In this article, both Stijn and Sebastiaan discuss their roles as a board member of Asset | Accounting & Finance. First, Stijn will talk more about his experiences as the Chairman, and then Sebastiaan will share more about his work as External Affairs.

Stijn Smits

As a Chairman, Stijn is responsible for the policy of and external communication to parties such as Asset and the University. He also coordinates the StudyTour committee and the Alumni Committee. In this article, Stijn explains what his position entails and how he spends his days as Chairman of Asset | Accounting & Finance.

In this article I want to share with you my story as Chairman of perhaps one of the most special years of my life.

I have not regretted for a second becoming a board member. However, I often get the question, “What do you actually do every day?” In this article, I want to answer that and get rid of that question once and for all. I will take you through an “average” week as Chairman of Asset | Accounting & Finance.
9 a.m.: Every Monday morning we begin with our regular board meeting, which starts at 9 a.m. by default. We always hold these meetings at our offices in Building E, above Café Esplanade, where we can generally be found throughout the week. During this meeting, we discuss a wide range of topics, including our daily tasks, the activities of our committees, planned events, and other relevant matters at the Asset General level. Of course, we also take time to catch up on our weekends.
1 p.m.: After the meeting, we often have lunch together, after which everyone returns to their tasks. I often prepare meetings scheduled for later in the week. I also use the time after our board meeting to prepare for Asset General’s rundown scheduled for Tuesday morning. During the rest of the day, I work on various smaller tasks, such as looking for alumni willing to speak about their career paths at an information session we host for students, the Master Experience Day. In addition, I review reports from students participating in the Certificate of Extracurricular Excellence program for both Accountancy and Finance, a certification program we run jointly with the university’s Accountancy and Finance departments, which I coordinate.
4:30 p.m.: I sit down with Sven to go over the acquisition and formal events of the StudyTour. He supports me in this when it comes to contacting offices.

Tuesday

9.30am: Tuesday morning begins with an Asset General meeting, namely the General Board Meeting (GBM). This is a meeting with all the Chairman of the Asset departments, the EBT and the MAK (all supported by Asset). Within the General Board of Asset I am the Treasurer, which means that I am responsible for all finances within Asset and lead the Treasurers Meeting. This is the financial body of Asset in which all treasurers are represented. I am also responsible for liaising with Asset’s external stakeholders. GBM is chaired by Hugo Uitdehaag, the current Independent Chairman. Even though it can sometimes be a bit chaotic sitting with all the Chairmen together, GBM is often one of the more enjoyable meetings of the week. You can see what is going on in other departments. But you also discuss issues that are important at the faculty level.
13:00: After GBM, we always have lunch together with our A&F board at 13:00. This is always a nice moment in the week. We discuss the latest gossip and often talk about the parties and get-togethers we’ve had. As you might have noticed, we deliberately don’t talk about A&F-related matters. We do this enough during the rest of the week. I am just not joining you for lunch, as I am having lunch later with Judith and Joyce from the university’s Accountancy Department.
2:00 p.m.: Later in the day, a lunch appointment is scheduled with Joyce Ladenstein of Student Career Services and Judith Künneke, the Academic Director of the university’s Accountancy Department. As Chairman, I am primarily charged with liaising with the university. We support each other and exchange ideas on various topics, such as education, student development and our official events. Usually, our meetings take place online, but a few times a year we also go to lunch together. We speak to each other about once every three weeks, but in addition I am in regular email contact with both of them.
15:30: On Tuesday afternoon I always meet with the StudyTour committee. This is an important meeting because we talk about the state of affairs and what still needs to be done for the StudyTour.

The meetings with all stakeholders not only ensure that there is good contact with the other parties that we as Asset | Accounting & Finance have to deal with, but you also get to know everyone personally and build nice relationships.

