Hello Everyone! Welcome Back to My New Blog (There is a whole list, Do check them out!). Today I am going to talk about a trending topic, AIESEC! I will try to make it as simple as I can with examples. I will talk about my personal experience with AIESEC Turkiye in the Summer of 2019 when I was a Junior. In the end, I will talk about how to hunt the opportunities and what will be the total expenditure.
What is AIESEC, what do they do, is it worth going for it (time and money wise) and how to avail it? How important is the element of travel in it? Let’s dig deep into it.
AIESEC Team, Sakarya Turkiye. July 2019.
What is AIESEC and What does AIESEC(ers) do?
AIESEC is an International Youth Organization. Unlike many other Youth Clubs, AIESEC does not have a limited scope or geographic locations. This organization works on 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) across the Globe. There are hundreds of projects going on every time, somewhere.
AIESEC offer different projects focused on one SDG at a time. These projects are offered in some specific regions of the world where suited.
For example, Projects on SD Goal 14: Life Under Water (Marine Life) will be offered in coastal countries like Srilanka or similar. It cannot be offered in a landlocked country.
I went on a project focused on Goal 16: Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions. The project name was “Teaching Life to Children of Refugee Families Staying in Turkey”. Now it made complete sense to offer this in a country that has millions of refugee taking asylum. Türkiye hosts four million refugees and has been the largest refugee-hosting country in the world for the past nine years.
My Group. Some of you might recognize Miss Hiba Zakai, She visited my city to meet me and the group when she was the Climate Head at LUMS in OSA. We had lunch together.
Children that I taught for 6 weeks along with my teammates. My workplace.
What age group does AIESEC target for these projects?
Being a Youth Organization, AIESEC seeks young blood with a passion to make this world a better place. Since young people have the potential to do a lot, it becomes a give-and-take situation for both parties. Youth gets an unmatchable experience creating a sense of responsibility in them in an early age, while the other group gets something positive in return.
Why should you consider going for an AIESEC opportunity?
There can be many possible answers to it but I will answer it in the following way. If you like to travel and love to experience different cultures, languages, and people while creating a little positive impact in the chaos that this world is going on with, you should go for AIESEC. You will not regret it. My personal belief is that Travelling can teach you life in such a way that books can’t. The best thing is that you have time to explore and absorb the environment around you.
For example, I lived in Sakrya, Turkey for 6 weeks. It is a small city 2 hours away from Istanbul. It is a pure local town where no one knew English. To buy something at the shop, or to ride a local bus, I had to speak Turkish with them. I learnt it. I become so good in the end days that I used to bargain while shopping. I had time and friends, we used to go to picnics at lakes or have coffee at night after work hours. We used to live in the same neighbourhood so we usually used to leave together for youth centers where we used to work. I had so much diversity in my group, where I had friends from Spain, Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria, Azerbaijan, France, India, China and Pakistan.
AIESEC opportunity can be your biggest personal development in your early twenties. Travelling young is unmatchable, your energy levels are high, and your observation and learning skills are sharp. You make every moment worth remembering for yourself. Cherry on the top, you make new friends too!
Moreover, every weekend you can go to travel the country. I visited many cities like Istanbul, Ankara, Tarakli (an old village), Cappadocia, Eskisehir etc, on various weekends. Or you can do it in one go at the end or start of your stay in that country when your opportunity duties are over or yet to start.
Making international friends and networking with them is another big thing that does not comes in with usual trips. My roommate was an Azeri who was there for a different project. We become such good friends that whenever I now go to Azerbaijan now, he especially comes to meet me and take me out for food and drives in Baku etc. These are very unique experiences and special bonds that you make by living or working together for a long time.
I hosted my entire group for dinner. Picture below.
Furthermore, AIESEC is value for money. Since you will not be living in a hotel but a free stay (I assume), you will save a big chunk of money. Moreover, you will have a one-time food grocery for the whole stay (I assume), and you will be cooking for yourself. Self Cooking is the cheapest way and costs you much less than a local restaurant. Your visa cost will be the same as a tourist visa and your next big thing will be your flight that you have to buy either way even if you want to visit the country for a week or a month.
Our team visit to an old village.
Types of Opportunities Offered by AIESEC
There are three types of opportunities offered by AIESEC, Let’s discuss each in detail.
