The 3 mantras for building a strong career

(This article was written for the Agnel Polytechnic annual students magazine)

How can I build a strong career ? , is a question on every students mind. Although there can not be some straight forward answers to this question, it neverthless requires some conscious planning and a disciplined life, coupled with a hunger to learn which will eventually determine the success of an individual.

If you would ask me to give 3 Mantras which a student should start working on, I would start with and give first priority to health. The way people live and the things people eat today can have a detrimental effect on our health lives. This would definitely warrant an important consideration if we have to build a strong career. In earlier days the little games children used to play, had a lot of physical and mental exercises built into them. Today the children, especially in an urban environment, spend a lot of hours watching TV and playing computer/video games. This means our bodies do not get the neccesary physical exercise to develop. Similarly our eating and drinking habits have changed a lot. We prefer to eat food which is artificially prepared and flavoured and is available off the shelf and ready to eat rather than eating natural foods like salads, vegetables and fruits. Another aspect of our health life we tend to neglect is the health of our mind. The fast life we lead added to the changes in the social habits can result in some individuals falling prey to problems like anxiety and depression. In this ever demanding engineering career it is important that one is able to remain fit both mentally and physically. Having good eating habits, doing regular physical and mind exercises like meditation and yoga is my first mantra towards building a strong career.

As we move to an age where we start depending more and more on the Internet - for getting information, communicating and other mundane things like booking tickets, shopping etc.., it is important that we develop our Internet skills to be ahead in our career. I am surprised to see today a lot of students do not even have their own email ids. Although the number is reducing, still a lot many students do not try to make use of the Internet to find information. It is important for us to know that there are a lot of things we can do using the Internet which will keep us competitively ahead of others. In another years time the Goa Government should have its broad band connectivity in place. With the Internet users throughout the world increasing exponentially, in a few years from now we will probably be using the Internet to the extent we cannot imagine today. Students can start developing useful Internet skills like, sending emails, searching for information, knowing different web tools like groups, wikis, blogs etc.. Students can start using the Internet to prepare a resume, or a presentation and apply for jobs. Developing this important skill of using the Internet will be my second Mantra for building a strong career.

The third Mantra for the success of ones career is to think global. Technology today has made the industry a global one. Companies today have their product genesis in America, the design done in India, manufactured in China and sold throughout the world. The company executives today travel a lot and work in one place today and another place tomorrow. An individual at the beginning of his career today has to have a mind frame in which he is prepared to relocate himself anywhere in India/abroad. Companies today want to recruit only those students who are willing to relocate themselves anywhere in India/abroad. Working in a big city environment and in different cities gives us an ideal environment to develop our career. One can interact with people who come to these cities from different backgrounds and different places. It gives an opportunity to learn and see things which otherwise would not have been possible. So being prepared to relocate anywhere in India/world, will be my third Mantra towards building a strong career.

To conclude I would say that planing your career is important. A conscious effort has to be made, especially by those in the final semester to meet the demands of the industry. More than anything else health – both mental and physical has to be taken care. Internet is going to change our lives in the near future in ways that we have not yet understood properly; knowing Internet skills will give us an edge over others. Finally we have to be prepared and be in a mind frame to relocate anywhere in India/abroad.

Marilac Chagas Silva- Head, Training and Placement – Agnel Polytechnic, Verna Goa

Discipline a must for success

This morning a group of students came to me requesting me to change the date of a certain field trip which I had arranged to a company. The reason was that it was clashing with the fun week.

I explained to them, "the Company is willing to allow only one field trip per semester for our students and you have been the lucky ones to be going for the same. The company is just 15 minutes away from the Campus it means you have to sacrifice - only one hour for the field trip, and half an hour to go and come - hence you will miss just 1 and half hour of the fun weeeeek".

I also told them that since the fun week was not scheduled as per the academic callender I would not
change the date. Also I could not tell the company to reschedule the trip giving the reason
of funweek.

