As President of the Student Union, you are not responsible for any committee members. However you are responsible for the Board and it’s work, which can in that sense be seen as your committee. It’s your job to lead the Board’s work and make sure that everyone feel like they contribute.
2. What are the main lines of work?
As president, you have a lot of various tasks which you must do. Apart from these, there are even more tasks you can do if you have the time.
Things you have to do are for instance lead the board meetings and the Board’s work in general. You report to the General Council what the Board is doing and general things about the union.
Another part of your work is being there for a lot of different people. You have to listen to what the Board has to say and make sure that everyone is pleased with their work situation. You also have to talk to the various committee heads in order to know what’s going on in the Union. So in general, talking to a lot of people and giving feedback on what you hear is a big part of the work.
You are also going to represent the Union in a lot of different ways. You will give a speech every now and then at parties and dinners as well as go to a lot of different events. You will be the one who represents the Union within StudentLund and in other cooperations.
Apart from these things which you basically have to do, there are a lot of things you can do as President if you have the time. What you do, and what the Union does is very much up to you and the Board. If you have new ideas or would like to evolve existing areas, this is something you most certainly can do. In this way, President is a very flexible position. But as all things that come with great freedom, a lot of responsibilities are also given to you.
It’s very hard to write what the lines of work are for a President of such a large organization, but these are some basic facts.
3. Timeframe: How much time do you put down every week? More or less on some weeks?
I try to work 40 h/week, however most weeks I work closer to 50-60 hours. The reason why I do this is the representation part. I normally work at Skånis from 8-10 in the morning to 4-5 in the afternoon, but at least two evenings every week, there is an event that I have to attend. It could be a company presentation, a party or a meeting. So be prepared to put a lot of time into this!
4. What do you believe are the main personal characteristics needed for the post?
You have to be charismatic and outgoing. Your social competence is the one most important factor in order to be a good President. Since your position involves a great deal of interacting with others, you have to be able to adapt to various situations.
You will be interacting with professors from the school, corporate relations, others student organizations and your members in the Union, and to adapt your personality to these various situations is something you have to master.
Apart from this, you should be a good leader. A very hard thing to determine what that is, but since you are the leader of both the other 8 people in board and the official leader of the 300 active members and the 4 000 members in total, you have to be able to tackle this responsibility.
You also have to be creative and driven. The Union evolves a lot all the time, and it’s up to you to come up with new solutions to various things. Since the work you do depends on what you want to do, it’s important to be creative and driven to come up with ideas and have the ability to realize them.
Apart from this, it’s great if you are open to changes. The committee heads often come with new ideas and the Union does not evolve if you do things the same way as always. So an open mind to change is great.
5. Other information worth knowing?
You may be President of the Student Union, but you are one of 9 board members and one of 4 fulltime workers. This means that you can’t do anything on your own without first checking with your colleagues. This is good because it gives you a lot of input, however sometimes it’s not the most effective way to work. In these situations, you have to put the effectiveness aside and listen to your colleagues in order to not “run them over”.
It’s also worth mentioning that even though you are only working 40 h/week, people will always see you as the President. So during your year, it is really important that you remember to always be representative of the Union.
6. Contact details to previous generals
Jonas Wendt 0733 763202
ordf@lundaekonomerna.se
