Job Wanted!

We are at the middle of the Global Financial Crisis and the Job Market looks awful for anyone looking for stable full time position but…

Here I go! To the Job Market!

First of all, I have noticed that organizations are looking to keep low fix costs in two ways:

They are keeping the fix down by lowering the number of full-time employees (FTE) with flexible HR capacity (short-term contracted employees and consultancy) and keeping the costs down by providing opportunities for hard working candidates with relative little experience.

Furthermore, not all industries suffered the same with the crisis. For example banking and finance got deeply damaged while the energy sector has remained a bit more stable.

On the personal note, I realized that I need to do more than one thing next year and I would like it to be a combination of being an employee, an entrepreneur, a student and a traveler.

I also know that I have the chance to break the year in segments and find short and intense opportunities instead of only looking for a long term career plan, opening the doors to contract and negotiate out-of-the-box, in other words, it is not only about the salary.

In terms of location, anywhere but Europe and USA seems to be the answer which challenges my search because I am currently living and enjoying The Netherlands.

I got a CV and I got a coach. I haven’t met with my coach yet but we will very soon.

While writing my CV, I re-learn 4 things that I want to share:

1. Keep a standard CV but customize it every time you send it to an organization

2. Do that by making sure that the key words in your CV fit the job requirements

3. Make sure you explain what degree you have, you will be amazed to realize the differences between Bachelor, Licentiate, Master and MBAs in different parts of the world, even within Europe.

4. Network your way in, instead of letting yourself being fished out of the market

5. Your CV is your statement, so if it is not you then It won’t get you where you fit

I fool myself by facing the truth: my next step is only that, my next step, one dot in a long line that I will keep on shaping forever.

Finally, I maintain the motivation because life is full of opportunities and places to see and explore. I have met people and build networks that can take me far and in moments of uncertainty people focus on generating results globally, not giving excuses and connecting short term achievements with long term sustainability.

------------------------------

Global job trends for 2009:

· BBC/ILO Video - http://es.youtube.com/watch?v=F-spZ5R_9eE

· ILO Report- http://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---dgreports/---dcomm/documents/publication/wcms_101461.pdf

About drugs and dangers for Central America

Today is the first Sunday since I left to Costa Rica that I have the chance to stay at home and enjoy the evening shows.

I was watching BBC and saw a documentary that mentioned the issues that have emerged in some Amazonian areas due to the industry of cocaine.

In the height lands of the Andean Region of South America, the Coca Plant has been grown for centuries. It is recognized as a medicinal plant and it is embedded in many traditional activities of the local communities.

When the global consume of cocaine grew in the early 70´s some Andean farmers started to have a new set of clients for their coca leaves.

The new clients paid more than the traditional market and this encouraged the farmers to commit more land to the coca production.

Nowadays, after decades of guerrilla, corruption and violence many families remain dependant of the income of the cocaine industry.

Governments set regional quotas on how much land can be dedicated to the production of coca for the local consumption but leaks to the drug industry remain systematic.

The drug industry is driven by a worldwide consuming market and its power has crashed against the different policies that governments have tried to enforce along the supply chain.

In my opinion, these policies haven't being successful since they are generating a ¨mirage" effect. To give you an example, the enforcement of law and well implementation of policies in Colombia cause the migration of the business to Mexico. Furthermore, as the Mexican government puts more pressure on the markets, the industry will keep moving south to Central America: first to Guatemala and then to El Salvador, Honduras and Nicaragua to finally hit Costa Rica and Panama.

The complexity of the problem doesn't encourage me to propose concrete actions except to extend you an invitation to avoid at all consequences the consumption of any type of illicit drug to stop the supply of money in the market and to reduce the power of the industry.

---------------------------

Read more: "Trouble Ahead: The Cocaleros of Peru" ' http://belfercenter.ksg.harvard.edu/files/felbab-brown.pdf
Photo: http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/spanish/latin_america/newsid_2708000/2708125.stm

The world is just awesome!

During one of the unexpected moments in the last Conference I attended in the USA we played the video below. It can only be seen from the blog -http://juan-cajiao.blogspot.com -

It was made by Discovery Channel and I just love it!

Enjoy!

