How accountants can be future-ready today

Garreth Hanley:
This is INTHEBLACK, a leadership, strategy and business podcast brought to you by CPA Australia.

Jessica Mudditt:
I am Jessica Mudditt. In this series, we speak to leading career and employment experts to bring you the latest strategies and tips to help supercharge your career. The skills required of accountants and finance professionals are evolving faster than ever before. To help us understand where the employment market is heading, I'm speaking to Layla O'Kane, Research Director at Lightcast, a global labour market data specialist based in Boston. Welcome, Layla, it's great to have you here.

Layla O'Kane:
Thanks so much. It's great to be here.

Jessica Mudditt:
You've recently co-authored several research reports for Lightcast. Has anything stood out to you when it comes to employment trends and forecasts?

Layla O'Kane:
Great question. So just to take a step back, I'll just explain that we look at labour market data in real time, and so one of the benefits of that is to understand basically employment trends and forecasts in real time as opposed to lag data that sometimes happens when you're relying solely on government-sourced data. What we're seeing right now is that there are still labour shortages generally happening. This is something that's been going on since 2021 and through 2022.

And the way that we're seeing that is that some employers are still using certain methods to try to combat those labour shortages that we can pick up in the data. So for example, employers are adding sign-on bonuses or training opportunities or other ways in which they can try to attract more workers and combat those labour shortages. And that tight labour market situation is happening in the US and also in Australia. That means that retention of talent is still really important. So it's really important to make sure that if you're an employer, you're thinking about how can I create opportunity for people to stay with my organisation?

Jessica Mudditt:
Is it expected that it will continue to be a tight labour market in the future, or will things start to balance out a little bit?

Layla O'Kane:
I'm hoping it'll be a little bit less tight because right now employers are having a really hard time finding the talent that they need. That being said, we haven't seen any indication that it's loosening up so far, and I think through, for sure the end of 2022 and likely in the first half of 2023, we'll be seeing this tight labour market.

Jessica Mudditt:
So if you're an accounting or finance professional, now is actually a great time to be looking for a job?

Layla O'Kane:
That's correct. Workers have a lot of power right now. They can really pick and choose what type of job they want, what company they want to work for. Most companies are trying to hire more than they can find. So if you are an accountant right now, it's a great time to look for a job.

Jessica Mudditt:
And when it comes to the skills and demand for accountants and other finance professionals, what's the latest data suggesting?

Layla O'Kane:
Yeah, so what we're seeing is that of course basic accounting skills are in demand, but also soft skills, things like communication, attention to detail, and even things like planning, stakeholder management, building effective relationships. So these are really important soft skills that I think often don't get talked about when you're thinking of an accountant skillset, but are an important part of the job.

The other thing that we're seeing is some high growth skills that maybe aren't in demand across all accountants right now, but that we think might be in demand soon. And that's things that are really actually focused on data visualisation. So the accountant profession is moving towards a bigger focus on communicating this data to other stakeholders.

That's skills like Microsoft Power BI, Python, Tableau, and also even soft skills that go along with that, like creativity. And so employers are looking to accountants to kind of add this additional lens to the data and be able to communicate it effectively with internal stakeholders, with others, because accountants might have sort of that deeper knowledge of the data and might have insights that they can offer visually that others in roles similar couldn't.

Jessica Mudditt:
Are these high growth skills the kinds of things that people are learning more on the job?

Layla O'Kane:
I think people are learning them on the job, but there's also a lot of micro-credential certificates, other sort of smaller term up-skilling opportunities that allow people to earn these. So you can get a do a Python Coursera course or some other certificate class that will enable you to get some of these basics and then maybe translate that directly into your work.

Jessica Mudditt:
There's been a lot of talk lately about some core accounting skills being made redundant by technology. What are your thoughts on the kinds of skills that are waning or being automated?