- Volunteering (Unpaid)
Out of three, volunteering is the most popular opportunity that AIESEC offer. In this one, youth is invited to work on various projects like doing activities with disabled kids, senior citizens etc. It is not a paid opportunity. In this one, you are basically expected to go to a specific centre, a school or a place daily for around 6-8 hours for 5 days a week. You are given a complete plan for the next coming weeks with a specific target.
For Example, I along with my team of 6 other international English-speaking volunteers were given a target to teach the refugee children of class 1 – 3, English counting from 1-100 and some English lessons. The children’s mother tongue was Arabic or Turkish so we as a group also had to learn the basics of these two languages, which was a whole new level of experience for us. Moreover, we used to have many other activities since it was not only focused on teaching classes but “life in general”. So we also used to go on day trips to nearby areas for picnics, watch movies together etc.
Our Classroom Activity is in progress after a lecture.
Kite Day in a Local Park
Our Dorm
It is like a full-time fun-filled job with a routine. For the rest of the day, you are free to go explore the city and hang out with other international people working on different projects in the same city. So basically many projects will be running in the same city with different durations and goals from 6-12 weeks or more. It depends on which one you are in.
It is ideal for students who have not yet completed their degrees since the required skills do not need a degree for it. And for youth with degrees who just want to have a fun-filled environment without feeling like a “proper job” or just to add an experience to their resumes.
You will work as groups in Volunteering.
- Teaching (Paid)
This category is more like a formal teaching, where you will need a proper degree or higher certifications to teach. In this one, you are expected to teach a class for a long course, mostly languages like English or Portuguese, depending on which part of the world you are in. You might be teaching in a language centre or a school. For example, in Morrocoo, Arabic is the nation’s language but French is a popular language there. So AIESEC In Morrocco might need teachers to teach French there.
It is a paid opportunity so it is good for people who want to cover their monthly expenses while living in that specific city and exploring the country. Moreover, it will add a valuable experience to your resumes or portfolios.
You will not have a work group in Teaching. Maybe local school staff but not the international AIESEC community during work hours.
- Interning (Paid)
This is the third type of opportunity offered by AIESEC. As the name suggests, it is like a normal internship in some local company. It can be a data science internship or maybe in marketing or sales. The only difference will be that you will be in a different country. Also, you will get paid for it.
You will be working alone. Your colleagues will be the local company workers but not the international AIESEC community during work hours.
Types of Facilities Offered by AIESEC
Whenever a project is offered by AIESEC, it will mention some facilities like Transportation, Food, Accommodation and Computer in the Logistics section like this. Now it is important to learn the difference between provided and paid. Only provided means that they will help you in arranging that facility but you will pay for it. Paid means that they will also pay for it.
In the above opportunity, you can see that you will be provided everything by AIESEC Team in that city except your personal cost for city transport, food for the second half of the day and a computer. It is a pretty good deal to take up. Transportation is cheap so it is not a big issue.
What facilities to look up for in an opportunity?
Whenever you will look for an opportunity, make sure that at least your accommodation should be covered and paid for or you will have an extra expenditure for that. Living is expensive abroad when you have to convert from PKR to that local currency.
If covered and paid for, AIESEC will provide a stay for you in either a youth hostel where a lot of other international volunteers, teachers and interns will be staying or you will be living with a local family. I stayed with 2 Turkish guys in their university hostel/dorm. My one-time food was covered as well. But you will cook for yourself since you will be given raw groceries only.
Self Cooked (Provided and Paid for Breakfast). This is the garden I had next to my Stay.
How to find the Perfect Opportunity for you and what Factors to consider while Finding One?
When you make up your mind to go for an AIESEC opportunity, you have to consider the following factors for you in this order,
- Opportunity Type (Out of 3)
- Target SDG
- Your Earliest Available Dates
- Project
- Country & City
- Maximum Time in Weeks You Can Give to a Program
STEP 1
Go to the AIESEC website and scroll down where you will see 3 options we discussed. Choose one for you accordingly. I will take the example of volunteering for explaining purposes since my audience is the majority of students.
STEP 2
Then look for your targeted SDG. If you are unsure, you can look up multiple SDGs and filter them out in the end.
