Many industries are rapidly changing with the disruption of technology and new ways of working – sometimes the skills employers look for when recruiting now are often not essential in 2 – 5 years’ time. At a recent event, the ICAEW identified 5 key skills and behaviours for future accounting professionals that are relevant to all job sectors:
- Adaptability – e.g. how do you respond to unexpected events? How do you manage tasks? Can you respond proactively and efficiently to change?
- Commercial Insight – Critical thinking (e.g. considering issues in a logical way), evaluation/ analysing information (i.e. impact of decisions), judgement (which comes from experience) and delivering success to clients (take ownership of projects).
- Collaboration – you’re ability to work with people in different departments/operations, people in different time zones and/or working patterns.
- Perspective – do you have understand how the business makes a profit, and how all the different operations fit into this? Do you understand how your decisions impact clients’ businesses? Do you understand the environmental and social impact of decisions?
- Learning and Reflection – Longer working lives and more changes mean an attitude of lifelong learning must be adapted. This should be coupled by an understanding of your strengths and weaknesses, and consideration of how you build on both of these.
At this same event, several national and international employers emphasised that they don’t mind where candidates have developed these skills and behaviours, and that any student who demonstrates the attributes they want clearly will do well regardless of having direct industry experience or not.
In an article from January’s Financial Times:
Even in professions that require a specific skill — like accounting — the speed of disruption means companies are seeking candidates with adaptability. Isabelle Allen, global head of clients and markets at KPMG, says it is becoming a core attribute for successful candidates at the professional services firm. In a world facing an unprecedented pace and scale of innovation, “we need people who thrive on change and are committed to life-long learning, people who are inquisitive and comfortable with ambiguity — who can exercise judgment on issues and solve problems that didn’t even exist two years ago”
Employers assess candidates for the attributes they want through every stage of the recruitment process. If you would like help with highlighting your skills to an employer – whether at CV/application, assessment or interview stage – then contact the Careers Network for assistance.
