Trainee Finance and control
After completing my study Fiscal Economics, I have been working as a Finance & Control trainee at G4 since April 2020. Something typical of working for the government is bureaucracy. Simple things are sometimes made complex with rules, processes and division of tasks. I find people and processes interesting and I am curious and eager to learn. There are many interesting people and stories in the organizations, which makes it attractive to work for the various municipalities.I also enjoy simplifying complexity and creating clarity. Sometimes the question of why the organization does something can be enough to add value. It helps that you are a trainee, because people are usually more patient with trainees. The best part is that I can ask anyone anything and everything. People generally have time to drink a cup of coffee or tea with you and to explain something. Most trainees also bring a wealth of knowledge and experiences from their studies, for example, with which you can help the municipalities.
There are a lot of finance and control related projects going on in all the municipalities that I have seen. What most projects have in common is that it often revolves around digitization. For example, how to improve a digital dashboard or how to make a financial portal more user-friendly. I am proud of the few months that I have worked at the The Hague South West Program Office. There I learned so much in a short time and helped the team a little bit with their finances. When I look at my working week, Tuesdays and Thursdays are typical days for meetings. I prepare those meetings for Monday. On Wednesdays we receive training or we work on a joint trainee assignment. Friday is a mix of everything. That variety is nice.
There is a lot of room for personal development in the traineeship. In the beginning I learned general things such as: how is a church organised? What is finance and what is control? Then came some more soft skills and professional training such as communication and PowerBI. At the end of the traineeship, attention is paid to job application training and coaching towards a permanent workplace. During the traineeship you work together with fellow trainees on four different pool assignments (one at each municipality). The steering group determines the group size and the division of tasks. Looking back on the past period, I have been able to develop well. I know more about what I want and who I am. That alone is very valuable to me.
