Name: Claire
Job Title: Chartered Accountant
University attended: University of Warwick
Degree obtained: BSc (Hons) Mathematics with intercalated year in France
Age: 26 years

Claire joined Mazars in 2001. She has worked for three and a half years in the audit department and became a qualified chartered accountant in September 2004.

Why I chose Mazars

When I decided to become ACA-qualified Mazars really stood out as the firm for me. One of the main factors in my decision was the size of the firm, which means that you have the opportunity to gain experience in a wide range of industries and sectors. In the larger Big Four firms, graduates have to focus straight away. This was very important to me, as I did not want to make an immediate choice, which might have narrowed my opportunities in the future. In a firm of this size you also have the opportunity to take on lots of responsibility early and to work with all levels of staff. This really differs to the experience of some of my university friends who chose a Big Four firm.

Mazars stood out amongst other firms of the same size due to its international presence and in particular its position as number five across Europe. I have had the opportunity to work on very large French-listed clients while still getting the responsibility and variety of a medium-sized firm. This really made a difference to me, as I was also keen to keep up my French language skills and consider an international secondment in the future.

I made my final decision to join Mazars based on the friendly atmosphere and supportive environment, which was clear throughout the recruitment process. This has continued throughout my career at the firm and extends from graduate level right through to the senior managers and partners.

Experience to date

When I joined Mazars I was assigned to the ISB (industry, services and banking) division, which involves providing audit and assurance services to large corporate clients. This has enabled me to work in a wide variety of sectors including publishing, retail and media.

Before I joined the firm, the prospect of studying and carrying out client work at the same time was very daunting. Mazars has been really supportive throughout this process. The training programme is structured so that there is a balance between studying exams every six months and working on clients. People within the firm are very supportive: managers and partners are very approachable if you need to discuss anything. At the beginning of your training contract, you choose a mentor in the year group above who is then available to discuss any problems you might have or just to take you out for coffee and a chat!

The most interesting part of working in audit is the variety of clients you meet on a weekly basis and the different people you get to work with. Personal skills are therefore just as important as technical ability. For this reason, Mazars recruits people from a wide variety of degree backgrounds and, in addition to the technical training you receive at college, the firm has a structured training and development programme so you develop the ‘softer’ skills that are just as important in the job.

Mazars has a comprehensive appraisal system, so that every six months we review our performance and our career development for the future. Since qualifying, the people in my year group have considered a number of different options and Mazars have always been supportive in this. At the moment some people are on secondment to the tax, forensic and corporate finance departments and others are on a two-year secondment to the Sydney office. I have decided to stay in audit and I am beginning to focus on key industry sectors, which should enable me to progress to manager level in the future.

Outside work

The friendly environment at Mazars means that there are always regular social events organised amongst the various year groups of trainees. The firm also organises a number of official events including the Christmas party, an ‘end of busy season’ party and Mazariades, an annual sporting competition, which takes place in a different country each year and involves staff from our international offices. We also have a sports and social committee that organises various events and trips and we often arrange informal football, cricket – and more recently netball – matches with our clients.