Tuesday, April 27th, 2010
PETERSON SULLIVAN’S CAMPUS BLOG
I enjoyed a great conversation recently with Andrea Ballard, Director of Human Resources at Peterson Sullivan LLP, a Seattle CPA firm. Andrea shared about the joy and success of connecting with accounting students via PSonCampus, the firms blog targeted to this group.
I discovered the blog and, of course, I was thrilled to see a CPA firm connecting with students in this way. I just had to contact Andrea to hear their story first-hand.
Andrea has been with PS for three years, coming to the firm from a law firm. The firm recruits at six universities and she noticed that she was receiving the same questions, over and over again, from many students at all the universities. She realized that a blog could answer almost all of their questions, be a great PR resource for the firm and showcase the advantages to living and working in Seattle.
Andrea reports that, of course, there are spikes in readership mostly just before and after campus interviews. It can be 100 to 200 per day during these times. The rest of the year the blog attracts about 25 to 50 readers per day.
Right now, Andrea is the only staffer writing on the blog but hopes to expand the author ranks soon. She is one of the many CPA firm HR leaders that are telling me they are also using LinkedIn for recruiting.
Thanks so much to Andrea for sharing best practices. The CPA firm leaders are champions at sharing information that enables ALL firms to be better (healthier on the inside).
Sharing information is the heart and soul of the AAA (Association for Accounting Administration) and is what has made it so successful over so many years. When I am asked by partners about the sharing that goes on at AAA (their unfounded fear of confidentiality), my answer is: AAA and it’s members want ALL CPA firms to be well-run. There is nothing secret, nor threatening, about that.
My frustration is: CPA firm leaders have great ideas, learn great things from other firms and then….. fail to implement.
Be sure to visit PSonCampus, check out the simplicity and targeted information. WHY AREN’T YOU DOING THIS??
“Happiness is not so much having as sharing. We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.” – - Norman Macewan
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