Graduate Careers Australia
ergo - Number 88 September 2002
National AIESEC Conference 2002
Monash University AIESEC member Clare Ryal reports on the recent National AIESEC Conference:
As a first year student at Monash University, I heard that AIESEC was some sort of business organisation that involves exchange. Since I am undertaking a Business and Computing degree I thought AIESEC was relevant and wanted to understand more about the organisation and what it really means.
After I joined AIESEC and attended the first induction meeting I gained more information as to what AIESEC is:
“AIESEC is the leading Global organisation which develops youth leadership through an International Traineeship Exchange Program. The exchange program is managed and currently operates in 17 local branches in Australian Universities and is also located in 85 countries worldwide. Through our exchange program, AIESEC aims to increase the number of young leaders and have set an international five-year goal by having 10,000 graduates be on exchange globally by 2005.”
As a first year member in this organisation, it was very hard to picture AIESEC on a large scale and how hundreds of proactive young individuals like me were able to facilitate this exchange program towards this goal. While I did participate in exchange activity with the AIESEC Monash office, the size of the organisation dawned on me when I was given the opportunity to attend the AIESEC Australia July National Conference 2002, from 8 – 13 July. The National conference was the first in the bi-annual AIESEC conference cycle, and 17 universities from around Australia participated in the event which boasted 220 AIESEC delegates.
The conference began by addressing AIESEC’s relevance and current state, specifically understanding the importance of external relevance and how we can use this in facilitating our exchange program as well as seeking growth and direction through planning. This year AIESEC Australia adopted a three year planning process that was filtered down to similar plans on a local level at each university.
Local Committee Goals
In our local committees we set Outcomes, Goals, Strategies and Measurables as tools to achieve our results for the three years ahead. These tools were applied to all individual portfolio areas in AIESEC, whilst the process gave me greater skills in my portfolio area (ie. Learning and Development), and I was able to put management theory learnt at university into practice. Strategic thinking and planning, holistic thinking and organisational skills were all put into practise at conference, and through internal planning conducted on a national scale we all have the ability to make an impact through “action” on the outcomes of 2005.
There were also many guest speakers from supporters of AIESEC through the duration of the conference including Asia Link, Freehills, Department of Defence and KPMG. Furthermore, during opening night delegates had the opportunity to interact with major corporate partners such as CPA and Centrelink; the conference also featured sponsors such as gradlink, KPMG, RMIT University, Monash University, University of Melbourne and Carlton & United Breweries.
AIESEC Culture
Overall AIESEC’s July National Conference was quite an experience, both professionally and socially. The AIESEC culture stood out from the onset, with regional and local committee chants an integral part of the close-knit atmosphere. I was also able to network with like-minded individuals from all over Australia. The friendships I have made and the knowledge of AIESEC I have gained have been priceless, both as a member and in how it contributes to my degree.
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