Imagine this: you’ve got placed at your dream job. It’s your first week. You get there and things aren’t what you expected. Your manager is demanding and there is a kind of pressure to work that you have never experienced before.

Turns out you have graduated with all the technical knowledge required to excel at your job, but no one evaluated your street smartness. When we say, grow personally to grow professionally, it means developing your personality to navigate effortlessly through a workplace environment and the various personalities you will encounter.

This week, AVCOE walks you through a few things you should keep in mind once you step into the corporate world.

Corporate Social Skills
Patience and diplomacy are your keys to a healthy attitude and unproblematic presence at work. Apart from maintaining regular social niceties, it is important to accept that you will come across people of varying competencies, personalities and mannerisms. Some of which, you may personally find displeasing. In these cases, you have to train yourself to maintain professional etiquette and deal with the person’s behaviour with a pinch of salt. It is essential to understand the difference between being firm on your point and being rude or dismissive of somebody else’s point. It is important to learn to curb egos without bruising them. In a workplace, when it comes to opinion, learn to be diplomatic. Acknowledge and validate opinions, even when you disagree with them, before putting your take on the matter forward. For instance, the phrase, “That’s a great idea! We could also try…” is a great way of acknowledging both yours and others opinion.

Strong Presence vs. Loud Presence
Unknowingly, your personality may rub others the wrong way. Always remember to tone it down when interacting with your colleagues and maintain a neutral persona. Loud, attention-seeking personalities are often disliked and considered disruptive in an office environment. Focus on developing a strong presence instead. One that is heard and respected. This is where you let your work and technical knowledge speak for you. Having a strong opinion backed up with facts triumphs having a loud voice, anyday. Try taking up responsibilities outside of your job description if it fits your schedule. This way you help your company grow while tending to your personal growth and become an asset to your firm.

Think Before You Discuss
At work, it is essential to be friendly but rare to make real friends. We live in a competitive world which may intensify in corporations. You never know people’s true intentions. Make sure you balance your personality and professionalism effectively. Be cautious about what and how much you share with your colleagues as the information may be circulated. Everyone needs somebody to talk to. Work can get lonely without a buddy. Make a conscious effort to share solutions as opposed to problems. If there’s something you need to vent about, share its possible solution or positive outcome rather than choosing to complain or whine about the situation. This promotes a healthy attitude towards your work, coworkers and obstacles if they arise.

Once you keep these little things in mind, you will be able to foster a peaceful work environment for yourself and a healthy relationship with the people around you. AVCOE’s Training & Placement cell guides students in every aspect of their professional life. For more advice such as this and any help you need to begin your career and further its success, get in touch with your T&P officer.


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What comes to your mind when you hear “tech skills gap”? You think of skills traditionally associated with information technology firms like coding, software development, and network security management. If compared with hard skills, the gap in applied skills reaches across all sectors. This affects everyone from artists to healthcare workers to business professionals.

There’s a huge demand for workers with tech skills and it continues to soar up every day, across all industries. To better understand the problem and its solutions, consider the following five key points and the opportunities that this Tech Skills Gap offers:

 

Photo Credit: https://media.licdn.com

1. THE GAP EXISTS ACROSS ALL INDUSTRIES

Tech skills aren't specific just to the technology sector, but it runs across every industry. The main aim of these essential skills includes the ability to use technology to benefit the organization. Many people lack the necessary skills. That's a gap many people don't anticipate, and it's also an amazing opportunity to learn new skills and hone the existing.

2. DEMAND OUTPACES SUPPLY

There are more than 500,000 computing jobs open across the nation, but less than 50,000 students graduated with a computer science background in 2016. And the main hub of the graduated ones was IT alone. And this is the same issue with other fields, such as healthcare and business.

A survey conducted amongst the industrial hub showed:

• 62% of students coming out of school aren't prepared with the necessary tech skills
• 11% agree that school is effective in meeting skill need
• Three out of four employers feel that finding an employee with all job description requirements is rare

3. EDUCATORS MUST CREATE SOLUTIONS

Educators, institutions and industry advisers need to work together to create curriculums that meet today's demands. It's not only on the shoulders of employers and employees. This will likely include the movement toward an "anytime, anywhere" educational model to bring online and onsite opportunities together.

4. STUDENTS AND EMPLOYEES MUST TAKE INITIATIVE

As more and more business require workers with applied tech and latest hard skills, the present generation is tasked to keep up with the flow to avoid falling into that gap. Advancing technology doesn't allow anyone to become contented. For those who see the gap as an opportunity, it's a great time to learn new skills and sharpen existing ones.

We at Amrutvahini College of Engineering (AVCOE), provide a distinctive excellence driven engineering education that will groom future generations of engineers and entrepreneurs. We aim to create self-disciplined, physically fit, mentally robust and morally strong engineers and technocrats with a high degree of integrity and sense of purpose. We open a new window, “window of innovation” where we put technology at the core of our field and help our students to build that ‘tech gap’ which will help them to challenge the ever-advancing technology.

Books, both fiction and nonfiction, offer a way for readers to learn from the lessons and mistakes of others, so that you can re-apply that knowledge without having to start from scratch.

More than just entertainment, the stories in books help shortcut your own learning curve so that you can learn and grow faster.

Here are few books recommended by AVCOE which we urge our every engineering student to read.

1.  Getting Things Done - The Art Of Stress Free Productivity By David Allen

The major advantage of reading this book is that, it effectively describes on how to manage your to- do’s and task lists. We have to admit that all of us struggle to maintain our to do lists and give away to procrastination.

Why Read It?

• This book focuses on writing all our to- dos in a single accessible list.
• It removes the burden of recalling tasks from our brain.
• Especially for a career like engineering, which is academically tough, reading this book might help one to learn the art of stress management and productivity enhancement.

