Episode 12

Career Tips for Accountants in Today’s Job Market

Simon Gray FCA is a qualified chartered accountant and former professional recruiter. Now through Career Codex Limited he empowers clients from across the world to navigate the executive job market successfully.

Simon is the author of three books, including Super Secrets of Successful Executive Job Search, which continues to receive five-star reviews on Amazon. He sits on the ICAEW Business Committee in London and the Regional Strategy Board. Shownotes:

  • The power of a professional accounting qualification because understanding finance is key in business
  • How technology has changed the accounting landscape
  • The role of the accountant has moved from being about the numbers to a business savvy strategic role
  • Why it’s difficult for technically strong accountants to do well with sales and business development
  • The difference between a growth mindset and a fixed mindset when it comes to accountants
  • The main reasons for career frustration with experienced accountants
  • Why standard recruitment strategies often don’t work for career ambitious accountants
  • The three things accountants must do to secure the career move they want and deserve
  • The role of a ‘market maker’ in any particular profession or business community
  • What you need BEYOND a good accounting qualification to be desirable in the accounting job market
  • Why the ability to win business is the single biggest X Factor for career minded accountants
  • A different way of looking at selling is ‘having empowered conversations’
  • Selling yourself is often harder than selling your firm, your products and your services
  • Why rejection can be good and needs reframing if accountants want to be better at winning work and creating career opportunities
  • The different between a client driven and a candidate drive market in the accounting job market
  • What the advent of blockchain means for the death of the traditional accountant
  • There are more accountants dying and retiring than there are coming into the accounting profession – will this be a problem?
  • The role of an accountant will change over the next few years. Listen and find out how…
  • The accounting firms guaranteed success in the next few years will be the ones that nurture and train their people
  • The interchange between CFO and accountant at the highest level of accounting
  • The ability to win more business and build a professional network is in the spotlight for accounting firms wanting to grow
  • Why accountants find the phone, the networking scene and the selling environment difficult
  • The two things the great accounting firms do that the good or average ones don’t
  • Where progressive accounting firms should be positioning their hiring policy to hit targets
  • Myth – in the job market, you can’t do everything yourself
  • Many accounting firms make the mistake of relying too much on a business development person/team and/or sending their people out there without the right training
  • Everybody in an accounting firm can win work, which means business development should be everyone’s job
  • The biggest area accountants and accounting firms struggle when it comes to marketing and winning work
  • “Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.” How this quote from Leonardo da Vinci inspires a world class career expert
  • You can create a career move for yourself that doesn’t exist if you can position yourself in the market place in the right way
  • Motivation for accountants – beliefs impact thoughts, which impact actions. You can take total control if you want to
  • How accountants can start putting themselves out there in a subtle way and hide their career intentions if they need to.

To contact Simon:

www.careercodex.com or www.linkedin.com/in/simongrayaca

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About the Podcast

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Accounting Voices Podcast
Accounting Voices helps people in the accounting world stay relevant visible and vocal. Host Rob Brown interprets trends reshaping the profession and gives listeners insight to build authority influence and a stronger voice in firms and markets.

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About your host

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Rob Brown

Rob Brown is the founder and host of the Accounting Voices Podcast, the flagship solo show of the Accounting Voices Network. Each episode offers sharp analysis and commentary on the trends, ideas and people shaping the global accounting profession.

Through this Accounting Voices Podcast, Rob helps accounting firm leaders, decision makers and professionals stay relevant and make sense of disruption in areas like AI, automation, M&A, private equity and soft skills beyond the tech. His perspective blends clarity, insight and curiosity, making complex issues relevant and practical for professionals and decision makers across accounting and finance.

He also leads two monthly panel shows, Accounting M&A and Accounting AI, which bring together senior voices to explore consolidation, strategy and the impact of technology on firms and people.

Rob is the author of the bestselling book Build Your Reputation (Wiley) and a TEDx speaker whose talk The Personal Brand of You has more than 400,000 views. Over his career he has hosted and moderated more than 1,000 conversations with accounting and fintech leaders worldwide.

Based in Nottingham UK, Rob is a stroke survivor living with epilepsy, a black belt in kickboxing, a decent chess player and an average player of four musical instruments.