AIESEC Pärnu

Beautiful new beginning

2008-06-04T05:08:00.000-07:00

It is already a year since this piece of virtual space becomes a special place for AIESEC Pärnu thoughts, believes, minds and other things to do.

So 365 days of possibilities to do something new are gone.
In front of everyone there are another 365.

First of all in front of
- LCP 07/08 Mari, who is now excited about working and having time with Täpi, enjoying her personal life and just a little bit excited about having less AIESEC in her life.
- new EB team of AIESEC Pärnu 08/09 - Kadri and Daizy, whom I congratulate with the warmest words and wishes of having the best experience ever. And I know they will have it.
- new ICX coordinator Siim, who just left Pärnu for CEED in Germany - he showed real example of achieving his goals and I know he will be as persistent in bringing new experiences to Pärnu companies when he will come back. Wish you also to spend at least as great time in Germany as I spent in Estonia and even better.
- MC member Marko, who is the most patriotic Pärnu member and who is now closer to his big mission (wish and hope you are!!!) in MC team of AIESEC in Estonia.
- active AIESEC Pärnu people - Riina, Liisi, Maris, another Siim - who are easy going and friendly and are not afraid of spending time together and with me and who aim to have something great and wonderful in their life. Wish you meet this "wonderful and great" during the upcoming 365 days or even soon.
- AIESEC Pärnu coaches Inna and Aika, who are facing now new challenges and need lots of inspiration from us.
- legendary Helena, whom I heard about so much time, but didn't have an opportunity to meet. Since you became first hero of AIESEC Pärnu, wish you to drive with such examples people more and more.
- any other readers of this post, you have still three week to be remembered by me, but is doesn't mean you should miss another opportunities. Catch them!!

Value this opportunity of new beginnings and use it as much as you can and even more.

And maybe it is too much but still huge thanks goes to the EB team 07/08, who gave me a possibility to meet all of people here and to say some nice words.

Zhenya

Story about clever boy

2008-05-19T13:41:00.000-07:00

Once a very clever and generous teacher gave his students a question:
- Is everything, what exist in this world made by God?
The most brave an proactive student replied:
- Yes, everything is made by Him.
- And did God create everything?
- Yes, the answer of a student was.

Then professor asked:
- Then God is the one who created sin and evil. And if we also say, that we are what we have done, then God is evil as well.

Brave student get calm, he didn't know how to argue with professor. Professor was very glad to prove once more, that God is only a myth.

Then suddenly another student raised his hand and asked for a question.
The student got up and said:
- Dear sir, can you tell me if coldness exist?
- What's a question, - he replied, - Sure it exist. Or were you never cold?

The audience started laughing. But the student replied:
- But in real life coldness don't exist. According to the physics regulations in those things we consider as cold in fact there is no heatness. we learn things as a objects, that transmit energy. The absolute null (-460 F) means total absence of energy, or heat less.
And cold doesn't exist. People created this word to describe the absence of warm.

Then again the student asked.
- Professor, and does the darkness exist?
Again professor's answer was positive.

And again the student replied:
- Sorry, but you are not right. Darkness also doesn't exist. Darkness in fact is the absence of light. We can discover light, but not the darkness. we can disperse light through Newton prism and we can get from white light many different lights and study their wave length and so on. But we can not measure the darkness. one single ray of the light lights a darkness. how can you know, how dark is a room. We always use luxes to measure how light is the room. Don't you?
Again, darkness is a word, which people use to describe the absence of light.

And at last, the young man asked if the evil existed.
- Sure, - replied professor not very certain, - we see it every day: crimes, injuries, violence all around the world. These are the image of evil.

And a student replied:
- No, sir, evil also doesn't exist. Evil is absence of God, kindness. This is like darkness and coldness. With this word people describe absence of God. God didn't create evil, because evil is not like love or hope, which exist like light and warmness. Evil is the result of missing a kindness in human heart. Like it used to be cold, when there is no heating and like in used to be dark, when there is no light.

