Securing the Future

Get to the best students early in their college careers. Skimming the cream from the college talent pool isn't as easy as it used to be. The days when a recruiter for a CPA firm or company could simply arrive on campus, put in a day or two of interviewing and choose the best candidates for the available positions are long gone. In the current competitive hiring environment, the top students often have made job commitments by their senior year and narrowed their search by the time they are juniors. So how can a small or midsize CPA firm or company find and hire premium candidates out of college? One economical tactic for recruiting from among undergraduates is to develop a work relationship with a student as early as possible. Sophomore year is not too soon. An ongoing program such as a student internship or cooperative work arrangement will eventually provide a firm with a choice of employees who are knowledgeable about the job and compatible with the firm's culture. Smaller firms that have been successful finding young staffers who mesh with the culture and are likely to stick around for a couple of years have done it by seeking out the best students before other firms or companies do. Representatives go early to the campuses, meet with sophomores and freshmen and discuss their goals. They explain what the firm or company does and, perhaps most important, what a CPA does. Firms can seek out students by visiting with a local college or university student services office or by contacting members of the faculty of the school's business and accounting departments. INTERNSHIPS ARE WIN-WIN Employing a student part-time while he or she is in school is still the most effective method of relationship building. Interns can do a variety of important jobs at a firm with the coaching of a good manager. It is a win-win deal for the students: Schools encourage them to pursue their professional interests, and such arrangements allow them flexibility in scheduling work around school obligations. Of course, simply bringing students and staff together is no guarantee that you will be able to build a meaningful, long-term relationship. In fact, the real challenge of internship programs begins when the student shows up at your office for the first day of "real work." It is important that your firm or company have in place an organized and well-thought-out mentoring program. The mentor offers the trainee personal guidance, technical and emotional support and help in adjusting to the firm's or company's culture. (See "Someone to Look Up To," JofA, Nov. 99, page 89.) Many firms will designate the intern's immediate supervisor as his or her mentor, but it is not unusual to assign a person not directly involved in supervision as mentor. Several characteristics of successful mentors include: Strong interpersonal skills. The mentor will be the go-to person for your intern, so he or she must be someone who can really listen, who enjoys teaching people to grow both personally and professionally and who works well in teams. Organizational knowledge. The mentor must understand how to structure the intern's time to ensure that both the firm and the intern benefit. Technical competence. It is likely that the student intern will know a lot more about computers and technology than some professionals. Avoid putting a technologically savvy student with a paper person--if the student is bored it may jinx a future hire. The internship program should be well structured. The full-time staff who will work with the students must be able to pinpoint the skills they expect each student to build--including technical, communication, problem-solving, relationship-building, networking and community-involvement skills. Based on input from the intern and assessment of the firm's needs, the student's mentor should develop a structured activities sequence--a performance plan that defines a specific work objective, describes activities and sets deadlines. …