TRAINEESHIP AND PAPER
 
Taught in 3rd year Bachelor in business studies - Main Subject: Financing and Insurance
3rd year Bachelor in business studies - Main Subject: Financing and Insurance
Theory [A] 0.0
Exercises [B] 0.0
Training and projects [C] 500.0
Studytime [D] 500.0
Studypoints [E] 20
Level in-depth
Credit contract? Access upon approval
Examination contract? Access denied
Language of instruction Dutch or according agreement
Lecturer Lutgarde Laureys
Reference RCBMGF03A00001
 
Key words
Work Placement, S130 Civil Law, S137 Insurance Law, S181 Financial Sciences, S186 International Trade, S185 Trade and Industrial Economy.

Objectives
The work placement has to offer the student the chance to get acquainted with the practice of the profession of bookkeeper/tax specialist in company life.
Knowledge, skills and attitudes that are imparted to the students during their triennial education now get a practical testing in the field of work and are at the same time further developed there.
Especially the general and specific profession-oriented competencies will be further developed during the work placement:
  • Deepening of theoretical knowledge
  • Skills in the field of interpersonal relationships, teamwork, handling information, handling tasks, functioning on your own, skill of reasoning and administrative skills
  • Attitudes like being accurate, flexible, handling stress, ability to organise, perseverance, being critical, result-oriented, respecting the demand of confidentiality concerning data, willingness to have contact, being inquisitive, being independent, sense of co-operation, being assertive, …
The duration of this work placement is long enough to let the students empathize with his work situation.

The student gets an insight in the various possibilities of professions after this triennial education and he has at his disposal the necessary skills needed for an application for a job.

Topics
  • The work placement takes up about three months. The work placement can take place in a financial institution (bank, market partnership, …) or with an insurance company, both in the main office as in smaller domiciles, in local agencies or with intermediaries.
  • The content of this work placement is discussed previous to the period of work placements with the leader of the practical training of the Hogeschool, the tutor of practical training of the work placement company and the student before starting the work placement the company where the work placement will take place confirms everything by means of a job description
  • The content of the dissertation is discussed in advance by the leader of the practical training, the tutor of the practical training and the student on work placement. This is agreed upon at the latest during the first weeks of the work placement
  • This dissertation is handed in by the students in writing when the work placement has finished. The student also has to present and defend his/her dissertation in front of a jury.
  • The student keeps a journal of the work placement, which consists of a limited description of the activities of the work placement during the whole period. He reports this to the supervisor of the practical training, who visits the company at least two times in order to have a meeting with the tutor of the practical training and the student to talk about the work placement itself as well as give a short personal evaluation on the learning process of the student.
  • The student gets acquainted with the various professions he is trained for and the trainings for making applications.


Prerequisites
The student has a thorough command of the competencies put in by the triennial education Finance and Insurance.