Nobel Peace Laureate recalls his AIESEC Experience

ROTTERDAM, December 16 ^th, 2008- Speaking to AIESEC in Finland, Martti Ahtisaari recalled warmly his time in AIESEC, as a university student. Mr Ahtisaari was a member of AIESEC in the early 1960’s and continues to endorse the relevance of working with young people to build peace and international co-operation.

Check the video:

Barking dog doesn't bite!

I had the chance to look at my country with the eyes of a person who has been abroad in the past four years.

I re-discover the beauty of nature and the kindness of the people and I also had a taste of the many management challenges the country is going through.

In my opinion, Costa Rica did not prepared to host the population that we currently have, the immigrats that have arrived and the quality of life we all expected.

The symptoms can be experienced on a daily basis when you get caught in a traffic jam, suffer of long waits for low quality governamental services or feel insecure at your own home.

I have been following politics in my country since 1998 when I joined University and I have realized that we have been sticking bandages in the system and trying to stop the licks with our fingers.

I can't really blame the government. Since 1998 we have had 3 different democratically elected Presidents and every time they have became the scape goat for all the country's problems. If I ask my older brother or my dad, they will add at least 3 more Presidents since 1978. In other words, doesn't really matter who the President is because the attitude of our people remains the same.

I believe that Costa Ricans work very hard as long as they see a direct, short term return in their work. We take care of our families and friends but feel little sympaty for strangers of our own community. We go from University to Business Schools but not usually to start our own ventures. We have a say in politics but not always an action in society. Like the old saying barking dogs don't bite!

I wish Costa Rica would start a long term planning process for the next 25-35 years with clear population targets and strategies around key areas of development like health, housing, education, transport, jobs, finances and retirement supported by strong pillars on national security, environment, heritage, technology and positioning.

I wish one day each productive, social and political sector, each organization and each person in this country will be delivering on an agreed contribution that will lead us to provide each individual the opportunity to be as great as he or she can be.

And I guess it is all a matter of will, good (political) will.

Pura Vida!

Learning to lead at AIESEC International

Last night I arrived to Costa Rica after facing the regular migration challenges of a Latin American crossing the world.

But I have to say that I really enjoyed the flight because I decided to use it to reflect in the past 7 months and the experiences that I have lived. So I bought three magazines on topics like leadership, entreprenuership and global reality to facilitate the process and sat in the airplane for over 15 hours and free coffee.

In February 2008 I was elected President of AIESEC International, which means that I have to select 22 people and create an international team to support the operations of AIESEC around the world.

In May we started with the Transtion, in June the 22 members of the team arrived from 16 different countries, by the first week of July we had our plan created - Connecting to deliver -, in August we met in Brazil with more than 1000 members, partners, Alumni, guests and friends to focus the deliverables of our year. In September we deployed the team to support operations, do sales and deliver partnerhsips. We have been constantly present in 6 regions of the world. By October, we started the review of all our activites as we diagnosticated that our organization needed to get fit to succesful overcome the global financial crisis. And today, we have grown 20% over the last year and reached an absolute delivery higher than the past 15 years.

All of this has helped me to become more selfware and to realize some key aspects that I need to pay more attention to play the role that the job requires.

I feel confident when it comes to build focus and direction with the team, also I have noticed that I give a good level of trust to the capabilities of the each individual and that I enjoyed jumping from the detail of the execution to the scope of strategy.

The aspect that I will commit to improve in the next months is empathy. I am a little bit impatient and not always recognize that others are not aware of the context and they don't own the level of information that I have access to. So, when the need to make decisions faster increases I have the tendency to put too much pressure on the individuals without considering the factors affecting them.

So far, this aspect hasn't generated big issues mostly because I have built a strong safety net around me through the support of key individuals in my team that I constantly invite to give me feedback on my behaviours and the reactions of others.

I have learned a lot these months and I am very very impressed with the level of people I worked with everyday. These are guys that understand what is commitment and that have given everything they have to support our countries delivering great experiences.

At this point in time, this team of 22 people represent what I care about and value the most in my life and I am very happy that I decided to live this experience.

We are driving around the Finacial Crisis!

A popular question flowing around business minds these days is: how can we decrease capacity to increase results?

This fundamental question is becoming the leverage point for many organizations facing the challenges of the financial crisis.

It is leading organizations to review their bottom-line together with the processes that deliver in such results. It has also time-framed opportunities as well as quantified return on soft investments.

