AIESEC’S CAREER DEVELOPMENT SEMINAR 2011 FINAL REPORT

27th of March 2011 | Amman, Jordan | www.aiesec.org/jordan

AIESEC AIESEC is the world’s largest student-run organization. Active in over 1700 universities across more than 111 countries and territories, our international platform enables young people to explore and develop their leadership potential for them to have a positive impact in society. AIESEC partners with an ever-growing number of corporate and non-corporate organizations worldwide, giving them the chance to work directly with a network of young talents spread throughout more than 1700 universities in the world.

AIESEC in Jordan Since 2006, AIESEC in Jordan has been

activating the leadership potential of 100

students every year, through providing them

with local and national leadership

opportunities, international internships and

local & international conferences.

Until 2011, AIESEC Jordan have partnered

with over 50 corporate and non-corporate

organizations and enabled those

organizations to have access to youth

talents, opinions and attitudes as well as the

social engagement and the opportunity to

impact the local community on social and

economical issues such as;

Entrepreneurship, Social Responsibility,

People with Disabilities, Education, Cultural

Understanding, Emerging Markets,

Sustainability and Education.

AIESEC’s unique approach believes in

creating platforms for young people to voice

their opinion and take part in creating

initiatives that bring positive impact on

society.

Forward As responsible NGO, highly engaged with young people in Jordan and run by students, AIESEC realizes the challenging nature of labor market in Jordan due to national and international issues, and the gap between the supply of the academic sector and the market’s demand on talent, therefore AIESEC Jordan have decided in 2010 to launch an initiative under the title “Career Development Seminar” to be an annual

forum for young people to discuss their challenges and propose new solutions.

In 2010, AIESEC’s Career Development

Seminar’s first edition (CDS 2010) was launched at Al Yarmouk University in Irbid, under the theme “Youth, Community, and Business” and was successfully concluded

with the presence of 100 students from 5 different universities, and 11 corporate and non-corporate partners, the seminar focused on highlighting 3 approaches in-which young people can develop their career path; Youth Leadership, Entrepreneurial Outlook, and Social Responsibility & Voluntary Work. In 2011, AIESEC decided to create a long-

term impact out of the 2nd edition of the seminar, to reach out for more students beyond the ones participating in the actual seminar, through creating an output that could be used by any student, anywhere in Jordan.

Therefore, CDS 2011, aimed to create the first youthful and simplified career development strategy that highlights the

main mutual challenges young people in Jordan face in terms of starting their career, and proposing practical solutions and simple action steps that enables those young people to overcome each challenge. The seminar itself brought together a staggering number of delegates up to 220 students and 15 partners on a 3-day agenda, and was held under the patronage of HE. Prof. Sultan Abu Orabi, President of

Al Yarmouk University, making it one of the largest youth conventions in the country.

The 3-day agenda covered a number of panel discussions, skill-building sessions, and workshops that tackled topics such as; Career Planning, Career Decision Making, Time Management, Entrepreneurship, Voluntary work, solution-oriented-leadership, CV writing, Job Interviews, and the reality of the talent market in Jordan

A word of recognition We would like to extend our utmost gratitude to our partners for their generous support and investment that made the Career Development Seminar truly an exceptional and highly impact-ful event, and looking forward to our next cooperation.

Supporter & Host venue:

Financial Gold Partners:

Learning Partners:

In-kind Partners:

Day one | February 19th | Making the decision

A Simple Decision Youth today have tremendous abilities and access to new opportunities and resources; however they need to make the simple decision to change their attitude towards their reality, and actually utilizing the resources that they have and make the best for their future and the future of other people.

A Simple Action Taking the right decisions about our objectives in life is half of the way through, simple and smart actions needs to be taken towards the achievements of these objectives, to become more active, take initiatives and make an actual change.

A Simple Strategy Life is not only about what we achieve today, it is about the connection of today actions towards tomorrows ambitions and how we live our lives as the complete vision rather than the pieces, therefore a Simple Strategy and a long-term approach needs to be designed in order to fulfill our vision and connect our actions together

Opening Ceremony & Key

notes:

On the beautiful sunny morning of

February 19th, AIESEC’s Career

Development Seminar was announced

open with the presence of 220 students

from 10 universities across Jordan.

Mr. Monaem Ben Lellahom, a CSR

advisor at Schema, who was chairing

the seminar, welcomed all students to

the event, and explained the objectives

and the expectations towards them in

order to make the conference truly

successful.

