Working At Joanknecht

Where are you from and what did you study in school?

My name is Tim Kees. I am 24 years old and have a bachelor’s degree in Business Economics and a master’s degree in Accountancy from Tilburg University. I am from Weert and lived in rented rooms in Tilburg for three years. There, I was also active at Asset | Accounting & Finance and the Economic Business Weeks in Tilburg (EBT). At Asset A&F, I was involved in both formal and informal committees. After my master’s degree, I decided to further develop my soft skills and spent a year on the board of EBT. There, I made some relevant contacts. I put my student years behind me a year ago and live in Weert now. I have worked at Joanknecht for a year as an assistant in the Assurance department. Joanknecht is a regional office with one location in Eindhoven, where around 120 colleagues work. It mainly focuses on the higher SMB segment.

Why did you choose to work at Joanknecht and how did you come into contact with Joanknecht?

In the third year of my bachelor’s degree in Business Economics, I started looking into the job market, as I wanted to write my master’s thesis at an accounting firm. During an activity for Asset A&F, I came into contact with Joanknecht employees. We had a good click and I got a lot of information on the accounting profession in general and on Joanknecht in particular. I delved further into various accounting firms, including both the Big Four and smaller offices. I wrote my thesis at a Big Four firm, but I always had Joanknecht in mind. During my year on the board, I also had a lot of contact with Lonneke (HR adviser at Joanknecht). My first job was at a Big Four firm, but after several months, I came to the conclusion that a medium-sized accounting firm would be a better fit for me. Joanknecht was an easy choice to make. Joanknecht’s audit practice has a nice client portfolio, with a focus on quality. In my search for a new challenge, I did not want to have to lose any quality of work. Joanknecht is large enough for that, but also personal enough to get to know all my colleagues. That appealed to me! I see Joanknecht as a good alternative to the Big Four!

What are your tasks and what does your day look like?

Every day is different! Joanknecht mainly focuses on the larger SMB segment and that produces a lot of variety. In one week, I spend two days with one client and then three days with another client, in a completely different industry with other characteristics and points for attention. That makes the job very diverse!

At Joanknecht, you don’t have to choose a specific industry. Therefore, you can take a look behind the scenes at many organisations. The team is coordinated to the client and differs in size per client. A team has different colleagues from different job levels, meaning that you can learn a lot from one another. You also get quite a lot of responsibility quite quickly when carrying out your work, and are in direct contact with the client. This makes for a high level of involvement.

“We believe that when you are employed based on your talents, you derive more energy from your work and deliver good quality work as a result.”

How would you describe the work atmosphere?

Joanknecht has a professional, informal, open and personal atmosphere with a “flat structure”. Each discipline, like accountancy, assurance and fiscal advice, works in an office landscape containing linked desks where two or three colleagues from different levels can work together. That makes it easy to spar with each other. When I want to work on an assignment with a team, we sit together and everyone has their own responsibilities. Advisers and partners are always close by and easy to access with an open-door mentality. At first, this took some getting used to for me, but as time went on I really saw the advantages to that. At Joanknecht, we all work hard when we need to, but it is also important for us to share those great moments. We go on activities outside of work too and it’s important to us to have fun together. For example, last January we went on a ski trip with a group of colleagues.

 What makes Assurance so fun, and what kind of opportunities are there within Joanknecht?

What’s fun about Assurance is coming into contact with different clients. This allowed me to take a look behind the scenes at various clients in the past year. Really getting to know the client better allows you to put yourself in their shoes when doing your work. You also come into contact with many different people as you’re spending time in so many different places. No contact is the same!

It is also important to us to give each other honest feedback, which makes us look for improvement at all times but also allows us to contribute to each other’s personal growth. We believe that when you are employed based on your talents, you derive more energy from your work and deliver good quality work as a result. To ensure this, we use coaches at Joanknecht. Your coach is who you can talk to about your development. During the coaching meetings, you discuss your ambitions. These can be both personal and professional. Of course, there is the option to take courses, trainings or a study programme, e.g. the postmaster programme. There are so many options within the office: you create your own unique career.

What advice would you give Accountancy students?

It is very important to properly research the job market. My advice is: go with your individual feeling. Talk to as many companies as possible, participate in student association activities, but also in activities outside Tilburg. Think about what kinds of clients you like to work with, the kind of work atmosphere and the kind of culture that suits you and ask about the experiences of people who already work there. A fun way to get to know Joanknecht better is to participate in the yearly summer course. At the previous edition, I was involved as an employee in the programme that is both informal and provides content. During the summer course, you get to know the organisation, the company culture and the kinds of clients and employees, which will give you an idea of Joanknecht. In addition, Joanknecht offers working students jobs to students. In that case, you will work here as an assistant on many different assignments and really get to know the company. Internships are a good opportunity to get to know a company in a short period of time. Then you can choose a company that is a good fit for you!

If after reading this article you want to know more about Joanknecht or if you are curious to see what options Joanknecht can offer you, contact Lonneke van Loon-van Bavel at lvloon@joanknecht.nl or call 040-240 9463.