That question has also generated a strong review on HR practices promoting leaner processes in talent supply and shorter retention lenghts, aiming to result in a lower number of Full Time Employees(FTE), which adds to the increasing entry-levels supply looking for exciting opportunites.

More young talent, more short term opportunities, faster supply processes results in a thriving talent market around the world.

In the last edition of Harvard Business Review(HBR), there is an article on: "Winning the Race for Talent in Emerging Markets" which is a remarkable study on what young talented people is looking for in a career opportunity: a brand that inspires and make you proud, a purpose that fulfills your sense of existence, an opportunity that challenges you in new way and a culture that recognizes and promotes success.

When I finished reading, I realized that this is the reason why AIESEC is making it through the financial crisis -we have reported growth in all quarters with an average of 25% from the past year- : because we are a source of talented young people that has been able to create the connection between promises made and promises kept to our partners and ourselves.

Looking forward to close a great year!

Growth

Our organization is aiming to grow 100% in the last quarter of the year (October, November and December) compare with the same period of 2007.

The decision to grow 100% is based in what is left to achieve our 2008 goals and what we have in process and almost ready to be delivery.

From my point of view, the challenges to achieve such ambition are organizational focus and members mindset.

The first challenge is to keep a relevant part of our organization focusing on: (1) matching our students with the opportunities we have available, (2) recruit new students intersted in development work and education, (3) and sell more management internships.

The second challenge is the mindset. I have came to realize that not everyone feels comfortable with the verb 'grow' and more interesting that some of us have the tendency to separate growth from quality, as if those aspects would make sense indepedently from each other.

Let me give you an example, a Pizza place is decided to sell more pizzas. When a customer orders a pizza, his/her first expectation is to get the pizza (deliver our promise) and then enjoy the pizza at an affordable price (sustainably). In that way, the customer will come back next time and bring friends along (exponential grow).

Growth in the scale of 100% can only be achieve when the focus and the mindset are aligned and when we bring the organization together building synergies around our common goals.

Check out this video from our partners talking about the 100% Growth Campaign:

The Connecting Role

The last week I had the luck to visit Slovakia and Germany where our organization had two very important meetings with the our local officers.

I met lots of cool young guys and girls from Europe who commit at least 30 hours of their week in giving others the opportunity to become the person they want to be.

Among them there is a group that we call "LCPs", which stands for Local Committee President. They are the final responsible of our Local Committees and they lead our operations in Universities or Cities across Europe and the World.

Meeting them was an awesome experience, I realized how lucky I am to have the opportunity to share the same goal, the same passion and the same challenges with such a diverse group. It made me feel alive and part of somewthing more powerful than myself.

Everyday these guys and girls work hard connecting their teams, Universities, the local companies and the rest of our organization to increase the impact that we have in the world.

One day, just after the end of WW II, one of these LCPs in Finland found a student: Martti Ahtisaari who joined him in the adventure of learning how to connect people from different countries and to build friendly relations among them. This week, this fellow AIESECer, has been rewarded with the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts in several continents to solve international conflicts.

Everyday, AIESEC is enabling the development of agents of positive change to create the needed impact on society.

Thank you LCPs!

May I see your visa, please?

Every time I travel I research to find out if I need a visa to enter the country. As a Costa Rican, I am very lucky to have free access to many countries of the world but that doesn't mean that I have had a hassle-free record of migration issues.

For example, September last year a Schengen immigration authority stopped me for 12 hours and charged me 2200 Euros -refundable- to enter the region while having a valid entry for 10 more days of 90 days valid entry. Note that such restriction in not mention in the website: http://costarica.nlembajada.org/asuntos_consulares/visa.

I felt awful. I felt like a thief stopped by the police in front of everyone, I felt irresponsible for something that was not my responsibility and I felt frustrated because there was nothing I could do.

I know many cases of great individuals with great intentions being stop for reaching their final destination because of these rules, or lack of them, that our countries have set to regulate the mobility of people.

The last example I know is about a Mexican trying to reach India to support countries in the Asia-Pacific Region running projects in social and business entrepreneurship. I am sure he is a harm for national security or a threat for income distribution in the country.

Our World need wiser systems to regulate the flow of people, resources and technology to make sure that this three elements of development converge in the same place at the same time. Otherwise we will end up with a rich world of starving high technologized people.

Hello World!

I am back in the virtual World!

