Grooming future leaders

Updated on: Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Be it management, decision-making or recruitment, students in the world's largest student-driven organisation, the Association Internationale des Étudiants en Sciences Économiques et Commerciales (AIESEC), handle it all.

“Envisioned to develop friendly relations between member countries, the organisation's international platform helps in weaving friendship across the world. It is also about taking and executing responsibilities without any compromise on the fun-factor,” says Advyit Varma, president, AIESEC, Chennai.

AIESEC was conceptualised to mould young leaders. The hierarchy and organisational structure is corporate-like but constituted and administered by youngsters. “We get an understanding of how things work before we enter the professional life. More importantly, it gives us the space to make mistakes and learn from them,” says George Stephanos, vice-president, AIESEC, Chennai.

The experience of being part of a team, handling responsibilities and taking major decisions in AIESEC provides insights into a person's strengths and weaknesses. “It has given me confidence and better clarity on attending interviews, and more importantly it has added value to my curriculum vitae,” says George.

AIESEC members also organise programmes, events and conferences, both national and international. Recently an international conference saw the congregation of 700 youth from across the world discussing the theme, ‘Converging Leadership and Diversity'.
International internship

AIESEC provides a variety of internship opportunities across the globe. Internships are open in four sectors: development, education, management and technical sectors in primarily East European countries and Asia-Pacific countries. And the opportunities are not confined to members of AIESEC.

“This year our focus is on the development sector. It offers an excellent exposure to work and societal set-up in other countries,” says Preenish Roshan, vice-president, outgoing sector for internships. The internship is offered preferably to BE and B. Sc graduates. As interns in the education sector, the students will teach children in the host country.

In the development sector, the students will work with NGOs and international organisations such as UNO, UNICEF and WWF on various projects. In this sector, the opportunities are open to all students who are 16 years and above. The internship may be for a period of six weeks to six months. Food and accommodation is provided to students who take up internships in the development sector.

In the management sector, internships are offered in corporates, mostly for MBA graduates. The interns will be trained with a stipend for 12 to 18 months.

Anyone below 22 years of age can apply for internships by posting their resume on the organisation's website. The administration fee is Rs. 2,000.

There will be a rigorous screening process, the profile and interest of the student will be matched with the opportunities available in the companies enlisted in other countries.

An additional service charge of Rs. 7,000 from shortlisted candidates will be collected. Finally, the companies conduct an interview before recruiting students for internships.

Grooming future leaders

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