Layla O'Kane:
I think automation can be scary. A lot of people think of it as robots taking your jobs. And I think what we've seen is that automation is actually turning out to be very complimentary to jobs. So rather than taking away an entire profession, it's taking away some skills that maybe could be done in an automated way that are honestly probably kind of boring, and adding in the additional need for more human skills that we've been talking about. And so I think we're seeing some of these maybe more technical skills potentially being automated, but again, a robot can't make a graph that's intuitive for people to understand with the right axes and colours that are accessible to a wide range of audiences and make a snappy infographic that explains the state of finances in a role. And that's the type of thing that we're not seeing being automated away, and that accountants are going to still need to be able to do.

Jessica Mudditt:
Is it fair to say that automation is perhaps a benefit for people starting out in their careers now? Because a lot of the more dull aspects are being eradicated by technology?

Layla O'Kane:
Yeah, I think that is fair to say. I think that there's more opportunity now to have a more creative and strategic role in this field than there might have been prior to some of these technological advancements.

Jessica Mudditt:
So what do you think are the biggest benefits of automation, both for professionals and for clients?

Layla O'Kane:
For professionals, I think that it frees up their time to do more of the interesting work. So they can be thinking alongside clients, again, more strategically and creatively. And for clients, I think it's that they don't have to potentially worry about the risk of human error in some of these, they can probably see automatically generated reports more frequently, things like that that might have taken a lot of time and effort in the past. And so they might get more real time updates as well. And then adding that lens from the accountant perspective of, well, here's what this means and here's what you should do and here's how this all shakes out is an additional benefit.

Jessica Mudditt:
Based on your extensive research, what does a future accounting skillset look like and what kinds of skills do you think are going to best help future-proof a career?

Layla O'Kane:
So what we've seen actually across many, many jobs across the labour market, and not only for accountants, is that there are kind of four big trends going on with skills that are currently affecting and disrupting many jobs. So one of those is digital skills. So a lot of jobs are introducing additional digital skills, these things like Python for example, into roles where they didn't exist before. Another is soft skills. So the flip side is, again, more human skills, collaboration, building these effective relationships so that you can work successfully with people. And then the third one is actually data visualisation. And this is one where we're seeing, as we mentioned, Microsoft Power BI, Tableau, these types of skills coming in specifically into the accountant role, and we're seeing those across the labour market as well.

The last one is social media, I think that's a little bit less specifically relevant for accountants, but it is affecting many roles in the labour market. And so I think when you look at these four trends, we've already seen that accountants have a lot of soft skills. They need to use them more, and that's increasing. They have a tonne of digital skills. Some of those might be being automated, but most of them are not. And that's still really important. And these data visualisation skills are really coming in and lending an additional piece to accountants just like many other jobs. And so if you think about, well, what skills should I get? I think I would focus primarily on expanding this soft skill universe that you might be having and also expanding your data visualisation abilities.

Jessica Mudditt:
Have you seen any patterns in your research when it comes to transferrable skills for accountants? The kinds of skills that can cut across multiple role types.

Layla O'Kane:
Yeah, so what we have actually seen is what I'll call the new foundational skills, which again, are kind of across the labour market, but I think are particularly relevant for accountants. And those are, including human and digital skills, which we've talked a tonne about, but the other one that I'll mention here is what we think of as business enabler skills. So things that allow for business processes to function across different stakeholders in a smoother way, that's project management, data and communication, maybe strategic advisory roles, maybe more of a consulting lens. And so I think we've seen that these are really important across a wide range of experience levels and different types of roles, and I think that's particularly relevant to accountants as well.

Jessica Mudditt:
Okay, terrific. Now, Layla, if you were going to share one piece of advice on what a finance professional can do now to be future-ready, what would that be?

Layla O'Kane:
I would say increase your ability to visualise data and communicate that data effectively with clients and other stakeholders.

Jessica Mudditt:
So, tell a story with the data?

Layla O'Kane:
Yes.

Jessica Mudditt:
Terrific. Well, thank you so much. That was really interesting. It sounds to me like soft skills are increasingly important. So teamwork and stakeholder management are things to focus on. And then we've got the high growth skills like data visualisation, that's going to be really key. So having a strong career and starting now will require some focus on those things. Thank you very much for talking to us, Layla.

