Improving your soft skills at a student organisation.
Over the past one and a half years, I’ve taken up two different roles within Academics For Technology (AFT). First as part of the international relations team, second as part of the marketing team - hence why I’m writing this article. Throughout that time, I’ve been able to hone some of my soft skills. Let me highlight a few that will stick with me for the rest of my career and probably even my personal life.
One example is teamwork, obviously… In a team such as that of AFT, you’re often required to work together because people rely on you to do your work in a timely manner. For instance, as part of the marketing team you want to launch your campaign well before an event takes place. To that end, you work with the event team to create content, assist your business relations team with satisfying AFT’s partners and help the information manager to launch the event on AFT’s website. You can clearly see how without great teamwork, marketing campaigns can quickly become a huge mess.
Next to teamwork, you also get to work on your communication skills. As part of event teams you’re often required to welcome the audience and introduce speakers at your event. That offers a nice opportunity to develop your public speaking skills. Even in a support function such as marketing, you get to practice your communication skills. For instance, you partake in weekly marketing meetings or in our biweekly teammeetings, during which efficient communication is key.
Thirdly, and perhaps even the most significant soft skill is time management. As a student, you should know how time can easily slip away. Add on top of that a role in a student organisation and, well, suddenly you are wondering when you’ll have time for other hobbies. Let me tell you that with good time management, you’ll always be able to make time. It is perhaps the single most important soft skill for anyone to master. During my time at AFT, I learned to focus, prioritise, and kept a calendar. What would you do with the extra time that you’d gain?
Of course, there are many more skills that you’ll improve on. Think about networking, project management, problem solving and strategy, just to name a few. So why don’t you give it a shot and apply to be part of the AFTeam for 2023–2024? Don’t hesitate to shoot as a message at recruiting@aftleuven.be if you have any questions!