STEP 3
The next step is to shortlist a project. But before that, you have to set the earliest possible date you are available to go and make sure to give a gap for your preparations in your country like visa and flights etc. In the picture below, the Youth for Impact program is offered in 23 cities across the globe. It can be 5 cities in the same country or 23 different counties, it depends. In the “sort by” option choose according to you, here price means the program fees which is around 13,000 to 30,000 PKR depending on the country. Usually, it is 16000 PKR for the majority of opportunities. Also, you pay this fee only after selection.
STEP 4
The next step is very important. Selection of country. Choose your desired country and see if the program is available in those countries. If not, then you have to go to the previous step 3 and choose a different project. If the country is still not available, then you have to go to step 2 and change the SDG eventually.
STEP 5
The next step is also very important. Go to filter and go to the amenities section. Check the boxes for Provided and Covered for Accommodation and Food section. Food is optional but accommodation is a must. The transport part is not important. Then look for other filters like language should be English. Leave all other filters.
Once you have selected your desired program check for eligibility criteria. There is a greater chance you will be fulfilling it but if you are missing some skill, just add it in your profile setting and that’s it.
Click apply and then you will be contacted for an interview after applying. You will see something like this.
Selection process Hacks will be discussed in the next sections.
Hacks for Selection Process
Once you filter out the opportunity you want to go for, the next step is to check for eligibility criteria. There is a greater chance you will be fulfilling it but f you are missing some skill, just add it to your profile by going to the setting.
After that put the same skill and all other required skills mentioned in the program, in your resume. Make sure your resume is one pager.
The next step is to wait for the interview call from the AIESEC Team in that country. Once you get it, you will be asked simple questions to test your language skills. Then some questions might be project-related like why you want to specifically join this program and what impact will you create. The interview will be taken by students since AIESECers are mostly university students. The conclusion is that you just have to justify your skills in good spoken English and that’s it. There should be no pressure from your side since it is not tough unless you are interviewing for an internship or teaching position which is paid.
After clearing the interview, you will get an invitation letter that you will use for the visa process and so on.
AIESEC Cost Calculation for a Complete Duration
Whenever you will find an opportunity, there is one thing you have to look up for and it is the project fee. You can check that in the picture below. Make sure it is zero (recommended). If not, you will have to pay that fee in local currency to the local AIESEC Team once you arrive there. The exchange fee will always be there and is paid in Pakistan to the Pakistani AIESEC Team.
Now let’s calculate the major expenses a student will incur during his/her stay. I am assuming that you have got selected in Baku, for a program of 6 weeks from July to August. Your accommodation and one-time food are covered. You have zero Project fees and a fix 16,000 Exchange Fee.
Your approximate expense in PKR will be as follows
- Flight: 160,000
- Visa: 10,000
- Exchange Fee: 16,000
- Food: 60,000 (45 Days – Self-Cooking)
- Personal Trip Expenses in and out City are Variable from Person to Person
Which countries are cheaper to travel to?
AIESEC opportunities are offered in many countries but in my opinion, right now following countries are cheaper than others for long stays.
- Srilanka
- Egypt
- Azerbaijan
Experience-wise you can go for Turkiye, Kenya, Uganda, Malaysia or Thailand but they will be much more expensive than the ones I mentioned above. You can win a paid Internship and can cover your expenses as well. I did not mention European, American or Balkan counties because usually, it is difficult to get those visas as students.
Some Important Information
You will be considered a student in that local country and can avail of all the student discounts where possible by showing your visa. It can be a food shop or a ticket to some museum etc.
You and your group will be managed and directed by an AIESEC Team Leader. He or She will be responsible for everything from airport pickup to the last day. For example, making sure that your accommodation is good, your duties in school are going fine etc. And the leader will be with you in the respective workplace daily. The leader will take you to Malls, Picnic parties etc if planned. He/She will be available on call all the time and be responsible for giving you the certificate at the end of the program.
Before leaving, there will be a training session in Pakistan by AIESEC Pakistan where you will be advised and directed for your arrival in the next country. It is a general information session and not mandatory to attend.
Ending Note
I hope you learnt something new today and cleared all your questions in mind regarding AIESEC. If you still got questions, feel free to reach out.
Furthermore, if you like the Blog, Do check my other Blogs as well and do follow and share my Travel Company Page I run. Huzaifa Air Ticketing and Traveling Services. On Instagram, I am present as @huzaifainair. Thank You.
Happy Travelling!
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