Layla O'Kane:
Thanks so much for having me.

Jackie Blondell:
We hope you're enjoying INTHEBALCK's Career Hacks series. If you are interested in the latest news, analysis, policy updates, and business insights, you should check out CPA Australia's With Interest podcast. Join us as we dive into the news and delve into the business issues of the day. Each week we talk to thought leaders from across the accounting, finance, strategy, economic and business spectrum, and you get their expert opinions. Now back to INTHEBLACK.

Jessica Mudditt:
To help us understand what employers are looking for in new recruits. I'm speaking to Michael Edelstein, CPA. Michael is an experienced recruiter and business coach who specialises in senior placements within public practice accounting firms. He's also the host of the podcast, Accountants Exposed. Welcome, Michael. It's great to have you here.

Michael Edelstein CPA:
Thanks, Jess. Great to be here.

Jessica Mudditt:
Okay, so let's talk about CVs and interviews, Michael. What is your advice for standing out from other candidates? I've read studies that have found that a recruiter makes a decision in about six seconds as to whether the CV goes into the waste paper basket or the shortlist pile. Have you heard that?

Michael Edelstein CPA:
That's a slow recruiter. Mine's about three to five seconds. Must be new to the industry. Look, just these days, just what will make you stand out, I'd say just doing a spelling and grammar check, you'd be way ahead of everyone by just doing that alone. The amount of candidates that can't even spell the name of the accounting body they belong to. So whether it's CPA or CA is astounding. Probably one in five to eight CVs, I would see CPAs being spelled as Certified Public Accountant, which is the way it's spelled in Philippines or US, but we have it as Certified Practising Accountant, and then practising , how do you spell practising ? So just those couple of mistakes is phenomenal. You've done the papers, you did the tested, you put it on your CV, make sure you spell it right.

Look, you are not applying for a blue collar role. If you made spelling mistakes in blue collar role, fair enough. But you're applying for an accounting job. So if you haven't triple-checked your CV and you still have plenty of... Whether it's spelling, grammar, you're mis-writing words, et cetera, punctuation. If you're not getting that right, as an employer, your job relies on numbers, and my business relies on you getting those numbers right, and my decisions rely on those numbers being correct, how can I trust you to do that job? So automatically you'll be negatively assessed or judged.

The other thing is obviously tailoring your CV to the role. Cover letters, look, not so big of a thing if you've got the experience. You mentioned the recruitment agency kind of study. Yes, a hundred percent. Look, you've only got five seconds, so you want to make sure your CV is easy to read and well-written, and it's in reverse chronological order. I like to underline or bold key things, because you only have five seconds, I will skim read the CV. If I'm not seeing the relevant experience or the right buzzwords or anything that's important for me to go, "Yep that person has the skills and experience to do the job," then I'll probably pass on it. So just having it simple, well-written, therefore easy to read, bold, underline, those kind of things.

The other key thing that I think people don't often realise is all large organisations and recruitment agencies will use ATS. ATSs, so applicant tracking systems. And there's two things with that. So applicant tracking systems together with AI, so artificial intelligence, they've all kind of been around for well over five, well, 10 years plus let's say now. So number one is we have a record of every single CV you've ever sent in to us. I see applicants suddenly changing their CV, and I look back on the previous CV they sent me two years ago, three years ago, even two months ago, and I'm like, ah, there's a new job that you've added, your dates have shifted when you worked for that place so you've closed off some of the gaps. Which is, look, I get it, you're trying to get a job, fair enough. But just being aware that the ATS does have a history of all of your applications, especially if you applied multiple times to an agency or company.