This time I will be sharing my experiences and learning of managing a team of 22 individuals from 16 countries and being held responsible for the growth and sustainability of a global organization present in more than 100 countries with more than 32 ooo members. Isn't this cool?

I will be posting on leadership and team management, the challenges of youth in a globalized society and other topics and issues I must face in the next months. The blog will remain young and fresh with a very simple language and some Spanish words here and there.

When I was back in Costa Rica in early 2000's, the TV was a great source of motivation for me. Watching channels like People & Arts, Discovery and NatGeo kept me interested in discoverying the beauty the world captures. Today I have being in more than 67 cities in 34 countries and the video below resembles how i feel about it.

Good Bye China!

"At the end you remember the begining" a friend wrote on his blog more than one year ago.

Today I remember his words.

On Sunday, I will fly to Rotterdam to start my new term as Director of AIESEC International.

Yesterday I had dinner with LC UIBE, the LC I was coaching, and I have to say that it is hard to let your babies go :)

Today they are in the top of the AIESEC network, some of them don't even realize the size of their achievements but that's ok... One day they will.

The cat caught the mice.

Independently of what is coming on the future Balance is what I will be looking for.

Good bye little funny chinese people. I will miss you.

Starbucks and Costa Rica

Costa Rica has tried for several years to create a difference in the coffee market offering high quality and responsible production.

Today I was reading the newspaper and I found out that our coffee has won three times, including this year, the "Black Apron Exclusives" to the best supplier of the firm.

But the cooperation goes beyond the supply of coffee. It also includes production management, forecast, loans and diversification of products.

For example, some of the handcraft you can buy there are made in Costa Rica and the suppliers are very much satisfied for the remuneration they receive.

Pick your battles

The Art of War refers to the importance of picking each battle carefully.

The main idea is that fighting is the worst case scenario.

But if you find yourself in war times, then it is important to pick the battles that you can win and that will set you in most strategical position.

Other times, it is better to delay a battle until a proper field is found.

Pick your battles.

Also in your personal life.

Music

In the last days, I have been really connected with the music from home.

Here you can find a list of Costa Rican and some other Latin music - http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=962ED6F96262B6C8

I wonder if somebody has a complete version of Contramarea (Mal País)

I also found this song..., I think it is really really nice. What I like the best is that, even if it is Mexican, it looks like my memories of Costa Rica...

Today was a great day in China :)

Interesting

I knew something wasn't going that good :)

Thanks Peep

Sometimes it seems like we failed

Some of us are always trying to reach our dreams.

Sometimes it seems like we failed..., but maybe we didn't.

When Eistein finished College he wanted to start his PhD or to work as researcher for the University. He was not accepted in any of them.

Instead, he started working at the Patents Office.

During those days, he did four relevant activities:

1. Showed that light could be conceived as particles as well as waves.
2. Proved the existence of atoms and molecules.
3. Conceived the special theory of relativity, said that there was no such thing as absolute time or space.
4. Noted an equivalence between energy and mass described by the most famous equation in all of physics, E=mc2.

Sometimes it seems like we failed..., but maybe we didn't.

Transition in China!

I need to be in Rotterdam on June 1st, therefore I must start transition with my succesor in China asap.

My successor is Nina Rociakova from Czech Republic. She is currently the MCVP Exchange in her country.

She will arrived to Beijing in the first days of June, so we will handle the transition virtually.

We met in Belgrade, Serbia. Here is a memory :) :

Belbin test?

Read my VisualDNA™ Get your own VisualDNA™

Something is in my mind

Mi tierra

I talked today with my family for the second time since I am in China.

It was so nice to hear my parents' voice and the noises of Costa Rica in the back.

A couples of days ago, some norwegians asked me to tell them three interesting facts about Costa Rica...

The first was very reactionary... "Countries like yours pay us to keep the Earth clean" :)

But then, I told them about the Peace and the Economy.

The thing is..., they would have never understand if I tell them about the smell of the forrest, or the noise of the rain in the roof, or the sing of the yiguirros...

Something I really miss is how close and blue is the sky... It feels like if you put your hand up you will touch it... Maybe that's why we don't like tall building - not earthqueakes related :)

Well, this is week is Semana U...

I guess some ppl will have some stories to tell in the future :)

Impossible???? What???

Shape-full readings

I am not the best reader.

As a matter of fact, I find must readings redundant and long.

Nevetheless, I like the main idea some books try to transmit.

