The life of an external at ASSET | IB&M

The life of an external at ASSET | IB&M

9 months ago, I started my journey as a full-time board member at Asset | International Business & Management. Even though it seems like yesterday when I started, it is time to start looking back at an amazing year.

INTRODUCTION

For those who don’t know me yet, my name is Koen Aarns and I am currently the External Affairs Officer of the board. I am in my fourth and final year of IBA and have taken a year away from studying to help lead Asset | International Business & Management. After my board year I will finish my bachelor by writing my thesis and doing a few courses.

My time at Asset International Business & Management started when I decided to join the European Travel Committee to Portugal three years ago. At that time I just arrived in Tilburg and I started to look for ways to get to know new people. During this committee, I gained my first experience with calling companies and doing acquisition.

In my third year, I went on exchange to Montreal, Canada. The board applications opened when I was still on exchange, and I decided to go through the application process via Skype.

WHAT DOES MY BOARD YEAR LOOK LIKE?

Let’s start with the fact that it is impossible for me to describe what my day usually looks like. There are many different things I do and every day is different. However, there is some structure: every working day starts between 9.00 AM and 10.00 AM and ends between 17.00 and 19.00. To give an idea of what I do, I attached a schedule of a week.

Monday
Morning Board meeting IB&M
Afternoon Finish Internship Guide with Matthijs + Training with Acquisition Committee
Evening Dinner at Happy Italy and party at Live bar with Acquisition Committee
Tuesday
Morning Answer e-mails of our partners
Afternoon Active Members Day @ Den Bosch
Evening Monthly Drink
Wednesday
Morning Cold Acquisition: call potential new companies
Afternoon Handing out flyers + Meeting Consultancy Days
Evening /
Thursday
Morning Answering e-mails + meeting Acquisition Committee
Afternoon Acquisition & Sales Training by Power2Improve
Evening Constitution Drink
Friday
Morning Acquisition Meeting (AM) with the externals of all Asset departments
Afternoon Meeting First Year Committee
Evening /

THE FUNCTION OF EXTERNAL AFFAIRS OFFICER

As External Affairs Officer I am responsible for three main areas:

– The contact person for half of our company contacts, maintaining their sponsoring and actively approaching them for acquisition

– Having a seat in the Acquisition meeting of Asset, deciding on faculty wide acquisition and events

– The coordination of three committees: the Acquisition Committee, Consultancy Days Committee and First Year Committee.

The most important period in the year for me as external was summer. During this period, all contracts with our partners are being revised and new contracts and possibilities of cooperation are discussed. This means that I visited a lot of companies in Amsterdam, Rotterdam, and Utrecht to negotiate what kind of sponsoring fitted best to the company’s’ interest and in what event(s) they participate.

For me, one of the best things about my function is the personal contact with recruiters. The contact with companies is much more informal than I thought before.  As you see here, the recruitment of Nike even asked us to take a selfie when Fleur and I visited them in summer.

blog-post-koen

Another thing that is unique about doing a board year at Asset | International Business & Management is the freedom you get to set up your own projects within the association. An example of this is the Consultancy Days: up until this year, the event took place at one day with room for two companies. However, after noticing growing potential, we decided to grow the event to a much bigger event. This resulted in a three-day event with 9 participating companies. In our board, you really have the possibility to be an entrepreneur and take on as many challenges as you want.

Other great things about my board year include the many drinks and parties, board weekends, personal development by means of trainings, and the contact with our 100 active members.

In the end, a board year will be a year full of ups and downs, stressful moments, new experiences and most of all a lot of fun. Did you become interested in doing a board year after reading this blog? Do not hesitate to contact me for more information!

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