Then Mr. Ben Lellahom introduced the 2

key note speakers of the ceremony:

I. Mr. M. Walid Tawil:

Mr. Tawil, is the Chairman of AIESEC

Jordan’s National Supervisory Group

and a member in the global supervisory

group of AIESEC International.

As he introduced to history of AIESEC

and the establishment of AIESEC in

Jordan, Mr. Walid highlighted the

leadership development opportunities

AIESEC provide for young people all

over the world, and he also highlighted

4 development points expected out of

the Career Seminar which are; Career

Planning, Communication Skills, Life

Management and C.V writing skills,

which are all very important for any

young individual joining the work force

in Jordan.

II. HE. Prof. Sultan Abu Orabi:

Prof. Orabi started his note with

welcoming all 220 students to the

campus of Al Yarmouk University, then

HE. Praised this youthful initiative and

emphasized on the importance of young

people’s responsibility to activate their

potential and to have an active role in

society as what His Majesty King

Abdullah II always refer to young people

in Jordan as the main asset and fortune

for the Jordanian nation.

Panel Discussion:

The panel discussion brought together 4

professionals from 4 different sectors an

aimed to provide a call to action for

young people to take ownership over

their career challenges and take an

active role towards their development

and the development of others.

Panel Members:

Mr. Walid Tawil, Chairman of AIESEC

Jordan’s Supervisory Group, and an

Industrialist.

Mr. Khaled Sadeddin, Director and

Chief Coach at Meydan.

Mr. Fouad Jeries, Director of strategy,

Product and & Business Development at

D1G.

Moderated by:

Mr. Zaid AlBitar, President of AIESEC

in Jordan.

The discussion started with an individual

interview with each panel member, to

highlight the main challenges and

opportunities in their industries such as

the global booming of ICT sector and the

challenge for academic sectors to keep

up with the accelerating development,

and the fact that this sector is growing

rapidly in Jordan.

Also highlighting the meaning of

entrepreneurship and the role of

entrepreneurship in the emerging

markets and Jordan, as well as

explaining to students the amount of

support available for young people with

innovative ideas to start up their own

business and become employers.

On his end, Mr. Tawil stated that

students must prepare themselves

before entering the labor market, for

most students are receiving “outdated

and unrelated education", he also

mentioned that service and industry

sectors are growing fast and hold a huge

potential though the interest from young

people is not as expected due to “shame

culture” and other cultural reasons.

Mr. Sadeddin stated that leadership and

entrepreneurship are not limited by age

nor academic qualifications, as long as

the innovative ideas are available, and

there are many institutions in Jordan

welling to support innovative people with

financial resources, coaching and

mentorship, however young people must

take the initiative.

On his end Mr. Jeries emphasized on the

importance of social media and the

importance of utilizing this media for

career objectives and portraying a

positive brand of oneself as it could be

very damaging to a person’s career if

they were misused.

Mr. Bitar also emphasized on the

importance of changing young people’s

mindset and transform it into a more

solution oriented one, as well as the role

of voluntary work to develop key

competencies that enables newly

graduates to find their desired employer

therefore, young people should take their

future seriously and take action before

they graduate and capitalize on the

volunteering opportunities in their reach.

Warm-up sessions: As part of the mindset preparation, first

day of CDS 2011 included a number of

warm-up that provide key information

relevant to career topics, starting with the

definition of a “Career”, statistics on the

talent Market in Jordan, and how to be a

solution oriented leader.

I. What is a Career?

Mr. Eric Hensel, former social

consultant at the Emirati Foundation for

Philanthropy and an AIESEC Alumni,

helps answer this question while he gets

the 220 students to think of their long-

term ambition in 5 or 10 years time.

Mr. Eric assured students that nobody

can tell you what career path they could

take; one can be inspired by other

people’s experiences and advice, but

he/she has to make the choice by

him/her self.

"Shifting careers is not a problem; you

can try until you find what best suits u. u

can have two jobs at the same time if

that will make you happy."

II. Talent Market in Jordan:

Ms. Samar Qadri, an HR consultant

highlighted the number of students

graduating every year with not enough

qualifications to meet the criteria of the

market; therefore many of them stay

unemployed for years.

Ms. Qadri also indicated that youth

should utilize their skills and

competencies, and sense what the

market requires, and what do they

actually like to do.

