Portrait of: Soufyan Berhili

Portrait of: Soufyan Berhili

Meet our team: today a portrait of Soufyan Berhili.


Soufyan Berhili, 27, who lives in Amsterdam, is a junior assistant accountant at Kuipers & Claassen. He currently handles administration, invoicing, banking transactions and performs audits for financial statements. At the office, he is usually addressed as "Souf.

Dutch-born Soufyan moves as a seven-year-old boy with his entire family to Morocco, located in northern Africa, where he spends much of his childhood and adolescent years. After graduating from high school, he goes to college. At the Lycée Zineb Ennafzaouia in Oujda, he obtains his baccalaureate, the French national academic qualification that students can obtain at the end of lyceum.He then goes on to study English literature at the Faculty of Arts and Humanities of the Mohammed PremierUniversity in Oujda. Although English is not a primary language in Morocco, he expects to make a living as an English teacher.

Soufyan's older brother and sister soon return to the Netherlands because they have difficulty learning the Arabic language. At a later stage, Soufyan follows his brother and sister. He breaks off his study of English literature. After returning to the Netherlands, he lives with his grandmother in Beverwijk for about two years. Once he finds a job and has sufficient income, he moves to Amsterdam-Noord where he shares a house with a friend for about a year. After corona also enters the Netherlands, both lose their jobs. Currently he lives on his own.

Soon after his return to the Netherlands, Soufyan is able to work as a construction worker through a client of his brother. After six months he changed jobs and started working as a cleaner at Lovers Canal Cruises, a company that organizes canal cruises in Amsterdam. While working there, Soufyan, who speaks not only Dutch but also English, French, Darija and Arabic, finds it easy to make contact with tourists. His helpfulness towards customers catches the management's eye, and for the next ten months Soufyan is able to continue his work as a steward. He continues his career as a steward at competitor Stromma, which also organizes tours of Amsterdam's canals. Here he also obtains his company first aid certificate. After eighteen months he is promoted to team leader where he becomes responsible for team coordination and planning. The thought of someday operating his own canal boat still haunts him.

The latter shipping company also employs the wife of his current colleague Jayme Buter, who accompanied his wife during a housewarming party for Soufyan. The contact is made. When, due to the economic consequences of the coronavirus, Soufyan's contract with shipping company Stromma is not renewed, he again comes into contact with Jayme. Jayme is employed by Total in Support, a company based in Heemskerk that provides administration, fiscal and business advice for its clients. Although this is a whole new challenge for Soufyan, he is well supported by his new colleague Jayme. In November 2022, part of the personnel and operations of Total in Support will be taken over by Kuipers & Claassen. Both Soufyan and Jayme will transfer to the new company for them.

In order to perform his duties, Kuipers & Claassen gives him the opportunity to become proficient in his new field through training courses. Among other things, he is currently taking an eight-month vocational course in Exact Accounting through NHA, one of the largest schools for home courses and training in the Netherlands. Due to the broader career opportunities at Kuipers & Claassen, his ambition is to become a financial planner.

Animated, Soufyan tells of his plans as a little boy to become a garbage man. Jumping on the back of one of those big trucks and then dashing through the streets. As realistic as he is,this idea never became serious. In addition, he still dreams of becoming a professional drifter in addition to his work. Whether his parents know that he occasionally used their car in Morocco for this purpose, he does not know. They won't be happy about it, he thinks. The driver's license he obtained in Morocco has not yet been converted to a Dutch one. Although he no longer plays sports regularly at the moment, he still cycles to work every day.

Sports-minded Soufyan practiced various sports in his younger years, including soccer, kickboxing and the Korean martial art taekwondo. Whenever he gets the chance, he takes on adventure. Soufyan knows the feeling of adrenaline in his body. For example, Soufyan stepped out of a plane at 10,000 feet at Teuge airport with a tandem jump. Whether it's diving in Italy, bungee jumping or snowboarding, he does it.

More important than sports, he believes it is to help other people. Often called a "people pleaser" by others, the well-being of other people is really close to his heart. He has plenty of ideas to give shape to his big heart for others in the future. Especially in Morocco, where some 45% of residents consider themselves poor, according to a survey conducted in the period 2012-2019 by the National Observatory for Human Development. Whether the "Souf" foundation - with or without the support of his employer - will see the light of day in the future will be seen.

The sociable Soufyan easily steps up to people. In the student complex where he currently lives, he likes to take the initiative to organize a party. 'King of HiCondo' he is also called, related to the name of the building. In this way, new residents are brought into contact with other residents in a low-threshold way. He is also active online. On Twitch, the interactive livestreaming platform for games, he gets to know one of his best friends. That he lives in Germany does not matter. Their meeting in real life has already taken place.

Soufyan is not easily angered. If something doesn't work out, he can get cranky. On the other hand, he can enjoy all the little things. From a weekend away to good food. Because of his sensitive nature, he can empathize well. He does not like reading books. He prefers watching movies. When he gets emotional while watching a movie, he really empathizes with the characters in the film.

Soufyan can enjoy music immensely, especially old school rap such as Tupac Amaru Shakur - considered by many to be one of the most influential rappers of all time - and Christopher George Latore Wallace, the now also deceased American rapper known as The Notorious B.I.G. or Biggie for short. That Soufyan is a big fan of Tupac is evidenced by the fact that he has a large poster and several T-shirts of him at home. He regrets that attending a concert is out of the question so he can indulge his passion for these musicians.

The core values of passion and proactive fit Soufyan best, he believes. It does not exclude the other core values, but he likes to learn new things and face challenges. "You do need to be awake at work," he explains his choice of proactive as an evening person, "I need coffee for that. Unlike his previous jobs, he sees Kuipers & Claassen offering more opportunities to grow in his profession and develop further.

 

Quotes

I totally did not expect to come and work here.

I am happy with what I have accomplished so far.

I do know what I want to become here.

My mother often says I am too sweet for this world.

I dare quite a lot of things.

With skydiving, I really thought I was going to die.

I enjoy getting to know new people.

I'm really a very laid-back person.

I would like to leave a footstep before I die.