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.”

Event-drive hedge funds had a disappointing 2011, impacted as they were by what Anne-Gaelle Pouille, associate director, Pacific Alternative Asset Management Company, calls a “Bermuda Triangle” of factors. Taking a fresh look at 2012, she offers some hope “the environment in which event-driven hedge funds operate seems to be improving.” FINalternatives

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.

With the regulatory spotlight shining ever more brightly on senior managers and fund leaders, the Securities and Exchange Commission held a day-long conference recently to send the message that it’s up to them to create and manage an effective control environment. Evaluate your business units on their overall performance, not just their financial results, speakers at the conference counseled. When problems are found, deal with them. FINalternatives

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.

What’s more fun than managing a hedge fund? Owning a baseball team. At least that’s what SAC Capital Advisors founder Steven Cohen must be thinking. He was hot on the trail of the New York Mets before turning to the Los Angeles Dodgers when the team came up for sale in the fall. He’s now made the short list, thanks, no doubt, to his deep pockets. (He’s a multi-billionaire.) There must be something about hedge funds and baseball, because one of the other bidders making the short list is the Disney family and Stan Gold, manager of the family’s hedge fund, Shamrock Holdings. ESPN Los Angeles

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.

“Sorry for the fire drill, but we have an IPO bake-off in three days. Do you have any bandwidth?” If that’s prompted you to consider scheduling bypass surgery, you’re a financial analyst or associate. For everyone else, and especially for anyone hoping for a career in asset management or investment banking, here’s a guide to the language they don’t teach you in business school.

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