Now is the time for accountants to get their public accounting license, counsels Brian Blake, head of the accounting / finance group and a partner in Green Key Resources.

“Candidates with CPA’s tend to be the most marketable,” he says, discussing the hiring outlook for 2012. “Public accounting has consistently been one of the hottest sectors year on year but we have recently seen a pick-up in the hedge fund and private equity space especially at the more senior level which is a positive sign.”

Brian, who was named a firm partner last year, says that the meltdown of the banking and brokerage business that triggered the recession a few years ago, though largely behind us, has left a legacy of caution. Employers may be adding staff, but they are doing it carefully.

“Certainly employers have become more selective as the market has tightened up,” he says, “but there still remains a shortage of quality accountants in the marketplace today.” In particular he says, “CPA’s remain in short supply in all industries,” adding, “We have also seen a bigger demand for accountants specifically with product knowledge. Internal audit is another skill set that is highly marketable and in short supply.”

Brian advises candidates who have the skills to make sure their resume reflects that. “Well-written resumes always stand out,” he says. The other best thing a candidate can do to improve their hireability is get their CPA. Make it a priority, he recommends.

The division’s diverse clientele, which includes banking, alternative asset management, entertainment, media and public accounting, keeps the 16-person New York office especially busy. Candidates discover Green Key through a variety of means, though recruiters focus on referrals and direct sourcing.

“Because of the size and structure of our group, we have the ability to specialize across industries and functions,” says Brian. “Our screening process is thorough; we meet with each one of our candidates face-to-face and take the time to understand their job search plan.”

“Our goal is to deliver the best service to our candidates and clients. I believe our team is the most talented accounting/finance group in the NY metro area.”

In a very public resignation published this morning in The New York Times, former Goldman Sachs executive director Greg Smith blasted the investment firm for a culture that is “toxic and destructive.”

“It makes me ill how callously people talk about ripping clients off,” said Smith, who headed the firm’s United States equity derivatives business in Europe, the Middle East and Africa until today.

The response to his op-ed piece was both fast, and substantial. From Forbes’ call for the resignation of Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd C. Blankfein, to  the packet of posts on  The Huffington Post, and even a humorous parody in the United Kingdom’s Daily Mash, Smith set off a firestorm.

Was Smith a disgruntled employee venting publicly, as the left of center Mother Jones magazine suspects? Or is Smith’s letter a catalyst for public discussion of the role of big finance and investment banking? Or a little of both.

Romance is in the air today. Love is everywhere. Just look around the office. Those two in the lunchroom giggling like lovestruck teenagers very probably are. Love struck, that is.

Just in time for Valentine’s Day CareerBuilder confirms what you’ve been suspecting all along: your office mates are mating up. If the survey is to be believed — and why not?; they surveyed 7,780 people who all can’t be pranking us — then almost 4 in 10 workers have dated someone they met on the job.

Awkward, if one of them thinks it’s going places and the other one … you get the idea. Fortunately, 31% of those relationships lead to marriage. (Which is no guarantee things won’t get even more awkward a little down the road. But this is the season for love, so ignore our dose of ugly reality. Or read on to the part where we tell you how Challenger, Gray, & Christmas snuck in a warning about office violence.)

Now here’s a stat that will give the HR people out there all kinds of fits.  CareerBuilder says 18% of office dating is between boss and direct report. Women were more likely to date up than men, 35% to 23% respectively.

Of the industries singled out in the report you just had to know that hospitality by far (47%) has the most co-dating co-workers. (They are a hospitable lot after all.)

Healthcare also made the top five list, which, considering how many parents hoped their offspring would marry a doctor, is no surprise. But financial services (40%)? And transportation and utilities (43%t)? And IT (40%)? These also made the top five? Really?

Now moving on to that warning about workers pulling a Valentine’s Day Massacre  from Challenger, Gray & Christmas (hereinafter CG&C). “Some companies are facing an entirely different problem: their workers have lost that loving feeling and the consequences can be dire,” reads a press release sent by the global outplacement firm.

“Often in situations where managers are aware of a problem between two or more coworkers, they merely look the other way, letting the employees work it out amongst themselves.  This may work in some situations, but in others, this hands-off approach can have disastrous results,” says CG&C CEO John Challenger.