The nae of the student was Albert Einstein

So starting from now let's be genius.
Let's find in everything, we are doing, right things that exist, that matter and that are worth to care about.

Sincerely,
Zhenya

Applying for a job? Some tips

2008-05-09T03:38:00.000-07:00

In my current job (outside of AIESEC) I'm right now dealing with hiring a bunch of new people for different positions starting from front desk service to administration. Yesterday we had an advertisement for conference center secretary and I had about 10-15 calls regarding that job offer. All of them were women of different ages and sound exactly the same. I asked them to send me their CV on my e-mail address and now I'm trying to sort out who was who. And it is crazy! So here comes some of my tips which you can use when you are applying for a job! And please do use them :)

(1) Use a picture in your CV. If you are applying for a job regarding service, put a picture where you are servicing a client or something like that. After the interview, it is much easier for the company to put together different CVs with interviews if they have a face. Your CV may be crap but if the interview was fab, then the CV doesn't matter that much anymore. But the company may forget you if they don't connect the CV with you.

(2) When you send your CV to the company, be sure to write there something about you or something that will be remembered. You would be amazed how many e-mails I have got with the line: "Here is my CV. I look forward to the interview! Kati Murutar". The name was fictional of course :) Now imagine that you have 15 letters like that in one day! There are 7 days in the week (ppl don't send their CVs only at workdays from 9-17). Think a way to differentiate!

(3) When you call regarding a job offering, also state something that brings you out of the crowd. And state the same thing also in the letter! That way the company connects you two. As much as I am concerned - it is very likely that I had 15 calls from the same woman yesterday. Really, the voices sound so similar!

(4) DO NOT! I REPEAT: DO NOT ask these kinds of questions at first: what is the salary, what are the working hours. This is a BIG NO-NO. If a company is looking for a person who is interested in the job itself then these kinds of questions will not take you to the interview.

Extra remark: If you have at least moderate knowledge about Word or other writing programs then use it in making CV. Ordinary CV is ok, but if you get a PDF with a picture and a good design - WOW. Believe me, it's a rare thing. So be glad that you have to do so much paperwork in AIESEC :) Also I suggest to put into your CV a job that you would like to have in the sence that e.g. "My aim is to find a job that would give me chance to develop myself in client service." And maybe how you would get that development, e.g. "I plan to study this ... I read books on this ..."

Good luck in finding a job,
Mari

28 days to go

2008-05-03T05:40:00.000-07:00

One month, more exactly 28 days to go, until my term as an local committee president (LCP) comes to an end. It has been a ride (and still is) with its up and downs. There have been times when everything seemed so easy. And times when even the simplest things were made and felt to be so damn hard. What are the points and discussion topics that I take out right now?

- it's all about the team besides you. not only YOUR team but the whole AIESEC Pärnu team.
- if you're not doing your job, you're harming the organization.
- if you're doing your job, you may be harming the organization.
- there is no "you must do this".
- fight for what you believe in until the end (struggling with this).
- it's hard only if you make it to be hard.
- it's not about this year/term. that's not sustainability.

The biggest thing that I am proud of this year is the fact that right now AIESEC Pärnu is a team. When I and my team were elected as the new leaders of our local committee (LC), we as AIESEC Pärnu were divided and without a common purpose. Today we still have challenges. But in my rainy days, I feel that I have a team to support on. Even when I've been a bad girl :)

Mari
still a LCP

2007-09-20T22:56:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I read a born-new book which includes stories of alumnis of Pärnu college. Some of them have achieved a lot after their graduation and have much to say...

As I think that some of their ideas would be important to know by our members then I will post two of them here.

Tauri Sumberg who is working in the Legendijuhitmise AS and has established hotels like Georg Ots Spa, Kolm Õde (Three Sisters) and in Riga hotel called albert, answered to the question "What was the difference between theory you learned in college and reality when you went to work?" the following: "... What concerns general theory of economics then I would like to calm you down - your studies are more like training of communication and broadening your mind than learning a real job. In future competition will win those who have better leadership skills and characteristics, are better communicators and are more ambitious than those who have better results in macro- and micro-economics..."

