Pexels Sora Shimazaki 5673502

​5 Red Flags to Avoid When Hiring Finance Professionals

​Here at Sharp Consultancy, we know just how important it is to hire the right person-not just in terms of experience, but also personality and overall fit within your business.Getting this wrong can be costly, not only financially, but in terms of time and effort spent on onboarding and training someone who ultimately might not work out.To help avoid this, Soraya Downing has put together 5 key red flags to watch out for when reviewing CVs or interviewing finance candidates: 1. Vague or General Responses A genuinely interested candidate will come to job interviews prepared with detailed answers that clearly link their experience and skills to the role they’re applying for. If their responses are vague or lacking depth, it can be a sign that they haven’t taken the time to prepare—or worse, they’re not truly engaged with the opportunity.Ideally, you want to hear specific examples backed up with figures or results. ​​It’s worth noting that bad answer doesn’t always mean the candidate isn’t prepared or doesn’t have the required experience, it could be that your question is confusing and needs rephrasing.For example, asking “Can you walk me through your main responsibilities in your most recent role, particularly those related to [payroll/management reporting/credit control/etc.]?” is likely to generate more specific and useful answers than a vague question like “Tell me about your most recent role.”​Try practising your question on a colleague or someone you manage and see if they struggle to answer. They will be able to help you scrutinise the question and suggest better wording or elaboration to avoid any confusion.If you require support with conducting job interviews or creating targeted interview questions, we’re always happy to help. With a team of over 25 consultants who each specialise within different areas of finance and accountancy recruitment, we’ve interviewed thousands of candidates — and we know what works. 2. Inconsistent Career HistoryWe fully support career moves—most of the time, they signal progression and ambition, which is great to see. However, when a CV shows a pattern of short-term employments with no solid explanation, or recurring reasons for leaving, this can indicate potential issues with commitment, adaptability, or performance.There can be many reasons why a candidate has several short-term roles on their CV. For example, they could have completed several temporary or short-term interim contracts without making this clear on their CV or they may have experienced a series of redundancies beyond their control. Always dig a little deeper in these cases, they may be acceptably explained but there could also be something bigger at play.When you engage with us as your recruitment partner, we will never put forward a candidate that hasn’t been fully vetted and their career history and suitability examined. We will have all already done the ‘deep digging’, so all short-term roles and employment gaps are explained to you from the get-go. It takes the guesswork out of the process and saves you valuable time. 3. Poor Communication SkillsIt’s natural for candidates to be a little nervous in interviews, but for senior finance roles in particular, strong communication is non-negotiable. If someone consistently gives vague answers, struggles to explain their experience, or avoids eye contact, it could raise concerns about how they’ll present to stakeholders or collaborate across teams. At this level, you’re looking for clear, confident communication—even under pressure.​If you’re unsure about a candidate’s communication skills, especially in a senior finance role, consider including a short task or second-stage interview focused on presenting or explaining a topic. For example, ask them to walk you through a recent financial project or prepare a brief summary of how they’d present key financials to non-finance stakeholders. This gives you a clearer sense of how they structure information, handle questions, and communicate under mild pressure. When you engage with us we’ll work with you to understand whether a candidate’s communication style will align with your specific team dynamics and stakeholder environment—something that is key to a successful long-term hire but often overlooked.​4. Lack of Curiosity or InitiativeTop finance professionals are naturally curious and proactive. They’re the ones who suggest improvements to systems or processes without being asked. If a candidate shows no interest in how they can add value to your business and the role, or doesn’t ask questions during the interview, that could be a red flag that they’re more reactive than proactive.Sometimes that might be exactly what you are looking for, but other times, recognising this about a candidate early on could be your saving grace in hiring someone unfit for the role in question.  5. No Signs of a Growth MindsetIf you’re hiring with the goal of developing someone long-term, look for signs they’re committed to personal and professional growth. This could be studying towards a qualification like ACCA, CIMA, or ACA or asking thoughtful questions about the business’s future.A lack of interest in development can often translate into a lack of long-term engagement to the role and your company. Even when not looking for a long-term hire, a candidate who exhibits no desire for their long-term career and growth can be a sign that they might not even stick it out for a shorter period of time.As your recruitment partner, it really helps to understand what you want out of a hire. Don’t be shy in telling us what skills and qualities you want and don’t want a new employee to have for the role you are hiring for. If you give us as much information about the role and the company as possible, we can then use this knowledge in our candidate selection process to only suggest candidates which have the necessary qualities you are looking for. Final Thoughts Sharp Consultancy has been recruiting finance professionals across Yorkshire for over 30 years. Our proven process allows us to spot these red flags early, helping our clients avoid costly hiring mistakes. By keeping the above points in mind, you’ll be in a much stronger position to hire the right finance talent for your team.If you're currently hiring, or planning to, and want to avoid the common pitfalls, we’d love to support you. From advising on interview strategy to identifying candidates with the right mix of skills and mindset, we’re here to make the process easier—and more successful.Soraya specialises in recruiting for permanent Part Qualified, Qualified by Experience and Qualified finance roles with salaries ranging from £30,000 to £50,000 across Doncaster, Rotherham, Barnsley, Worksop, Hull and the surrounding areas. Get in touch with Soraya today – sorayadowning@sharpconsultancy.com – 0114 261 1700 or SUBMIT A VACANCY.​

