The best place to broaden your horizons and make new friends
Build your network, develop new skills, get to know the bank better and have fun… You can do all this and more with RING, ING’s network for all young (minded) employees!
RING has more than 8,000 members in the Netherlands alone! Every month, 50 of those members across ten different RING committees organise various events to bring young employees together. Here, two RING board members – Amy and Maarten – share their stories.
Future-oriented skills
“RING members are often still on the first or second rung of their career ladder and are looking to make contact with their peers in addition to their immediate colleagues – not only socially, but also to exchange work-related ideas,” says Maarten. “Our aim is to empower young employees, broaden their horizons and create a sense of belonging.” RING facilitates this through initiatives including dialogue sessions with senior managers, monthly networking drinks and various training courses – such as on presentation skills, for example.
“And to help them to make friends,” states Amy. “The great thing about this network is that you get to know lots of new people. When I look around and see beautiful friendships forming, it makes me very proud of RING!”
There are countless opportunities for self-development within RING. Maarten: “I’m gaining skills that will come in useful later on in my career. For example, as RING secretary, I’m learning a lot about stakeholder management with external parties, and also how to empower the various committees to achieve the best results.”
Amy: “It’s terrific that more than 50 colleagues are involved on a volunteer basis. Every month, they organise fantastic events ranging from to padel tournaments to educational workshops, or even boat parties as a way for members to just have fun together.”
“But we also think about the future,” adds Amy. One example of this is the sustainability committee, which has maximum freedom to organise events that keep RING members focused on how ING can continue to make a positive impact as a bank.
Beyond borders
Did you know that RING is not only active in the Netherlands, but also has a presence in all other ING countries (40 in total)? Amy: “We organise multiple study trips that enable us to meet other RING members, learn from each other and strengthen the ties.” For example, RING visited Manila in summer 2023. Watch the after-movie.
The intention is to further intensify the focus on connecting with one another and working together with RING in other countries.
About Amy
Amy initially joined ING in 2020 as a Retail Banking
trainee and now works in the Sustainable Finance team within Wholesale Banking.
After completing her master’s in Sustainable Finance (which is a perfect fit!),
she had wanted to further increase her involvement in sustainability. “And
where can you make more impact than at a bank?” she thought, so her decision
was soon made. In her spare time, Amy enjoys salsa dancing, and every Tuesday
she attends a pottery course.
About Maarten
After graduating (in Econometrics, Law & Philosophy), Maarten joined ING in 2021 as Strategic Portfolio Manager and currently works as Wholesale Banking Model Developer. Besides his role as secretary on the RING board, he is also active on the board of FLAIRS, which is the Netherlands’ biggest annual interbank event for young bankers. Maarten lives in Amsterdam and loves Thai food, kickboxing and the colour orange (although that is largely based on instinct, since he is colour blind).