Welcome to our first Go-Business article of the academic year 2022-2023! After long discussions, we realized that the best topic for this article would be something to help other students with their future. That is why diving into the life of Hugo Breuning was the…
Over the past 10 months, I have been the Vice-Chairman of Asset | IB&M. In this article, you can read about my experiences over the past months and get more insight into what a board year and being vice entails. My name is Mylene van…
Hello, my name is Nils Oskam, and this past academic year I have filled the position of Secretary of the Board at Asset | International Business & Management. In this article, you can read about my experiences as a board member and gain some more insights into my function.
I am 21 years old and I am from a small village in the Flevopolder called Biddinghuizen (famous for Walibi Holland & Lowlands, if you did not know). I started studying International Business Administration in 2019 and after my board year, I will go on exchange and finish my third year of IBA.
I have lived in Tilburg for roughly 3 years now, ever since I started my bachelor International Business Administration. After my board year, I will officially start my third year with an exchange to Sydney if everything goes through.
Why did I decide to do a board year?
I was always intrigued by the idea of doing a board year at Asset | IB&M, however the decisive factor for me was the impact of Covid-19 on my exchange. When I applied, I was accepted into Queen’s University in Canada; however, I was afraid that I would spend the majority of my time in Canada indoors on my laptop due to corona. And like I said I had always been interested in doing a board year at IB&M, so I started thinking about applying, such that I could do something back for the organization which got me through the corona period, and at the same time, I could postpone my exchange. This meant that I was able to get a “proper” exchange, while also doing something that is great for you professionally.
Additionally doing a board year would look good on my CV, would give me the chance to build out my network, make new friends and it is the perfect mix between formal and informal, since you essentially lead a company of roughly 200 people, while also still having to chance to enjoy your student life with drinks and fun informal activities.
I decided to write for secretary, because you get to do a lot of different varying tasks, which allows you to learn and improve different skills. Additionally, I was attracted to the technical part of the position, because as a secretary you are in charge of the website and other IB&M-owned platforms.
What was your biggest challenge during your board year?
As a secretary you do not necessarily have committees that organize big formal events or big study trips, only smaller trips and formal events like an IBA Trip and the Parents Day; and while organizing these events in themselves is challenging, for me the biggest challenge was adapting to the steep learning curve and adapting to unforeseen circumstances.
During a board year you learn a lot, from soft to hard skills, and it is a steep learning curve, which is great for your personal development. And the biggest thing I had to adapt to in the beginning was organizing and planning, but after a while, I got used to it, and I became more organized.
Additionally, also due to covid, we had to work under uncertain conditions, and we had to be flexible in planning and organizing our events, which was sometimes a hassle because we had to radically change plans last minute. However, over time we as a board together became better at anticipating and we could act with more certainty.
What did you spend most of your time on during your board year?
I spent most of my time behind the computer, working on the site. As already mentioned as secretary you are in charge of running the site, this includes putting events on the site, which is something I do quite often. Along with that I also coordinate 5 committees, the First Year Committee, the Orange Pride Committee, the IM Committee, the IBA Committee and the alumni committee “The Finals”. As secretary, you are automatically assigned the IBA and the IM committee because you are in charge of the study support portfolio, and these committees work on updating and improving the guidelines.
Next to that, I am in three Faculty Wide Organs:
The Webmaster Meeting, where I meet with all the webmasters of the different departments, to discuss the website and the backend system we use.
The Secretaries Meeting, where I meet with all the secretaries of the departments to discuss the year planning and the member database.
The Study Support Meeting, where I discuss the various forms of study support we offer, this meeting is in collaboration with the MAK.
So, as you can see I am also quite busy with my recurring meetings every week.
What did you learn during your board year?
