Doing a Board Year as Secretary & Treasurer

In this article you will get to know a little bit more about our Board Members. Johan Boersma (Secretary) and Noor de Jong (Treasurer) will tell a bit more about what they are up to in a day and how they experienced their board year. 

Article about the postion of Chairman: Douwe
Article about the positions of Vice-Chairman, External Relations & Internal Relations: Gijs, Sebastiaan and Sarah

Hi guys, could you please introduce yourself?

Johan: Hello, my name is Johan and I am 21 years old. Currently I am in my last year of the Bachelor Business Administration, where I follow the track Accountancy & Controlling. Before I became the Secretary of the Risk Board, I was actively involved within the Activity Committee and the Investment & Accountancy Evenings Committee. After my board year, I would like to finish my Bachelor Degree and start with my Master Accountancy & Controlling.

Noor: Hi everyone! My name is Noor, 21 years old, in my 3rd year of Economics & Business Economics and currently the Treasurer of the Risk Board! I will finish my bachelor's degree next year and then I would like to do a Master in Finance and a Master in Economics.

How did you find out about the possibility of doing a board year at Risk?

Johan: I already had some experience as an Active Member of Risk and was in good contact with the board. I always enjoyed the activities of Risk and how amazing the people are. Therefore, I checked my options to do even more within the association. After a couple of coffee dates with the previous board members, I got really excited about doing a board year and to develop myself even further. I wrote down my pros and cons of a board year, and with the pros outweighing the cons massively, I decided to apply for a board position!

Noor: Before my board year, I was the chairman of the Accountancy Day committee and the PR & Logistics of the Controlling Tour committee. My old housemate was a board member of Risk two years ago and that is how I came into contact with the association. While being in my first committee I got to know Risk and how amazing the association is, so I did a second committee. Wanting to develop myself even more, I applied for a board position!

What do you like most about your board year so far?

Johan: The year was quite different than we imagined, with the Covid-19 virus taking over the world. This had a big impact on our year, but I definitely don’t regret my decision. I got to meet so many new people, and made many new friends who I will see for the rest of my life for sure! The connection with the other associations at the “interim” are also very nice to have. Next to that, I feel like I developed myself massively and learned a lot about myself, how to work together and so many more!

Noor: The amount of new people that you meet is amazing; the committees you work with, the boards of other associations and of course your own board! There are definitely friendships in there that will last forever. Besides that, the amount of responsibility you get is insane. It is of course a little stressful at times, but I also feel proud to be running such a big association with only 6 people.

What does your function exactly entail?

Johan: As secretary you are responsible for all external communication. This means for example social media posts, but also the Risk Website and the Risk Magazine. Besides, you are responsible for all contact with Risk Alumni and organizing the alumni activities. The fun part of this position is that you work together a lot with all board members, which means you are always aware of what everyone is busy with. Besides that, every board member guides several committees. This year I guide the Risk Conference, which I find really fun to do!

Noor: As the treasurer, I am responsible for all the financial transactions of the whole association. At the beginning of the year I was responsible for making the budget. During the year, I decide what is feasible and what is not for the association. I have a lot of other tasks like sending invoices to our partners, paying the bills, doing the VAT declarations and of course the bookkeeping. I also guide 5 committees and I meet up with every committee’s treasurer.

Sounds interesting, but how do you combine it with your social life?

Johan: A board year is full time, which can be quite hard to plan social activities besides them. But as the weeks progress, you learn that there is actually a lot possible if you have a good planning. I decided to play football again three times in a week, and still had time to see my friends besides Risk. So, combining your social life is easily doable!

Noor: I have to be honest, it was quite difficult for me at the beginning. I have an incredibly active student life, with both my friend groups here in Groningen, but also my friends in my hometown. Going from partying and meeting up with friends to working everyday was not the easiest task, but you’ll learn to combine it along the way. Besides that, the work you’re doing during a board year is amazing and you’ll learn way more than you can imagine.

In the coming months the candidate board will start and in March you will finish your board year, what is in store for you?

Johan: I will finish my last courses of my Bachelor Accountancy & Controlling. Then I will start with my master Accountancy & Controlling in September. I am sure that the new board will see my face a lot as I plan to drop by quite often when I am studying at Duisenberg or just finished my lectures there.

Noor: As I said before, I first want to finish my bachelor’s degree. During my time at Risk, I got in touch with a lot of companies and their recruiters and it showed me all kinds of possibilities for the future. I want to gain some more work experience besides studying, so that’s what I will look for in my last months as a board member. I am also afraid I will not be able to let go of the association just yet, so I will probably be helping out where I can!

We are currently looking for our successors! Could that be you? Feel free to get in contact with us by sending an e-mail to board@riskgroningen.nl and we are always willling to answer your questions! The deadline of application for all positions of the board is on Sunday the 17th of January, 23:59. You can apply by sending your resume and motivation letter to board@riskgroningen.nl.