Wednesday

10 a.m.: This morning we are scheduled to meet with Peter de Goeij and Leontine van der Heijden, respectively the Academic Director and the Education Coordinator of the Finance Department. Joyce also joins this meeting again. We discuss the usual business and also focus on the upcoming edition of the Private Equity Day. Together with Sven, I am currently busy preparing for this event. Besides business matters, we also regularly share personal experiences, such as how our weekend went and my considerations regarding my choice of study. At the beginning of the year, I didn’t have a clear idea of how I wanted to shape my career, but through the many conversations with the university and companies during our events, I have gained a better understanding of how I want to shape my career after college.
2 p.m.: Wednesday afternoon is always dedicated to my room service at the General Board Office, Hugo’s office. This is a time during the week when I can shut down from the sometimes busy A&F room and work on hard tasks. I often prepare for the Treasurers Meeting that takes place on Thursday morning and work on other financial tasks for the General Board.

Thursday

10:00 Every Thursday from 10 to 11 I prepare for the Treasurers’ Meeting, but also sit with the treasurers updating the budget and going after our debtors.
11:00 At 11 am the Treasurers Meeting begins where we discuss Asset General financial matters and give each other financial updates on our Asset General events. After this meeting, I always sit with some of the Treasurers to update Asset General’s books and records.
3 p.m.: Today we have a FAN meeting scheduled. FAN, or Financial Association Netherlands, is a collaboration of several financial study associations in the Netherlands: the FSA (Amsterdam), FSR (Rotterdam), SCOPE (Maastricht) and FSG (Groningen). During this meeting, we will discuss the different events within the different cities. It is interesting to see the similarities and differences between the associations. We exchange experiences and discuss common challenges, such as responding effectively to the recruitment needs of our partner companies.

Friday

On Fridays, I always prepare for the board meeting that takes place again after the weekend, but I also work on tasks that were left over during the week. Friday is a nice day for me because I don’t often have fixed meetings scheduled. I use this day to sit separately with my board members to discuss the last tasks that need to be done, but also with the treasurers of the departments to check off the last financial tasks for Asset General.

Weekend

On the weekends, I try to relax and often visit my parents, go out during the day or study. I also use the weekend to run errands, clean my room and exercise. Besides working hard, both your own physical and mental health is very important. Everyone takes care of this in their own way. As a Chairman, it is important to look after the other board members as well. Make sure they are healthy, cheerful and happy. A board year can be intense, but in the end, you do it together and for your own development and enjoyment. I share many of my stories with my family, many of whom, like many others, don’t really understand what I do. I always have dinner with my parents on Sunday evening and I look over the agenda for the board meeting on Monday morning. Then I go back to Tilburg and the week can start again from scratch, but of course every week is different.

Sebastiaan Dollevoet

As External Affairs, Sebastiaan is responsible for liaising with the current and future partners of Asset | Accounting & Finance. He also coordinates the Accounting Expedition Committee, the Orientation Committee and investment club A&F Investments. Together with the treasurer of the board Isa, he is also responsible for organizing the FinanceDay. In this article Sebastiaan explains what his position entails and how he experienced a year as External Affairs of Asset | Accounting & Finance.

Who am I?

My name is Sebastiaan Dollevoet and I am 22 years old. I was born and raised in Asten, a village located between Eindhoven and Venlo. In September 2020 I started my bachelor in Business Economics at Tilburg University which I completed in 2023. After I moved to Tilburg in October 2022, I came in contact with the study association Asset | Accounting & Finance through fellow students. Because I did not know many people outside my studies, I decided to become active in Asset A&F right away. I then became active in the CityTrip committee where, together with other committee members, I organized a 4-day trip to Berlin for the members of A&F.

Why did I choose a board year?

