HOW ENGAGING WITH A MENTOR CAN BENEFIT YOUR CAREER

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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A career mentor can bring huge benefits and, with their help and support, make a significant contribution to enabling you to achieve your professional goals. Not only can they be a real source of inspiration, but they will also have knowledge, expertise and advice that can help you at every stage of your career.

Identifying the right individual (or individuals) to provide mentoring support is crucial; we look at what you should consider before making your all-important choice.

Firstly, you need to determine what you want to achieve from your mentoring relationship and set yourself some clear and tangible goals of where you want to be in, for example, the next year, three years and five years. A good mentor will want to work with you to achieve a clear objective and as part of the exercise you will need to understand what support you need from them – this will help you focus your search and enable you to narrow down the key criteria to best identify someone suitable to your circumstances.

Next, you need to give consideration to where you can find your potential mentor. It could a senior colleague from another department or office location or it could be someone from outside your place of work such as a former colleague or a respected industry figure. There are several options available to help you find a mentor; your company may run an internal mentoring scheme, or you may feel comfortable approaching somebody in the business direct. Education bodies, training institutions, professional membership bodies and regional and industry networking groups may also operate programmes that can put you in touch with potential members. It is essential that you spend time researching all the options available before making your approach.

Your chosen mentor must someone that you trust as this is fundamental to you being able to build a successful relationship from the outset; much of what you discuss with them could be confidential and you will also need to open up to them about your weaknesses and be honest about what is holding you back.

Your mentor should make you feel comfortable and be someone that you can build a rapport with. They are very likely to have a career you admire – not only in relation to what they have achieved but also the route they have taken to reach their level. It is important to spend some time finding out about how your potential mentor likes to work and ensure they are prepared to give honest and constructive feedback in way that you will find supportive and motivational.

Many individuals become mentors as they want to give something back but remember that they want and need to get something from the relationship as well. Successful mentoring is very much two-way so consider what you can bring and offer in return – passion, enthusiasm and a keenness to learn will all contribute to a positive and successful partnership.

Typically, mentoring relationships will focus upon career advice, guidance on professional development, encouraging creativity and innovative ways of working, support with a specific project, suggestions on how to build upon a person’s strengths and address any weaknesses as well as learning and development of new skills.

It is important to remember that your mentor is offering to provide you with valuable help and support for free so it is essential that you are committed and open to learning from their advice – even when the feedback might be negative. Go into each session well prepared and with feedback on how you have put into practice what has been discussed in previous meetings.

There’s no set time frame to how long a mentoring relationship will last; some may have several mentors over the course of their career, others may work with the same person for many years.

Our top benefits of having a mentor:

They help educate you and support you developing new skills.
They provide you with someone to talk to about your career outside of your workplace.
Their advice is free.
They offer you a different perspective.
They are there to provide you with support.

Sharp Consultancy specialises in the recruitment of temporary, interim and permanent finance and accountancy professionals. With offices in Leeds and Sheffield our highly experienced team of consultants recruit for positions throughout Yorkshire and beyond. CONTACT UStoday for expert advice on your next career move.