Mohamed started at Finext as an intern and then continued as a junior within the Traineeship. "As a consultant, you come to different organizations, with different ways of working. I find that interesting to see."

Choice between Finext and Big4

For his internship, Mohamed could choose between Finext and one of the Big4 companies. "That choice was quickly made: here I can develop much more. For example, I was already working with clients from the beginning of my internship. This allows me to make an immediate impact in my area of interest."

Looking back, Mohamed believes he made the right choice. "You get a lot of freedom here and that includes taking responsibility yourself. That brings out a lot in you."

"You get a lot of freedom here, and that includes taking responsibility yourself. That brings out a lot in you."

Focus on consolidation projects in CCH Tagetik

Out of the various Performance Management software Finext implements, Mohamed chose CCH Tagetik. Even that choice was easy, Mohamed explains with a laugh, "I did my graduate internship with the Tagetik team. I liked it so much there that I didn't even look at other teams."

In doing so, Mohamed's focus is on consolidation projects. "These types of projects interest me the most. Consolidation and reporting has the most common ground with my studies in finance & control, so that ties in nicely."

Divergent days

Every day is different as a consultant, and that includes Mohamed. "I have very different days. Sometimes I'm talking to clients about an issue, sometimes I spend an entire day independently building in the software."

Mohamed likes both sides. "I like being productive in the tool. On the other hand, I also find the conversations with customers interesting. For example, if a customer doesn't know much about Tagetik yet, and then I can present a complex topic to the customer in such a way that they become very enthusiastic about it. I get a lot of energy from that."

The clients of the CCH Tagetik team within Finext are also diverse: from large multinationals to smaller Dutch companies.

Developing professionalism

Within the Finext Traineeship, there is a lot of focus on developing professionalism - both soft and hard skills. "That goes pretty fast, both personal and technical software skills," Mohamed says.

"We develop the personal skills, for example, through training on personal effectiveness. This is not just about the question 'how can I improve my bad points', but rather 'how can I make my good points even better.' By the way, this approach also helps in developing the technical software skills," Mohamed explains.

In doing so, there is plenty of room to be yourself. That fits with Mohamed's principles: "Stay yourself, in any situation or environment. Even with a director, you don't have to pretend to be different. People appreciate it when you stay yourself. Both in private situations and professionally."

"That freedom in development is unique, not many companies have that - often there is a set career path. Here you determine that yourself."

Set your own pace

Mohamed can recommend working at Finext to anyone. "Because of the freedom you get, but also because you can set your own pace. You don't have to grow in a straight line, but you set your own pace and in doing so you can take as much initiative as you want. If you want to keep a little more in the background, that's ok, but if you want to take a lot of initiative, there's plenty of room for that."

This freedom in development is unique, Mohamed believes: "Not many companies have that - often there is a set career path. Here you determine that yourself."