The biggest thing I learned during my board year is to plan and organize, before my board year I did not even use an agenda, and now I use it extensively. Organizing was also one of the things I really hoped to improve during my board year, and I am happy to say that this is the case. Additionally, by attending our formal events, and talking with recruiters and companies, I have gotten a better idea of what I would like to do after I finish my studies. Lastly, when on the board you closely work together with 5 other people, every day; thus, I have improved my ability to work in a team, which is a great skill to have for your future career.
I hope this article has given you somewhat of an insight into what it entails to be the Secretary of the board of Asset | International Business & Management. If you ever have any questions about my function, Asset | IB&M in general, or anything I wrote in this article, do not hesitate to contact me via secretary@asset-ibm.nl or +31 61179473.
Are you possibly interested in becoming my successor? You can take a look at our website for more information about my function, the other opening functions, and how to apply!
Hi everyone, My name is Tom Hoskens and this year I am the External Affairs Officer of Asset | International Business & Management. I am 22 years old and I am from Geldrop, a village just beneath Eindhoven. I am currently already living in Tilburg…
Hi everyone, My name is Kevin ter Bogt. This academic year I am the Treasurer of Asset | International Business & Management. I am 21 years old and I am from Lichtenvoorde, in the east of the Netherlands. In 2018 I moved to Tilburg to…
Over the past 10 months, I have been the external affairs officer of the board at Asset | International Business & Management. In this article, you can read about my experiences over the past months and get more insight into what my function entails.
Let me start by introducing myself shortly. My name is Nicole van den Bos, I am 22 years old and was born in a small village near Roosendaal and right now I live in Tilburg. I am studying International Business Administration, which I will finish in the upcoming year. Over the past 10 months, I have had the function of External Affairs Officer. Let me tell you a little bit about my motivation to be part of the board and my experiences over the past months.
Why a board year?
Up to one year ago, I never saw myself as a person that would do a board year. This changed when I went to the board information session, where I gained insight into what it means to be a board member at Asset | International Business & Management. At that time, I was at home busy with my minor courses because my exchange to Athens was canceled due to COVID-19. This meant studying at home for me, as it was for almost everybody.
After the information session, my curiosity for the function had grown a lot. This is why I decided to have a talk with one of the two external affairs officers at that time. She was very enthusiastic about my interest and answered a lot of questions I had. I decided to apply, I was making the decision, in contrast to my exchange and online classes that were due to the virus.
My experiences
When I was officially installed as a board member, I was sitting in my room, behind my laptop because of the curfew that was applicable at that time. The first months were filled with online workshops and beer tastings as well as virtual game nights. When the temperature was going up again, the measurements were lifting as well. We were able to host physical events in small groups and later on even at the terrace. Right now, it is allowed to go clubbing again and we can work at our office every day.
This major change in the year has made it possible for me to learn a lot of different things. Where in the start, we had to adjust to the measurements and do everything differently than we were used to in the years before. We had to be creative and we could implement our own ideas, which made everything great in its own, unique way.
At the moment, my board year is different compared to when I started. As mentioned, we are now allowed to work at the office all workdays. Besides, we are able to organize parties again. This also means physical meetings with committees and seeing different faces coming by the rooms during the day, which is a lot of fun.
The main task of an external affairs officer is doing acquisition. During summer, as an external affairs officer, you will have the summer rounds, meaning a lot of cold calling and company visits. Where, at the beginning of the summer this was mostly online, at the end of summer we were allowed to visit almost all companies physically. It is of course a lot of fun and very interesting to see many companies from the inside.
Would definitely recommend it!
The past year has been a great learning opportunity for me, as well as a great way to expand my social and professional networks. I would definitely recommend doing a board year! It gives great opportunities to develop yourself personally and professionally. I really feel like this has been a highlight of my student career and definitely a time to never forget where I made friends for life!
I hope this article has given you somewhat of an insight into what it entails to be the External Affairs Officer of the board of Asset | International Business & Management. If you ever have any questions about my function, Asset | IB&M in general, or anything I wrote in this article, do not hesitate to contact me via externalaffairs@asset-ibm.nl
Are you possibly interested in becoming my successor? You can take a look at our website for more information about my function, the other opening functions, and how to apply!
