My board year as External Affairs Officer at Asset IB&M!
Hi everyone!
Time really flies when you are having fun, because it is already time to start looking for the external affairs officer of 2018 – 2019, which (unfortunately) means that my board year is slowly coming to an end. Luckily, I can already look back at some great experiences and fun moments, which I am happy to tell you about in this blog!
Who am I?
For the people that do not know me yet: my name is Daphne Roovers, I am 21 years old and I graduated from the bachelor International Business Administration last year June. In my third year, I went on exchange to Hongkong which was really the highlight of my studies!
Moreover, I have always been quite active besides my study: In my first year (2014-2015, I am an oldie), I joined the First Year Committee at Asset|IB&M. After doing a faculty wide committee in my second year, I wanted to do a big committee in my last year, which turned out to be the Consultancy Days, was the first time I got in touch with doing acquisition. Even though starting to call remains difficult, I really enjoyed it.
Being an External Affairs Officer
When I was in the last semester of IBA, I already knew that I was not go
ing to start my Master in the next year, as I was not sure yet which Master I wanted to do, and I did not want to rush that decision. After getting information about all the possibilities of doing a board year at all kinds of associations, and also applying for more boards, I decided in the end that a board year at IB&M fitted me best. I really like that you are in such close contact with your members. Moreover, as IBA and International Management are both quite broad study directions, it can be quite a challenge to get companies interested in your association, which I actually think is really interesting. And, lucky for me, after applying I got a phone call that I was selected as one of the two External Affairs Officers of 2017-2018!
I say one of the two, because in the board of Asset IB&M there are two externals, which are Michael van den Eijnden and I. Michael started in January and will stay until January 2019. Together, we are responsible for all the contact IB&M has with companies. This ranges from keeping in touch with our corporate partners, which are the companies that signed a contract with us in the summer, from doing ‘cold acquisition’. This means that we are also responsible for getting new partners for our association. For example, we ask companies if they want to promote their business courses to our students or we try to get companies interested in our events. This is really nice, as you are not only learning how to communicate with companies in a way that fits (which is not always as formal as you would think), but also getting to know recruiters, which might be convenient for your future. For me personally this is really beneficial, as I am not sure in which direction I want to follow my masters. By being an external, you get in touch with a lot of companies and career possibilities, which broadened my horizon.
In the summer, as an external, you are going to visit all your current and potential new partners in the summer rounds, which gives you the opportunity to see a lot of companies from the inside. This part of my board year is still coming up, which I am really excited about!
Lastly, we are the representatives of IB&M in the Acquisition Meeting of Asset General. This is the meeting were all the externals of all Asset departments come together once a week. This ‘organ’ within Asset is responsible for all acquisition and for the organization of events such as the Master Experience Days and the Asset Inhouse Days.
Other tasks
Next to my general function tasks I of course also have some other tasks that I am responsible for. I have been the coordinator of the IBA Week Committee, which organized a big 3-day event with 7 companies and 150 students attending, which was really cool. Moreover, I am responsible for the Finals Committee, which is a committee consisting of old board members of Asset IB&M. 3 times a year, they organize nice events for the alumni of our association, which is really nice as you can see where all these people ended up, and of course also just have a nice chat. Finally, this semester I took over the Exchange Committee and the Women Event Committee, which is taking place for the first time this year! In the beginning of each semester you, together with your board, divide all committees, so you can try to get the committees you like. However, if a committee requires acquisition to be done, an external is usually the coordinator of this committee, which is convenient as you can keep the overview more easily.
In your board year, every day will be different. However, I hope this overview below gives you somewhat of an insight of what my week looks like in general:
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Monday |
Morning |
Board Meeting |
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Afternoon |
Meeting with the IBA Week committee |
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Update email |
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Evening |
Informal activity with IBA Week Committee |
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Tuesday |
Morning |
Cold acquisition with Michael |
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Afternoon |
Meeting with Women Event Committee |
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Fill in evaluation forms IBA Week |
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Evening |
Free evening ☺ |
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Wednesday |
Morning |
Board Training @ Ormit |
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Afternoon |
Board Training |
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Evening |
Dinner with the Finals Committee |
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Thursday |
Morning |
Acquisition brainstorm and calling with Michael |
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Afternoon |
Meeting with Exchange Committee |
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Preparing Acquisition Meeting (external meeting of Asset) |
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Acquisition Meeting |
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Evening |
Cycling dinner + Monthly drink |
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Friday |
Morning |
Do small tasks, fill in board agenda |
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Afternoon |
Prepare for cold acquisition next week |
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Evening |
Travel to my parents |
My experiences as a board member
I can honestly say that I have already learned a lot by being a board member. Not only did I learn how to communicate in a professional manner and how to best approach companies, which is of course related to my function, I also learned a lot about how to ‘lead’ a committee and how to motivate them. Moreover, working together with so many different people, but also the same 5 people all the time can be quite challenging. However this gives you a good opportunity to learn a lot about yourself and how you handle certain situations. Besides learning, a board year is of course also a lot of fun with parties, drinks, activities and trips with our 150 active members!
Did you become interested in my function or in doing a board year in general? Do not hesitate to contact me via externalaffairs@asset-ibm.nl, or drop by room E1.14!
- Enexis Management Traineeship - April 9, 2024
- Being a working student at MAZARS: My experience - November 28, 2023
- Day in the life of a student/intern/active member - April 6, 2023