The auditing business is a great place to start off your career when university life is over, and it is of great interest for many students. During the eee-days (among many different companies) some of the biggest auditing firms are present to attract the best people. One of those companies is Moore Stephens. An employer based in Stockholm, Gothenburg, Malmö, and in 97 other countries. I met up with auditors Karin Kristersson and Alexandra Rosqvist, both Lund University alumni, at their Malmö office to learn more about them and the work they do.
Tell me about your daily operations!
”We work mostly with auditing, but offer many different services such as accounting, corporate finance, and tax advising. Our clients are typically owner-led small/middle-sized companies in many different lines of business. We aim to have a close relationship with our clients and manage to do so by working locally and on a long term basis.
Alexandra says that during the year, she and her colleagues who also work as assistants, are usually working on site at the client’s office 1-2 days per week, while spending the rest of the time at home turf. ”It is inspring to represent your company and you get more alert. But it is also great to return to your own desk after a few days with the client. Something that has become rather uncommon in our field, to have your own desk.”
This is a trend that has come to stick with many firms; to keep desks clean, and not personal. So when you arrive at the office in the morning you just grab a desk that is available. Your ”desk” is your computer and smart phone. This is not the situation at Moore Stephens.
What are you looking for in a potential employee?
”Obviously, it is beneficial if the candidate has studied auditing, and having worked with customer service is also a great plus. But mostly it is a matter of personality. How the person works in a group. Since we are not so many here at the Malmö office (13 people) that is an important factor. That is one reason for us to go to the eee-days in february. We want to meet all the great students and show who we are, and establish a personal connection from the beginning.”
Alexandra, do you mind telling us about your road to getting this job?
”Well, it actually started att the eee-days. I had read about a whole bunch of different companies who specializes in auditing, and I also signed up for the career talks. Before those interviews, I also chatted with Moore Stephens
representative at their stand, and maybe that helped them remeber me for later. After eee, I think I went on two more interviews and then we signed the papers. It was such a great feeling to already have a job as early as in March. Although, spring and summer that year was characterized with my anticipation to start working. I got quite restless after a while!”
What is the best thing about working at Moore Stephens?
”I believe that you get a little more personal contact with clients, which also results in you getting more responsibility”, Karin says.
”I agree. At my first day I made an audit of a small company (with help from a more experienced colleague), and since then I have just been taking on more and more responsibilities. You need to figure out solutions to problems yourself from day one and that is a recipe for personal growth. It is really learning by doing”, Alexandra continues.
Since 2013, Moore Stephens has hired four former students from Lund: Markus, Niklas, Alexandra, and Emelie. A trend they intend to keep since ”the best students are studying at the Economics and Business faculty in Lund.” They will be present at the eee-days, 24-25th February, and hope to see as many of you as possible there.
