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In accounting and finance recruitment, we still regularly see organizations waiting for the candidate who checks absolutely every box.
The right title.
The right industry.
The right ERP system.
The right company size.
The right technical skills.
The right number of years of experience.
In short, the “10/10” candidate.
On paper, this approach may seem cautious. In practice, it can become costly.
While an organization waits for that ideal candidate, three, four, or sometimes even six months can go by. The position remains vacant, responsibilities are redistributed, teams become stretched, and important projects slow down.
More importantly, the candidate who meets 100% of the established criteria is not necessarily the one who will deliver the strongest long-term performance.
This is probably one of the most important considerations in making a successful hire.
Some skills are truly essential from day one. Others are transferable, learnable, or far less critical than they may initially appear.
An experienced finance professional who has worked with several ERP systems can generally adapt to a new one.
A manager coming from a different industry can quickly understand a new business model when they already have a strong grasp of the underlying financial and operational concepts.
A professional who has worked through several transformation environments can often bring their methods, instincts, and best practices into a new organization.
On the other hand, some qualities are much more difficult to develop quickly: judgment, business acumen, the ability to influence, leadership, intellectual curiosity, or even compatibility with the manager’s leadership style.
A strong recruitment partner should not simply compare a résumé against a job description.
They need to understand both the candidate and the organization well enough to determine:
Which criteria are truly essential?
Which are preferred?
And which can be developed quickly without compromising the candidate’s ability to succeed?
At Cielo, this is a distinction we make constantly when evaluating accounting and finance professionals.
A candidate who meets eight out of ten criteria can sometimes be a better hire than someone who meets all ten.
It all depends on the two criteria that are missing.
If the candidate lacks experience with a specific ERP system that they can learn quickly, the risk is relatively low.
If they lack judgment, leadership, or the ability to work effectively with the manager they will report to, the risk is much greater.
Organizations naturally assess the risk of hiring a candidate who does not perfectly match the original profile.
But there is another risk that also needs to be considered: the risk of not hiring.
What is the real cost of leaving a strategic position vacant for four or six months?
What is the impact on the team?
Which projects are being delayed?
Which decisions are not being made?
Which opportunities are being missed?
In some situations, waiting for the “unicorn” ultimately represents a greater risk than hiring an excellent candidate who brings 80% or 90% of the required skills and has the ability to quickly develop the rest.
Recruitment is not about finding the perfect résumé.
It is about determining who has the right foundation, the right capabilities, and the right potential to succeed in a specific environment.
The next time your recruitment partner presents a candidate who does not exactly match the profile you initially had in mind, ask them one simple question:
“Why do you believe this person will succeed in our organization?”
The quality of their answer will probably tell you far more than the two boxes that remain unchecked.
