How being part of AIESEC develops you professionally

Nowadays, developing professional skills goes beyond learning in a classroom. What we know of as hard skills are only the first step in growing professionally and personally. With more and more people entering the job now with qualified, technical hard skills, it’s important to stand out by using soft skills. Not only that, using soft skills in your everyday life will make everyday tasks easier and will help you develop into a better leader. How can soft skills be developed in AIESEC?

Soft skills are less specific, less technical skills, more intrinsic with a person’s personality and general behavior. Because of this, there are many ways to develop them, but a sure way to do it is practice. Practical, real life experiences outside of academia can create the opportunity to become a more well rounded individual. AIESEC offers a variety of experiences like this.?

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Soft skills in AIESEC

Through internships, volunteering, and teaching opportunities, young people can learn while doing. These experiences can be a challenge, but it is exactly this challenging environment that can boost soft skills. Some of the soft skills valued in AIESEC include:

1. Communication: Being self aware and always open to feedback will enable you to master this skill. When having innovative ideas, it is essential to know how to share them with others.
2. Team work: A multicultural experience is an opportunity to learn how to accept diversity of people and ideas and collaborate with your colleagues to bring innovation and achieve common goals. This can later lead to success in both personal and professional projects.
3. Problem Solving: Putting yourself in a new situation can be a great way to learn how to think on your feet. This paired with being solution oriented and creative can be indispensable for problem solving.
4. Adaptability: The most important skill that you need to learn first during a challenging experience is how to get out of your comfort zone, this is the first step to growing constantly. Moreover, adaptability shows your ability to learn from experience.
5. Critical Thinking: A skill that is mostly developed through experience, the flexibility to investigate information objectively and build a reasoned judgment is essential for good decision making.

Hard skills are, for the most part, learnable and adaptable. Because of this, soft skills can seem harder to develop or change. However, determination and challenging our comfort zones is all it takes to start practicing soft skills. A good learning attitude is essential to being a good leader. Working on your leadership qualities can get you farther in life than you might think, just be brave enough to explore them!

By: Alejandra Rangel

Resources:?

Slimani, A- (2019) Top soft skills you will learn during your AIESEC internship.

https://blog.aiesec.org/skills-you-will-learn-during-your-internship/

Zarzur, C. (2018) What are soft skills and how you can use them.?

?https://blog.aiesec.org/what-are-soft-skills-and-how-you-can-use-them/