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 Portrait #04: Izel Coskun
Partner in Turkey Could you describe your job?
For the last 3 years tax certification together with internal control are my main lines of technical responsibilities. In addition to that, I'm also in charge of IT, marketing and communications for Mazars' offices in Turkey.
What is your professional background?
I started working when I was 18 years old as an accountant in a factory. At the same time, I was pursuing my university degree at Istanbul University, Faculty of Business Administration. I then for 2 years served as an outsourcing accountant to 3 medium to small sized companies, which were clients of Denge, the Turkish audit firm that would later be part of the Mazars Group. I joined Denge on my 4th year, in the tax department.
I then completed my MBA at the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign and joined an Exchange Program in ESSEC, France for one semester. In 1999, I passed the CPA exam in Turkey and obtained the license for being Independent Accountant Financial Advisor. In 2000, I spent a year in Mazars' Paris office as an auditor. I then came back to and became head of the Tax Department, developing my knowledge in internal control. That is how we decided to create the internal control department in Turkey. What would you say to someone looking to join Mazars?
I would insist on the value that we give to our staff, starting from initial levels. We favour a cooperative learning environment where each individual is regarded as a unique personality & special importance is given to his/her training & development with direct support at partner level. The partners are easily reachable & are ready to share their knowledge with the team members.
In addition, young auditors are given any sector specialization at the beginning stage of the audit career and experience gained in different sectors has a very positive effect when senior level position is reached. What motivates you the most?
Two concurrent smiles are very important for my motivation; the one coming from our clients and the other from our team members. The client should be satisfied with the work done. The team should be satisfied for completing a mission with utmost quality & total independence. I know that it is rather difficult to make both sides happy simultaneously but especially with the investment made directly to increase the satisfaction level of our staff, the rate of this "simultaneous smile" reached a much higher level. This is a win-win situation.
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