For the past ten months I have been the Vice-Chairman of Asset | IB&M. Originally from Bergen op Zoom, my name is Bram Teunissen, and I started my studies in Tilburg in 2018. When I started at IB&M, I joined the promotion committee as chairman,…
Curious about how I experienced my board year? In this article, I will tell you a bit more about being the External Affairs Officer of Asset | International Business & Management. First thing first, let me introduce myself; My name is Laura van Wesel, I…
Hello there,
My name is Anton van Werkum and for the past 9 months I have been the Treasurer of Asset | IB&M.
In 2017 I moved to Tilburg to study International Business Administration, where I joined IB&M as a member of the First Year committee. In my second year I joined Vidar, while also staying active at IB&M. In this year I became the chairman of the Exchange committee, which organized orientation for students that wanted to go on exchange. In the year after, after spending a semester Canada, I joined the Recruitment Dinner committee and finished my bachelor. The semester after, is where my adventure begins.
Why did I decide to do a board year?
I chose to do a board year at Asset | IB&M mainly because I wanted to develop myself professionally, and to give back to the association that I enjoyed being part of during my bachelor. One of my goals this year was to make sure that there would be large group of students that would feel involved in the association and I am quite happy with how that turned out so far. In terms of developing myself professionally, I felt like there was not a better place to gain management experience during my time as a student than in the board of a study association. On the one hand you get the responsibility of running an organization with over 100 volunteers, and on the other hand your environment understands that you are still a student and are bound to make mistakes occasionally (which I did). Next to that, the prospect of getting to work closely with five other highly motivated students, five days a week, sounded like something I could learn a lot from. All of this, of course, while still being able to enjoy all the perks that student life has to offer.
The reasons why I decided to go for the function of Treasurer were quite simple. I knew that I liked working with numbers, and I was doubting whether to continue pursuing master’s degrees in accounting and finance. For me this meant that a year as Treasurer would not only let me play with numbers for a year, but it would also help me decide whether I enjoyed finance and accounting as much as I thought I did. What also attracted me to role of Treasurer were the responsibility, and the impact on decision making that went paired with the function.
What was your biggest challenge during your board year?
Already in the first few weeks of my time as Treasurer of Asset | IB&M I was thrown in the deep end.
My predecessor gave me a crash course in all things I had to know, and I was then quickly directed to my first big challenge: making a budget for the upcoming year. Where making a budget for a whole year is already a challenge, with almost 30 different committees with different kinds of cashflows, this year was especially difficult. With all the unpredictability regarding COVID-19, it seemed next to impossible to have an idea of what this year was going to look like. With the hopes of being able to return to normal after sitting out one corona semester and organizing hybrid activities, I made a budget. However, it quickly became clear that we had been way too optimistic about the whole corona ordeal. As a board we had to adapt to all the restrictions and change most of our activities into online alternatives. Of course, not all activities were easily translated to Zoom, and therefore some events would no longer be able to take place. For the budget this meant that what I predicted at the start of the year was not at all representative of how the rest of the year was going to look like. This called for action and I worked out different scenarios and back-up plans for the coming months. The challenging part of making new budgets was mainly that there was nothing to fall back on from previous years, as this has never happened before.
What did you spend most of your time on during your board year?
The things I spent most of my time working on were my function specific tasks, coordinating several committees and working on my own projects. My function specific tasks included mainly updating the budget, sending invoices, booking receipts, keeping an eye on the budgets the committees, and having meetings with the treasurers of the committees. It took some time to get used to the bookkeeping software and to learn how to correctly handle invoices, but after a while most of these tasks became a habit. The coordinating of my committees also took some time each week. With most of my committees we had to change our plans and adapt to the new standards set by the pandemic. One of my committees for example that organizes a study trip, had the high hopes of organizing a 10-day trip to northern Europe. Even though we worked hard and kept an eye on all updates regarding the pandemic, we eventually had to realize that a trip already happening in May was a bit too ambitious. Overall, my other committees were able to adapt to the pandemic much better, with the Activities committee we organized several hybrid and online activities, and the Case Competition committee is currently finalizing the preparations for our event next month.
