Few people understand what really goes on behind the scenes of major corporations, public accounting firms, and law firms in how they go about hiring tax professionals. Unless you are a seasoned tax headhunter (http://www.etsearch.com/clients.htm), you will never know the many nuances and obstacles every tax professional goes through in the process of being hired. Believe me, I have seen more reasons tax professionals do not get hired than you could possibly imagine. Ask any experienced recruiter and they will have their own stories to tell you. Having the opportunity to educate you and provide a solution to protect you is what you will learn today.
Here are the behind the scenes real life truths that you never hear about finding a tax job or how a tax job can find you. I have seen these familiar occurrences over and over again during three decades in executive search for tax professionals. Here is the real behind the scenes truth that you all need to learn!
Scenario #1- Company tells you they want to make an offer but they need two weeks or more.
The Real Truth:
a) They made an offer to another candidate and are waiting for an acceptance. They do not tell you because they do not want to lose YOU, their #2 choice.
b) Someone new has walked through the door and they want to interview them. They then continue to interview even more candidates.
c) The organization may be changing out the person you think you may be reporting to in this role.
d) The company may be acquired and they just cannot tell you about the pending deal.
e) The company just decides to back away(flame out) after doing a reference check and decided you are not the perfect fit after all.
Scenario #2-Recruiter tells you that you are a great candidate and they can help but they never get back to you.
The Real Truth:
a) Recruiters fees are paid by the company so they work for the company, not you. They really do want to help you, if they can.
b) Recruiters will call if they have a project with a client, if you do not hear from them they do not have anything for you.
c) If a recruiter makes a lot of calls on your behalf and are not getting action, they will move on. They must focus on client who pays.
Scenario #3- Why the majority of tax jobs will never make it to the majority of tax professionals.
The Real Truth:
a) Many jobs never make it to you because of your lack of visibility and accessibility in the market.
b) Tax professionals make the mistake of not marketing/promoting/branding their tax expertise throughout their careers.
c) LinkedIn charges recruiters a $7500 Annual License Fee to access their database which many headhunters cannot afford. Corporate generalist recruiters do have more access but they lack the knowledge of your tax expertise.
Given all these roadblocks to the success of your tax career, you need to wake up and protect yourselves with better visibility in the market. Every tax professional needs to have “tax career insurance”! The world has changed and you must change your ways and invest in your personal branding. The small independents are jumping in to brand their tax expertise and it is working for them as they gain more authority in the market every day. The most vulnerable are those of you in the tax departments of corporations; those of you in big national public accounting firms whose names cannot be seen on your firms site; the lawyers in law firms who believe that their next new clients will be patient enough to look through all the law firm sites to fine your tax expertise. You are foolish to think you can sit idly there and things will magically happen for you. You must make things happen for your personal tax brand TODAY. You must stop procrastinating about building an active tax brand. Just being on Linked In is not enough because people must pay to see your full profile on Linked In. Tax professionals are quickly branding themselves on www.taxconnections.com so everyone can discover their tax expertise for free. There are no more obstacles to your tax career when you become a member at https://www.taxconnections.com/membership/tax-professionals. TaxConnections is the leading way to build your visibility, authority and professional brand in the world of tax.
Join TaxConnections Today 🙂
Kat Jennings, TaxConnections, CEO and Founder and Advisory Team provides three areas of services: 1) Internationally recognized, retained executive search services for multinational corporations, public accounting firms, and law firms; 2) Introductions of sellers to buyers of small and medium size accounting firms; and 3) Provide brand building and education services that support and prepare accounting firm owners to buy/sell an accounting practice. We focus on educating the journey to sell a practice and how to increase firm revenue prior to any sale. Our program ensures you start years prior to a sale by learning what is expected of you during the selling process, and introducing firm Partners to cross selling opportunities that are easy to implement and reduce your workload at the same time. We introduce you to value added connections to smartly grow revenue in your accounting practice.
Kat Jennings has been retained by organizations worldwide to locate tax professionals with highly specialized tax knowledge and expertise. She has a thorough understanding of the tax business community, with a proven record of stellar performances matching professionals with organizations. Bringing two parties together to work successfully is the art of understanding personalities, cultural fit, expectations by both parties, flexible or inflexible work environments, understanding what drives and motivates each party, and revolves around the personality and ethics of each executive team.
Kat is a widely recognized expert in high level, tax executive search, as well as connecting buyers and sellers of accounting firms. TaxConnections provides and educates small to medium size accounting firms owners and Partners how to prepare and sell their firms so they can build a succession plan for their retirement. With larger firms seeking to acquire smaller accounting practices, there is a real need to help firm owners prepare to be acquired. Most firm owners are unaware they are not ready to sell when they decide to retire. TaxConnections educates firm owners’ what they need to do years in advance of selling an accounting firm practice.
Senior tax executives expect the utmost privacy when being introduced to multinational organizations about a new tax opportunity under consideration. Having said that, companies searching for a new head of tax expecting tax executive candidates to submit their resume through a resume portal, will never see a full slate of outstanding tax executives available due to a candidates’ desire for greater privacy. This is why privacy focused Uber Tax Recruiters consistently outperform in-house recruiters on tax executive searches.
We offer our clients a Performance Retainer Agreement arrangement so their HR department can still recruit and compete with the tax candidates we present on Head of Tax searches. The client pays us a partial fee upfront, and if they find a candidate they deem better than we introduce to them, we forfeit the final fee. Most of the time, they love and prefer our private introductions to tax executive candidates better than what they source through their own resume portals.
When we represent selling/buying small to medium-sized firms, firm owners/partners also demand greater privacy when considering the sale of their practice. TaxConnections provides a safe place to discuss their business needs, elevate their practices’ online reputation, and increase revenue through new streams of business development by outsourcing work and partnering with other firms. Over three decades, we have worked tirelessly to build relationships between firm owners most organizations rarely have access to in the world of tax. There are numerous possibilities you may never have considered previously to bolster the value of your practice and service offerings.
As a globally recognized consultant to multinational organizations, accounting firms, and law firms searching for tax expertise, Kat has been retained by public accounting firms, law firms, and corporations worldwide including Apple Computer, AC Neilson, Accenture, Agilent Technologies, Allergan, Alza, American Express, American Media, Aon, Baker & McKenzie, Barclays Bank, Bechtel, Cargill, Carl Zieuss Vision, Century Aluminum, Chevron, Clorox, Citigroup, Commercials Metals, Constellation Energy, Countrywide, Del Monte, Deloitte Touche, DFS, DLA Piper, E&J Gallo Winery, Electronic Arts, Ernst &Young, Fox Entertainment, Fremont Investments, General Electric,General Motors, Herbalife, Hewlett Packard, Hyatt, Intel, Jones Lang LaSalle, Kimco Realty, KLA Tencor, Koch Industries, KPMG, Levi Strauss, Liberty Mutual, LKQ, Loews, Logitech, Lucas Film, Maersk, McKesson, Nalco, Newell Rubbermaid, Nissan, Oracle, Orbitax, Pacific Gas & Electric, PwC, QAD, SAIC, SanDisk, Sanmina, Sempra Energy, SONY, Synopsys, Ticketmaster, Trimble Navigation, Toyota, Univar, Wal-Mart, Wells Fargo, Vertex, Yahoo, Xilinx, and many more not listed here.
Contact Kat at 858,999.0053 Office/858.232.4415 Cell or kat@taxconnections.com to request a private consultation regarding the sale of your practice, adding top talent to your organization, or merging your practice with another firm owner with a book of business. The possibilities are endless; if you have a dream of a new vision for your professional life; we will scout opportunities throughout the market to make it happen.
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