AIESEC Jordan's Career Development Seminar CDS 211 - Final Report

AIESEC’S CAREER DEVELOPMENT SEMINAR 2011 FINAL REPORT 27th of March 2011 | Amman, Jordan | www.aiesec.org/jordan

AIESEC

Forward

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.

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.

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.

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 longterm 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 impactful event, and looking forward to our next cooperation.

Supporter & Host venue:

Financial Gold Partners:

Learning Partners:

In-kind Partners:

A Simple Decision

A Simple Action

A Simple Strategy

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.

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.

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

Day one | February 19th | Making the decision

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. 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:

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:

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 longterm ambition in 5 or 10 years time.

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.

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:

III. Being a solution oriented leader:

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.

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.

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."

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: 

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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.

A Simple Decision

A Simple Action

A Simple Strategy

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.

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.

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

Day two | February 26th | Taking the action

What do your friends/family appreciate in you? Try to get feedback from your colleagues, friends and family.

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.



What are your work values?

What is your working style?

Favorite working environment?

Scope of organization you would want to work at?

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?

"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.

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 capacity of young people.

"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.

the

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 aid‌etc "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.

A Simple Decision

A Simple Action

A Simple Strategy

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.

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.

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

Day three | March 5th | Practice & Implement

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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.

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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.

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):

Track

(Seniors

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

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: 

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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): I.

Track

Idea Search & (Entrepreneurship):

(Freshmen

Development

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:

worldwide as part of its global learning environment.

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.

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.

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

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

Evaluation: Logistics convenience: 60% 50% Agenda

40%

Location

30%

Timing 20%

Videos

10%

Breaks

0% Excellent

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Bad

Very Bad

Content Satisfaction: 70% 60% 50%

Learning new information

40%

Enjoying the sessions

30% 20%

Evaluating the facilitators

10%

0% Excellent

Good

Bad

Vey Bad

Overall satisfaction: 70% 60% 50% 40% 30%

Overall

20% 10% 0% Extreamely satisfied

Satisfied

Not satisfied Extreamely not satisfird

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