Boldi moved from a Big Four Firm in Budapest to a Multinational Commodities Company in Switzerland in June 2021 as a Senior Accountant. One year on, he still loves his job living in Switzerland and is looking forward to his up-and-coming promotion to Middle Office.
Our MD, Abigail Stevens, caught up with Boldi by Zoom to find out how he was getting on.
“This is my favourite part of international recruitment, following up with those who have moved internationally to find out how it is going. How are you getting on?’’ Boldi didn’t hesitate to answer
“100% loving it!’’
I was open and wanted to gain international experience.
When my Think Global Recruitment Consultant, Nolo, approached me, I was open and wanted to gain international experience. I had worked on lots of international projects and wanted to make an actual move. I also wanted to move away from the Big Four accounti
ng firms. Nolo, let me know about some options. This one got my attention.’’
After the first interview, I had a really good feeling.
I liked the job description itself, it meant I would have exposure to trading and the people and culture were a really good fit.
Switzerland is a beautiful country and I love hiking and being in the mountains, so it felt like a good fit.
It was really easy to make the move with The Companies’ assistance.
They helped me throughout the entire process. They organised everything. I was set up with an apartment for 2 months initially (and longer if needed). When I arrived I was given all the work permit request documents filled in and I just had to sign.
In the first weeks, I received inductions and training on the systems we use. There were about 7 or 8 sessions lasting around 2 or 3 hours each, which I took with others joining around the same time. The formal training was followed by on the job learning as I took over tasks from colleagues.
I chose to drive from Hungary to Switzerland so I could take more belongings with me. It was a one-day drive through the beautiful countryside in Austria.’’
It was also relatively easy to make the transition from Big Four to the industry. All my strengths were appreciated here and anything missing I was given help with. The skills I obtained with EY prepared me well for the challenges. I felt like I could already contribute early on in my new role, and add value. I appreciate everything I’ve learned with EY.
Recently I have even received a promotion and am currently transitioning into a new role. I will be moving into a Middle Office with a small team to manage.
Generally in my current role, the first half of each month is focused on month-end closing activities. It results in some recurring processes which create comfort as those I am now familiar with.
The second half of the month is focused on projects, seeking how we can make the processes more efficient / automated, as well as to further enhance our processes to keep up with the ever changing environment (both from commercial as well as regulatory perspective).
The month-end related recurring tasks paired with the projects keep the environment diverse and the job interesting, a balance which I like. We also have the opportunity to work from home and the office. As I only live a 5 to 10 minutes walk from the office, I go in most of the time.
What are the great things in your new role?
The People are nice, and good to work with. The work is challenging and gives the opportunity to learn and grow. The office premises are really nice. Zug is a nice place to live, peaceful and close to nature. I can see cows outside the office. And last but not least, salaries in Switzerland allow for a good lifestyle. ’’
I remember in my consulting days, there would be clients that were very hard to deal with due to lack of sufficient background knowledge. Here my experience is that colleagues are generally on top of their game and it’s easy to find the common ground with them.’’
Do you have any advice for others thinking of making this move?
Honestly, my one piece of advice would be to believe in yourself. I remember I considered this move earlier but felt it was not realistic. Because of that I never replied to any of the messages on LinkedIn. One day however I got very frustrated with the work/life balance of my prior position. Then Nolo came to me and said let’s just have a chat about what you might want to do and then let’s look for something for you. I started the search process with him and for me – in retrospect at least – I can’t believe how simple and very much possible it was. Believe it can happen and try doing something. I wish I had done it earlier.
