Melanie goes aheader and takes up a new career adventure at PwC

Melanie, you’ve decided to change your career within PwC and have moved internally from Assurance Audit to CMAAS (Capital Markets and Accounting Advisory Services). What has motivated you to take this step and what helped you most along the way?

For me, the drive to make this move was the wish to see, learn, try something new – but without having to leave PwC. I got the opportunity to stay in the firm, but change my role and department – for me, that was a great chance I couldn’t miss! I loved working in the audit department, but I decided it was time to gather new experience and skills for my future career at PwC.

Since I worked in the audit department and the insurance sector for more than nine years and audited many different clients – from smaller projects to big international engagements – I knew that I had valuable experience to bring to my new team.

However, it wasn’t just the job-related lessons learnt in my previous role that prepared me for the new endeavours: Working at PwC always means to collaborate with so many people internally and externally with different needs and personalities, and I can bring these experiences to my new role, too.

"For me, the drive to make this move was the wish to see, learn, try something new – but without having to leave PwC. I got the opportunity to stay in the firm, but change my role and department – for me, that was a great chance I couldn’t miss!"

How was your onboarding experience at your new team?

After an intense busy season, the onboarding in my new department was very smooth. I started with some e-learning and got familiar with the material and my new area of expertise.

Now, after one month, I have my own engagement and I’m working on an IFRS 17 project with my team, a project all about new accounting standards that are relevant for the reporting of insurance contracts.

Unfortunately, I haven’t met my new team physically yet. We are still working from home; however, I’m looking forward to meeting them in person and having an after-work drink together.

Even though your experience was great – is there anything you miss from your former work or team?

COVID-19 has complicated matters, of course. I haven’t physically met my former team for a long time, and I miss the social events, such as having coffee, lunch or after-work drinks together.

However, I’m still connected with my old team and didn’t even have a proper farewell. My former coach and I will still work together from time to time or meet each other at trainings or events in our business unit. The insurance sector really is a small world after all.

Now that you’ve moved successfully to the CMAAS team – what are you looking forward to and what are you most excited to learn?

When I worked in the audit department, I relied on certain procedures and guidance, which made work and best practices more comparable. It was very exciting to figure out whether working in the new team would differ from my previous experiences.

And it did: whereas audit is regulated by law and you donְ’t have a wide scope to do your work a different way, in my new unit, we receive a project and then need to figure out how to deliver and support the client in the most efficient way. We seek the conversation with our clients to figure out what they really need. I absolutely like this approach of figuring out solutions with the client, sharing knowledge and working together as a team – it keeps me on my toes!

I’m excited to experience more of this form of collaboration in the future – but also, I really want to learn and expand my project and presentation skills. I am looking forward to everything coming my way!

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Melanie goes aheader and takes up a new career adventure at PwC

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