Some of them are:

• Focus on results: The Goal - E. Goldratt
• Take care of the whole: The Fifth Discipline -P. Senge
• Manage teams: Gung Ho! - K. Blanchard
• Compete to win: The Art of War - Sun Tzu (http://www.chinapage.com/sunzi-e.html)

This is a quote from the Art of War:

By means of these seven considerations I can forecast victory or defeat.

(1) Which of the two sovereigns is imbued with the Moral law?
(2) Which of the two generals has most ability?
(3) With whom lie the advantages derived from Heaven and Earth?
(4) On which side is discipline most rigorously enforced?
(5) Which army is stronger?
(6) On which side are officers and men more highly trained?
(7) In which army is there the greater constancy both in reward and punishment?

Barrilete cósmico!!!

Espectacular!

Make things happen, make things simple!

The truth is... time is limited.

We can not do everything we want in the time we have.

Defining a clear goal focuses our energies. Keeping things simple increases our impact.


For example,

In MoChina, we are clear that Exchange is the most impactful experience for our members.

More Exchange means more management, therefore more Leadership positions.

More issues and markets means more Exchange, more Leadership Positions and more IBXPs.

....

Eistein has two quotes related to this topic:

"Make everything as simple as possible, but not simpler."

"Any fool can make things bigger, more complex, and more violent. It takes a touch of genius-and a lot of courage-to move in the opposite direction."

SSGN Board 07-08!!!

SSGN is the name of the region I was appointed to, It covers: Spain, USA and Latin America.

The Board is a group is individuals who are responsible to support the delivery regional commitments.

During the past week, I was waking up earlier or going to to bed late in order to have an acceptable understanding of the candidates applying for the Board.

The process was very interesting. Getting to know different people finding out about their passions, competencies and strenghts...

But a decision has to be made and I was aiming for a balanced team.

The reason is simple, due to the current situation of SSGN more than direction change, we need speed. A balanced team has the characteristic to "keep things on track" which precisly the risk of speeding up :)

SSGN Board 2007-2008

Congratulations!!!

What should I write about?

This life is so cool
Or at least, the days when I write in this blog :)
Here are some views from Expro (Serbia) and Austria:

Euro Expro 2007, Serbia

Bad Ausse, Austria (Future 2007)

Find the hard worker

The Exciting Moment

Selecting the team for the next year

The team will have 2 Project Managers (PM) and Non Corporate Manager (NCM) person.

The PMs will be in Sao Paulo, Brasil. The NCM will be in Madrid, Spain.

We will meet for transition and planning in Rotterdam, NL and the kick-off will be in Istambul, Turkey :)

We are going 100% to release SSGN potential!!!

Soon... the results!!!!

World | Too much!!!

What if I tell you that today we brought 12 Chinese students to meet with and chat about CSR with Anglo America?

What if I tell you that yesterday we had lunch with the global CSR team of NIKE, including the VP CSR?

What if I tell you that I will be in Belgrade tomorrow?

And in Vienna on March 27th?

What if I tell you that I bought 3 shirt and 3 t-shirts for 12 Euros and people think I paid too much? :)

This is AIESEC, this is my life now... :)

Costa Rica | Campeón UNCAF

China | MC Team Day

In the last 24 hours, the team was in a spa...

We jumpp from the saune to the swimming pool and then to the dinner room, watch movies, play pin-pong... chill all day :)

Next week will be tough

I have meeting with Anglo America and also we are hosting a lunch with the Nike CSR Global Team :)

So many things to be done...

And then on Wednesday I am flying to Serbia!!!

I love Serbia, it will be my second time there. The first was on summer 2004, I went on holidays. Belgrade really surprized me. It was very hot, very clean and the rivers were amazing... Besides I met some really nice ppl there...

I will stop in Austria and maybe stay a couple of days..., not sure yet...

Well, that's it from now...

Back on-line!

I am very happy that my blog is back. As you see I changed some aspects of it in order to make it work again. I am not sure what the problem was...

Anyways, the last two months were really exciting.

At the begining of January, Caio from Brazil came to work with us in the MC. He brought a lot of passion, action and structure to the work of the team. Right now he is sort of the MCVP CSR in Mainland of China... :)

During this time, we also had January National Conference where I finally had an acceptable number of delegates in the CSR track :) Besides we elected new President: Vincent Li!

