Wednesday, November 14, 2007
AIESEC Work: Building the network
What about the real goal of the trip: Concluding the feasibility study and working with the team here?
Well, my work consists of meetings with the students, giving workshop, calling companies and NGOs and then preparing and meeting them (only one call was unsuccessful), preparing and sending proposals, communicating with the team in Berlin, thinking about and discussing project ideas and working on the team dynamics.
AIESEC Palestine is likely to happen, the companies like us very much and there are some very motivated students (among some less motivated ones). The external variable, politics, is the one I am concerned about. Will the political situation allow us to have a sustainable and fruitful project?
A normal day with AIESEC begins with either going to the university to meet the students and to call companies with them or to dress up and to go to a company visit.
Company meetings normaly last around 40 minutes, we meet the General Managers or the Head of the PR department. Mostly there is hardly any smalltalk at the beginning, but more straight to the point: Who are you, what can we do for you? We then introduce AIESEC and the extension project and explain what AIESEC does in general: International student exchange and personal development for our members, as well as skill trainings. It often takes a while to explain the idea of internships in a foreign country and internship in general, as it is a new idea to most companies. They love the concept of skill trainings and practical experience directly, as they see a lack of this in their new recruits.
Normally, we then talk a bit about the company and what they do to discover other opportunities for cooperation or we introduce the latter directly. In between, the secretary comes in and aks if we would like to drink something, tea or arabic coffee.
I sometimes connect the concept of traineeships with my personal experience in Cameroon. Furthemore it is quite a strong argument for cultural exchange if I tell them about the reactions of my family and friends before coming to Palestine and their and my perception of the occupation now.
As we are not yet an official extension, the meetings end with the common will to work together. But we do not define traineeship positions, everybody is urgently looking forward to March, when we hopefully will finally be able to start with the exchange programme. So, the follow up of the meetings consists of feedback among the participants, documentation and sending a proposal to the company so that they get some written information about AIESEC.
Well, my work consists of meetings with the students, giving workshop, calling companies and NGOs and then preparing and meeting them (only one call was unsuccessful), preparing and sending proposals, communicating with the team in Berlin, thinking about and discussing project ideas and working on the team dynamics.
AIESEC Palestine is likely to happen, the companies like us very much and there are some very motivated students (among some less motivated ones). The external variable, politics, is the one I am concerned about. Will the political situation allow us to have a sustainable and fruitful project?
A normal day with AIESEC begins with either going to the university to meet the students and to call companies with them or to dress up and to go to a company visit.
Company meetings normaly last around 40 minutes, we meet the General Managers or the Head of the PR department. Mostly there is hardly any smalltalk at the beginning, but more straight to the point: Who are you, what can we do for you? We then introduce AIESEC and the extension project and explain what AIESEC does in general: International student exchange and personal development for our members, as well as skill trainings. It often takes a while to explain the idea of internships in a foreign country and internship in general, as it is a new idea to most companies. They love the concept of skill trainings and practical experience directly, as they see a lack of this in their new recruits.
Normally, we then talk a bit about the company and what they do to discover other opportunities for cooperation or we introduce the latter directly. In between, the secretary comes in and aks if we would like to drink something, tea or arabic coffee.
I sometimes connect the concept of traineeships with my personal experience in Cameroon. Furthemore it is quite a strong argument for cultural exchange if I tell them about the reactions of my family and friends before coming to Palestine and their and my perception of the occupation now.
As we are not yet an official extension, the meetings end with the common will to work together. But we do not define traineeship positions, everybody is urgently looking forward to March, when we hopefully will finally be able to start with the exchange programme. So, the follow up of the meetings consists of feedback among the participants, documentation and sending a proposal to the company so that they get some written information about AIESEC.