Another thing is because of AI what happens when you submit your application is the AI will compare the job description system to your CV, and if it doesn't see any buzzwords that are in the job description, it's not going to give you a higher rank. So you will automatically be put in the no pile or even the maybe pile. So if you want to rank highly, high enough to at least get a look-in by a human, which is sad, but that's just the reality of the system, you need to rank high enough. And to achieve that, you need to have the buzzword. So if the job description is asking you for people that have experience with automation or Python or SQL or particular tax issues, then you need to have them listed in your CV, because it literally just looks at how many times you've listed it in your CV, and if it matches the job description, it'll be like, oh yeah, this candidate is probably a good candidate, and then it will rank you high enough for a human to have a look at you.

So that's something for people to kind of keep in mind. The other thing is addressing some of the gaps. So people that have gaps in the CV, have short duration roles, because no one likes a job hopper. So if it was a contract, then make sure it's clear that it's a contract. If you went travelling, then explain why there's a two-year gap in your history. Otherwise, you're leaving it into the other person to make assumptions, which depending on what assumption they go for, might preclude you from a job interview. Whereas, if it makes sense to them in their head, well then they'll be like, "Oh yeah, cool, the person went travelling, fair enough." Or, "Yes, there was a contract, they're not a job holder. They just did three contracts in a row," and that's okay.

And then I think achievements need to be highlighted. So depending on the seniority of the role, obviously, if you're very junior, it's hard to have achievements, but the more senior you are, the more achievements there should be, not just your responsibilities, and make sure they're quantifiable or real. It's not just implemented a software. Cool, what was the challenge in the project? How much time did you save by implementing the software? How much money did you save by using that latest software? I want to see that you've researched what you've implemented, you were the team leader for it, you've trained people on it, and because of that, now a job that used to take two weeks now takes you two days, and that's created a $22,000 cost saving. Something like that.

You asked me how you can stand out, I think the biggest way to standing out is actually more offline. So picking up the phone and calling the person's looking to hire and having just a meaningful conversation so you can actually display your communication skills. Number one, ask some engaging questions. At the end of the day, we're all human. So if I connect, even though you might not have a great CV, and to be honest, if I looked at your CV, I wouldn't have even considered you. But because we've had this exchange, we've connected, you're human, I like you. Just by virtue of that, I'll probably give you a chance, at least have an interview with you. So offline will always make you stand out more than online.

And there's another big thing that people forget is you leave a digital trail now. So make sure your digital trail presents you in an appropriate manner. Whenever you apply for a job, you will get Googled. So if your Facebook pics or your Facebook posts or Instagram posts are questionable, perhaps either make them completely private or change them, because you will be judged. Yes, it's your personal life, but reality is we're all human and we do judge. That's just how life works. Same as your LinkedIn, make sure your LinkedIn is up to scratch, your photo's presentable, your description makes sense, it's well-written, the dates correspond to the CV, because the amount of times I get LinkedIn profiles that don't correspond to CVs is huge. I'm like, well, are you lying? What? Or do you not have attention to detail? Well, what's going on there? Straight away there's a red flag for me. So make sure they line up. Try and get some recommendations from your previous bosses on LinkedIn as well, that's always good. Yeah, so I'd say that's probably the biggest advice to stand out.

Jessica Mudditt:
Okay.

Michael Edelstein CPA:
I mean, I can keep going, but...

Jessica Mudditt:
No, I mean, that's all really solid advice. So people can perhaps give their CV to a friend, because I think you can make assumptions, oh, of course I was travelling. You wouldn't even think to point that out or yes, it was, especially, it was a contract. So I think giving it to someone-

Michael Edelstein CPA:
Or redundancy or something. But if you come across as a job hopper, I'm not going to want to employ you because people don't understand that from an employer's perspective, to you, it's just a job, from an employer's perspective, it's their clients, it's their livelihood's, their business, it's their time to train you. It's an investment. It'll take you six to nine months to get competent in the job. And if you leave up to nine months or a year, well then that's a waste of their time.

Jessica Mudditt:
It's time and money lost, yeah.

Michael Edelstein CPA:
Yeah.

Jessica Mudditt:
Michael, what do you think accountants should be doing now to prepare for the future so that they can make sure that they have fulfilling careers over the long term and some really good opportunities along the way?

