The E-Cons ad was the second one I responded to. I found the job description interesting because I didn’t want to work for an internal accounting department anymore and wanted to try outsourcing. The internal accounting department was too stereotypical for me and I was bored. I also liked their new website showing the human side of the company, which was something very important to me.

Interview

I almost gave up in the first round at the written test. Even though I had prepared, I felt like I knew only a few things from the internal accounting department and I wouldn’t make it; I wanted to get up and leave. There was another candidate who took the test with and that made me stay. “Don’t give up without a fight,” I said to myself. “If she stays, I will stay too!” I calmed down and started recalling everything. In the end, they told me at the interview that I actually wrote the test very well.

The second round of the interview was led by Mr Pristach. I had enormous respect even before the beginning; I didn’t know what to expect but realised that nothing would be easy. He tried to scare and discourage me; he tested me to see if I’d chicken out. At that point, however, it had the opposite effect, the more he tried to discourage me, the more convinced I was that I wanted the job, so it was a deal right away.

Start

I jumped into a running business at a time when the accounting department didn’t have a manager. I had only one month to learn everything before my colleague who trained me was to leave. Therefore, I saw many things just once, didn’t know much about the people and the office operation. The accounting department works completely differently today, but it was quite challenging back then. It took me nine months to get used to everything, and there were days when I wanted to give up and never come to work again. But I also wanted to prove that I could manage. And now I’m glad I didn’t give up.

Senior Accountant after a year and 8 months

Everything started to settle down after 8 months. I started to absolutely believe in myself when it came to accounting. At about that time, my colleague became Accounting Manager, took over the department, introduced order and rules, and I began to feel much safer. She supported me not only at work but also on a personal level. I also had the opportunity to go through individual coaching, which taught me to work better with people, delegate, communicate and solve problems, be more responsible for myself as well as for my inferiors. It all helped me to get promoted from junior consultant to senior consultant after a year and eight months.

It also affected my decision later to move to the other end of the country for personal reasons. If had moved half a year earlier, I would almost surely have quit the job. But I was looking for ways to do it and to agree on it instead. I wanted to stay at E-Cons because of Gabča Karásková, who is a great boss, because I found new friends there, because I like the work and it fulfils me, and because of the company itself. It is not usual when company management actually listens to its employees and cares about their opinion. It doesn’t mean that they will automatically satisfy all your needs, but they will listen to you and the care made me stay.

The company eventually put its trust in me and together we found a way to be part of the company, even though I’m 350 km away. I’m currently working full-time, but from home. I travel to the office twice or three times a month, each time for only one or two days, depending on how we agree and as needed. I communicate with the office by phone or via the internal communication tool and participate in meetings via videoconference, so we can see each other as well. Therefore, I have a job in a company I like as well as personal life.

Jaroslava Kačalková

Senior Accounting Consultant