The workload as Treasurer differed per week, mainly depending on the number of events taking place. At the start of the year, for example, I had a lot of meetings with committee treasurers, and spent a lot of time on the budget, but there were not many receipts to be booked or invoices to be sent yet as there were no events. The busiest periods of the year were the weeks in which I had to have my bookkeeping and all financial documents perfectly up-to date for the tax authorities. Making sure every receipt was booked correctly and finding out where those last Euros and cents came from was really satisfying, but it did take a lot of time.
What did you learn during your board year?
First and foremost, this year has taught me how important it is to stay organized. With all the things I wanted to get done, all the events we had scheduled, and everything I wanted from my personal life, it sometimes seemed like it was impossible to juggle everything. I learned how easy it is to get lost without a task list, a planning, and a clean desk, especially when you start your day with a hangover. The corona pandemic has also taught me the importance of flexibility. With all the changes in corona measures I learned how to constantly shift ideas and work with back-up plans. Skills I improved a lot were working in teams, communicating clearly, prioritizing tasks in busy periods and not being afraid to ask for help when necessary.
Overall, I can already look back on a very fruitful year. I am very thankful for all the opportunities that presented themselves this year, and for the team around me. I have been able to develop myself both professionally and personally, and I hope to continue doing so even more in the coming months!
I hope this article has given you somewhat of an insight into what it entails to be the Treasurer of the board of Asset | International Business & Management. If you ever have any questions about my function, Asset | IB&M in general or anything I wrote in this article, do not hesitate to contact me via treasurer@asset-ibm.nl
Are you possibly interested in becoming my successor? You can take a look at our website for more information about my function, the other opening functions, and how to apply!
https://www.asset-ibm.nl/about/board-application-information
Hi There, My name is Ron Lether and for the past 10 months, I have been the Vice-Chairman of Asset | IB&M. I started studying IBA in 2016 and also started doing committee work at the beginning of that year. In my first year, I…
Laurens van Hest on his exchange to Turku, Finland 2020 Fall semester. “What, you actually are on exchange?” This question has been asked to me so many times the last few weeks that I have lost count at this point, however, it did make me…
My name is Gijs Korthout and I am 20 years old. Currently, I am an External Affairs Officer of study association Asset | International Business & Management. Asset | IB&M is the study association for students studying the BSc International Business Administration and the MSc International Management. We serve over 1200 students. In this blog I will tell more about my year as an External Affairs Officer at Asset | IB&M and why I decided to do this.
Before I joined the Board of Asset | IB&M, I have had some years to get to know IB&M already. During my first year, I joined the IBA Committee, of which I was a treasurer. We were responsible for the guidelines, organizing the IBA trip to Frankfurt, the IBA cantus, and the IBA party. After that, I was an External of the Intercontinental Travel Committee. We successfully organized a 16-day trip to Miami and Mexico-City. During the first semester of my third year, I went on exchange to Lima, Peru. The whole application process took place, while I was on exchange. Five day after returning from exchange, I was already meeting up with the board to start conveyance. After my board year, I still have to finish the last part of my study International Business Administration.
Of course, when I began no one heard of COVID-19. Unfortunately, this had an enormous impact on my board year, but I can proudly say that it also taught me a lot and that I still am so happy that I decided to take on this challenge. I would not have wanted to miss it!
