Graduate Careers Australia
ergo - Number 87 June 2002
AIESEC – Global Youth Leadership
AIESEC is the leading global organisation which develops youth leadership through an International Traineeship Exchange Program. The organisation is managed and operated through 17 local branches in Australian universities and is also located in 85 countries worldwide.
Developing Proactive Leaders
AIESEC believes that there is an opportunity to develop proactive leaders with a vision for Australian society within the global community. This can be fundamentally achieved through the creation of AIESEC exchange traineeships in government, non-government and corporate organisations within Australia for International graduates. Given the reciprocal nature of AIESEC’s exchange program globally, such traineeships give Australian graduates an excellent opportunity to gain personal and professional skills internationally through such an experience. For over 38 years, AIESEC has continued to offer Australian graduates the opportunity to participate in management, technical and developmental traineeships for a period up to 18 months, within its worldwide network of 750 universities. Management (ie. Business) orientated positions have dominated our global traineeship pool, as AIESEC’s online matching engine Insight II demonstrates.
Economic Conditions and Traineeships
Whilst AIESEC’s main focus has been on management traineeships, the supply of these positions has dropped by 5 to 10% according to the most recent figures on Insight II. Notably, this was due to the economic conditions affecting the labour markets and economic activity of the organisations with which AIESEC raises traineeships. Similarly, there has also been a phenomenal surge of Development Traineeships according to Insight II. Developmental traineeships give graduates the opportunity to work in a company, government organisation, NGO or university, spending the majority of their time working on development issues in a community. The purpose of these traineeships is to give Australian graduates the opportunity to gain skills and experience with issues related to development, community, management and cultural adaptability.
A Case Study
Recently Victoria Tran, an outgoing exchange trainee of Monash University, gained a great deal of experience from her development traineeship in Denmark. Victoria was one of three AIESEC trainees at the school in Holbćk to assist English teachers at the HG and HH levels. These classes placed considerable emphasis on learning about the culture of the English language, and Victoria’s role as a native English speaker was to provide the students with an extra resource for their studies, and someone to converse with.
When asked what was the most important point to be taken from her traineeship, Victoria commented on her experiences with cross-cultural communication and cultural understanding.
“The thought of interacting with people who speak a completely different language and have a very distinct culture is an experience in itself. About four months ago, I had an open forum discussion about Immigration. I chose this topic, as I understood that it is currently important to Denmark’s ‘National Psyche’, and one that Australia has to deal with as well. The discussions we had in these classes were mind-blowing, seeing the students not only improve their English skills but also giving them the opportunity to hear different points of view. One student stood up to share her own experience as an immigrant to Denmark and this really made her fellow classmates think more about the human side of the issue.”
Whilst AIESEC continues to get many requests to join its exchange program, a greater emphasis is now being placed on recruiting graduates such as Victoria, who have the motivation and background to make full use of the opportunities offered by development traineeships abroad. So what is Victoria’s advice for graduates that are considering AIESEC’s Exchange program? “It’s what you learn from this experience which makes it unique…the opportunity to challenge yourself is what you make of it, it’s totally up to you!”
For more information go to: www.au.aiesec.org
Florence How
Local Committee President, AIESEC Monash
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