ROTTERDAM–With the aim of recruiting young St. Maarten professionals who want to assist in the process of collecting social premiums on their island, the Audit Team St. Maarten (ATS) will be participating for the second year at the FRED Expo in Rotterdam on Saturday, May 11.
The ATS office in St. Maarten, which works for the Social and Health Insurances SZV, is currently mainly manned by compliance officers and auditors from Curaçao. The process to change this and to replace the Curaçao staff by St. Maarteners started last year, under the guidance of ATS Interim Director Sherwin Casper.
Last year, the ATS was present at the FRED to recruit young St. Maarten professionals. The result of this effort was positive, but it was not sufficient. As such, the recruitment drive continues this year.
ATS offers young professionals with a financial background the opportunity to study and work at the same time. Training is provided by the University of Tilburg in the Netherlands while working at ATS office in St. Maarten. Incentives are offered to the new recruits, including paid education with a job guarantee. Moreover, moving back to the island and accommodation in St. Maarten is covered as well.
Last year ATS was able to recruit three young professionals who commenced this project. One of the three is Mariana Fleming, daughter of Ms. Isabel-Adriana James. She attended Milton Peters College (MPC) and is presently doing her Master in Accountancy at the University of Tilburg.
Fleming said she wanted to give back to her island. Besides, working at the ATS is really nice. “It has a comfortable working environment with fun colleagues. Many students do not come back home. It is hard for them to find a job because they are said to be over-qualified. ATS aims to specifically recruit locals and offers a lot of opportunities which fits your experience and knowledge.”
In her opinion, ATS is a good example for companies of St. Maarten. Fleming wants to encourage young professionals to return home and further help build the country with the knowledge and experience obtained abroad. “We need our people for St. Maarten’s development. The island has a lot of growth potential. Besides, in the end of the day it will always be home.”
Another young St. Maarten professional that the ATS recruited was Sherwin Toulon, son of Francis Toulon and Celia George. He graduated from St. Maarten Academy FAVE and is currently doing his Master in Accounting at the University of Tilburg.
Toulon said he was very grateful for the opportunities granted to him by St. Maarten and he would like to give back to the island. “Over the years much has been said about the level of tax compliance on St. Maarten and the lack of enough technical expertise required to increase it. Having more locally taught and trained professionals would be of major benefit for the future of Sint Maarten which is something that I would love to be a part of.”
Toulon said he appreciated that ATS offered him the opportunity to continue his studies as a Public Accountant, while covering the costs of returning to St. Maarten and offering him a job where he can directly help his country.
“This is the chance to prove that our generation who has been looked over and unfairly categorised as irresponsible to show that we can indeed carry our island forward if given the opportunity to do so. By returning home we can lead the path to create more opportunities for other students to also return home. I can confidently vouch that ATS is the right choice.”
ATS invited all interested young professionals to visit booth 19 at Fred Expo on May 11 at the World Trade Centre WTC in Rotterdam. ATS will be sharing a booth with Social and Health Insurance SZV and HR+ Consulting. The exposition hours are from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm.
Source: The Daily Herald https://www.thedailyherald.sx/islands/87395-audit-team-st-maarten-continues-recruitment-drive
View comments
Hide comments