It was also told to them that some other students of another programme had already approached me for allowing them to go for the field trip and they were waiting for their negative response to jump and take the opportunity.

The students opted in the favour of the funweek. And the other group grabbed the opportunity.

I would like to highlight the attitude of the two groups. Whereas both the groups wanted to have fun in demonstration of their youthful exuberance and in reflexion of the modern youth, one group had a clear understanding of their purpose of being here, and showed a great attitude in being in the right place at the right time and by grabbing the opportunity that came their way. They had their heads on their shoulders. They knew that the field visit would add value to their Engineering programme, they had their priorities set, they had the discipline, and they knew that they were here to learn. They showed the true spirit of the youth. Hard work, Fun and Discipline.

Discipline is one thing everybody has to excercise if one has to be successful in life. There will be lots of tempting things which can easily lead you in the false path, but it is important to maintain your equilibrium by weighing the good and the bad - relate them to your priorities or goals and exercise discipline, so that you can experience REAL FUN - i.e SUCCESS.

Prepare in Advance - Graduate with confidence

This morning some students came to me asking if they have to prepare their Biodata for the campus interview. The sudents are final year students. Within a couple of months they will be passing their final examination. With it they will have to start applying for jobs and they have to apply for jobs means preparing your biodata.

In this world of competition time makes a great difference. It makes sense to forsee a little bit and start programming yourself for the future. Many students waste their final semester in college by indulging themselves in not so useful activities. Such students come out in a vaccum and loose a lot of opportunities in the bargain. The smarter students prepare themselves for the next stage - getting employed.

The final semester is an important semester in the life of any student. A few things which he could easily do could be
1. Preparing one's personal file:
All final year students should start preparing their personal file. A personal file is a file where all the original marksheets and other original certificates and kept. This file should ideally be a plastic folder with plastic sheets where you can insert the documents and where the same will remain without damage. All relevant certificates like you birth certificate your indentity card, a copy of your ration card details, driving licence etc.. should be kept in this file.
One more important document in this file should be syllabus copy of the courses/subjects which appear on your marksheets. In this age of global market one is not sure where his next employment could be. Some employers may want to know what exactly you have studied and what was you curriculum.
When you are still in college all these things can be easily obtained. If one of your marksheet is missing you can apply for a fresh one, if some other certificate is not collected it can easily be collected. When your are still in college you can follow up any number of times and see that the flile is in order. These things can become a bit bothering once you passout.

2. Once you have your file in order you can start preparing your Biodata. A personal file should have all the documents and evidences which are necessary to prove whatever you mention in the biodata.
Preparing a biodata is also an art. When you are still in college you can take help of your professors. Useful tips could also be obtained from different web sites. A biodata should be ideally ectronically stored so that any future additions / deletions can be easily and quickly managed. Also if it can be stored on some server on the internet it would help a lot ( I use yahoo briefcase ) specially when you are mobile.

3. You can start scanning the newspapers and the internet for jobs. This way one will come to know and understand the process of getting employed. One can also start applying for jobs. Many companies allow email communication. It will not take much time to send you resume by email. If you have to apply by post you can xerox your biodata and write a hand written application. This again will not take much of your time if your biodata is ready.

It always helps to prepare in advance. A student should understant that the final year is a very strategic year for him. Proper preparation in this year will help the student graduate with confidence and set a good foundation for ones career.

Procrastinate and get doomed

This morning one of my students came to me and told me that he wants more time to complete his task which I had told him to do yesterday. The boy looked to be a smart student, had a pleasant personality, the task which I had given was quite a simple task, why then did he want to procrastinate the same?

I further found out that the student had 15 backs. What could be the reason for such a pitiable state? was he deficient in some way, was it that he could not cope with the engineering subjects or was it that he was a slave to a bad habit – procrastination.

Habits make or break a man, if one practices good day to day habits they start working wonders for you. If on the other hand you start creating bad habits than you start becoming miserable.

