EMPLOYING PART TIME MEMBERS OF STAFF

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.

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There are approximate 8.4 million part time workers in the UK. For businesses of all sizes there are a huge range of advantages to employing members of staff on a part time basis – but there are also several challenges which must be taken into consideration.

Advantages and disadvantages to employing part time members of staff:

Keeping costs down. Employing somebody on a part time basis can be an effective way to reduce staff costs in roles where there isn’t necessarily a need for someone on a full time basis.

Attracting the best talent. Having the option of part time work can help both with recruitment and staff retention; part time work can be attractive to parents with young families or those approaching the later years in their careers and are looking to reduce their hours. These people can offer a wealth of skills and experience and offering flexible and/or family friendly working arrangements can lead to improvements in staff retention.

Flexibility. Part time employees can enable a company to ensure that it has the right number of people in the right roles during times when business demands are greater. Roles and working hours can be determined around a variety of scenarios and may be fixed with an individual working fewer hours each day or working set days or alternatively a part time employee may work shifts which could vary on a week to week basis. There are also options around employing members of staff on term-time contacts or on a job share basis.

Staff morale and productivity. It’s not just part time employees themselves who can benefit; they can alleviate the pressure of workloads on full time members of staff – particularly if a business is relying upon overtime to keep up with demand – and therefore help reduce stress and combat low levels of staff morale in the workplace.

Additional costs. Part time workers can impact on costs and businesses need to consider that employing individuals on a part time basis can lead to additional expense – for example with benefits and training.

Recruiting part time employees:

As an employer, you will need to determine whether a particular role would be suited to a part time working arrangement. To do this you will need to take into account:

Objectives and outcomes. Establish what you want the employee to achieve and consider what time is needed to do each aspect of the role. Also think about the particular skills and personal attributes that will be needed and include these in a detailed specification.

Working hours. Think about whether there are elements of the job which have to be done on certain days or at certain times – this will help you understand how much flexibility there is in the hours you would require the successful candidate to work. Also consider whether the role is to be created on a part time only or job share basis.

Recruitment process and interviews. Make the process as convenient to those looking to work part time as possible to attract the best candidates; part time opportunities can open up the recruitment pool to applicants who may not have considered the position if it was on a full time basis. Try and schedule interviews at times which suit the part time hours being offered i.e. on the relevant days.

Managing part time employees:

It is important to consider how part time employees will fit into your existing team structure and to also give thought to how you will effectively communicate and manage those who are not working full time hours.

Communications. You must make sure that all part time workers receive all staff communications; you may need to contact them by phone, email or text message if they are not at work on a day when you make an important announcement or send out a message for the first time. For staff meetings and company briefings, try to find a time when all team members will be available or if this is not possible, hold additional sessions which will give every employee an opportunity to attend.

Flexibility. Establish whether your part time workers can work additional hours on major projects or attend meetings which fall outside their normal working hours. Are they happy to be contacted by you on days that they are not at work?

Training. Part time employees should have access to the same training courses which you offer to full time members of the team; consider if you need to make adjustments to how these are delivered i.e. inclusion of home study time and condensing particular elements of the course.

Employing part time members of staff:

Part time workers must be treated equally to comparable full-time employees who work for the same company and perform similar roles under the same type of employment contract. This includes:

Salary / rates of pay
Access to occupational pension scheme
Training, career development opportunities and consideration for promotion
Right to receive enhanced sick, maternity, paternity, adoption leave and pay as well as parental leave and dependents leave
Pro rata contractual benefits such as paid annual leave and staff discounts

Sharp Consultancy specialises in the recruitment of temporary, interim and permanent finance professionals. With offices in Leeds and Sheffield our highly experienced team of consultants recruit for positions throughout Yorkshire and beyond. CONTACT US today to speak to a member of our team about your recruitment needs.