Before finishing up my last semester of my bachelor International Business Administration, I wanted to do something to further develop myself and to gain insights into what direction I want to go regarding my future career. A board year seemed the perfect opportunity to grow. For me, it was important to become better at prioritizing and putting things into perspective. Furthermore, I wished to learn how to come across as more professional. This goal could be linked to another goal; I wanted to become verbally stronger and more confident representing my vision. Lastly, the skill of leading and guiding groups is something I wished to develop. I experienced this year that doing a board year is the best way to develop these skills. Besides improving the skills mentioned above, a board year made a good means of applying my knowledge and skills learned in real-life situations.
Besides that, I was eager to work in a small group of motivated people to serve a common goal. I learned how to work together with various personalities. It was challenging sometimes, but that is also what makes it so fruitful. This was something different than just your regular team assignments.
The main reason why I wanted to do a board year, specifically at Asset IB&M, is the members. I admired the cozy ambiance at our association and how the members are given the chance to be actively involved in the association and I was so glad to see this. I got the amazing opportunity to experience this welcoming, caring group of people myself for two and a half years before I joined the board and I wanted to give others the same feeling. I hope I was able to make them feel the same way about Asset IB&M as I did, even in these odd times. Furthermore, during my time as an active member, I was able to develop myself in many different ways. During my board year, I believe I was able to contribute to other people’s growth and development now too.
I already got excited thinking about being able to give my touch to this association and I managed to do this. For example, I set up a committee with whom I could organize an event that interested me. This was something I thought off before doing a board year and we made it happen now. The first edition of the Sustainability Event will take place on November 24, 2020. This is just one of the things in which you can see that it truly is possible to apply your ideas in this ‘small company’ that IB&M actually is.
Besides the Sustainability Event Committee, I got to coordinate many more great committees. I was coordinator of the Consultancy Days Committee (full year), Orange Pride Committee (one semester), European Travel Committee (only a couple of months), and the Drinks and Themes Committee (one semester). I learned a lot from each of these committees. They ranged from very formal to very informal, which is exactly what I wanted. I am very happy with the committees I got and I believe I could help the development of a lot of my committee members as well.
I wanted to become an External Affairs Officer to learn to handle stress and stay calm, positive, and professional at the same time.
From my first year onwards, I was present at events like the Consultancy Days and the IBA week. I always knew that I liked these settings a lot. A reason for this is that I also still do not know what direction I want to go in with my career. During my time as an External Affairs Officer of the ITC, I noticed that I really enjoyed doing acquisition. I learned a lot from that time and it gave me the motivation to organize the rest of the trip. Most of all, it made me extra proud to see the result. The trip was amazing and the companies we could arrange were very interesting. This is exactly what I felt during my time as an External Affairs Officer of the Board. I felt very responsible for the organization of the events, which could sometimes also be a pitfall. I had to remind myself that I was not the only one organizing and therefore, I had to let go of some control and I had to give out tasks to other people. I managed to handle stress better, stay calm, positive, and professional at the same time. This will help in making events big successes. My two big formal events, the Consultancy Days and the Sustainability Event are coming up in November. I hope to be as proud during and after both events, just like I experienced during the ITC.
Besides the pride I experience when having organized a formal event, I enjoy the negotiation part of the whole acquisition process. I like to see how two parties can benefit from each other and can be of added value to each other. I found it interesting to figure out what was the most effective for the company and where we, as Asset | IB&M, could play a role. During these times, it is especially important to show companies how flexible you are and that you would like to actively think along with them. This is an extra challenge that comes with this time. It is important to stay motivated and determined during the whole period of doing acquisition, but that is an extra thing I learned.
Furthermore, you get to know a lot of recruiters during the year. This could be very helpful when looking for an internship or job in de future. I get to talk to a lot of people in various interest fields, which gave me a clearer idea of what career to pursue afterward. I got to hear the story of many interesting companies. Of course, we could not physically visit all the companies within their offices, but an online meeting with them is already so useful! I got to experience how companies in various industries operate.
Apart from the acquisition I did for Asset | IB&M together with Laura and Tom, I got to help External Affairs Officer from all committees. This was, for example, done by giving them External Training or by helping them with questions about reaching out to companies for the first time.
