My Impact Story from the e-CCA Academy in the Philippines - Maria Carmela
Earlier this year from January 9th to February 28th 2022, Aiducation International in partnership with Swiss Re Foundation and Pathways to Higher Education, successfully implemented the first-ever fully online Swiss Re Corporate Career Academy in the Philippines. The academy brought together 30 young talents as participants, 4 local mentors and 10 international mentors from Swiss Re. Participants were trained on basic corporate skills topics among many others, Corporate behaviour, Interview skills and job search strategies.
Read the story below written by one of the academy participants, Mela, as she shares with us her impact story from the online academy...
Hi! I am Mela, currently, a Pathways to Higher Education trailblazer who is pursuing a Bachelor of Science in Medical Technology, also known as Medical Laboratory Science, and aspiring to be a paediatrician someday. I just joined the first-ever online Swiss Re Corporate Career Academy in the Philippines.
Mela with her 1:1 Mentor from Swiss Re, Marco
To be honest, I did not have any motivation at first to join the academy due to personal problems. However, I was told that the activities were not that heavy so I gave it a shot at participating. Little did I know, my world turned upside-down as I started the academy last January. I am glad to say, this is one of the decisions that I will never regret.
As a participant, the academy introduced me to how to prepare a winning resume and LinkedIn profile. In addition, we constructed our individual Career Plan by identifying our passion, strengths, industries where we are interested, career ambition, development areas, experiences, companies that interest us, and our next steps or action plan. After that, we were given techniques to ace mock job interviews given the role of interviewer and as a job applicant. Also, local mentors shared their experiences about corporate ethics and behaviour. We also had one-on-one mentoring sessions where we could ask anything under the sun. At the end of the academy, we were able to have a Career Fair where we met company representatives from local and multinational companies like Ideaversify, the International Committee of the Red Cross, Shopee Philippines, Synpulse Manila, Alaska Milk Corporation, Frabelle Group of Companies, and Procter & Gamble. We introduced ourselves, told the reason why we were interested in that company and asked questions about the company, field, and particular open positions and internships.
During those weeks, I was highly motivated to enter the Zoom meetings because I knew that I will take away every detail that the mentors will share. I met my co-participants again after 2 years (because of the pandemic) and it was really great to catch up with them -- sharing that we also had the same dilemma if our experiences really fit in on the positions we wanted. We were cheered by our mentors and do not have to worry as we are still starting our own careers and later in years, we will be able to achieve the experiences related to the profession we always wanted.
Mela (2nd row, 2nd picture from left) attending one of the Sunday Synchronous Sessions of the e-CCA PH 2022
It was very unexpected too that the academy will be my good support group. Break-out sessions lifted me. I remember all too well when my group needs to share our individual Career Plans. I shared mine and at the brief moment of the break-out session, one mentor told me that "As a student, you need to realize that you should not be hard on yourself." She saw me through. And such words helped me to remind myself once more that it is indeed a tough choice for the career that I want but I should not limit myself only on that. Another mentor told me, "Do not be afraid of the result is different." I learned that if things did not go my way, let it be and start again. At least, I am not learning from scratch anymore but starting from my own experiences. "Bloom where you're planted," as they said. My life as a pre-medicine student is hard and challenging. Sometimes, I don’t have the motivation to go on but these people who surrounded me in just a month gave me a safe spot once again. At least for now I know that on the other side of the world, someone is believing and cheering for me. And let me feel that asking for help is never a nuisance.
To our Swiss Re and local mentors, I have no words to say how much I am thankful for everything. You gave spark to me on the endeavours that I will walk in the future. Thank you for always telling us that you are always there, ready to support us even after the academy. From monochrome to colours, you bring the hope that everything will be alright. Challenges are there to build and toughen us up.
To the Swiss Re Foundation, thank you for making this academy possible. It is indeed an unseen area for us students on how to enter a workplace but you planted a seedling on us through meeting great people across the world. Without this kind of program, we won't be able to reach the fast-paced change of the corporate world.
I have no idea about what the future holds, but there’s one thing that will not change: you will not be forgotten. Thank you for existing in the moment of our lives.
Written by Mela - AiduTalent, Philippines Chapter