Who needs an AIESECer?

Working with sales in Corporate Relations in AIESEC Norway this is the question which I constantly have to ask myself everyday. The first answer would obvously be: "Everyone"

The real answer is obviously not the same. To me there is little doubt that an AIESEC Experience is the most substantial development platform available for young people today. One of the crucial ingredients is Exchange, or for those not familiar with the idiosyncrasies of AIESEC, our International Internships. An AIESEC Experience without Exchange is like a hamburger without the meat. Sure, a hamburger consists of hamburgerbread, pickles (for those who like them), tomatoes, lettuce - sometimes cheese - or whatever else. And without all these things a slap of meat is NOT a hamburger.

So we have:

(1) International Internship ≠ AIESEC Experience

However, as most of you would agree, without the meat, there is not really any hamburger at all - hence:

(2) No International Internship ≠ AIESEC Experience

You need it all, that is- you need the meat and the bread. In AIESEC we need Exchange (the meat) and the bread (Leadership) to make it a complete AIESEC Experience. All with pickles and onions, and flavours from around the global making our global learning environment. To me AIESEC in a formula is:

(3) (International Internship) x (Leadership) x (Global Learning) = AIESEC XP

Just like the Burger, however, if you had to settle - you'd choose the meat - right? This leads me to my title.

For this to happen people like myself, who are living the AIESEC Experience need to constantly find these internship opportunities for our members. Only by doing this are we providing AIESEC Experiences to our own network, and in a wider organizational understanding - for ourselves. That we need exchange (the Meat) to provide AIESEC XPs (the Burger) is without a doubt.

The question we are asking ourselves in sales, however, is another one. Which meat producer (companies) believes that by providing the raw material for the meat, will they get a great burger? And which meat producer needs a great burger (ie. an AIESECer on an Internship).

The answer is quite obvious. Nobody, if ANYBODY - needs a burger. A burger is something you usually permit yourself because you want it. It simply tastes great, and even though you know it's a bit expensive - even though you know it's not always the healthiest choice - you want a burger.

Who needs an AIESECer is the wrong question to be asking. Nobody needs an AIESECer, really. People get by eating rice, potatoes, pasta. People eat sandwiches and fishballs. But between all these meals, every now and then - people want a Burger. What we should be asking us is "Who wants a Burger" - ie. "Who wants an AIESECer", rather than who needs it.

And for all those AIESECers out there. The meat and the pickles are really important. Keep making sure we have them. But let's get our meat in order. Let's get students and graduates who want an Exchange Experience. And let's find those companies that want the Burger.