The press release offers a whole bunch of ideas to increase civility and reduce animosity. Missing from the list, and very conspicuously absent considering Valentine’s Day started this whole thing, is the free supply of large amounts of chocolate that no civil office should be without.

Were you happy with your bonus this year? The majority of Wall Street (not the location, but the industry) was. With the bonuses now mostly distributed, a survey of how well they  were received finds 56% of the recipients reporting what they got met or exceeded their expectations. It’s the 35% who say the bonus fell short of what they were expecting that most concerns firms. Some of the recipients got exactly what they deserved. However, the survey found a third of the disappointed professionals performed well, but not their firm. The biggest worry now? A number of top earners are falling into the disappointed group, which can create retention problems as the hiring environment improves. eFinancialCareers

Just because you’re a reader of this blog, we have a special gift for you: An extra day next month to catch up on things.

OK, OK. Caught us. It’s leap year, so everyone will get that extra day. But hey, if you’d rather use it for fun, then stop doing stuff that only offers the illusion of working.

You know what we’re talking about. Things like checking your email every time that message icon pops up, or dropping what you’re doing to respond. Or actually reading every article on a Reply All list.

Author, business strategist, and consultant Dorie Clark has five suggestions for becoming more productive this year. These aren’t the usual time management yadda, yadda. None of those “finish one task before going on to another” kind of tips. Though, and here is a brief digression, it’s worthwhile to keep those routine efficiency tips in mind. And to actually practice what the experts preach. For instance:

• Make a daily list of key tasks and check each off when completed.
• Don’t just sort paperwork; handle it, then file it.
• Prioritize tasks. Important things first.

No less an authority on work and gens X & Y than Penelope Trunk says most multitasking reduces productivity. So, to be most productive, don’t multitask.

Now, back to Dorie Clark, whose time suck avoidance list reads like a list of secret sins. There’s the “Reading Annoying Things” ban, she proposes after confessing  to having “a dozen newspaper and magazine subscriptions, the result of alluring specials ($10 for an entire year!) and the compulsion not to miss out on crucial information.”

For your amusement, here’s a time wasting video addressing the very point Clark makes.

Her list (blogged on the Harvard Business Review, no less) provides ammunition to ignore “Mindless Traditions” and to eschew doing “Work That’s Not Worth It.”

Sure, it’s hard to break old habits, which is what makes taking Clark’s suggestion a good workplace resolution.

Financial services companies have dropped more than 4,000 jobs in the last few months, but that doesn’t mean hiring isn’t happening. eFinancialCareers says postings in 20 of the 22 sectors it tracks are up over this time last year. Commodities is the biggest gainer, up almost double. “ Requests for commodities experience is being driven by demand for energy traders, bankers and cross-commodities experts,” says eFinancialCareers.

Looking for finance and accounting professionals at the top of their game? If you thought finding the right candidate was a challenge this year, word is that 2012 won’t be any easier. Monster says candidates with the skills, experience, and specific industry savvy are getting multiple offers. Particularly hot right is the public accounting sector with firms of all sizes looking to fill jobs that have been vacant since the recession began. Monster

If you’re in line for a bonus this month don’t expect it’s going to be any bigger than what you got last year. Half of the executives in a Robert Half survey said they anticipate that year-end bonuses will be unchanged from 2010.

Most certain of that are the executives of law firms and legal groups; 72 percent expect no change. They’re also the most pessimistic about the prospects for bigger bonuses. Only 12 percent of the surveyed leaders expect more money.

Who do you think are most optimistic? No, not petroleum executives. Robert Half only reported on some industries, mainly those in which it provides professional staffing.  It did break out the responses of one group of senior executives, and it turns out that HR professionals are the most optimistic that 2011 bonuses will be bigger.

About as many HR executives expect bigger company bonuses (42 percent) as anticipate they will be unchanged (43 percent). Only 10 percent expect smaller bonuses.

Finance and accounting executives, like the lawyers but not quite as convinced (60 percent), expect to change in bonuses this year. Unlike the lawyers, 21 percent expect more. Some of them, in that case, are going to be disappointed when they get coal instead of cash, which, according to New York comp consultants, Johnson Associates, Inc., is what Wall Street is likely to dole out.