And later on: "...If I recruit people to my company then usually I dont care about their results in the university. The knowledge of people is useful if they cannot communicate. Besides your studies I suggest you to listen to wise people, read good books and travel-work around the world..."

Lehar Kütt who is leading PEAK (in Englist Pärnu Entrepreneurship Development Center) answers the same questions the following: "...In management one of the most critical dimensions is the ability to communicate in extreme situations. This is the thing which you cannot learn in the university. Communication skills and the knowledge how to act in different situations can be learned only by practical experience."

A part of the answer of Kristi Pihelpuu, Marhaba Tours, to the questions "What were the first impressions in the college?" comes here: "...At the very beginning, in the 1st course, I realized that in 3 years 20 young and good people will graduate from Tourism and Hotel Management who will start competing with each other in the labor market. That is why I decided to actively coordinate student life besides my studies (Kristi was in Student Council and also organized Student Winter Days etc). I wanted to differentiate from my course mates and at the same time to test my organizing skills..."

With this posting I dont want to tell you that you dont have to learn in the college or university - of course you have to because this gives you the ability to think and use your brain for learning and growing in all kind of situations. I just want to say that people who are already in the real work and labor market really evaluate the same things we are doing here right now - AIESEC and its members are on the right track. Keep on moving!

About LCP Mojco

2007-09-11T09:41:00.000-07:00

I uploaded here a video from Mojco, who is the LCP of AIESEC Zlin. In this video his sharing couple of thoughts/experiences with us. I wanted to upload it here so we could remember it :) Zlin is similar to Pärnu and I believe that they are a good role model for us.

As a small AIESEC local committee our size gives us both the advantage and challenge to prove ourselves daily. I guess its up to us to decide will it be a bonus or not. This year the heat is hotter than ever - we have firmly written down our goal to become an local committee. We have defined the steps that will take us there. We have the people - our members.

Who doesn't know, Pärnu is still an initiative group and we don't have the rights that a local committee has.

So keep up the spirit and lets make it happen ;)

Noored Kooli

2007-09-06T23:44:00.000-07:00

Kas sa oled kuulnud Noored Kooli programmist? Ei ole? Soovitan seljuhul uurida selle kohta rohkem.

Noored Kooli alustasid just oma programmi blogiga, kus kirjutavad nende programmi valitud noored õpetajad. Eesmärk on, et need lood tõstaksid õpetajaameti mainet ja inspireeriksid noori õpetjajakutset valima. Lugege noorte õpetajate igapäevastest raskustest ja seiklustest aadressil: www.nooredkooli.ee/paevik

Mulle meenus praegu ütlus: "Kui sa ei ole pidanud kasvatama last, ei tea sa mida eestvedamine (ing k leadership) tähendab". ;)

Leaders of the World

2007-08-27T13:38:00.000-07:00

At first I wanted to write: "LCPs of the world". But then I thought that non-aieseccars won't know what that means. And for a headline its too long to write "Local Committee Presidents of the World". So the outcome is: Leaders of the World.

And you know what, guys - thats who we are! We are the leaders of the world. Not in ten years, not after we finish with AIESEC - we are it t o d a y. If you think about it, its logical.

Throughout this conference we have heard from different speakers how important it is to activate the local environment, to have the people, who will execute the things in their society. Its easy to write a big check but in the end, its no use, if you can't find the right channels to use the money. For example: billions of dollars are given to HIV/AIDS, but the money isn't doing what it should be doing. And that is so because they don't have the right channel.

Dear LCP's, we lead those right channels. We are responsible of changing our society today by the projects our LC leads. It doesn't matter that much if there is a learning environment around it or not. What matters is that our projects, our message, our events are communicating the right message, are bringing here the people, who make the change in the companies or schools or in whatever place you target your project.

Your proud and honored teammate,
LCP of AIESEC Pärnu

Mari

I planned to write something much different, but I'll leave it to some other time :)

You have a point there

2007-08-27T05:48:00.000-07:00

"Good is the enemy for Best and Good Enough is never."