In February, we started to work with two big projects: (1) Sustainable Development Education at High Schools; (2) HIV/AIDS Peer to Peer Education in Universities.

This brought to us, Asia from Poland. She is in charge of the HIV/AIDS Project.

Later on, I went to Egypt for the AIESEC's International Presidents Meeting where I applied for AIESEC International and was happily selected!!!! :)

Next year, I will be AIESEC Director for Latin America, Spain and the US. Although, I will be travelling a lot within the region, I will live in Rotterdam, NL.

My speech was about the need of increasing the amount of cool opportunities we offer to students and I supported it with a 4:30 min video about my experience:

If I manage to solve some technical issues, next week I will be travelling to Belgrade to facilitate in a Conference for European AIESECers :)

Life is eXciting!

China | The year coming...

The time to reflect and decide has come.

In China, New Year's is just another day..., which makes me wonder why is it so important for Westerners.

I have been working on myself :)

Thinking a lot, writing facts and partying hard.

I have an idea, we'll see if it works.

Here is a message from a good friend

"When Heaven is about to place a great responsibility on a great man, it always first frustrates his spirit and will, exhausts his muscles and bones, exposes him to starvation and poverty, harasses him by troubles and setbacks so as to stimulate his spirit, toughen his nature and enhance his abilities." - Chinese Wisdom

China | Why is so good to be in AIESEC MoChina?

Friday, September 15, 2006

05:00 Wake up due to the Jet Lack of last week meetings in Europe

07:00 Finish the Job Descriptions of 2 new team members from Canada and Serbia

09:00 Find an American guy to come here an organize a Conference for a company about Clean Energy Implementation Challenges in China

10:00 Write a mail to a girl in Poland as she is accepted to run a project on HIV/AIDS for Global Business Coalition and AIESEC

11:00 Take a shower a go to the office... Yes! All this happened from my living room :)

12:00 Lunch

13:00 Meet with a member who is organizing an Entrepreneurship Event in February

14:00 Receive a request for a journalist for the European Chamber

15:00 Go and extend my visa

16:00 Still extending my visa

17:00 Having coffee

18:00 Attend a banquette at Hyatt Hotel

19:00 Have a chat with some key personalities, including the first Global Chair of the Earth Council Summit!

20:00 Receive a request from a CSR News agency that needs a News Editor

21:00 Eating caviar or something similar... not so good though... :)

22:00 Passing by taxi in front of Tiananmen Square, Forbidden City and the Mao Zedong Memorial

22:10 Receive a phone call from Lagos, Nigeria from a candidate that just summit his application to Bayer China

23:00 Lying on bed, reading 100 años de Soledad and wishing that tomorrow I will not have the Jet Lag any more :)

BLOG CHANGE

Hi!

I had a lot of problems with my blog, so I moved to: http://juan-cajiao.blogspot.com

That blog is actualized :)

Hugs!

Juan


Available only in Spanish... :)

World | Here we go again :)

Tomorrow another journey starts

I will go to London to meet my team and review our performance in the last months.

It is amazing for a Costa Rican to leave Beijing with London as destination...

But there is more..., most likely I will be visiting Rotterdam...

An important meeting will happen in the AIESEC HQ and it could be interesting to have a member of our team there...

China..., UK..., NL... ...

I can feel that I will miss my little chinese girls :) and my team...

By the way..., travelling for London to Rotterdam most likely will be in one of this

La Paqureña... :)

China | My responsibility

Do you want to find out more about what I am doing in China?

Well, check this video.

It was made to present our Program to AIESEC stakeholders (Companies, NGOs and Government)

Enjoy

My Family :)

Early this week, I talked for the first time with my family since I arrived to China almost five months ago.

I realized how much I miss them and how lucky I am.

My family is where everything started and where everything will finish.

Costa Rica! is my country, I love it, there is nothing I can do about it :)

I wish I have some pictures here to post them in my blog.

I wish you could see and feel all those nice things my family and my country have given me.

One day I will make my family a little bigger :)

I hope I managed to do it as good as my mum and dad did :)

Los extraño a todos..., hasta a Miguelito y Betico :)

Besos y abrazos

China | Celebrities that look like me, chinese version

Before going to that part I just want to share that I succesfully raise the first internship for an African person in China :)

It is so cool. It is a chance for an African person to come to China, to work on Corporate Responsibility and to be involved on HIV/AIDS topics...

