The relationships between firms and colleges to recruit talent to a profession with a diminishing pipeline have never been more important as fewer students are studying accounting and even fewer are going on to earn their CPA license. 

So what are the best recruiting practices for firms looking to strengthen their pipeline amid a labor shortage?

For one, start recruiting efforts earlier. While college juniors and seniors are typically identified as ideal intern candidates, especially since the implementation of the 150-credit requirement for CPA licensure which traditionally takes five years, firms should not underestimate the importance of planting the seed with younger students. 

For Ernst & Young, recruiting begins freshman year. The outreach for this cohort is focused on explaining what the profession is, who EY is and what offerings they have. They then connect students with working professionals who can start building relationships and answering the students’ deeper questions. EY will extend internship offers to college sophomores, even though they may not start with the firm for another 12 to 18 months. 

It’s important to remember that not all students will take a full five years to complete their 150 credits, said EY Americas director of university relations Ellen Glazerman. Many will finish sooner for financial reasons or opportunity costs.

“The reality of it is that the competitive nature for this talent is so strong that we’ve had to accelerate it,” EY’s director of talent and acquisition Francesca Jones said. “We will still be on campus this year looking at those third and fourth year students — we will still have some positions available — but we know that we want to capture that talent as soon as it comes and keep that commitment to them. Being at the door early on is important.”

There are many ways for firms to show their face on campus. Firms should be present at events like career fairs, interact with accounting clubs and societies like the National Association of Black Accountants and Alpha Beta Psi, and talk with accounting students in class to give real-world examples and contextualize the content they’re learning.

“The more you’re in their face, the more you have a chance of impressing them,” Stan Veliotis, associate professor of accounting at Fordham University, said. “Bring people that are very energetic and have charisma so that you attract people to a field that sometimes has a reputation of being boring.”

Firms must also invest in relationships with faculties.

“The faculty relationships are very important, particularly in the majors in which we recruit out of, because they’re the ones interacting with the students on a regular basis. They’re talking to them, guiding them, giving them direction,” said Derek Thomas, KPMG’s national partner in charge of university talent acquisition.

And while colleges offer firms new talent, firms should consider what they can offer colleges in return. For example, firms can help accounting faculty stay current with the profession, such as by providing materials to stay up to date on quickly-changing tax laws, or helping them understand new technologies like artificial intelligence and their applications to the profession. Firms should also have representatives present on colleges’ accounting and business advisory boards. 

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Advice for small firms
For small firms with less money, time and talent to dedicate to recruiting, Veliotis suggested an unlikely talent hub: law schools where firms can find tax lawyers who, frankly, couldn’t get a job. He said firms should also look at students majoring in economics, which can translate well into an accounting career. But these alternative talent channels will require firms to be open minded about whether they require their accountants to have a CPA license, Veliotis noted. 

Small firms can also utilize student job boards to extend their reach to campuses they can’t physically reach. Tracey Niemotko, an accounting professor at Marist College, says her students use one website called Handshake to find internship opportunities. 

At the end of the day, recruiting resources are limited for everyone, including Big Four firms. EY’s Glazerman recommends that firms ask college faculty where they need help: “If we’re going to spend some money to help you really attract the best students and facilitate your ability to bring them up to speed, what does that look like on your individual campus?”

Margaret Burke, PwC talent acquisition and development leader, said, “One of the best ways to build meaningful relationships with colleges and faculty is simply to listen to them.”