Below you can find an example of one of my weeks:
| Monday | Morning | Board meeting |
| Afternoon | Committee meeting with Sustainability Event Committee and Consultancy Days Committee | |
| Evening | Informal activity with the Consultancy Days Committee | |
| Tuesday | Morning | Cold acquisition for Asset | IB&M |
| Afternoon | Have a partner conversation | |
| Evening | Free evening, so hanging out with friends | |
| Wednesday | Morning | Committee meeting with Drink & Themes Committee |
| Afternoon | Create new contracts | |
| Evening | Advisory Council meeting | |
| Thursday | Morning | Meet up with the other External Affairs to go over the COVID-19 acquisition plan |
| Afternoon | Asset Acquisition Meeting | |
| Evening | Board evening | |
| Friday | Morning | Have some call appointments with companies |
| Afternoon | Fill in the agenda for the next board meeting | |
| Evening | Free, weekend! | |
| Weekend | Fill in and preminute the agenda for Monday |
I am so glad to have taken on this challenge. I developed myself in so many more ways than I imagined and I found many new things that I can still develop on.
Thank you for reading.
My name is Britt and I am currently following the Strategic Management master. I started my master in February, which means I am following the Entrepreneurship track. Besides my study, I work as a student assistant for the Academic Director of MSc Strategic Management. Last…
My name is Ties and I’m a 5th year student, who is planning to graduate next January. I have started the Consultancy Track of the master Strategic Management last September. Next to my studies I have been active at Asset | IB&M, Vidar and I did…
Can you give us a short introduction about yourself?
I’m Timo, 24 years old, and I studied IBA at Tilburg University from 2013 to 2016. Originally, I am from the Netherlands, but I currently live in Geneva, Switzerland, where I work for Procter & Gamble. You might not know the name, but you probably know some of our brands, like Gilette, Pantene, and Dreft.
What was one of the highlights during your time as an IBA student?
Without a doubt, my exchange to Hong Kong. I would encourage everyone to go on an exchange, where-ever it may be. It sounds super cliché but you really do learn to be independent, make friends for life, and likely have an amazing time.
What was the most instructive during your time as an IBA student
The fact that IBA is so broad was what brought me most for the job which I am doing now. Unless you really specialize (e.g. accountancy, finance, supply chain management), I think many jobs involve ‘general management’ which requires knowing something about everything. Even though I work in brand management, I still have to make analyses, understand the supply chain, and the legal world, the finances, etc.
What master study did you choose?
I did the master in International Management / CEMS at Erasmus University. Back then, Tilburg University did not have the QTEM partnership yet, and I really wanted to do another exchange and internship as part of my studies. Furthermore, I loved the fact that again I could study multiple subjects broadly, to prepare myself for a management job.
How did you prepare yourself for the job market?
As of the moment that I started studying at Tilburg University I became active at Asset | International Business & Management, and therefore got to join various career events very soon. I also did a board year in which I gained a lot of experience, as well as an internship. You do not have to be an active member to join career events, they are actually open to anyone, and I would highly encourage doing so. You really get a good overview of what companies out there have to offer you.
Can you give us an short explanation of your daily tasks at P&G?
I am currently Assistant Brand Manager for P&G Professional, the business to business side of our cleaning brands. My main tasks include 1) managing the upstream innovations for Mr Proper Professional Europe (new product development & campaigns) and 2) helping to deploy the marketing campaigns and launch new innovations for the professional business in 20+ markets (across Central Europe, South East Europe, and Turkey / Caucasus). Practically, it means managing a lot of different teams and leading different projects, which is very exciting and a great experience.
Do you have any tips for current IBA students looking at the future?
I would highly encourage being active in something. Something you are passionate about – may it be at a student association, study association, sports association, or having your own company. You build a lot of connections with people who have experiences of their own that they can tell you about, you learn a lot of skills, and it really gives you something to talk about when you are having an interview with your dream employer.