Read article
Blog Img

​WHY GETTING RECRUITMENT RIGHT IS SO IMPORTANT – AND NOW MORE THAN EVER!

Back to Blogs

When looking to recruit a new member to the team, it is generally accepted that there is an element of risk involved. Making the wrong decision can have a significant impact on an organisation and the affects of a bad hire can run much deeper than simply having to restart the recruitment process.

As businesses continue to navigate the challenges COVID-19 throws their way, there is increased emphasis on ensuring that the right recruitment decisions are taken, with a wrong move likely to have a significant financial impact as well as a downturn in individual, department and company performance.

According to a report from the Recruitment & Employment Confederation (REC) , over a third of companies don’t believe recruiting a wrong hire will cost them anything at all. The reality is there are a number of costs - including productivity costs incurred through not having somebody in place, management costs and training costs – and having to repeat the recruitment process to rectify a poor appointment will see those costs double or even triple. The same report calculated that a poor hire at mid-manager level with a salary of £42,000 can end up costing a business over £132,000.

Whilst business grapple with the shifting sands of the current climate, many may find themselves attempting to handle recruitment in-house without truly being in the position of being able to dedicate the time and resource to ensuring the process is robust and will stand up to many pitfalls and obstacles that are likely to be encountered along the way.

There is a widespread view – fuelled by the on-going reports of rising unemployment as the effects of the pandemic take hold – that the job market is awash with a wealth of potential candidates crying out for opportunities with employers able to simply take their pick. The reality, however, is somewhat different.

Whilst the current situation is indeed having a devastating effect in certain areas, these effects are not widespread in the way they were during the banking crisis of 2007 with several industry sectors relatively unaffected or in some cases - such as logistics and food manufacture – positively booming. Combined with Government support in the shape of the furlough scheme, the considerable efforts made by businesses to retain their staff and employees adopting a risk adverse approach to new employment opportunities means that there’s little likelihood of organisations being able to bring someone onboard with an easy quick win.

Understandably, employers do not want to make a mistake; however this can see them limit themselves in their decision making and only consider ‘obvious’ selection criteria and restrict their talent pool as they seek to recruit like-for-like candidates who have previously been employed in a similar sector or competitor company.

A decision that is based upon ticking off a wish list of ‘safe’ boxes, however, is unlikely to result in identifying the best overall choice as you neglect to drill down and examine the essential requirements of the role to source individuals that will make a real difference to an organisation. An experienced recruitment practitioner will, with the benefit of their experience, ability to reach into the market and draw out candidates that may not currently be actively seeking new opportunities and having the time to dedicate to the process, be able to tease out a far more widespread range of critical factors - attitude, aptitude, culture fit – as well as a person’s knowledge and expertise, upon which to determine a robust, high quality short list.

One of the key outcomes of COVID-19 has been the increased volume of interviews taking place on platforms such as Zoom or Microsoft Teams. For those not involved in recruitment on a day-to-day basis, this in itself can be a steep learning curve that needs to be quickly navigated; even after almost of year of doing business ‘online’, whilst they may be well versed in utilising such platforms, the ability to confidently assess those qualities that you would normally rely heavily upon face-to-face interaction to determine – body language, expression, engagement – can be a new experience and one which takes time to master.

The cost of an incorrect recruitment decision can be considerable; whilst the money spent on training, for example, can be measurable there are many more costs which are not as easy to quantify. The impact of a bad hire on staff morale, productivity levels, output quality, client relationships and business reputation are easily overlooked but can have more wide reaching and long term consequences that are not as straight-forward to rectify by simply making an alternative appointment.

Sharp Consultancy specialises in the recruitment and executive search of finance and accountancy professionals. With offices in Leeds and Sheffield our highly experienced team of consultants recruit for temporary, interim and permanent roles across the full spectrum of positions throughout Yorkshire and beyond. CONTACT US today and speak to a member of our team about your recruitment needs or next career move.