Glimpse Of "Are You Ready? 2015"
“Are You Ready?”, organized by the Rotaract Club of University of Moratuwa in collaboration with the Career Guidance Unit is a much awaited event in the university calendar which marks the careers’ week of the university. Introduced in 1998, this year marks the 20th “Are You Ready?”. The limelight of the event is on the mock or real interviews, conducted by prospective employers, for the passing out batch of the university. This serves as a pre-qualification for a future recruitment after the undergraduates receive their bachelor’s degree. The program paves way for employers to identify befitting and resourceful employees among the fresh graduates from the university.
Furthermore, “Are You Ready? 2015” hosts a series of sessions offering specialized knowledge and expertise on imperative aspects in the nature of career guidance, developing business trends and personal grooming. The sessions aim at guiding budding engineers to become effective leaders and productive entrepreneurs.
“Careers Forum” was an interactive session where engineering and research professionals meet undergraduates. Majority of the undergraduates are not fully aware of how the corporate sector functions. Prior to mingling with the players in the corporate arena, it is essential for them to get a better grasp of the industry and the world of research and academics. Many a student wants to pursue higher studies and get involved in overcoming the challenges of the scientific world and the engineering industry. Guiding them in the correct path with an idea of what’s needed to succeed and what to expect in the real world has not been taken seriously in the past. We were able to change that and elaborate on the life of academics and industry, discussing how to identify where to apply one’s skills, what qualifies one as a researcher, a lecturer or a practical engineer and so forth through Careers Forum.
“The Resume” was the second among the six sessions that make up ‘Are You Ready?’. The session was held on the 7th of December at the Civil Auditorium with the participation of over 400 undergraduates. The objective of The Resume was the offering of proficiency on the preparation of the most important piece, the CV, to enter in to the world of employment. The Resume focused on imparting useful tips on how to prepare a killer CV and exploit social media to one’s full benefit in the arena of employment. The participants were also given the opportunity to get their own CVs cheked and corrected before the session via email. ‘Upstream’, our volunteer partner, helped in this regard.
“YOU™”, the third session of Are You Ready? 2015 was held on 8th December 2015 at the Civil Auditorium with the participation of over 200 undergraduates. The session was conducted with the intension of building up the confidence of the undergraduates to develop their own personal brand and to have a strong professional network in the industry. “YOUTM” further aimed on emphasizing how to establish oneself a leader, being unique individual in the professional arena and also the importance of keeping multiple connections with the professional personnel. Participants were motivated to find their true potentials in making their own brand of themselves.
Sharpening the soft skills that are mostly crucial and sought after by the employers is among the paramount needs of undergraduates. “The Exemplar” is presented to undergraduates of University of Moratuwa in addressing that need. Mahesh Jayasinghe who is presently the Assistant Secretary General of United Nations Association of Sri Lanka conducted the session with his excellent motivational and inspirational skills providing the undergraduates with a comprehensive understanding of workplace ethics and proper attitudes in a corporate environment. A practical experience of interviews was conducted by him to demonstrate every important aspect of facing an interview. The undergraduates were given an opportunity to identify their own potential and improve their weaknesses through the techniques that he himself uses for career advancement. The event was concluded successfully on the 09th of December 2015 with much acknowledgement from those who participated.
“Flagship Day”, the prime and the foremost session of “Are You Ready? 2015”, was held on 11th of December at the University premises. The session brought the final year undergraduates of University of Moratuwa before the renowned companies of the island who interviewed the undergraduates for recruitment. Flagship day achieved a record breaking success with participation over 950 undergraduates and an approximate 60 companies.The Flagship Day gave entrepreneurs and potential employers all over the island a great opportunity to identify and recruit the cream of the young talented candidates for their companies. At the close of a long and busy day, success and hopefulness was written on every face of interviewers and interviewees both.
“The Dining Etiquette and Grooming Workshop”, “DE&G” was the concluding session of ‘Are You Ready?-2015’. This session was held on Monday, 14th December 2015 at Hall Victorian of Kingsbury Colombo in grand style. The event was attended by the final year undergraduates and Rotaractors from Rotaract Mora. The prime objective of the event was the sharpening soft skills such as polite and professional behavior, social manners, dining etiquette and personal grooming.While experiencing an evening of elegance the participants also accumulated life changing experience not only on perfecting the art of grooming and dining but also a captivating dinner.
