I started studying SME & Entrepreneurship at UCLL in Leuven in 2020. After two and a half academic years, it was time for an internship. Since I had no clue which direction I wanted to go, it became a very difficult quest to find the perfect internship.
By chance, I had a friend who had been working as an Accountant at the KPMG office in Hasselt for one year. He talked about me with his manager, who then invited me for an interview. It was a very pleasant conversation, and he immediately invited me to start my internship at KPMG. However, this was not an obvious choice as my knowledge of Accountancy, VAT and Corporate Tax was quite limited at the time.
On 7 March, I started my internship with an enormous desire to learn, but it also came with some positive stress. I wondered whether, given my education, I had the necessary basic knowledge to carry out my tasks. Fortunately, my internship supervisor, my friend who already worked at KPMG, as well as my other colleagues, were very supportive. I started with basic tasks, which became more complex as I grew in my role. I loved learning so much in such a short period of time. In the first weeks I even caught myself thinking about work in the evening trying to understand things I had seen that day.
Robin Leeuws completed an UCLL internship at Accountancy.
The first weeks were very intense, given the huge number of new things I was learning every single day. On the one hand, I was learning to work with several programs and working methods, such as the firms accounting-software’s Odoo. I also spent a lot of time working in Accon and learned how to use Silverfin. Furthermore, I learned how to prepare a VAT report, and assisted in the formation of annual accounts. On the other hand, I also had to catch up on basic knowledge, and I did this on-the-go, while working. I really felt that I learned more in my first two months at KPMG than in a full academic year at school.
As the weeks flew by, I noticed every day more and more that this career path was indeed a great match for me. I got a lot of satisfaction from working project-based. Moreover, it was nice to gradually get a more extensive range of tasks, and to keep learning, in line with our “Learn for a Lifetime” motto. The bond with my colleagues also grew stronger and I was immersed in the company culture of KPMG. Everyone was always very kind, helpful and willing to explain whatever and whenever necessary.
Therefore, I was very happy when I was told that they would like me to join the team after my internship was over. I accepted their offer without hesitation and haven't looked back a day since. During the summer holidays, I even worked as a job student for about a month, as some of my colleagues were on holiday at the time. I literally couldn’t get enough! When September came, I started as an Accountant at the Hasselt office. I keep learning something new every single day. This makes my job so much fun for me, as well as the kind, wonderful colleagues that I have. I hope to develop myself further at KPMG and keep meeting new people.