"If you want to be seen, stand up.
If you want to be heard, speak up.
If you want to be nice, shut up."

Have you been tested?

2007-08-27T05:33:00.000-07:00

I took part of HIV/AIDS learning network. Scary. Didn't expect it to be that. We didn't talk about people dying and we didn't looked at pictures of people who have HIV/AIDS. We emphasized on what we - aieseccars - can do, when we go back to our homes.

I've never been tested for HIV/AIDS. Why should I? But at the point when we were working out ideas how to grow awareness of this disease, I suddenly felt to be scared as hell. Not a nice feeling. A bit later on I found out that if I start to think about prejudices like "I'm not gay" or "I don't do drugs" or "I don't sleep around", it calmed me. But the point is, that these prejudices are wrong.

We know you're sure. But are you a 100% sure? Get tested now!

For more information or places where you can get tested, look at www.aids.ee

Arthur's blog

2007-08-27T05:28:00.001-07:00

Check out Arthur Josephson's blog at arthur.nomadlife.org. His an ex-aieseccar with loads to say. Very interesting.

The AIESEC solution by DHL

2007-08-25T07:41:00.000-07:00

Today we had a presentation form our global partner DHL. It's always interesting to hear our partners talk about AIESEC and why do they co-operate with us.

One thing what is common for our partners is that they always say: "You can feel the energy in the room". And they never miss a chance to try out a role call or a shout. Every time when partners speak, we get another confirmation to the fact that our culture IS unique and it is something what companies dream of.

DHL, like most of our partners, is very conceus on the fact that they can have a big impact on the society. Its in their hands to choose whether they want it to be good or bad. I'll bring out couple of trends that DHL is doing. To me, these trends also show the connection between us and them. They show the link, why we co-operate.

Firstly, DHL is a logistics company which means that they use a lot of gasoline. Now what DHL has come up with is that they use vegetable oil in running trucks. Now I'm not sure if that is right - it seems too science fiction to me, but thats what I heard.

Secondly, DHL wants to be the first choice for their clients. Sounds familiar? To those who aren't aieseccars - our vision for 2010 also states that we want to be first choice in our target group.

For DHL being first choice starts from employees. For them, happy employees equal happy customers. Its an easy formula, but most of the companies haven't realized it. Taking care of customers is critical to obtain your market share and on the whole - just to survive. Its the way the customers are been treated that makes the difference.

Now, 7 caracteristics of being a great leader by DHL:
1. Positive can-do attitude;
2. Passionate work ethic;
3. Build relationships;
4. Strong values and character;
5. Set others up for success;
6. Socially responsible;
7. Sense of humor.

The one which touched me the most is nr 2. You have to be passionate about what you do and you'll never work a day in your life. I relate to this, because my AIESEC work doesn't feel like a work at all. It's more like a hobby and sometimes it just feels like I'm pampering myself by working :) Its a great feeling!

DHL spoker said that don't listen to people who say what you have to do that you'd make a lot of money. In the end, if you don't like what you are doing, you won't get the money anyway. And it was good to hear that from a respectful person, who has proved himself. This is something with what we struggle in AIESEC daily.

Developing Leaders Day

2007-08-24T11:55:00.000-07:00

Today we had a Developing Leaders Day (DLD) which was facilitated by AIESEC global partners Cadbury Schweppes (CS) and ABN-AMRO. I'm not sure, but I think that AIESEC and CS has co-operated since 2000. Co-operation consists of different parts, one of them is DLD. This year the co-operation is expanding, involving also ABN-AMRO. We had approximately 40 people from both of those companies. Those people who are executive officers came specially to Turkey to facilitate DLD for 650 AIESECcars. Wow :)

Overall, it was fresh, exciting, proactive. I want to thank group nr. 16 facis Linda and David for the awesom day! "choky! choky! choky! - yum! yum! yum!"

