Saturday, February 20, 2010

Interacting with Students

Recently, I was asked to speak to the final year students of some Engineering, MCA, MCS colleges in the city. I was asked to tell them 'what to expect in the corporate world and how things are radically different out there'. I recalled when during my engineering days, there was no system/process which helped us interact with our seniors and learn about opportunities in the 'corporate' world.

I immediately accepted the offer to speak to my 'juniors'. But it wasn't easy as it sounded. I recollected how during my engineering, we were reluctant to attend any such seminar of a 'faculty' who told us the difficulties one faced in the corporate world. It was when I actually entered the corporate world that I experienced them.

I decided to share the following with the students:
1. Life during my graduation
2. My 'wake-up' call during engineering
3. how we identified that we had poor communication skills, then went ahead full-steam in improving it.
4. Experience as an Entrepreneur
5. Difficulties we faced in our enterprise
6. How in today's Information age, not knowing something is a sin.
7. The attitude required in corporate world
8. What grads/post-grads do not focus on during their studies
9. Importance of Networking and Mentoring
10. Miconceptions about the dreaded personality called 'boss'
11. Importance of being in touch with your alma-mater
12. A to-do list to help them grow - personally and professionally
13. How important it is to be in the company of people better than you

I kept it interactive most of the times and tried giving practical examples. It was a good experience because the sense of 'giving back' to your society came for the first time.

I am keen to do this again. I want to tell them how they can maximise their potential by making good use of their graduation/ post-graduation period.

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