One of The Greatest Workshops I've Ever Attended

Mr. Aniruddha Pathak [Photo taken from Facebook]

REPORT- TWO DAY WORKSHOP ON SOFTSKILLS

By: Shakeeb Ahmad

Background

“Yes sir!” I turned towards Prof. Abhijit as he called my name.

“Do you know about tomorrow’s workshop?” He asked.

“No” I said.

“We have arranged a workshop tomorrow at 10:30 am in the seminar hall…you know…at first floor. It’s related to T&P.” He informed.

“Ohh Okey sir.” I replied.

And that’s it. I had no idea about the workshop that how it would be. I was thinking it as any normal workshop or seminar we had attended so far. But now I admit…it was not normal. It was one of the most perfect one I’ve ever attended.

***

During the Session

‘Mr. Aniruddha Pathak’ was what he has introduced himself along with a long list of qualifications, certifications and courses. It would be perfectly normal if he had the tone which most of the people having the similar qualifications have. But he had very friendly, smooth and pleasant tone that I still remember his voice; echoing in my ear, full of encouragement and energy.

The very first thing he did was encouragement and motivation. About 15 to 20 minutes, he continued and filled all of the students with hope, enthusiasm and the belief of you-can-do-it.

He introduced all the steps an organization takes to recruit freshers. From resume to interview, he explained them in a nutshell. Then the journey started from self introduction. He explained all necessary points to be included in an ideal self intro along with Dos and Don’ts. Questions were constantly being asked from students, showing their high level of interest in the session.

The difference between resume, CV and bio data was then explained and the topic shifted to how an ideal resume should be. The format of resume was discussed so deeply that no other topic except GD (Group Discussion) and PI (Personal Interview) was discussed in that much depth. He said that projects are very important in your resume as a fresher.

“What else is there in a fresher’s resume except his project” he said. Without a break, he continued sharing his experiences, stories and tips to guide students make their resume better. He insisted students to include their extra curricular achievements, language proficiency and computer proficiency in resume.

Adding a tip, he said “Including your passport number in resume shows your readiness to move across the globe.”

Next topic was grooming. He explored each and every detail from hairs to shoes, for both- boys and girls. After grooming, he switched to Body Language where he discussed topics like hand shaking, eye contact, gestures and postures, even the details of how to stand, walk and sit along with Dos and Don’ts of all. He continued adding flavor in all details by sharing various real life experiences and made all session full of laughs and hence interesting.

The session was then handed over to Ms. Mamta who guided the students on “Email Writing” and “Paragraph Writing”. She explained the use and difference of BCC and CC, concluding as “Try to avoid using BCC”. Then she discussed the format of both email writing and paragraph writing. She explained the limits of time and words in paragraph writing. Giving different tips to the students, she said “You are not a student of fifth standard, so make sure your words in paragraph writing or email writing should match your age.”

Day two was more exciting for students than day 1. Pathak sir started the session with the topic KYC (Know Your Company) or 3C (CCC- Company, Customer, Competition). He frequently gave important questions which might be asked in HR round during his quick session. Students were noting down the questions and their sample answers.

Session was then handed over to ___ sir whose topic was “Public Speaking”. He shared various experiences and motivated students. Explaining how important speaking is, he said “Humans are the only one who can speak. No animal is given the words or the ability to speak like us. This shows we are made to speak… Its makes no sense being shy to speak.” He made one girl stand and ask her some questions, and then made it clear to all students that he is going to remember this girls, only because she had spoken to him. He also shared some tips to fight stage fright.

A small session was taken by Rozeena mam. She asked different HR questions to students, motivated them and given chocolates to appreciate and encourage the students.

The final session was on Group Discussion and Personal Interview, again by Pathak sir. After explaining difference between discussion and debate, he discussed types of GD and normal time duration given for GD. He said topics have no bound in GD and you have to be well prepared. Sharing the biggest Don’t of Group Discussion, he said “Never ever take name of any religion, caste or community in group discussion.”

Finally, he explained the types of interview. And then a detailed analysis of what and why people do mistakes in interview. He discussed what to do before, during and after the interview. Once again, the explanation was full of interests and his own interesting experiences, which filled the room all with smiles and laughs.

After the session, students were divided into groups to take their GD, and even when it was already end of the official college day (at 5:30) all students waited and participated in the activity with full interest. This was enough to know how successful workshop was.

***

I feel…

Can you guess the students remembering very small details of what was explained to them? Such were the students who attended the workshop. I don’t think I’ve ever seen that big quantity of students who were well aware of their abilities and qualities. A confident smile was on their faces, and bright eyes saying yes to any situation they might face in their near future. The only reason behind all this was Mr. Aniruddha Pathak.

I have read a considerable number of books on psychology, soft skills, personality development, leadership, confidence building, verbal and nonverbal communication including gestures and postures etc. Therefore, it’s in my nature that I analyze everyone. And I can say definitely, Pathak sir was one of the most successful public speaker I’ve ever seen. During his introduction, he had also mentioned psychology, and his all sessions are witness to his mind reading ability. He was just perfect with student’s psychology and hence all of the students were listening to him without getting bored. He knew the ways to make his speech attractive. The way he appreciated, motivated and encouraged students to do something special in their life was the first impression he left on student’s hearts and students started loving him. He said that we have to pen down our story by our own. And those who don’t write their story start giving excuses.

I liked one point the most, written that in bold at very top of my notebook, “Don’t run for selection in interviews, aim for not to get rejected. That’s it!”

And a wow statement “If you got selected, then balle balle, if not, then say with proud, ‘it’s your loss boss, you’ve lost the candidate like ME.”

He was explaining sometimes like a father explains his son. I liked the tips given to girls very much, which seemed like a very caring father giving some greatly loving tips to his daughter. Very hearth touching.

Needless to say, the jokes and the stories were the best parts from all the sessions he took. They never allowed students to get bored. This style was very much similar to Dale Carnegie, who frequently shares his own experiences in his books, which forces the reader to finish the book in one sitting only. The workshop was very useful, interesting, informative and motivating. We are more confident and more serious about our career objective than before. I am very thankful to all trainers, to our whole staff, T&P incharge Mr. Abhijit and especially to our principal Mr. K. V. Shirsagar for this useful workshop.

SHAKEEB AHMAD
FINAL YEAR, CSE