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Recruitment for specialist roles is heating up, says one mid-tier firm, as it looks to break down myths around working outside big four firms.
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Demand for specialist roles heats up
20 June 2019
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Speaking to Accountants Daily, PKF Brisbane chief executive Larn Mulligan said that the firm has recently found it challenging to fill more specialist roles.
“We’re increasingly seeing more recruitment from the big four for some of our specialist roles,” Mr Mulligan said.
“We do find it challenging to find people with very specific technical skills, and sometimes those skills are found more in the big four than they are in the mid-tiers.
“Previously, we wouldn’t have competed directly for people with the big four, but we’re seeing more of that now, and I think that’s partly the result of the sort of clients that we’ve been growing here in our client base.
“When it comes to corporate tax, for example, there are a relatively small number of larger second-tier firms that have a true corporate tax client base. So, finding people with the qualities and skills in listed companies, for example, in tax effect accounting and transactional work is more difficult when you look at some smaller mid-tier firms. Some of the big four and larger mid-tiers are a better hunting ground for us.”
Mr Mulligan believes part of the challenge in recruiting for these roles lies in the myth perpetuated by some in the industry that mid-tiers do not work with quality clients.
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“One of the biggest myths would be that high-quality work doesn’t exist in the client bases of mid-tiers or second-tier firms,” he said.
“For our tax practice, in particular, we’re blessed to have some clients who are very large corporate entities with international flavour, and there is a mindset in the big four that those sort of client opportunities don’t exist in firms like ours.”
PKF tax partner Gary Calford also believes perceptions about lower pay packages should be addressed, with work in a mid-tier potentially more valued.
“You will feel better valued and feel more of a team than in a big four team. In a smaller team, you will have a more direct impact on your own success and, by implication, that of your team,” he said.
“Being a smaller firm, it is easier to communicate with each other, which ensures flexibility is easier to manage.”
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