Choosing an employer - especially a first employer - is quite a challenge. Jonas started at TriFinance when he left school, decided to leave the company but to come back afterwards. Knowledge sharing, mentoring and coaching were some but not the only elements that influenced his decision. Read his story below.
How it began
When I graduated from KULeuven with a master’s degree in Applied Economics I had a hard time figuring out which direction I should take with my career. Like many other students, I went to the Ekonomika career brunch where I met one of the TriFinance recruiters. She explained what a career as a TriFinance consultant looks like and how I could gain a lot of experience in a short amount of time by seeing a lot of different companies.
At TriFinance there is no pre-defined career path. The consultant takes his career into his own hands. For me, this resulted in growing my Finance expertise in both the corporate and banking & insurance industry.
At the start of 2020, after three years at TriFinance, I decided to leave the company and start working as an ad interim financial controller at an international packaging company nearby. Three months later the project came to an end and I was left with an unsatisfied feeling. I quickly realized that I didn’t put the right motivators into the scale to leave TF at that moment. Curious to know why I regretted leaving TriFinance? Read more down below.
Knowledge sharing, mentoring and coaching
What I personally like at TriFinance, is the strong focus on training and knowledge sharing. I have followed knowledge circles on Excel, reporting and controlling, all of which I used in later projects. On the other hand, knowledge circles also allowed me to broaden my knowledge in fields I didn’t consider before, such as machine learning and artificial intelligence.
The support from TriFinance continues even when working at your client. First of all, a mentor will be assigned to you when you start on a project, to support and help you with any questions directly related to the project you’re working on. Mentors are consultants and business managers with direct experience in the field you’re working on. This can be very beneficial and allows you to go beyond the clients’ expectations.
The support given by TriFinance through mentoring, coaching and training was to the point and directly applicable.
My mentors were a great resource for example when I couldn’t find the answer to an IFRS 16 specific topic at the client (an internationally recognized set of accounting standards). Having this expertise at your fingertips at all times has allowed me to start on projects with very specific knowledge required, without having prior knowledge, such as Solvency II. Additionally, my mentors have always kept me up-to-date with the most recent evolutions in the fields I worked in, such as new regulatory guidelines.
Each consultant can also request a career coach, who can challenge you and support you to find your career destination. Coaching has helped me in the past with how I can get the most out of the feedback I receive from clients.
Last but not least: work hard, play hard. Being at the clients’ office for the majority of the time can make it hard to stay in touch with other consultants. Therefore, I like to join the regular after-work drinks and events to keep up with colleagues. I will always remember the day we went to Tomorrowland with the company.
My journey so far
I joined TriFinance for the first time in the ‘Blue Chip Boutique’ Transition & Support in 2017 and instantly started on a project as a credit decision analyst. During this project, I learned the basics of balance sheet analysis (liquidity, rentability, solvability), credit risk and decision-making models. Afterwards, I held a similar position at another client with increased responsibilities and was allowed to train several new credit analysts.
As of September 2018, I worked as a property accountant where I learned the ins and outs of accounts payable and receivable. This knowledge formed the basis that I needed to work as a financial controller and gave me insight into different ERP systems.
Internal move
During my yearly alignment meeting later that year, I got to reflect on my projects, skills learned, and interests, and align my goals and ambitions for the future with the business. Since TriFinance serves a broad range of clients active in different industries it allowed me to work with different renowned companies within a short period while enjoying the full benefits of working for an employer under a permanent contract. As my interests had shifted to the banking and insurance sector over time, I got the opportunity to move internally from Transition & Support to Financial Institutions. I value opportunities like this a lot as it also shows TriFinance’s trust in my career path.
Before leaving TriFinance in 2020, I worked at an insurer and I was responsible for the Solvency II reporting to the National Bank of Belgium, I optimized the IFRS16 process through VBA automatization and was the right-hand of the deputy investment officer helping him with day-to-day asset management tasks. Overall I truly enjoyed working on these projects for these well-known companies. The support given by TriFinance through mentoring, coaching and training was to the point and directly applicable.
As my interests had shifted, I got the opportunity to move internally.
What’s next?
My first weeks back at TriFinance have been great. I’ve met so many new people and expanded my horizons. Being on the bench isn’t boring at all as there are a lot of internal projects to be worked on. I finally get the time to dig deeper into certain topics. For me in particular that’s RPA, business analysis and risk management. As they say “An investment in knowledge pays the best interest”. I’m looking forward to applying this new knowledge to my new projects!
About Jonas
After obtaining his Master in Applied Economics at KULeven, Jonas started his career as a project consultant at T&S Brussels as a young hub. Two years later, he decided to focus on working for banks, insurers and asset managers so he joined Financial Institutions Brussels.
Jonas has a strong interest in the financial markets and recently joined the ‘TriFinance Invest’ club where colleagues from all departments get together to share their knowledge and vision when it comes to investing. During his free time he spends many hours running, swimming and cycling to prepare him for his first triathlon.
For more info, you can always contact Jonas Willems.(jonas.willems@trifinance.be or 03/201 25 60).
