If you’re in the job market, it’s not the best time to be looking — but Accounting pros are better off than workers in many other fields.

The latest research from Robert Half International indicates that 9% of CFOs are actually planning to add staffers in ’09. And only 8% are planning cuts.

That leaves fully 82% of departments that will likely be intact.

Where the opportunities are

Most of the hiring is being done by larger firms that are looking for help in these areas: credit and collections, credit risk management, public accountants, senior accountants and tax and audit specialists.

After all your hard work to keep controls airtight, one wrong hiring move could put it all at risk.

We all hate to think it can happen in our own companies, but the facts are that most fraud attempts start with someone who works within the target company.

Worse, internal fraud is most commonly attempted by someone who works in Accounting or in upper management, so it makes sense that you have to be doubly careful about bringing new people on board.  

It’s worth touching base with HR and other hiring managers to make sure the vetting process for new hires gives adequate attention to potential red flags that could indicate someone has a less-than-stellar past. To weed out potential crooks from your hiring pool:

• Do a real reference check — It sounds basic, but many companies rarely call references. And those that do call references often just spot check by calling one out of three names a candidate offers.
• Ask if they’re “rehire-able” — Many former managers won’t give you much information beyond dates of employment and the person’s title when he or she left. They’re afraid too much information could leave them open to lawsuits if the person doesn’t get the job. But one question is open-ended enough to protect them and revealing enough to help you. Ask if the person is eligible to be rehired by their company. If not, you know there’s more to the story than a typical job hunt.
• Get a complete background check — criminal convictions, bad credit, evidence of current drug use and a host of other issues can be a red flag that either the applicant has a bad history — or that he or she could be vulnerable to bribing by outsiders looking for financial info.

Note: How deeply you can dig into an applicants’ background — and how much warning you have to give — is a tricky legal area. So make sure you get HR to sign off on these strategies.

But if it protects your company from hiring someone whose real career goal is to rob your company blind, the extra effort will more than pay off.