The DLD 2007 promise was "By the end of the day, you will be able to have a better understanding of what unique role you play in driving high performance in your team." This should give the general idea of what the DLD was about.

The part which was more excited for most of us, I think, was self discovery. We made a Belbin Test which showed a general view of what type of a person we are. I am a Teamworker :) My strengths are that I bring co-operation, I'm mild, perceptive and diplomatic. I listen, build and avert frictions. My weakness is that I am indecisive in crunch situations. That is what the test said. To most of us in group 16, what the test said, was very true.

For me it was good to get a confirmation on what I have been thinking of quite lot. I've always considered myself to be a very result orientated person. But lately (past 6 months) I've found that it's not entirely true. Many of my behaviors seem to go more on to person orientated type.

So I've learned first hand, how important it is to really know who you are. In the past I've made many decisions based on the knowledge, that I'm very result orientated. In team work, it has been hard to find how I really suit to the team. After I've been starting to realize that I'm really more people orientated, many of questions about "how to work in a team" or etc, have become a bit more clearer to me.

So I recommend to all of you to find out who you are. Or at least in general, what type of a person you are. Don't take that seriously what other people think - you have to make up your mind on that.

And BTW - finding out what our weaknesses are, is one step closer to improving them ;)

Principles for a strong team

2007-08-24T11:21:00.000-07:00

Today we had a performance by Rice Ignasi, who works in one of AIESEC global partners Cadbury Schweppes (CS). Ignasi has worked in many parts of the world under CS. His known for leading strong teams that bring strong results.

Here are shortly 8 principles that he applies for his team:

1. Everybody needs to share the same vision.
2. Clear roles and responsibilities.
3. Diversity makes the difference.
4. Keeping people motivated.
5. Setting up team principles and being true to them.
6. Learn from failures.
7. Use "we" instead of "I".
8. Write the book together.

The beginning of a new era ...

2007-06-02T06:43:00.000-07:00

From the President of AIESEC Pärnu 2006/07.

Good evening members of AIESEC Pärnu, its friends and fans, my ladies and gentlemen.

Im glad (actually 50% sad also) to let you know that today is the day, when AIESEC in Pärnu celebrates the first day of a new year, a new term. For some people this is maybe one of the most important and life-chaning opportunity giving day in their life so far. From today, I mean still the 1st of June, new EB members and project managers got the one of a kind chance to make something extraordinarily great with their own lives and help others also to grow.

The topic of this e-mail is "The beginning of a new era..." which is actually true from one side. But on the other hand our so called new generation, our future leaders and positive-changes-in-society-generating-change-agents, continues to follow the path which first steps have been made by Helena, Liisa and the EB of 2006/2007 and others who have been always there...

But this is not only the happy day for new leaders - it is also an important and worth of celebrating and remembering day of the whole AIESEC Pärnu. It is like the New Years Day the AIESEC way.

As it was said already - new leaders will continue walking the same path as previous generations. New leaders, I adjure you to do it with passion. Carry on the contribution of previous generations. Enjoy it, support each other, be tolerant, want to learn and develop and help others to do it as well. I truly belive that it is in our hands to ensure that after 20 years we can gather together as alumnis of AIESEC Pärnu and recognise with proudness that once we were the leaders of this organization and contributed to the opportunity to grow of the youth several years after us. Work towards this feeling.

Some of you used the unique opportunity to enjoy AIESEC Pärnu LC picnic this Thursday - thanks for being there - and already heard some final words from me as an LCP. But they also experienced that it was not so easy for me to find proper words to say in the situation where I should give my last speech as an LCP. I guess that even with this quite a long letter (I thank those who have reached this point with their reading and will do it until the end of the letter, even then if it is only one single person:)) I cannot express all the thoughts and feelings I would like to say you at the moment. And throughout the whole amazing year we have had togehter. Thank you, everybody.

Take it as the last speech from me to you as an LCP of AIESEC Pärnu.

Happy new year!

Enjoy and behave, smile and be happy :)
Marko
LCP of AIESEC Pärnu 2006/2007