by 
8 October 2024 Tax professionals in Ireland are in an enviable position. The demand for tax expertise has never been higher, fueled by an increasingly challenging tax landscape and shortage of qualified talent. While this high demand brings many opportunities, it also presents a hidden risk: career complacency. Tax professionals, inundated with job offers and recruitment calls, may be falling into the trap of making career decisions without having their own vision for what they would like their career to be like.
In all the noise, you risk making poor decisions. Staying in roles where you are no longer learning or are overworked or aren’t aligned to, because you think you can always move in the future if you decide to. Or leaving jobs too early because you were offered more money or a higher job title.
This article explores how the current market might be affecting your career decisions and offers strategies to ensure you’re making choices that truly align with your professional goals.
The Booming Tax Sector in Ireland:
The Irish tax sector is experiencing remarkable growth. As practitioners, you are seeing first hand the increasing complexity of tax regulations and reporting requirements. Major tech, pharmaceutical and financial services firms in Ireland continue to drive demand for specialised tax knowledge. Moreover, post-Brexit repositioning has led many companies to establish or expand their Irish operations, further increasing the need for tax expertise.
This boom translates into a wealth of opportunities for you. From Big Four firms to boutique tax consultancies, from in-house roles in multinationals to specialised positions in financial services, the options seem endless. Salaries are competitive, and benefits packages are increasingly attractive. For many of you, it feels like you can almost name your price and choose your ideal working conditions. However, this abundance of choice comes with its own set of challenges.
The Double-Edged Sword of High Demand
While the abundance of opportunities in your field is undoubtedly positive, it can lead to a complacency around setting your own career goals. You are being pitched so many opportunities (by your employer and potential employers) that you can easily forget to start by having your own vision in place to assess these options against. And, while the opportunities are plentiful at the Associate to Manager level, it’s still a small marketplace for Senior Managers and Directors. Meaning if you wait too long to know what you want from your career, you might find you are too senior to make it happen.
With so much demand, it feels like career decisions are about waiting for opportunities and assessing them, rather than being proactive and taking advantage of the demand to get the job that suits you best.
When I work with tax professionals, I encourage them to consider more than salary or job title when pursuing opportunities. The big picture questions are: What direction do you want to take your career? And, What do you need to get there?
In my experience, the key components for career progression in tax are:
- Technical skills
- Exposure to diverse clients
- Client account management
- People Management
- Negotiation Skills
- Sales Skills
- Organisational Leadership
- Visibility
- Entrepreneurship
- Organisational Fit
As tax professionals rise through the ranks, it’s the ones who are developing on all these fronts that continue to progress to Director, Partner, VP, Head of roles. Unfortunately, I meet a lot of talented people who get carried to Manager and Senior Manager level without realising that they have ignored some of these areas. It’s often hard for them to accept or understand when they are overlooked for further promotion and lose out in competitive application processes for external opportunities.
In summary
As the tax sector in Ireland continues to experience unprecedented growth, it’s important to recognize both the opportunities and the potential risks that come with it. While the current demand for tax professionals opens many doors, it also brings the danger of career complacency if not carefully navigated. So, if you’re on a good salary, good at what you do and don’t mind the work, how can you tell if you are taking advantage of the market, or being complacent? Stay tuned for our next installment in this series to find out!
