Being a working student at MAZARS: My experience
Hi everyone!
My name is Femke Janssen, 22 years old and you may know me as the Treasurer of the Board 2022-2023. After my board year, I have not been sitting still. Recently, I have started my Master in Accountancy here at Tilburg University. Furthermore, I am working two days a week at Mazars as a working student. The latter one is something I want to tell you more about. Mazars is an international integrated partnership, specializing in auditing, accountancy, and consultancy. Since September, I have worked for the audit department which has been a great experience so far. How did I meet Mazars, what do I do as a working student at Mazars and how do I combine it with my study?
I want to start off with how me and Mazars met. I was still in my board year and a bit clueless about what the future would hold for me in terms of study. Being on the board as the Treasurer of Asset | IB&M made it all even more confusing because I started to realize that I may like Accountancy. A field of work I had never thought about before since the courses you take about the Accountancy field within your Bachelor International Business Administration are not all-encompassing and give you a rather one-sided view of what Accountancy entails. Then, I came across Mazars during one of the many career events we had organized and I felt an immediate click. The people were nice and they understood my struggle with my career choices. After the event, they invited me for a coffee at their office, and so the ball started rolling. Right before summer break, I decided to do my Master’s in Accountancy and signed my contract as a working student at Mazars!
Then, of course, the burning question: What do I do as a working student at Mazars? Some people might think that as a working student, you are the person who brings coffee all the time or gets to do the most boring assignments. However, this is not the case at all! From day one I was part of the team and quickly, I got clients assigned to me. It really was a dive into the deep, but also a very exciting one. For every client, I check different accounts such as purchases, personnel, and sales. In addition, I am also allowed to visit the clients on location. This combination of working at the office and working at a client’s location is something I personally really like. It makes going to work more challenging and diverse! With every task I do, I learn something new about the field of Accountancy which makes sure I have a very steep learning curve. Furthermore, combined with my Master’s, I am able to get the full experience of the working field and feel the freedom to find out what I particularly like within Accountancy.
Lastly, how do I combine it with my studies? For me, this is pretty doable. I work two days a week at Mazars and the Master Accountancy is shaped in such a way, that you mainly have your lectures on Tuesday and Friday. The rest of the days are off for self-study, or you can decide to gain some working field experience. However, when you are finishing up your Bachelor’s and still miss several courses, this is also an ideal way for you to already dive deeper into the world of Accountancy before even starting your Master’s. Your choice of Master’s is not easy, and gaining some experience could make the choice less hard when you start to feel like this job might be something for you (or not). If you had asked me a year ago, whether I saw myself working in the field of Accountancy, I would have said no. But here I am. I needed to go out there, talk to companies, and feel the experience to decide what I really wanted for my future. A board year and visiting all these career events really helped me with this and it might help you as well. I hope I get the opportunity to tell you more about the daily tasks I do at Mazars during a career event of Asset | IB&M. Or, you can just reach out to me via LinkedIn!
If you are interested in meeting Mazars or getting to know more about Accountancy, we will be present at the following events of Asset | IB&M:
- IBA Weeks
- Business café
- Women in Business
- IB&M First dates
Furthermore, Mazars is organizing an audit Experience in Paris from March 6-8, 2024. During the trip, you will get to know more about Mazars and the profession of Accountancy, work on a business case, and visit the headquarters. There will also be professionals attending to guide you, give tips, and make sure this is an unforgettable trip for you. However, to join this trip there are some requirements: you need to be in the last year of your Bachelor’s or doing a Master’s. Of course, you also need to be interested in Accountancy. And then, who knows, maybe you’ll come back from Paris with a thesis or starter’s offer! 😉
For more information, you can check out the following link: Audit Experience 2024 – Mazars Accountants & Adviseurs (werkenbijmazars.nl)
Hope to see you there!
- Enexis Management Traineeship - April 9, 2024
- Being a working student at MAZARS: My experience - November 28, 2023
- Day in the life of a student/intern/active member - April 6, 2023