Michael Edelstein CPA:
Broadly speaking, my suggestion, just always understand the frameworks or the basic concept. If you want to be valued, then be valuable. You add value, to whoever you are working with, to wherever you're working. I think we've been fortunate enough in Australia where we've had this huge economic success over the last 20 plus years, and huge salaries. So I find people get very complacent when life is very easy, and everyone's earning a lot of money and jobs are everywhere, et cetera. So you don't really need to add much value. You just need to show up and just get your job done, and that's okay, and that's good enough for most people to earn a really high income. But I think if things change, right now we're going to a lot more of an economically uncertain situation over the next 12 months.

So similar to what happened I guess 2008, 9, where people do start losing their jobs when the market does become more competitive. Then people will look at, well, what did you achieve in the previous role? How did you add value? Did you actually do anything meaningful or you just showed up? Were you just a clock watcher? Nine to five. Or you actually put in a bit of effort? And if I call your boss, he'll say, "This guy is amazing. He always put up his hand for projects, lead a transformation for us, was happy to train people, was happy to stay back and help the team," et cetera, et cetera. So in terms of what accountants can do, I think A, understand the business you're in, number one, it's amazing how many people don't understand the business they're actually in. They just come and do their job, zero interest, zero curiosity. To understand their business. Understand your boss's priorities, and therefore see what can be improved, suggest some ideas, do some projects. A, will help you in your skillsets because it'll challenge you. You'll learn something. B, you'll get a boss that loves you. Wherever that boss goes, you can go anywhere. Whoever is in that boss's network, internally or externally, that's a job for you at any time. Do you know what I mean? People don't really see that connection.

And just do some self-learning. Just understand that the pace of change is a lot faster than it ever used to be. I find people rely on their company, their boss, to train them. Don't rely on anyone. This is your career. This is your job, take responsibility for it. No one else is responsible for it. So do some self-learning. So learn about crypto, learn about smart contracts, learn about the latest tech that's being rolled out in US for data visualisation. And you know what? If you read something cool about it, investigate it, call the company up, do a test run of that software, and if you think that could be used in your company, it will save time, because you know your company's processes. Have a chat to your boss and say, "Hey guys, this is what I've done. I did a little test run with it, did a trial period, whatever, and I reckon it can save us about 20 hours a fortnight, a week, at this cost. I think it's worthwhile, let's investigate." People like that will always have a job.

Jessica Mudditt:
Yeah, they sure will. A boss would definitely be happy to hear someone taking that kind of initiative.

Michael Edelstein CPA:
And it's not that hard. It just takes that extra step of, I'm not just an employee, I'm not just here to get a paycheck.

Jessica Mudditt:
And I think the people who listen to the CPA Career Hacks podcast are the self-starting type.

Michael Edelstein CPA:
Yeah.

Jessica Mudditt:
Okay Michael, if you had one piece of advice on what someone can do now to prepare for the future, what would that be?

Michael Edelstein CPA:
Be curious and be a doer. So I think you'll always be in demand if you know your stuff and you get stuff done.

Jessica Mudditt:
Just to wrap up this episode, we've had Layla O'Kane of Lightcast sharing future trends in finance and accountancy. One of the high growth skills that she identified was data visualisation. Layla also mentioned that automation will result in teamwork and stakeholder management gaining more importance. We've also heard from Michael, who has given us some really good tips. You can be a great professional, but simply by not providing the correct justification for why there might be a gap in your CV or whether you did a few contract roles, whether there was a redundancy or something along the way, you don't want to get into the no-thank-you pile, which, as Michael says, takes about three to four seconds. So tailor your CV to the job, and list achievements, not just responsibilities, and make sure those achievements are quantifiable. So use your numbers.

Garreth Hanley:
If you've enjoyed this episode, help others discover In The Black by leaving us a review and sharing this episode with colleagues, clients, or anyone else interested in leadership, strategy, and business. To find out more about our other podcasts, check out the show notes for this episode. We hope you can join us again next time for another episode of In The Black.