The firm’s compensation analysis, a barometer for the financial industry, has year-end incentives, declining by an average 20 to 30 percent this year compared to 2010.

Alan Johnson, managing director of Johnson Associates, said, “The lack of economic recovery, combined with ongoing uncertainty in the world markets, and global and regional regulation are driving most financial services firms to significantly reduce the size of their bonus pools. As a result, most, but not all, professionals will receive smaller payouts this year.”

The analysis and his comments came prior to the market’s burst of enthusiasm. If the next few weeks don’t spoil the party, Wall Street firms might suddenly decide to be more generous. Either way, for most accounting and finance professionals, this year is likely to look like last year when the bonus checks get handed out.

Hiring for accounting and financial professionals has been heating up over the last 18 months as companies that cut staff during the depths of the recession began to fill the vacant position.  And while some signs point to a slowdown in the waning months of this year, the competition for top talent is expected to grow more intense in the new year, leading to higher starting salaries.

The annual salary survey by Robert Half International, says companies expect to bump salaries for newly hired accounting and finance professionals an average of 3.5% in 2012. At the same time, says the report, employers are increasingly looking toward temporary hires and project-specific help, while they wait to see whether the economy will accelerate in the coming months.

Despite the caution, the number of accounting and finance jobs being posted online is growing. In the last year alone accounting positions have grown 19%, according to one of the leading job search engines. Banking and financial services job postings have grown 17% in that same time period.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics says the number of job openings in just one industry category — finance and insurance — grew by 5% in the first eight months of this year.

As a consequence, says the Robert Half report, the average time to fill staff positions will increase to five weeks next year and filling management accounting and finance jobs will take almost two months. Some specialty positions are taking longer, as candidates with high specialized skills get multiple offers and counteroffers.

Most in demand is a CPA accreditation. For senior-level and analyst positions, an MBA is high on the list of requirements. Controller and analyst positions top the list of jobs companies most want to fill. In addition, business systems analysts, tax accountants, auditors, and core accounting professionals are being sought.

In the U.S., says the accounting and finance guide, morale and retention are an issue as employees who shouldered additional work during the lean years without getting a raise or promotion are beginning to seek opportunities at other firms.

To help retain employees, Robert Half’s survey of some 1,400 CFOs found more companies are looking to non-financial incentives to supplement modest salary increases. Most popular, said 29 percent of the CFOs, is subsidized training and education. Just under a quarter (24 percent) said they’re offering flexible work hours and telecommuting, and a similar percentage offer mentoring programs.

Download the U.S. guide here.

Download the Canada guide here.

Hiring tax professionals has never been easy, but now it’s harder than ever, as nearly two-thirds of companies in a recent survey say they intend to add staff before the end of the year.

Problem is, where will they find professionals with the specialized skills that most companies want?

With only 39% of companies expecting any turnover, someone is going to be surprised when they go out to hire. Since few tax professionals are among the ranks of the unemployed, new hires will have to be sourced from other companies.

The survey found that chief tax officers are placing  an emphasis on compliance, and research, planning and audit specialists, the competition is going to be intense, perhaps explaining why more than half (56%) worry their compensation may not be at market.

To fill vacancies, a third of the CTOs in the survey said they’ll turn to internal networks. That includes employee referrals, personal contacts, and even social media. Another 30% plan to use job boards. Fully a quarter, however, have already made the decision to use agencies, a decision that gives them an advantage in filling openings quickly.

Turning to agencies like Green Key, for instance, makes sense, not only for companies uncertain about their long-term hiring, but for companies putting a premium on quality. Firms like us, who recruit year round, already have a pipeline of qualified candidates. While employee referrals and internal networks also produce excellent candidates, they can be slow to work, especially with competition heating up. Job boards, as any recruiter will tell you, are a hit or miss proposition.

Even if yours is not among the 63% of corporate tax departments that will add staff before the end of the year, you should prepare for the day poachers start calling. Cross-training staff is one obvious step, as is identifying your high performers and assessing the risk to the department should they leave. Meanwhile, insist that managers meet with their staff individually for career conversations and their turnover potential. If in doubt about compensation, do a salary study. Finally, give us a call to discuss your finance and accounting staff needs.