Three tabues in one :)

Can't wait to go to the airport and pick her/him up :)

So, back to the issue of this mail... here is the chinese (actually japanese) celebrity that looks like me...

"Ichughuy (something like Issue-Guy)"

China | My Happiest Working Day!!!

Today is four months and ten days since I arrived to China.

From my perspective my responsibility was very clear:

Get the Local Committees involved in projects (create teams, plan and execute) that generate exchange and learning around Sustainable Development topics using the external platform left by the last term.

I found many challenges that I don't even want to remember right now.

But I found a team willing to do crazy stuff: Dex, Natalie, Dan, Birtan, Susan, Yuan, Nick. And also two great CEEDers: Lucy and Regula.

Today I was reviewing the survey where LCs were supposed to commit to run topic based projects...

Honestly, I was not even expecting answers since it is hard for LCs to access AIESEC.net due to Government restrictions at Uni to external servers...

My surprize:

• 7 LCs interested!!!
• 12 Projects with responsible assigned!!!

Besides that:

• 2 Project Managers applying for Heroes Conference Grant in Malaysia!!!

I am so happy!

China | RIC Beijing

Beijing and Shanghai are so different.

At least, that is my conclusion after the Induction period.

I believe that Shanghai people are more exposed to Western cultures.

So, while in Shangahi it is easier to communicate, in Beijing you find more traditional chinese behaviors.

"In the similarities we come together

and in the differences... we grow!"

China is amazing!

I wonder what will come in the next quarte of my term...

China | HIV/AIDS, Energy/Environment and Poverty

China | Your turn!

It is time for you to be part of this story!

If you are an experienced AIESECer, passionate about China and Sustainable Development... This opportunity is what you have being looking for:

MC CEED

Issue Based Implementation Team!

Dowload the application: Here!

Dead line: Nov 1st, 16:00 GMT (24:00 PR China)

Send to: juan.cajiao@aiesec.net

Are you reading Chinese stories

or

are you writing your own?

China | Shanghai Induction Conference

On the 14th floor of a Hotel in Shanghai, a group of young people came together to share about the things they care...

In front of one of the most busiest ports of the Asian giant, 150 students, share their passions and hopes...

Under a dark coal sky, I realize that China has a future!

Thank you guys!

Random! | Celebreties that look like me!

A break from the Conferences preparation leaded me to: http://www.myheritage.com

After, signing in you can upload a picture of your face and they will match your looks with celebrities' looks.

So, here are my results:

Looking good ah? :)

IC | Faci Life

How does it feel to be in IC?

How does it feel to be a Faci in your first IC?

Hmmm...

Imagine that one day you wake up and you are standing in the middle of the Santiago Bernabeu, the ball is at your feet, there is noise all around and you only see the flashes left behind by your teammates and contraries when they passed you by...

And you are thinking:

"I have to do it right, I have to do it right, I have to do it right... BUT... what should I do?!?!?!?"

And all of a sudden, one of the flashes next to you make sense and you just feel like leting the ball flow, with no reason, just instinct...

That's how I felt.

Part of something much bigger than me, so big that nobody was above or below it, so big that it makes sense only by itself.


When I read the application, I realized I had a few chances, mostly because I had a delegate profile.

But I really wanted to be there.

I decided that If I was not going to be selected, it will others decision, not mine.

I have some of the best memories from IC, those memories that keep a person going in the tough moments.

The memories I will tell my grandchildren.

Future | Entrepreneurial or Corporate life

Every year the time to make decisions comes.

And every year, the decisions become more impactful in our lifes.

I have been thinking about my future for sometime now.

And I find myself in a junction: Entrepreneurial or Corporate life.

Why is this importan right now?

Well, the entrepreneurial life find no better ground than China and the Corporate is a bit more flexible.

Whatever decision I make for next year has to reflect my final thoughts about this dilema...

The price of opportunities :)

This month I will be meeting Costa Rican business people from the China Ya Program. I guess the outcome of this meeting may help to concrete to which side the balance is.

With friedns in IC - Poland

Colombia | Memories - Hips don't lie Role Call

I was going up and own on the internet and I found a very interesting AIESEC video.

It was filmed in Barranquilla, Colombia, during the last LDS.

The Role Call later an AIESEC Colombia icon.

