Aight reddit, my work is struggling to refill a job. Tell me what you don't like or what we should do better. Figured this would be a good place to get feedback, but I'm cool with taking this to another page if this isn't the right place for it. I won't post the link or exact job because I'm weird and don't want my personal life connected to my reddit account (I have nothing to hide …. But still want to).
We've been posting this in the usual places (i.e. LinkedIn, indeed), including government job sites and a number of universities in the area. The past few people who've had this job were recent college grads, so that's who we're primarily going after. The job has been posted for over a month now and we only have 2 applicants, who are not at all qualified. This is the only position our office has struggled to fill recently, and now I'm part of the hiring process
I'm not a recruiter (my background is econ/stats), so I'm trying to see if the description sucks, the job sucks, or our hr department sucks at getting the word out. If it's the last one there's not much I can do, but I do have pull with the first two. Here's the job:
Basic title: Sr Financial Specialist for [State Agency]
Pay: $58-61k per year (works to about $28 an hour)
Benefits: insurance (life, health, vision, dental) and Retirement (employer matches 150% of what you put in). All federal holidays off, plus paid time off and sick leave.
Hours: Monday – Friday, 8-5.
Qualifications: (copied from posting)
Bachelor’s degree in accounting, finance, or general business
•Will consider equivalent working experience in lieu of bachelor’s degree
•Minimum of three (3) years of experience auditing, analyzing, and developing statistical reports
•Good knowledge of accounting principles and practices, auditing theory, statistical reporting, knowledge of GAAP
•Excellent customer service skills; ability to work with other people on sensitive/controversial financial issues; ability to communicate orally and in writing with a wide variety of clients
•Proficient computer skills to analyze, research, and maintain financial data and develop financial documents and reports
•Strong experience in creating and using spreadsheet applications with MS Excel software
GENERAL DESCRIPTION: (also copied)
•Incumbent conducts audits on expenditures
•Audit annual reimbursement claims
•Conduct on-site audits of financial records and other related documentation
•Review and finalize regional financial audits
•Write correspondence or approvals pertaining to funding requests, concerns, and interpretations
•Develop financial changes needed in statewide rules, regulations, and manuals
•Develop statewide financial reports and forecasting reports requested for proposed legislative changes
Pros/cons that aren't in the job description but you'll find out about anyway
Pros:
– you work downtown (the fun part of downtown!)
– Advancement opportunities: the last 4 people in this position got a promotion within 3 years that came with a >15% raise.
– You'll be able to say you worked with the legislature changing state laws. If the law is liked, you can slap it on your resume. And if the law is unpopular, you don't get any blame, since your name can't be in the bill 🙂
– We've gotten 3 raises in the past year, at 3%, 5%, and 7%. Not the best, but not the worst
– If you do have to work 40+ hours in a week you get comp time in place of overtime pay (this is regulated by state law, and may not be a pro depending how you see this)
– I've never had an issue with getting time off.
– I've yet to find a better retirement deal. I'm on track to retire at age 58, where I'll make more then than I do now. And because of the way the law is structured it's more secure than most retirement plans
– I've only had good interactions with the higher-ups, whether they were work related or not
– Rarely would you have to work late hours or on weekends
– we're getting a ping pong table!
Cons
– you work downtown. The crackheads are never far
– It's a government job.
– I bet the ping pong table lasts a month. Some cranky guy will inevitably complain about his tax dollars buying a ping pong table, when in reality another employee is bringing it from his house
– Doesn't pay as well as private sector, and getting raises isn't as simple either (but they do happen, like I mentioned earlier)
-This job isn't political, but your boss's job is. Sometimes you have to stop what you're doing and do something completely different because a senator said so.
– You deal with the “I'm paying for your salary” crap from Ron Swanson wanna-be's. Gets old real fast.
– Have to be careful stating certain opinions about the office. Some people have legal authority to do things and you aren't one of them. You just do what you're told. It's an issue if you're someone who's very vocal about your complaints. Not that you can't complain, you just have to be more careful than you would be in the private sector
– With elections that are directly related to your job, it causes problems/drama if you're very open about who you're supporting or opposing
– Have to be careful with what you post on social Media about your job. Mainly to fend off the Ron Swanson's. Also, media outlets will try to make you look like you represent your office's opinion. If you give them anything it causes problems.
– No remote work allowed, few exceptions
– Hours aren't very flexible either. If you want to shift your schedule so you're there earlier/later it's a tedious process that usually goes nowhere
– Work parties and gifts have to be self-funded. Again, the “tax payers money” thing is in play
I'll honestly answer question you got and welcome any criticism. I'm not in charge of hiring anyway, I'm just the one selecting applicants and can maybe convince the CFO to approve a higher salary if that's the issue. Fire away.