About 60 people attended AIESEC Concordia’s recruiting event last Thursday, considerably increasing the number of possible applicants for their Experience campaign.

Launched in January 2011, the campaign is a temporary partnership between AIESEC Canada, Brazil, China, India, Turkey and Ukraine to reserve specific internships for Canadians.

“This session I know that we have two [students going on internships in India and Turkey this summer], but there are still some that are applying and they still have to go through a review board,” said Isabelle Hum, the Experience Campaign’s organizing committee president.

In comparison, AIESEC Concordia sent ten people on internships abroad last year which according to Hum is within their average.

This type of promotional event seems to be working for AIESEC Concordia. By the end of the evening, more than 40 signatures and email addresses were collected for the organization’s next information session.

“The reason why Brazil, India and China were chosen is because they have so many internships available. They are popular countries where a lot of students tend to do their internships,” Hum said. “For Ukraine and Turkey, it is a bit harder to get an internship there without a certain degree of schooling and experience. The Experience campaign gives students the opportunity to experience these two countries without necessarily having to need a high level of schooling or experience.”

That is why they want to promote the campaign and increase the number of applicants. “The best places to find internships are South America, Africa and Asia, but people tend to be more focused on Europe because there are so many different countries over there. It’s almost everybody’s dream,” she explained.

In addition to the students they send abroad, AIESEC Concordia members also welcome interns in Montreal every year. “We were able to recruit three to four Montreal companies willing to hire an intern from abroad. The total number of interns going abroad plus interns from abroad coming here is seven to eight,” added Erica Mazerolle, member of the AIESEC Concordia’s communications team.

It is the review board, a panel of top AIESEC judges, that decides who goes on an internship. While the number of applicants can vary, these judges look for flexible applicants who share the organization’s values.

The deadline to apply for the Experience internships is April 30.