Students having large number of backs is quite a common these days. Nearly half the students I come across have more than 10 backs. There are definitely some reasons to this and one of the reason in my opinion is procrastination.

A wise old lady once told me that if you cannot clear a course in the stipulated time frame than you are not fit to do the course and there is a high possibility that you will not complete the course at all. All through my life this has to a certain extent held true for me. There are certain things which I have decided to do but some how convinced myself that I could do it later and I have never done those things.

One of the reasons I am inclined to procrastinate things is that the “ I could do it brilliantly if I have more time and at present I do not have it” sort of an attitude. Delaying some activity, thinking that one will get time in the future to do it well may sometimes lead to the activity losing its effectiveness and practicability.

Time is an important resource and utilizing it in a proper way by creating some good habits is one of the sure ways a student could come out from their burden of carrying huge number of back and completing the program in time.

So break this bad habit of procrastination before it breaks you.

Prepare to leap - pay attention to mind and body

This morning I heard the morning news in one of the news channels that the one more bolywood film of yesteryears featuring Meena Kumari is being recast in color. Not that I am an avid filmi buff or a Meena Kumari fan, but what struck me was that lot of B&W hollywood films were also in the process of getting the same treatment and most of them will be rendered color in India.

With more and more jobs coming to India, the jobs scene here India has never looked more promising. In the past few years i have felt this palpable change slowly coming in. There are jobs today in all the fields and in all professions. The hollywood films being rendered in colour for example is a huge job opportunity coming to India. Most of these jobs are highly paid ones. But are all job seekers tuned to the requirements/demands of these new opportunities. ?

Communication technology and internet technology in particular can be said to be fairly responsible for this mighty movement. Almost all the global companies want to have a Back office in India or one of the eastern countries. In Technology design and the software area India has the upper hand having a vast pool of highly knowlegeable worrkers.

The demands/requirements however of these jobs have never to be sidelined. All employers today expect quality effective output from their employees. The employee many times does not have an idea how these pressures effects him nor does he know/have the tools/means to overcome it. More and more people are falling prey to the health problems. Depression and Heart attack among the young has become quite common.

As students and prospective job seekers, how can they prepare themselves for this opportunity and what more have they to know/learn so that these opportunities do not end up in becoming personal tragedies?

One thing is certain that all these new jobs require skills that are not altogether thought in the schools and colleges. With rapid changes in technology and the dynamic nature of the business environment, it is, but difficult to expect teachers / institutes to come up with solutions / plans for their students. Student today should take his teacher mearly as a guide and take the daunting challenge of preparing himself for the future on himself.

Self motivation will be the first requirement of any success. In this fast paced environment only the motivated will gather the necessary momemtum.

Health is Wealth is an old age proverb. Maintaining good body and good mind is of utmost importance. The excitement of new opportunities and the glamour of the environment can quickly turn a promising career into tragedy for the sole reason of neglecting health.

There is a job today in every discipline and for every one. The current environment/upbeat mood, however requires a closer look by the prospective job seeker. The job requirements can be quite demanding with life threatening/damaging consequences. It is only with sustained motivation, cool head and a fit body that a young job seeker/student can help himself build a successful carreer.

Chagas Says: March 2005

Chagas Says: March 2005

Chagas Says: Prepare to leap - pay attention to mind and body

Chagas Says: Prepare to leap - pay attention to mind and body

tol Exstudent of Agnel Polytechnic

This is to inform all exstudents of Agnel Polytechnic - I have created a yahoo group called http://yahoogroups.yahoo.com/group/agnelpolytechnic-alumni

All students who have passed from Agnel Polytechnic and who would be interested in keeping in touch with the institute and their colleagues.

I will use it to post messages about jobs, training programmes, alumi activities etc.

In this way useful information can be disseminated.

Views

I will post my views on anything right from my profession to my hobbies.