Ms. Qadri then emphasized on the need

to change our mindset and a number of

cultural norms such as; women labor and

shifting in careers, which marked a

change towards a more open mindset

among the delegates.

"It is not necessary to work in your field

of study and have a great job at a great

company from the moment that you

graduate. Start from the small/medium

corporations and then move to the large

organizations that you are dreaming of."

III. Being a solution oriented leader:

This truly important topic was carried by

Ms. Sarab Atiyat, HR and Career

Counselor; Ms. Atiyat managed to shed

the light over such an important skill in

order for oneself to overcome personal

and professional challenges when times

get tough.

Delegates also understood their

important contribution in the

development of their university

programmes and courses as this needs

to be done in a collective effort along

with the academic and private sectors

and should be carried out with a

leadership spirit.

Day one | Key learning points:

Young people have a responsibility to develop

themselves and their community and they have

access to the needed resources.

Young people need to take initiative an explore

the opportunities around them

There is a need for an integrated development

for the academic in a way aligned to the

market’s demand.

It is okay to work in a field different that what

you studied, do what you love.

It is okay to shift between careers that

strengthen your abilities.

Day two | February 26th | Taking the action

A Simple Decision Youth today have tremendous abilities and access to new opportunities and resources; however they need to make the simple decision to change their attitude towards their reality, and actually utilizing the resources that they have and make the best for their future and the future of other people.

A Simple Action Taking the right decisions about our objectives in life is half of the way through, simple and smart actions needs to be taken towards the achievements of these objectives, to become more active, take initiatives and make an actual change.

A Simple Strategy Life is not only about what we achieve today, it is about the connection of today’s actions towards tomorrows ambitions and how we live our lives as the complete vision rather than the small pieces, therefore a Simple Strategy and a long-term approach needs to be designed in order to fulfill our vision and connect our actions together

Opening February 26th started with a very

refreshing spirit, the signs of the

positive impact already started to

show through people’s interaction,

response and we heard many

inspiring stories of people reflecting

on the first day of the seminar

throughout their week and already

started taking action in their lives.

Skill-building sessions: In order to deliver quality and relevant

content in the right volume, the

delegates were divided into 2 groups

based on their year of study

(Freshmen/Seniors), and both groups

received training on topics such as; Time

Management and Career Planning.

I. Career Planning:

Ms. Oksana Arkhypchuk is an HR

specialist and a former president of

AIESEC in Jordan herself, she explained

to the delegates that in order to find the

best career for oneself comes from a

personal reflection on what they really

love to do in life, or most probably an a

manifestation of their childhood dreams.

She also introduced a simple model that

any person can use in order to get a

clearer perspective on what could

potentially be the best career for them:

What are?

Your interests?

Childhood dream? Hobbies?

Your Strengths?

What do your friends/family

appreciate in you? Try to get

feedback from your colleagues,

friends and family.

What are your work values?

What is your working style?

Favorite working environment?

Scope of organization you would

want to work at?

"The careers that are most fun or

bring happiness are the least

common"

II. Time Management:

The session delivered by Mr.

Mohammad Momani, a trainer at Better

Business and an AIESEC Alumni aimed

to enable delegates to use their time

effectively through using time

management tools and principles.

“We live in a world of speed, where

everything has become fast (food,

books, devices, cars, planes..Etc) but yet

we produce and achieve the same as

before”

Mr. Momani, also introduced the 7 steps

for a successful planning which later on

were used by students in the creation of

the career development strategy.

"Start planning and dedicating time for steps and tasks to achieve you goals, know what you want to achieve, set objectives, set tasks, and take action and set time for it"

Strategy Creation The 220 students we divided into 17

different groups to give space for each

group to discuss the content of the

strategy based on their thoughts and

then the output to be consolidated into

one strategy.

The flow of the strategy creation was

very simple:

I. Identifying the most common

challenges:

Understanding the roots of each

challenges, and dividing between

external and internal factors for each

challenges to simplify the process of

solving it.

Examples of challenges:

- Poor long-term planning, and

strategic perspective, and

commitment.

- Family and cultural norm standing

in the face of ambitions.

- Financial challenges.

- Lack of presence of true role

models and guidance.

II. Proposing solutions within the

capacity of young people.

Innovate simple solutions that contribute

to overcoming each challenge where

young people become more independent

and start to rely more in themselves than

on others.

