Can you introduce yourself?
My name is Thomas Oomen, 25 years old and originally from Breda. Currently, I’ve been working as Assistant Accountant at Van Oers in the Audit department for over 2,5 years. Van Oers is a large regional firm with 5 branches in West-Brabant, with about 300 employees and is targeted at the SME sector. Other than work and studying I enjoy occasionally drinking a specialty beer with friends and closely follow football. During my high school career, I was most interested in subjects like M&O and Economics, and discovered quickly I would like to do something in Economics. More specifically, the numerical aspect was the most appealing to me at the time. After graduating with a VWO diploma I started my bachelor in Business Economics in 2011 at Tilburg University. During the bachelor I had affinity with subjects in the field of accountancy and after graduating in Business Economics I continued with a Master in Accountancy, also at Tilburg University. Currently I am in the concluding phase of the Post-Master Accountancy.
How did you end up at Van Oers?
During the third year of the bachelor Business Economics and the master Accountancy I came in contact with multiple Accountancy firms, particularly Big4 firms. After a couple of conversations during, for example, workshops at the university, I didn’t feel like I had a good connection with any of the companies. Therefore, I continued looking in the Breda region and after a short search, a phone call, and a couple interviews I ended up at Van Oers. Ultimately, I chose a smaller regional accountancy firm, since these are more compact in size. Because of that, there are shorter lines of communication and I experience it as a more personal and more informal environment. Also, firms like these are more focused on the SME sector. Organizations in the SME sector are smaller in size than listed companies, so it’s easier to get a clear view of the whole organization and administration.
“At Van Oers there is an informal, open and personal environment and I can describe Van Oers as a Burgundian organization.”
What are your duties at Van Oers?
Working at Van Oers is very diverse. Van Oers is mostly focused on for-profit clients in various sectors, like production, trade and service companies in, for example, transport and logistics, construction and agricultural industry. Because organizations in the SME sector are limited in size, we deal with a lot of different types of companies. This results in a lot of variety: one week a production company, the next a service-oriented company with completely different characteristics and concerns. The activities are conducted in varying teams, tailored to the client. The team consists of a group of colleagues coming from different hierarchical levels and together they perform the audit procedures. As a starter, the learning curve in the first period is almost vertical, and there is a lot to learn from more experienced colleagues. Working in an accounting firm comes with a lot of responsibilities, which requires high involvement from the employee. Besides the Audit department, Van Oers has, among others, a payment-, fiscal-, and consultancy department. Because employees work together in an informal way, it’s easy to gather advice from colleagues if something more complicated comes up during the audit. This ensures that next to development in the area of auditing, employees also gather basic knowledge in, for example, the fiscal area.
How would you describe Van Oers?
At Van Oers there is an informal, open and personal environment and I can describe Van Oers as a Burgundian organization. Every team member gets their own responsibilities within an assignment, depending on his or her position. This supports personal development, which prepares you swiftly for the next step in your career. In addition, it ensures a high level of involvement from colleagues in the assignment. Besides development on the practical level, Van Oers emphasizes development in the theoretical area. Practically all colleagues in the Audit department are currently enrolled in either the pre-master, master or post-master to become a register accountant.
What are your ambitions?
My ambition is to become a register accountant. Until then I want to develop myself as much as possible, which is certainly possible at Van Oers. Development is possible in both the professional and personal sense. Van Oers offers, besides professional training and gatherings, an internal educational path on a personal level, like behavior and management. Often this takes place with colleagues from other departments.
Do you have any advice for students?
I would like to advise students to look at the full picture and to learn more about the company you want to work for. Think about the type of clients you enjoy working with, what work environment and culture suits you and ask for the experiences of people working there. After all, you spend a significant part of your week at the job with your colleagues. Make sure that you have the right connection with your future employer.
