Risk Board Year: External Relations & Internal Relations

Introduce yourself

Bart:
Hi, my name is Bart Oude Avenhuis. Currently I am 24 years old and within the board of Risk I am the External Relations Officer. Last year I started my Master in Finance, which I will complete when our board year is finished (March). Thereafter I will start working in September 2019. Before I started my board year I was an EBE student as well as an Accountancy student, both bachelors I completed here at the FEB.

Manon:
Hi, my name is Manon van der Woning and I am 21 years old. Within the Risk Board I am responsible for the Internal Relations. I started studying 3,5 years ago and right now I am in the last phase of the Bachelor Accountancy. From September 2019, I will start the Master Accountancy in Groningen as well. Up until now I really enjoy my time here in Groningen, as I have a lot of social events of my student association, but I have also done two committees and even a board year at Risk!

What does a typical day look like?

Bart:
Every Monday morning (and Thursday), we start the day with a board meeting. We discuss for example strategy, committees, events etc. In the afternoon, I scheduled a meeting with all External Relations Officers of the FEB study associations, followed by a meeting with one of our Risk Banking Tour Committees. In a typical day I have a call with one of our partners to discuss our ongoing collaboration. Since I am responsible for all our partnerships, I process all emailing and make sure that agreements with our partners are met. The contracts that contain all agreements are designed by me, so I know exactly what me and my partners agreed on.

Manon:
I usually start my day by checking my emails. Thereafter, I could have a meeting with one of the six committees that I coordinate. After this meeting, I help the person responsible for Promotion & Logistics with the design of the promotion material. I have the overview of all the promotion of Risk, so I make sure that all things (from lecture talks and flyers at Zernike, to social media posts) are steered in the right direction. Afterwards, I will drink a cup of coffee with someone who is interested in joining a committee at Risk, so I can answer all of his questions and tell him everything about being a Risk Active Member. During the year, we organize a lot of activities for our active members, so on a typical day I will also be busy with contacting companies for our weekends, trainings and other activities. I close the day with scheduling job interviews for the incoming committee applications.

What do you like most about your position?

Bart:
During the summer, I visited almost all partners of Risk (in total Risk has around 80 partnerships). During these visits, I got the chance to see all these companies from the inside. Furthermore, during these visits I agreed on for example participation in Risk Events, which I finalized in creating a contract. The main responsibility for the External Relations Officer is to maintain and create partnerships for Risk. Within this function you can operate relative free compared to other functions, something I like. Almost all income of the association is generated by you. In the beginning of the boardyear you budget a goal and in the end, achieving this goal is the best part of being an External Relations Officer.

Manon:
For me, meeting a lot of new people is definitely one of the things I like most about this year. After the first cup of coffee that you have in my position with the students that would like to become an active member, you are responsible for the whole recruitment process. This ensures getting a good picture of what an actual recruitment process looks like. When I start applying for a job in a few years, I know for sure that this inside that I got from the position of Internal Relations Officer helps me to go through the application process smoothly. Next to that, I like that I can be creative sometimes by designing new promotion material for the corporate identity. That is something that I cannot do at my study!

How did you develop yourself so far at Risk (Manon)?

During a board year, you are doing things that are totally different than the stuff you learn during your study. The part of coordinating committees helped me develop my leadership skills more. Besides that, there are a lot of things going on at the same time during a board year, so you really have to make sure your time management is on point! This is something I have developed this year. Moreover, as I have seen many companies and many different job opportunities now, I have a better view of what I like and do not like for the future.

Bart: After my board year I will start working with an internship at one of our partners. Being in the board of Risk helps you to get in touch with a lot of different companies and in the end, will help you to find an internship or starters function.

How do you combine both formal and informal?

Bart:
Risk has a lot of both formal and informal activities. The fun part of a board year is that these two go hand in hand. During the day you work in our office with your fellow board members, but in the evening you have different options to go to. For example socials, constitution drinks, events, activities etc.

Manon:
The fact that a board year contains both formal and informal activities is what makes such a year an amazing experience! It is nice to actually achieve something for the association together with your board members, by carrying out the policy you made at the beginning of the year and of course the other operational tasks. This is what you do during the day. But in the evening it is time for some fun! These are the moments where you meet the (active) members and therefore this part is also important. Luckily, Risk has the most amazing members, so these informal activities are always very entertaining!

What would you like to pass on to the readers?

Bart:
Actually, there is only one thing I can recommend. Become active at Risk! Start with a committee or apply for the board directly. You add something valuable to your studies and to your future career. So far, my board year at Risk is the best thing that happened to me, I really could recommend it to everyone!

Manon:
If we go back to one year ago, and I knew everything I know now about a board year at Risk, I would apply again for sure! This year gave me insights in businesses in the financial world, helped me develop myself personally and also gave me a lot of good friends! When I applied for the board, I found it scary but exciting at the same time. My advice to all of you: If you are interested in joining the board, do not hesitate and apply now, because the most amazing year is ahead of you!