Before I became an active member of Asset A&F halfway through the third year of my bachelor, I never really had a clear idea of what a board year at a study association entails. As a result, I had never seriously considered it either. But when I got involved in Asset | Accounting & Finance during my final year of my bachelor, I quickly discovered that a study association is very sociable and that you can get to know many people. In addition, it provides enough relaxation between studying through informal activities. Moreover, you can also participate in formal events that allow you to better orient yourself on the job market. Because I had a great time with my committee and got to know many other members at A&F, the idea of doing a board year at A&F came more and more to my mind. Even though I knew I wanted to do a master in Finance, I thought three years of consecutive study was enough for now and I needed another challenge. So eventually I found out that a board year at A&F would be the perfect opportunity for this! Finally, it was the ultimate opportunity for me to develop myself both personally and professionally and to boost my CV.

What exactly does the External Affairs position consist of?

As External Affairs, you are responsible for all business contact and therefore also deal with everything that concerns the partners of Asset | Accounting & Finance. A big part of this is acquiring partners for events and exposure opportunities. When you start your board year as External Affairs, you will visit all the partners with your predecessor over the summer to discuss partnership opportunities for the coming year. This is a fun way to get to know the partners you will be working with that year and to get a good idea of their expectations and goals. At the end of your board year, you and your successor visit all the partners again in the summer and you can reflect together and look back on the cooperation. Besides the company contact, you are responsible for keeping the Career Platform Tilburg up to date, where partners can post a vacancy or company profile. In addition, throughout the year you are often asked for advice or help by companies, which sometimes requires some creativity but allows you to actually mean something to companies. This also gives a lot of space for your own interpretation of this function.

Point of contact for companies, what else?

Besides maintaining good contact with all partners, you are also involved in other tasks. As External Affairs you also coordinate several committees and in my case, these were the Accounting Expedition Committee, the Orientation Committee and investment club A&F Investments. The Accounting Expedition Committee organizes a two-day corporate event and the Orientation Committee deals with informal activities and actions within the association. The investment club A&F Investments consists of both Dutch and international students who have a passion for investing. Together they manage a portfolio of stocks and regularly pitch new stocks during the meetings. So they are three very different committees, which makes coordinating them fun and varied! Besides the Accounting Expedition, you also organize the FinanceDay with a fellow board member. Because you are responsible for the organization, you learn a lot in terms of planning and communication. You also learn how much it takes to organize a great event. Ultimately, one of the best things about my job is to be able to look back on a successful event where both companies and students were enthusiastic. During these events you also get many opportunities to network with companies and of course you often speak to your own partners. Furthermore, once a week you will also participate in the Acquisition Meeting with all other externals from Asset’s departments. Here you will discuss all external matters of Asset such as the acquisition of new partners or the Career Platform Tilburg. Each external also has one or more task forces within the Acquisition Meeting. Mine are General Revenues and Cold Acquisition. In these task forces, we look at different ways to make money and attract new partners for Asset Tilburg. In doing so, you make sure the brochure is updated, but you also brainstorm new events and opportunities, such as lunch lectures.

What are the main points of development as External Affairs?

During a board year, you learn a lot on both a personal and professional level. You will face certain challenges where you have to learn not to let stress take over and to keep an overview. You will also learn what it is like to work intensively with a group of people and how important it is to communicate well with each other. We keep each other informed about what we are doing and what we are up against. This way you can help each other out. You also learn that it is important to indicate your limits in time when it becomes too much and to learn to ask for help. As External Affairs, I also had to step out of my comfort zone at times because it is a job where you often have to defend certain positions, and as External Affairs you are of course in contact with everyone. This position was perfect to push my boundaries in this area. If you set certain goals for yourself at the beginning of your board year, you can achieve a lot!

What I would like to share with my successors

In the beginning, a board year can be quite chaotic. Do not worry about this. In the end you always have your fellow board members around you who can help you and it is quite normal that you have to learn a lot in the beginning. Also, everyone makes mistakes and, eventually, you only learn from them. It is important that you do not forget to enjoy all the beautiful and fun experiences you are having and that you do not forget to look back once in a while at what you have achieved and what you can be proud of. Does this appeal to you and would you like to know more about my experience? Or do you have other practical questions about a board year? Feel free to contact me or drop by room E1.07 in the Esplanade building!