"I like visiting Action stores and being surprised by the assortment"
- Mandy Sijs, Business Controller Group Control
Who I am, what I do and when did I start at Action
Hello, my name is Mandy, I’m 27 years old and I live in Wervershoof. I have been working as Business Controller Group Control since September 2019.
The reason I chose to work at Action
A friend of mine had joined the Finance department a year before me and he was positive about working at Action. So when I saw a vacancy for Business Controller I texted him and a week later I had my first interview in Zwaagdijk-Oost.
Another reason is that I like visiting Action stores and being surprised by the assortment. Working for Action is also having a clear image about the business model.
What surprised me the most when I started to work for Action
Before joining Action I already knew that Action had a growing number of stores and countries. However, I’m sometimes still surprised about how fast Action grows and what the future financial expectations are.
Things I like best about my job
Before Action I worked as an auditor. In my role as an auditor I was working for multiple clients and sometimes I was at a different location every day of the week. Therefore I was a bit skeptical, before starting as a Business Controller, about the variety of tasks and being at one location. Reflecting back on this, I find that every day is different and unique. Another thing I like is that when I go on vacation and I see a foreign Action store I feel proud to be working at the headquarters.
Challenges in my job
A challenge in my job is to give insights and transparency into the deviations between the actual and the budgeted/forecasted results. Another challenge is to create a synergy between the different departments within the IHQ.
What’s the culture like?
I would describe the culture as hardworking professionals that are also in for informal jokes. For most of my job I have the freedom to independently pick up tasks and be held responsible for them.
We are curious, can you tell us more about a typical day at work? And what is your main goal?
As described before I do not have a typical day at work, but there are some recurring items during the year. The recurring items are: at the end of every financial period there is a period close, every year there is a budget and every quarter a forecast
Besides the recurring items here is an example of a working day: in the morning I present the differences between forecast and budget in the departmental management team. After this meeting I participate in a project, in which I’m working together with different departments, to improve the visualization of information. In the afternoon I receive a phone call from one of the department heads to calculate a business case.
What I love to do outside work
Outside of work I’m doing kettlebell and kickboxing training. Furthermore, I like to explore cities and countries together with my family and friends.
What opportunities does Action offer you in the future?
Action is an international growing company so there are enough opportunities for your tasks and career to grow. In my case I will soon start as a Business Controller in another Finance department. This allows me to continue to learn about other aspects within Action and grow as a person.