Enjoy!




Ps: guess who is the Chair :)

China | X-treme feelings

During the last days I notice that my mood is becoming extreme.

At some moments things are great and all of a sudden things turn and seem bad.

In Gabiza's words, things are black or white, very moody.

It is the hard period of the adaptation process but it is also one of the best in terms of learning. I am questioning somethings I thought I deeply believe. I reviewing my "escala de valores".

Besides the moody moment, thing seem stable.



We just finished the Energy Seminars which was a very good experience in terms of Event Management in China. This month we have the Induction Conference and I have 2 External days to organize. One in Beijing and one in Shanghai..., a city I have never visit :)


Enjoy the pictures!

Yuan, Regula and Yifan, Some of my flatmates

China | "Soft defeats hard"

Today, two different Chinese sources refered to Latin Americans are too direct and aggressive in the approach...

This makes me think.

Maybe, Chinese people are playing a different game.

One think I remember from Dey and Brodie was there hard approach when the moments were tense...

Maybe, there are different games...

Here in China, as my brother discovered soft defeats hard

PDU Rocks!

PDU stands for People Development Unit and It is the Global Support Team of the PD Area (Talent Managing and Talent Development)

The team is made of 12 amaxing individuals from all over the world: Basia (Poland), Miha (Romania), Fawzy (Egypt), Rubayat (Bangladesh), Carolyn (Canada), Fabian (Mexico), Maria (Sweden), Davo (Peru), Nadya (Ukraine), Matthias (Germany), Juliana (Colombia) and me :)

We mainly do 2 things:

• Review PD Systems for improvements
• Support countries implementation processes
• Support any other crazy initiative from Gabiza :) - AI VP PD

This year we had several meetings in Poland to discuss about the plan and the strategy to support the Competency Model implementation.

Right now, we are communicating virtually, mostly through the aiesec platform.

What is so great about PDU?

1. The quality of the People
2. The common willing to give back
3. The Chair :) Just kidding!!!

Our next meeting will be in Rotterdam, sponsored by Unilever, by the end of the year to review the Competency Model Implementation.

I am so looking forward to meet the team again! :)

China | Adjusting the lens

Wow! What a week!

To avoid randomness I came to an agreement with my team on which are my goals for NOV 1st.

Hot Goals!

• Get the LCPs engaged in IBE
• Organize the "Activating Youth Leadership for Sustainability" Day
• Get into our Bank Account 5 of the 20 MC monthly salaries companies owe us from this term

Important Goals

• Train Project Managers at the Regional Induction Conference
• Organize the CSR Board of Advisors Meeting
• Follow up the UK Embassy Sustainability Fund

Interesting

While I was in Poland, one of the members contacted one of our National CSR Partners without authorization.

Then the member used their well kmown brand and the name of the person to promote one of their events...

Big mess!!!

The good thing is that at the end, it was the passion towards youth and a more sustainable world what save the day.

Just do it!

China | Too fast to capture in a snap shot

You really want to know how my experience goes in China?

Well, it goes fast...

I arrived to Beijing this day at 4pm, took my lagguage to a PwC to a meeting and then again to another meeting with IBM at 9pm and then to my welcome party at 12mn.

That's how my experience looks like.

Faci at IC?
The same, one day I was in the airport in Warsaw waiting for the Bus to the Conference Site. Next day I was rushing out of the shower, saying good bye to be the next day arranging my Board of Advisors meeting. Happy that morning plenaries are gone :)

It goes fast, too fast to be capture...

I am sitting here in front of my computer and all these opportunities pop up in random motion:

- IBE in China
- International Association of Public Transport Conference in Bilbao
- Business as an Agent of World Benefit in Michigan
- World Water Conference in Beijing
- PDU Management in Virtual World
- Top Human
- Golder Associates
- Partners Group - Nike, Shell, BP, ConocoPhillips, Bayer, Novertis, Lucent-Alcatel, Brittish Embassy
- China Ya!
- Activating Youth Leadership for Sustainability
- Outland - All the needs have a road to China

I need an army to capture all this crazy stuff...

One day, I will be sitting in a hamac chair (mecedora), wearing sandals and wet shorts in Playa Avellanas thinking about these days and this post.

I wonder who else will be there.

I wonder who wide my smile will be.

I guess not many have this chances but less have such good memories to find moments of rest and peace.

Made in China!