Return to Member Stories

Interview with Wendy Sham, Managing Director, AAAHK

Wendy Sham is one of the youngest council members to feature on the AIESEC Alumni Association of HK (“AAAHK”), and was organizing committee president of the highly praised AIESEC Alumni Asia Pacific Conference 2017. Read on to discover how Wendy successfully transitioned from a university student to active alumna, and find out what it means to be a member of AAAHK.


What made you decide to join AAAHK?

After graduating in 2012, I was approached by Ivan Chiu about continuing in AIESEC. I’d just started working which was a big change after the excitement of university, and starting in such a junior position in the company I realised by continuing in AIESEC I could interact with people with similar mindsets, work on exciting projects and meet people from overseas. So I decided to join AAAHK!

What were you involved in?

I started as a council member, mainly assisting the senior members on projects, organising social gatherings. Later on I took up the post as a managing director as I wanted to take a more active leadership role. In my job I don’t have any subordinates, so I saw this as a chance to lead people. It’s actually a big gap between AIESEC / uni time and your career. You are put in a place where you need to be a leader, you really lead people, but after you graduate you don’t get this, you become the most junior person in the organisation. I wanted to continue to develop my leadership skills and AAAHK was perfect for this.

What experiences did you have?

I got a lot of learning from organising the conference, and became more confident for sure. My peers at work don’t have exposure like this, whereas I was able to achieve something with the conference that was at the level of what a professional PR firm would do. I met people from all around Asia Pacific through this and built up networks that will be beneficial for my personal and professional growth. You can also meet with senior alumni that have achieved a lot in their careers, which I see will benefit me professionally and personally in the future.

What was your biggest achievement in AAAHK?

That would be the AAAPC conference which Hong Kong hosted in 2017. We started everything from scratch, from setting the conference theme, finding a venue, sponsors and delegates to designing marketing materials and overseeing the overall project. I had a lot of support from my team. We got inspiration from senior alumni and found some panel members from among them, and I was able to use my work contacts as well, so it was a very professional business conference, and a very big achievement.

Why should someone join AAAHK?

From my perspective, being in AAAHK helped me develop in a more well-rounded way. I learnt how to work with people from different backgrounds, so its helped me interact with more senior people in my job and colleagues from all backgrounds, and still be leading projects involving them. So the skills I developed give me the confidence to take an active role in organising things, and go the extra mile at work. My management recognise me as an active, confident person who can work with people from different backgrounds and can present new ideas in front of senior management, so compared to my peers I’m recognised as more competitive, engaging and motivating, and this is all related to AIESEC. Besides, I have gained a lot of supports and inspirations for my personal development through the participations in A-group, a trusted advisory board for each other.

What can you expect when you join AAAHK?

By joining AAAHK people can expect to make networks, gain a support system for their personal growth, get career advice, make friends, meet people from all over the world, and contribute to society as AAAHK is joining with some local organisations and business networks. The support network is fantastic too, especially with initiatives such as the A-Group, your own trusted and advisory group formed of 10 to 14 alumni who commit to meet 6-8 times a year in confidential discussion in support of each other. It’s helped me get through a lot of changes and challenges in my life, and I’ve only missed one session in the last three years, so it shows how valuable I find it!

What are some of the challenges AAAHK currently faces?

We definitely need more young people to join! AAAHK was established by more senior alumni, so it’s important to have more young and energetic alumni as council members to drive the organisation forward. Nowadays we’re all talking about e-commerce, innovative businesses, disruptive technologies, so we need more young blood that’s connected to the issues affecting the young generation, and to organise activities and plan our direction to attract other young alumni. We also want to be closer to the LC members as we play a role to inspire and assist current AIESEC members to develop, so having young alumni to give fresh ideas and connect with the LCs and society is important.

Who should join AAAHK?

AIESEC embraces diversity, so no matter what your experience in AIESEC, as long as you have the right mindset then you are welcome to join AAAHK! AAAHK has limited resources as we’re a non-profit, so we rely on many people to work together, so having supportive people with diverse backgrounds and skills is very important. However, the amount of time you need to commit is completely up to you. You don’t have to commit first – you can try as a member then see if you want to commit to leadership roles. We also have a lot of social gatherings too so it’s not just about the work, it’s also fun!

 

Why not give it a go and grow yourself personally and professionally as Wendy has? Find out more by contacting info@aaahk.com!

Permanent link to this article: http://www.aaahk.com/our-network/member-stories/interview-with-wendy-sham/