Renate de Vries shares her experiences on working at EY, as a Staff Auditor, combining working with her studies.
22 May, 2019
Who am I?
My name is Willem Ristenpatt, 27 years old and apart from several years during my study, I have lived my entire life in Helmond. I graduated from Fontys Eindhoven with a Bachelor program in Business Economics. Afterwards I did a Master Program of one year in Accounting at Tilburg University. The combination of practice oriented education at Fontys and the academic point of view from the university caused me to have a strong basis for my current job at Joanknecht.
Why Joanknecht?
While I was studying at Fontys, I had a side job at the citybrewery in Eindhoven. I was involved with setting up the administration. When I finished my Bachelor degree, the administration was going fine. I mainly did the invoices. After this, I realized it was time for a new challenge. I send an open application to Joanknecht. Two matters are important for myself, I don’t want to be fake at work and I always want to be able to ask someone questions. By working at Joanknecht while I was studying and writing my thesis there as well, I knew Joanknecht was the right company for me. That’s why I didn’t hesitate when I was offered a permanent employment contract.
What are you currently doing?
Currently, I am studying IT-audit, Compliance & Advisory at the VU in Amsterdam. My goal is to register myself as IT-auditor. My proceedings at work are, at request, very broad. In the fall I kept myself busy carrying out IT-audits. From the beginning of the spring till the beginning of the summer I mainly checked balance sheets of SMEs. Besides that, I am involved in IT-services. With these services we help entrepreneurs get some insights in how to solve issues with new techniques like dashboarding, process mining and robotic process automation.
Why do you like your work?
The most logical step after my previous studies was towards financial auditor. During my Master thesis I focused more on IT. I looked into the possibilities of continuous process monitoring. The developments in the area of accounting and assurance are going rapidly. Thereby, we cannot ignore IT. What I want to achieve? With our clients, especially SMEs, we talked about the opportunities of data. The broad diversity of working activities is what makes every day different. That’s what I like the most.
“Joanknecht is an organization where you don’t notice the hierarchy too much. Socializing alternates with working hard, sometimes we have to work as a team to get the job done and put our shoulders to the wheel to meet a deadline.”
What does your typical work day look like?
You’ve probably noticed an average day doesn’t really exist. For example, last week I worked on the preparation of an assignment of an IT-audit at a client with a split financial year. Here it was about checking the integrality of the revenue recognition, control the technical job separation through process mining and preparing the auditor’s report. The diversity makes it fun!
What do you think about the work-life balance?
The IT-audit education can be combined well with this kind of work. Accounting firms benefit from a high level of knowledge from their employees and are willing to invest in this. I notice that very strongly at Joanknecht. If I can’t go to work due to obligations on Friday because of my study, the firm is always reasonable. Don’t worry too much. I still have the opportunity to drink a beer with friends on a Thursday night.
How would you describe Joanknecht’ working culture?
The work culture is the reason why I choose Joanknecht. Joanknecht is an organization where you don’t notice the hierarchy too much. Socializing alternates with working hard, sometimes we have to work as a team to get the job done and put our shoulders to the wheel to meet a deadline. There is no lack of activities outside work. To give some examples, three times a year we have men assurance trip, there is a yearly skitrip and citytrip and there is an indoor soccer tournament.
Tips for students
Once your Master program starts, your student life is coming to an end. If you already know at what company you want to work after your Masters, I would say: enjoy your last year! If you don’t know yet, I would still enjoy your student life while it can but do an internship as well. Even though I already did an internship while I was studying at Fontys but I wanted to do something extra during my Master program and that’s why I chose for Joanknecht. As a result of this decision, I now know what interests me and I have the possibility to choose my own future. Don’t let organizational needs outgrow your personal needs. Choose for the things that give you the most energy.
