‘My leap of faith was quite thrilling’, says Leona Beets (27). ‘I was working as a consultant, doing an internal assignment for GGZ. That was a great springboard, but I felt it was time for a new challenge. I did not want to be in the same job for years and years. Just when I realized I needed growth, someone from Deloitte Audit Advisory Public sent me a message through LinkedIn. Apparently they were looking for someone to support the advice practice within the public domain. They didn’t consider it a problem that I lacked a background in finance. I really wanted to dive into this, and at Deloitte there’s always plenty of room for training and development. During the job interviews I felt such a great connection that I wanted to take a leap of faith with this team.’

As of 1 April Leona started at Deloitte. ‘It was right in the middle of the corona era, which was obviously very unusual. I live close to the Deloitte office in Rotterdam but I have only been there three times in the last five months. Twice for a job interview and once for a meeting’, says Leona. ‘Fortunately, Deloitte offers excellent support for new hires, even at a distance. There’s a lot of focus on the onboarding process, HR regularly contacts you and within your team there’s a personal coach who will help you with all kinds of questions. It’s all so well organised. Therefore, the switch felt very comfortable. I felt like part of the team in no time. I’ve already organised a pub quiz for the “Friday afternoon drink” a number of times, through Teams. That’s a great way to get to know each other.’

Within Audit Advisory Public, Leona and her team are building the health care unit and investing in analytics. ‘We are currently doing an audit analytics fellowship together. From Power BI and Tableau to SQL, we are learning all kinds of technical skills, for instance to analyse large data bases. It’s so interesting. In time this will help us to support our audit colleagues in an innovative way with tailored advice and new tools.’ And that’s not the only development project that Leona is currently involved in. Next year, she will also do a Register Controller post-master. ‘At the moment, I’m taking deficiency classes to prepare for the post-master. After two years of working, I need to get used to going to school again. But it’s great. It energizes me and, as expected, it turns out that I really like the commercial and financial side. The post-master takes three years. Afterwards, I will hopefully get a big assignment as a register controller for a health care institution such as the Erasmus MC.’

Recently one of Leona’s friends remarked: ‘Running a marathon, starting a new hobby like cycle racing, doing a Register Controller post-master. You’re always looking for new challenges!’ ‘And that’s exactly why I feel so much at ease here’, Leona says with a smile. ‘Deloitte is truly driven to take you further. To make you grow. Taking everyone to the next level is a plus for the entire team. People are investing in you and you are considered as part of the organisation. That makes you want to run the extra mile. At Deloitte, we encourage each other and you become the best version of you.’

CHOOSE YOUR IMPACT You will share your talent with the 1.800 colleagues of Deloitte The Netherlands various Audit & Assurance departments. Within our teams, cooperation and personal development are key. View all Audit & Assurance vacancies [/vacancies/audit-accountancy] and connect your future to Deloitte. View all Audit & Assurance vacancies [/vacancies/audit-assurance]