III. Highlighting current existing

opportunities to be capitalized on.

Pointing out a number of already existing

opportunities that enforce the proposed

solutions, such as voluntary work,

internships, applying for financial

aid…etc

"You can either be proactive or reactive

when it comes to how you respond to

certain things. When you are reactive

(concerns), you blame other people and

circumstances for obstacles or problems.

Being proactive (Influence) mean taking

responsibility for every aspect of your

life"

Output of the actual strategy shall be

published on AIESEC Jordan’s National

Website on www.aiesec.org/jordan.

Day three | March 5th | Practice & Implement

A Simple Decision Youth today have tremendous abilities and access to new opportunities and resources; however they need to make the simple decision to change their attitude towards their reality, and actually utilizing the resources that they have and make the best for their future and the future of other people.

A Simple Action Taking the right decisions about our objectives in life is half of the way through, simple and smart actions needs to be taken towards the achievements of these objectives, to become more active, take initiatives and make an actual change.

A Simple Strategy Life is not only about what we achieve today, it is about the connection of today actions towards tomorrows ambitions and how we live our lives as the complete vision rather than the pieces, therefore a Simple Strategy and a long-term approach needs to be designed in order to fulfill our vision and connect our actions together

Opening Delegates made it to the final day of the

seminar, slightly emotional but absolutely

changed to the better, more open to share

their opinions, more talkative, and much

more positive than the first day.

The third day of the seminar as a last push

was focusing on the practical skills those

students needed for their career future,

besides the sessions there were a great deal

of side-discussions for guidance and advise.

The agenda of the day included 2 training

sessions for each delegates’ track

(freshmen/seniors) running in parallel, then

one plenary session for all delegates

together about the opportunities AIESEC

provide for students to develop their

potential.

Advanced Track (Seniors

Track):

I. C.V Writing:

The session delivered by Ms. Margaret

Mckenzie, Director of AIESEC in Jordan

for the International Internship

Programme – for students started with

presenting the components of the CV

(Introduction, education, job, extracurricular

and references), and Things to look

forward to in writing CV and in the job

that the candidate intends to apply for, in

terms of:

What do they want to have out of the job

Who is going to read their CV and the company’s value that you want to apply for.

How to differentiate yourself through working on: extracurricular, activities, experience, volunteering and internship.

After that they moved on how to have the company’s attention through including achievements and cover letter with the CV, and what is the benefit of the cover letter and how to write one. As a closing for the session the trainer gave

an advices and tips for CV writing and

shared an example of a CV with the

audience.

II. Job Interview:

Delivered by Mr. Junaid Rafique the

Director of AIESEC Jordan for the

International Internship Programme – for

Corporate

The session aimed to transmit the

importance of the job interview and how to

be ready for it, they discussed the following

topics:

The importance of the job interview

from the company perspective and why

they conduct an interview.

Preparations that must be taken by the

candidate before the job interview.

Main points that the company’s look

forward in the candidates out of the job

interview.

Prepare and set scenarios and

potential questions before the

interview.

Questions that the candidate can ask

during the interview.

Dos and Don’ts during the job

interview.

As closing for the session, one of the

delegates had an interview simulation in

front of the audience to visualize how the job

interviews look like.

Basic Track (Freshmen

Track):

I. Idea Search & Development

(Entrepreneurship):

Delivered by Mr. Mohammad Obeidat, an

AIESEC Alumnus and the Senior Project

Manager at Queen Rania Center for

Entrepreneurship.

The objective of the session was to

encourage young people to develop and

cultivate their innovative ideas whilst being

in the early years of university studies as

well as equip them with the basic skills and

tools that can enable them develop their

innovative thinking and entrepreneurial

outlook.

Mr. Obeidat later shed the light on the fact

that there is a large number of incubation

programmes across Jordan providing

financing and coaching solutions for people

with innovative ideas such as QRCE.

II. Going for the right opportunity:

The session delivered by Mohammad

Eliewat, the Communications’ Team Leader

at AIESEC in Irbid aimed to encourage

students to be involved in voluntary work not

only as an opportunity to gain personal

values such as social responsibility and

impacting the community but also as a tool

to meet the desired employer through skills

and competencies’ development.

Mohammad also highlighted that the return

on a person’s investment in social work and

volunteering is much greater than the

investment itself, wither in a form of all sorts

of personal development or the personal

value of making a social contribution

towards your country.

