This article will tell you why a board year might be the next step you would want to take. It includes a description of the positions available in the Asset S&L board, experiences from the current board and the application procedure.
We will start off with the main reasons of the current board members to do a board year:
- “I was considering multiple options to gain (work) experience, without starting a full-time job. A board year includes work experience while still living the student life, which most appealed to me.” – Gus den Biesen
- “I was looking for gaining experience during my studies, and as I am still young and in the student life, I wanted to do a board year during my bachelors. It also gives you time to think about what you want to do after your bachelors, which I like.” – Jef Hermes
- “I always wanted to do a board year, because it opens many doors after you’re finished and it is a whole lot of fun as well.” – Jody Rutjens
Conclusion: a board year gives you the fun of being a student while gaining a lot of work experience as well – leaving you with a large network for the rest of your life!
Within the board, there are multiple roles you can take on. Later on in the article, a more elaborate description of each role will be provided.
Jody is the Chairman of Asset S&L, and she is enjoying this as it is actually a double board role: you’re in the board of S&L and of the general Asset board. “I like to take the lead and have multiple responsibilities, being in this position gives me a very broad view of the association as a whole.”
Jef is the Vice Chairman of Asset S&L. He likes this function as he likes to be a bit more “behind the scenes” compared to Jody, and enjoys coordinating between different units in the association.
Gus became Treasurer as his goal was once to become an accountant. He now figured that that is not the kind of life he wants to have later, but that he still likes to work with numbers. “Treasurer is the only function in which you are mainly working with numbers, which I really enjoy.”
Jorinda is the External Affairs Officer and Secretary of the association. She enjoys the fact that this role allows you to get a better grip on what you would like to do later. “You are meeting a lot of companies, which gives you many ideas and connections. It’s a great way to meet potential employers in different settings.”
The things they most enjoy about the board year overall are the following:
“You’re meeting so many people and companies, which is very nice if you’re an extrovert like me. You will become very good friends with your fellow boardies and other active members.” – Jody Rutjens
“The diversity of every week is what I enjoy most. Every day is different as there are a lot of different activities going on: formalities like company days, meetings with the board and informal activities like the cantus and Thursday-afternoon drinks. It requires a large amount of multi-tasking.” – Jorinda van Sas
“You grow as a person: a board year includes a large amount of self-development and gives you time to figure out what you really like and what you want in your life. It is great for developing soft skills.” – Jef Hermes
To conclude: No day is the same and there is a lot of room for self-development, you learn how to work in groups, to present, to discuss in informal and formal settings and you create a large network!
The function descriptions are as follows:
Chairman
As a chairman, you’re responsible for all activities within the association. The chairman always has to be informed about the development of projects, how things are developing within the departments and commissions of the association and the atmosphere and culture of the organisation. The chairman is responsible for effective communication between departments and makes sure that everyone feels at ease in his or her function. Moreover, the chairman is the person of contact with the university. The key is to look for an intensive and stable collaboration, where both parties gain added value. The chairman also has a seat in the general Asset Board, in which he/she is representing the opinions and thoughts of the Asset S&L board. Within the general Asset Board, subjects like the organisational structure of Asset, the type of cooperation between Asset and the university and the projects which should be set up or discontinued in the association.
Vice Chairman
The Vice Chairman (VC) coordinates between active members and the promotion of the association. The VC will talk with potential new active members to appoint a commission to them, which best suits their wishes. The VC also keeps contact with the active members and leads the Active Members Meeting. This meeting consist of the chairs of each commission, considering updates on developments of each commission. The VC also has a place in the Asset Academy (AA), in which all VC’s of Asset come together once a week. The AA is responsible for the promotion of Asset. Moreover, the VC takes place in the Bedrijfseconomie (BE)-cluster: you’ll be responsible for promotion and events of Asset amongst first en second-year bedrijfseconomie studenten. The VC replaces the Chairman when absent.
Treasurer
As treasurer, you are responsible for the financials of the association. You are the bookkeeper, but there is no previous experience with bookkeeping required for the function. After every quarter, you meet with previous treasurers to check your profit and loss statement. Moreover, you present the financial results of the association each half year. You collaborate with the treasurers of other Asset associations, to take care of the general bookkeeping of Asset.
External Affairs Officer
As External Affairs Officer (EAO), you are responsible for all contact between Asset S&L and companies, other organisations and partners. You are the salesman of Asset S&L: you have a large impact on the revenues of the association. Despite finding partners for formal activities, you are also responsible for selling mailings and other forms of sponsorship. As EAO, you are meeting weekly with the Faculty-Wide Organ. In these Acquisition Meetings, a honest stake between responsibilities for organising Asset-wide activities are made. Discussions can heat up fairly, this function therefore requires you to stand your ground.
Secretary
As a secretary, you are responsible for taking meeting minutes, answering mails in the Asset S&L mailbox, coordinating the commissions and making the monthly Asset mail. You have a lot of small tasks which requires you to be precise and organised to perform well within this function.
Interested?
You can apply by sending an email containing your CV and motivation letter to chairman@asset-strategylogistics.nl. Applications will open March 25th and close on May 3rd.
If you are interested but still in doubt, or if you are still full of questions, interested in tips and tricks from the current board: join the information session on the 22nd of February (this Friday). There are two sessions: session I runs from 10:30 until 12:30 and session II runs from 13:00 until 15:00. If you are unable to join, you are more than welcome to come and have a cup of coffee with the current board members in the Asset rooms, and you can always contact them via the e-mail addresses below.
The current board consist of:
Name: Jody Rutjens
Function: Chairman
Education: MSc Strategic Management
Contact: chairman@asset-strategylogistics.nl
Name: Jef Hermes
Function: Vice Chairman
Education: BSc Bedrijfseconomie
Contact: vice-chairman@asset-strategylogistics.nl
Name: Gus den Biesen
Education: MSc Supply Chain Management
Function: Treasurer
Contact: treasurer@asset-strategylogistics.nl
Name: Jorinda van Sas
Function: External Affairs Officer and Secretary
Education: MSc Strategic Management
Contact: secretary@asset-strategylogistics.nl
We hope you now have better insight in what doing a board year is all about. We hope to see you at the information session if you are considering doing a board year yourself!
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