Final Objectives
Knowledge
General:
  • Communication
Job-related (specific):
  • Knowledge of the financial and insurance products, their possibilities and limitations
  • Knowledge of the trade documents
  • Knowledge of legal, bookkeeping and financial documents
  • Knowledge of sales techniques
  • Knowing where one can get further training and where one can consult information about that
  • Knowledge of the unions of profession and organisations
Skills
  • Thinking and reasoning power
  • Ability to being critical
  • Ability to work systematically
  • Work independently
  • Decisiveness
  • Updating knowledge
  • Acquiring and assimilating information
  • Communication skill: ability to communicate information, ideas, problems and solutions both to specialists as to laymen
Job-related (general):
  • Ability to work in team
  • Being socially skilled in a team, for instance when performing assignments
  • Ability to use the infrastructure of knowledge efficiently (e.g. ICT)
  • Ability to analyse documents
  • Analysing information and tracing anomalies
  • Handling numerical data
  • Reporting in writing
  • Ability to express oneself correctly
  • Ability to communicate correctly over the telephone
  • Ability to draw up a report independently
  • Ability to organise one's own work as well as the work organisation as a whole
  • Working efficiently, aimed at the output
  • Handling confidential data in a deontological way
  • React appropriately on unexpected events
  • Distinguishing problems
  • Ability to think in an analytical and problem-solving way
  • Insight in complex situations
  • Applying packages of informatics (most recent ones concerning the profession)
Job-related (specific):
  • Being communicative towards clients and co-workers
  • Inform and give advice to clients in the fields of investments, credits, insurances and tax law
  • Comparing the products and giving advice in accordance with the economical, judicial, fiscal and social situation of the client
  • Present the best possible choice to the client in compliance with a strict moral, deontological and legal code
  • Collect, process, store and use relevant information
  • Performing the current commercial ('front office') and/or administrative ('back office') assignments as required
  • Ability to quickly settle in computer-software that is professional and/or specific of a company
  • Handling confidential data discrete and according to legal stipulations
  • Respect terms and comply strictly with made arrangements
  • When establishing contact with clients and third parties always take on the right attitude
  • Ability to identify and analyse the needs of clients
  • Ability to come to an accurate description of the problem and distinguishing main points from side issues through listening and phrasing of questions
  • Ability to recognise, think through, formulate and go deeply into a specific problem
  • Ability to consult the necessary sources for solving a problem
  • Come to conclusions rather quickly
Attitudes
General:
  • Sense of responsibility
  • Reliability
  • Loyalty
  • Involvement
  • Integrity
  • Sense of cooperation
  • Client-oriented
  • Having an eye for details
  • Precision and accuracy
  • Eagerness to learn continuously, inquisitiveness
  • Inquisitiveness
  • Self-confidence
Job-related (general):
  • Discretion
  • Awareness of image
  • Aimed at granting services
  • Co-ordination with others
  • Openness
  • Aimed at communicating
  • Willingness to listen
  • Aimed at innovation
  • Being flexible
  • Neatness and tidiness
  • Result-oriented
  • Working systematically
  • Inquisitiveness, continuously updating knowledge
  • Assertiveness
  • Perseverance
  • Immune to stress
  • Independence - ability to work independently
Job-related (specific):
  • Able to abstract
  • Sense of outlining
  • Strict and univocal language use
  • Sense of initiative
  • Awareness of quality
  • Assertiveness when talking to employer· Insight in the organisation of the firm or company
  • Having a commercial view on the future
  • Sense of reality towards the attainable
  • Prepared to talk to clients and co-workers
  • When talking to clients showing that you have commercial insight, empathy, loyalty, sense of cooperation
  • When talking to co-workers showing assertiveness, empathy, loyalty, solidarity and sense of cooperation
  • Ability to handle conflicts
  • Solidarity between company, client and the intermediary
  • Handling other people's money according to strict deontological codes
  • Ability to handle economical, judicial and financial information
  • Ability to be selective in previous information
  • Add value to the available information
  • Awareness of quality
  • Sense of completeness
  • Sense of structure
  • Being practical
  • Having an eye for details
  • Distil goal-oriented or relevant information
  • Being accurate when phrasing questions
  • Decisiveness
  • Good command of the language, good accuracy and truthfulness
  • Competence to learn
  • Eagerness to learn continuously
  • Ability to reproduce conclusions in correct language use
  • Ability to make things abstract
  • Ability to organise
  • Sense of relativity
  • Sense of aestheticism in language, attitude and clothing
  • Firmness of principles
  • Prepared to criticise oneself
  • Withstand work pressure
  • Willingness to go deeply into a problem
  • Willingness to gain advice yourself
  • Being critical towards one's own conclusions
  • Evaluating own possibilities where the boundaries of competence or knowledge are exceeded


Materials used
::Click here for additional information::
All relevant courses and handbooks used in the training, books, articles from magazines and newspapers, internet, internal documents and schoolings in the company of the work placement.

Study costs
Relocation costs to the company where the student has to do his work placement, costs linked to the thesis, costs for the seminar on solicitation (about 160 euro).All costs linked to the work placement, including costs of medical investigation.

Study guidance
Personal guidance by a supervisor of practical training (lecturer) and a mentor (company).

Teaching Methods
The student has to look for an appropriate trainee post him/herself.
The student has to learn as much as possible about the different aspects of the company where the work placement takes place, in accordance with the agreed job description.

Assessment
First exam session:
The judgement consists of two aspects:
  • The mark for performance during the work placement period is given by the supervisor of practical training based on his own findings and the advice of the tutor of practical training of the company
  • The dissertation is judged on content and form. The oral presentation/defence is evaluated as well.
Second exam session:
The mark for performance during the work placement period is brought along to the second exam session.
The dissertation is revised and orally presented.
  • The mark for performance and reporting during the work placement period is given by the supervisor of practical training based on his own findings and the advice of the tutor of practical training of the company (40%).
  • The supervisor of the practical training and a second member of the teaching staff judge the dissertation on content and form (30%). Technical knowledge of the discussed products as well as competencies like ability to be analytical, accurate, critical, awareness of quality, independence, inquisitiveness and knowing how to write correctly are judged.
  • A jury will evaluate the oral presentation and defence (30%). They test competencies like for instance sense of outlining, handling stress, empathy, assertiveness, result-orientedness and use of oral communication.
Students only enrolled for taking the exams:
  • First and second exam session: ditto regular student
The student is obliged to take on a supplementary registration with a contract of credit.

Lecturer(s)