AIESEC Opportunities’ Fair Ms. Amal Afaneh, an AIESEC Alumna,

explained to the delegates the numerous

opportunities AIESEC offers to students

worldwide as part of its global learning

environment.

For instance AIESEC offers unique

leadership opportunities for students and

actually lead the organization on local,

national and international levels which

enable every young person at the age of 19

to 21 to experience the responsibility of

managing an organization both legally and

financially.

Ms. Afaneh also explained the opportunity

AIESEC offers for students to go on an

international progrmme on internships at

world-class organizations for a period of time

and gain the practical experience of working

in a corporation and in an international

environment.

AIESEC Also offers its members the

opportunity to experience a global learning

environment where information and

resources are shared between 111 countries

worldwide, as well as the opportunity to

attend national and international

conferences Ms. Afaneh stated.

AIESEC also achieves positive impact on

society not only by developing strong and

mindful leaders, but also through enabling

students to run projects around social and

economic issues that are affecting their

community, as AIESEC Jordan so far have

ran projects about entrepreneurship, cultural

understanding, emerging markets, people

with disabilities, environmental sustainability,

and education.

Testimonials

“In my humble opinion, success and proper

direction comes from simple and unbiased open

knowledge exchange. To me, AIESEC’s Career

Development sessions presented a valuable

opportunity to meet university students to

discuss their worries, aspirations, and have their

questions answered by accomplished

professionals in real-time. A mature and strong

economy comes as a result of hard working

individuals who want to better themselves and

create the most value for their lives. It’s

refreshing to see such upkeep and alertness in

Jordan, I’m proud to be a part of it. Thank you

AIESEC, I was honored to be a part of the

discussion” Mr. Fouad Jeries,

Director of strategy, product and business

development at D1G

“Great nations and economies were built on

their citizens’ dreams and endeavors. Great

leaders and successful businessmen were the

result of deep invasions of their privacies and

continuous reflections on their future. The

AIESEC Career Development Seminar offered a

rich platform for Jordanian students to reflect on

topics related to their career and future; it

provided practical solutions and tips for students

to define their objectives, overcome their

challenges and follow their dreams in order to

create the most value of their lives. I was proud

to be the Chair of this seminar and looking

forward to be part of the upcoming AIESEC

seminars.” Monaem Ben

Lelallahom, Corporate Sustainability Advisor at

Schema

“Ghandi once said that one should give back to

society to find their way and I believe AIESEC is

what he was talking about. The seminar that has

taken place in Yarmouk University by AIESEC

Jordan has been of wide spectrum. It helped me

comfort my inner self about the job

opportunities out there, that I will have a great

chance in my upcoming careers' future, as it has

also been inspiration, especially when we had

the great chance of meeting the president of

AIESEC Jordan. To make it short, this has been an

once-in-a-lifetime chance to learn about what

people in our age might face, and how to deal

with it. Thank you AIESEC Jordan for the

opportunity I thought would never happen to

me, to us” Fatima Gabbani, Student

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Acknowledgments

The National Board of AIESEC in Jordan would like extend its gratitude to every the members,

partners, alumni and students who made this event possible particularly AIESEC’s office in Irbid,

the organizing team, and Mr. Monaem Ben Lellahom whom contribution was greater than just

chairing the conference.

We would also like to extend our utmost gratitude once more to our partners; Al Yarmouk

University, Consolidated Contractor Company CCC, Iris Guard, and Irbid District Electricity

Company IDECO for their generous contributions to making such impactful events possible

through their support.

Thank you

Upcoming AIESEC events

In June 2011, AIESEC Jordan will host yet another leadership conference under the title “Youth

Leadership Forum” which is another annual event organized by AIESEC in Jordan, the forum

itself aims to educate 200 students about the leadership competencies Jordan as a country

requires in the next generation of leaders years in order to be able to face the social and

economic challenges in the next 10 years.

The forum will be a platform to launch a new ambassadorship programme that enables students

from across Jordan to impact their local communities through issue-based projects.

Get connected with AIESEC in Jordan:

AIESEC Jordan - جمعية تنمية مهارات الشباب القيادية

Website : www.aiesec.org/jordan

E-mail : jo@aiesec.net

P.O Box : 841148

Facebook: www.facebook.com/AIESECJordan

Twitter : @aiesecjordan