Tanja van den Berg
From corporate finance to becoming a Microsoft Dynamic Finance Consultant, find out more about Tanja’s ever-evolving career progression and first year of insights working for HSO from Australia.
“In the finance team there are about 15 of us working together and from a career progression perspective the career change has been brilliant. I am working with really talented people on varied projects and there are a lot of us in my team that have moved to HSO from the traditional big consultancy firms.”
How my journey began
My career started in consulting back in South Africa implementing payroll software then progressing to payroll outsourcing account manager. When we made the move to New Zealand I set out to advance further into Corporate Finance and Treasury. As I am enthusiastic about consulting, connecting with new people and taking on challenges the consulting industry attracted me back.
I then realised that D365F&O was an exciting space to be in with a lot of career progression opportunities given my finance background and so I jumped industries and set about getting my Microsoft certifications. I then moved over to consulting and joined a consulting firm based in Australia as a functional consultant where I was for two years prior to joining HSO in 2023.
I a responsible for gathering client requirements to improve business processes and setting up new ERP Finance systems for clients across sectors. I have worked on projects across industries such as professional services, manufacturing and construction
Shared Entrepreneurial Values
Although very established in many other geographies with a long history and legacy of success, HSO is a relatively new and upcoming name and business in Australia and New Zealand. This was very attractive to me as I want to be part of that growth and evolution. The expansion I have seen over the last year alone has been incredible. This really stood out for me when considering joining HSO, in addition to knowing that I would be taking on varied projects and creating new offerings that are very unique to HSO – this really excites me.
From a career progression perspective, the opportunities are there, you simply raise your hand and speak to your manager and there will always be a plan put in place and goal setting agreed that feed into those career ambitions. I definitely see a very bright future at HSO for my own professional and personal growth and development.
An Ever-Evolving Environment
The HSO expansions in new geographies over the last couple of years has been amazing. I love to be constantly learning and within the Microsoft space there is always something to learn and something new to master. The more knowledge I have the more powerful I am as a consultant and the more I can deliver for my team and colleagues. I love engaging with clients and giving them excellent service and I am very passionate about service delivery.
We are always working towards the next milestone, which for me would be advancing in my personal career ambitions and goals that I am working through with my manager. The management team are very clear that whatever you want to take on and however you want to grow and seek opportunities for yourself – they are there for you. There are no barriers so you can grab it and run for it. If you raise your hand for opportunities, you will be supported.
Ever-evolving as a core global value stands so true in this respect and reflects both our teams and the businesses we work with. We are always in a constant state of transformation in partnership with our clients and their requirements to grow and improve their business processes and transform with new technologies.
“At HSO we are always working towards the next milestone – for ourselves and our clients.”
Collaborative Working
I work fully remotely from home, and we get together as a team once a month in the city to work from the office and collaborate and then we have dinners and team building built in around this. I love that balance, being fully remote was very attractive for me.
The favourite part of my role is delivering a brilliant service and being part of improving businesses by leveraging the most current solutions.
Every job has challenges, and those challenges are also part and parcel of what I love which is the constant learning. As a consultant you must make time to continually upskill - this can often require time out of hours too. When you are a consultant, you are always ‘on’ and there is no room for error when advising clients - you need to always be engaged and know that what you are delivering to the client is the best version of what that solution needs to be.
A real stand-out moment for me at HSO in my first year is the recognition & reward you receive for your performance. I was recognised for my efforts on a client project I was on for 9 months where I was working extremely hard throughout that period. I got recognised for that straight away. If you do a good job, you do get rewarded and that means a lot to me.
“At other companies despite adding value, it is sometimes hard to get seen. Because our team is smaller our management can see the impact we make as individuals on a day-to-day basis and do recognised and reward us for that.”
Reimagine Your Career
From a career change perspective, especially to people in finance they should absolutely consider making a career change if they feel passionate about service delivery. The global presence and legacy of HSO and its values as a business of being large enough to serve, but small enough to care brings exciting opportunities all round. For me the ability to share knowledge globally was a really important part of the decision to take the leap.
I see a bright future for myself at HSO for many years to come!
Read more
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