Undergrad students ‘essential’ for accounting pipeline, says expert

Large and small accounting firms have been recommended to hire students out of high school to effectively teach and impart expert knowledge before they enter the workforce post-university.

Founder and director of Transfer Pricing Solutions and Smart Business Solutions, Shannon Smit, shared her tactic of hiring students fresh out of school into her small business.

Smit said this helped not only further her business but helped aid the wider accounting profession and its future generation.

Smit said hiring a university student before they received a degree allowed her to create the “ideal worker” as she could train them how she wanted, which also significantly benefited the student and their skills.

“When we train a student, I try to look after them so that they stay afterwards, which I have a lot of success with. But, the most important feature is that I am giving them a wealth of useful knowledge,” she said.

“I believe if you’ve got someone with the right attitude, you can teach them anything.”

The motivation behind Smit’s recruitment process stemmed from her experience as a young accountant, as despite having a degree, firms tended to be drawn to the capabilities of a worker.

Smit noted young accountants were always asked if they had accounting experience, yet they couldn’t gain it in the first place if accounting firms often overlooked the inexperienced.

“When I was at uni, I looked for a job and every job said they wanted a graduate with experience. I thought, well how do I get that experience?” she said.

“I offered a firm a deal, and I offered to work one day a week for free if they would train me. This experience then landed me with a job over a graduate because I had real, everyday capabilities and essential skills.”

Smit told Accountants Daily her career journey taught her a lot about the wants and needs of the profession and she wanted to give back and provide that essential knowledge to today’s young up-and-comers.

Smit noted her local firm, Smart Business Solutions, houses two university students a couple of times a week who follow a particular training guide.

According to Smit, within one year she had trained her students to a level equivalent to a three-year degree.

Training materials the students were provided included various detailed step-by-step ‘how to’ videos, face-to-face training sessions once a week on specific topics, and client skills training.

With these elements, Smit said she had been able to give her junior workers the confidence they needed to succeed.

“If you can have a training mechanism with effective systems and processes, then you’re going to get scale and leverage. With one-on-ones and open support, you will give them the confidence that they need,” Smit said.

“Also because of the advancement in technology, the juniors can add value to the business quite quickly, and that’s why I enjoy having uni students and training them.”

“Looking after juniors with the goal that they learn, adapt and even stay on after they finish their uni degree is such a great cause because they are an essential part of our accounting community.”