Career coach | What employers want
Why curiosity and passion matter
Ashton McGill founder Alasdair McGill FMAAT explains why service and customer experience are essential
Words Jessica Bown
Whether you are on the hunt for your first, second or third job in accounting, understanding what employers are looking for makes it a lot easier to put together a strong application.
For this edition, we spoke to Alasdair McGill, co-founder and managing director of Ashton McGill, which is based in Dundee and aims to provide its 250 clients with “performance-driven accounting to help businesses scale and succeed”.
McGill, who holds both ACCA and AAT qualifications but describes himself as “an entrepreneur first and an accountant second”, has a passion for service design or the customer experience – and looks for job candidates who share his dedication for helping clients reach their full potential.
“Everything we do is thoughtfully designed to put the user at the heart and centre,” McGill says.
“We have clients and team members across the UK, so if you want to help build sustainable businesses where all the stakeholders can thrive then you are probably the kind of person we would love to have with us.”
Here is his advice for anyone looking for an accounting job in 2025. If you want to know more, there are much more advice and resources available in the AAT Careers Hub.
Q
What is the job market like for accountants at the moment?
“Our industry is very good at producing technicians who can crunch the numbers, but it is less good at producing people who can put themselves in their client’s shoes and show empathy for them.
“Consequently, we find it really hard to find good accountants to hire. There are lots of accountants out there but there are not many accountants with the skills we want.
“We are advisory first, relationship first. Most of our clients are entrepreneurs. They are business owners, not accountants.
“We are looking for accountants who can put themselves in the client’s shoes and explain complex matters in a way they can understand – and that is not easy to find.
“The reality is that the job market is challenging for both employers and jobseekers. That said, I think there are lots of opportunities for people who are prepared to upskill.
“Everyone I speak to, people who run their own firms, they are looking for good people but they are struggling to find the right people to meet their needs.”
Q
What skills gaps should jobseekers be looking to fill?
“For me, a good accountant today is someone who has core skills, and perhaps even core values, but can think beyond being a good technician.
“We need good communicators, people who are curious. I need accountants who can look at a set of numbers and see what is missing.
“We also need data specialists who are prepared to look beyond the numbers available on a platform such as Xero.
“We pull in data from a myriad of different platforms and that data allows us to bring the numbers to life, but it is not something we as an industry are training people to do at the moment.
“We recently took on a fantastic young accountant from a very traditional firm and she had no experience of tech platforms. She is loving learning about what they can do.
“I would say that finding out about the tech platforms modern accountancy firms are using is one easy way to develop your skillset in 2025.”
“We need good communicators, people who are curious.”
Q
What are the three main traits you seek when recruiting people for accounting roles?
“The three main traits I look for in a job candidate are curiosity, communication skills and a passion for what they do.”
Q
How can candidates make their CVs and covering letters stand out from the crowd?
“Some of my best experiences recently have been when people have recorded a video to introduce themselves.
“A lot of our client work is now done online, so it is important to understand how someone presents themselves on a video call. How good are they at sharing information online? How do they engage with the person on the other end of the call?
“When it comes to covering letters, I want you to show me that you care, that you have researched the business.
“Tell me what you know about Ashton McGill. Why do you want to work here? What I don’t want is to receive the same letter you have sent out to seven or eight other firms.”
Q
How do your other interests influence the way you choose new members of the team?
“Our ethos is always to be looking to be better. When it comes to choosing the team, we need people who have the same passion to help people. That is what we are all doing as accountants really. We are not here just to churn numbers and enable people to comply with the rules.
“For that reason, there are several stages to our interview process. We start by looking at how good they are analytically. For example, what do they notice after looking at a set of numbers?
“Then we also ask them to present their ideas back to us the way they would present them to a client.”
Q
Does the way you recruit remote-working staff differ from how you choose office-based staff?
“No, not really. We have team members based across the UK but we still meet them in person before we make them an offer.
“Interviewing online isn’t a problem for me but we want to see how they are in person, too. What is their body language like? Is there a spark in their eye?
“It might not be the same at other firms but those things are certainly important to us.”
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The wealth of knowledge and experience an AAT qualification gives you, and how it can turbo-charge your employability and help you secure an exciting and fulfilling job.
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