A board year as External Affairs of Asset | Accounting & Finance – Thomas Mols

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Who am I?

I am Thomas Mols, 22 years old and from Tilburg. A year ago I became active at Asset | Accounting & Finance in my third year of the bachelor International Business Administration. After six months of doing committee work for the Finance Expedition, I became more familiar with A&F. I participated in almost every activity, getting to know a lot of people and making great memories. Besides studying and A&F, I spent my free time in the gym and mostly among other people.

Why did I choose the function external?

In the third year of my bachelor’s degree, the corona measures got lessened and I felt working life was already approaching. I had the urge to get more out of my college days so I joined A&F. By joining events often, I quickly got to know the association. I always ruled out a board year because I would have to take a break from studying. After a good conversation with some of the board members, I finally saw the value of a board year and decided to apply.

What interested me most was the practical work a board member does. After several years of working in theoretical subjects only, I needed a change. In addition, I was unsure of which master’s degree I wanted to pursue, and I thought it would be useful to get a better idea of the possibilities offered by different masters during the year. The external affairs position specifically attracted me the most because you have contact with many companies and can get an inside look at everything. At the same time, I believed I could learn the most with this position.

What does it deliver?

The most important thing is that you are one board together. Within the board, everyone has a function with delineated responsibilities, so everyone looks at situations with their own perspective and gives their input from there. Decisions are often made together. During a board year you learn to work together very well. Not only within A&F, but also together with the other Asset departments as you will engage in consultation or discussion. You will learn how to identify interests, work and perform under pressure and how to present your opinion or strategy.

In addition to the role within the board and within A&F, as external affairs you have a major role towards the outside world. You translate the wishes of companies into the opportunities the association can offer. How you want to position the association as a board is translated by the external to companies and students in the contact you have on a daily basis. So during the board year you learn to communicate in a changing context. By being in contact with so many people, both students and business people, you’re bound to build a huge network. A very useful extra for the future!

What do I do as an external?

As winter external affairs, you start up the Financial Business Dinner and Finance Expedition committees at the beginning of your year. You make sure the committee members know what their tasks are and guide them through the rest of the year in the work they do. In addition, you are responsible for all social media channels. This means you will help shape the policies that are written by the board during the summer. In the summer, you also help write this policy. In any case, with social media you focus on increasing the reach of the channels. During the year you will occasionally help organize other events and activities. These activities ensure the development you go through in collaborating and communicating.

An important task that you perform at different times during the year is doing acquisition for collaborations with companies. The challenge in this is that you have different ways of entering into a conversation. The trick is to get a grip on the interests of the other party, to understand the context and to respond appropriately.

As I mentioned earlier, you are also part of a board. You sometimes take over tasks from each other and jump in where necessary. In addition to managing your own department, you form “task forces” with other directors who take on tasks together. These range from organizing Master Experience Days to coming up with new Asset Member Card deals. In organizing events and the regular tasks you have, you don’t have unlimited time. Therefore, it is important that you prioritize and work efficiently. Because of the range of tasks you have, you will learn responsibility and develop time management skills.

Conclusion

All in all, a board year is a great opportunity to develop yourself and gradually make some amazing memories along the way. And to top it all off you get to help build the greatest study association that Tilburg has to offer!