
• What factors drive mergers and acquisitions?
• What financial software have you used, and which do you prefer?

Soft Skills

• Tell me about a time you identified a significant risk during an audit? How did you handle it?
• What was one of your biggest hurdles in working with a team, and how did you approach it?
• How do you know when data seems off? What signs tell you to dig deeper?
• If you could invest in any company right now, what would it be and why?
• Describe a time when you had to work with people who didn’t understand finance. What strategies did you use to explain complex financial data? Did you enjoy that experience?

Cultural Fit and Addition:

Company culture is that intangible element that can make a difference for a team, as well as in the daily enjoyment of being part of a work team. If you can bring a person onsite to meet others, it can be an opportunity for parties to connect, and the candidate to get a glimpse of the work environment.

A few conversation openers include:

• Why do you want to work with us?
• Which of our company values and philosophies resonates most with you?
• What do you consider your greatest accomplishment and why?

Like any successful relationship, there should be a sense of a common or shared purpose and values. But remember that bringing people from different backgrounds, cultures and experience is what can add to the dynamic flavor of a team.