2.  Life Matters By A.Roger Merrill

There are times when we look at the Mother Teresa's of this world and realize that one life can make a huge difference. But if we are wise, we discover that often we don’t have to look any further than our own backyard.

Why Read It?

• This book covers creative ways to successfully balance four major aspects of life : family, money, work and time.
• The program rests on what the authors call three gotta do’s-  validate expectations, optimize effort and develop navigational intelligence.

3.  How To Win Friends And Influence People By Dale Carnegie

This is a self-help book which is the pioneer of this genre. This book is a guide to improving a person's aura in the world.

Why Read It?

• If you read the book carefully and follow majority of the tips, you can learn to be friendlier and more presentable as a person.
• This book teaches you that, as long as you have good friends and good business associations, you will probably stay strong in personal as well as professional life.

4.  Leadership And The Art Of Conversation By Kim Krisco

With the knowledge acquired from this book, engineers can finally challenge the misconceptions that trail their leadership abilities.

Why Read It?

• This book teaches you the art of conversation and shares some important secrets on getting your message across effectively to an audience.
• Communication is one of the key ingredients for a successful life. If you observe a leader of any organisation, one fact becomes immediately evident. They spend most of their time in conversation. Everything leaders accomplish is the result of their conversations.

5. Dream With Your Eyes Open By Ronnie Screwvala

Through this book, Screwvala provides a relentless pursuit of entrepreneurial glory and describes how others can learn from the same. UTV-founder and pioneer of the media industry, Ronnie Screwvala is one of India’s most successful first-generation entrepreneurs.

Why Read It?

• It is filled with incidents, thoughts and behind-the-scenes anecdotes of Screwvala’s career that would help young business-oriented minds to gain more knowledgeable insight into the ins and outs of entrepreneurship.
• The book is inclined at bringing out clarity in the way business setup is changing. It presents a significant account on what role Indian entrepreneurs will play in the coming years.

6. The Alchemist By Paulo Coelho

This novel is an enchanting one and has inspired a devoted following around the public. This story - dazzling in its inspiring wisdom - is about an Andalusian shepherd boy named Santiago who travels from his homeland in Spain to the Egyptian desert in search of a treasure buried in the Pyramids.

Why Read It?

• The cornerstone of this book is to break the monotony in your life.
• Gratitude is the practice of finding the good in each day. Life can easily become stagnant, mundane, and monotonous, but that changes depending on what we choose to see. This book teaches you the importance of kindness and appreciation in life.

Reading develops your mind. Engineering students are always well-advised to delve in reading material directly applicable to their studies and career aspirations; but it can also be valuable to take detours into reading outside your major and specific scope. It will accentuate creativity in your regular lives and add the much needed entertainment!

A team of Engineering students from Karnataka had volunteered to develop an Android application for first year engineering students.

This app is called ‘Engienrai’ and it encapsulates the notes for engineering with all the subjects from the respective branches. Prepared and sorted by the engineering students themselves, Enginera's syllabus is purely based on Autonomous and VTU colleges. The application is very user-friendly. It contains notes and self-explanatory diagrams and drawings while giving free access to these notes of all the subjects under one roof. Once it is installed, it also works offline.

This application is very useful and informative to first years and is a must-have. It can be used in the following ways.

• Last moment preparation before the exam.
• Brush up tool for interviews and jobs.
• Peripheral introduction to basic engineering concepts before any competitive exams.

The app was developed by a team of nine students; one of them being an Animation Designer. They began working on this app in January 2017 and it was officially launched in September. The app also provides a platform for students to get their doubts clarified. The team makes it a point to answer the doubts posted by students. The team is also currently in works of developing second year engineering content. They believe that this app would be of a lot of use to Engineering students as it provides study material for free and that it will help them with their studies.

AVCOE believes that innovation like this one is what changes the world and we are always looking forward to support and encourage our students’ talent in the invention field.

On Sunday the 1st of October 2017, AVCOE hosted its alumni meetup for the year in Sangamner. The aim was to get the alumni to meet one another especially. Another goal was to get them thinking and talking about the various post-school opportunities available to them and plan for the year ahead.

The meetup was packed with an exclusive function from the college students. They performed modern and classical songs, dance, stage plays, poetry recitation and much more. The current principal, teachers, students and alumni all gave a speech and shared good luck for upcoming future. The night was filled with the ultimatum DJ fest. All the people present there enjoyed the night filled with lights and music.

Check out the videos of the event here.

Check out the pics of the meetup here.

Click here to check the local newspaper article.

On day two, the alumni shared what they are currently doing (be it work or study) and what their plans are for the upcoming years. The alumni gave the current generation an in-depth explanation of how they will help them in work by completing a profile on their site, students avail themselves to businesses looking for skilled candidates. The alumni also pressed on the issues in the country and its difficulty that exists around i.e.finding employment after studying, partly due to lack of experience. They seek to connect students to what they call as "internships”, which is part-time work a student can do from the day they start studying. Such opportunities may help students come to realizations about their field of study earlier giving them the chance to gain certain skills or change their career path. The alumni also gave pointers and tips to graduate job-seekers and students looking to complete internships and in-service training.

Please follow the link for feedback and registration for mentorship scheme

Testimonials on social media from the Alumni.

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1696597550350754&set=a.121709121172946.20785.100000015778360&type=3&theater

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1696964600314049&set=a.121709121172946.20785.100000015778360&type=3&theater

https://www.facebook.com/rishi.rajput.90/posts/1393236244108019

The principal, DR. M.A.Venkatesh commended all the alumni, students and the staff for their work and for arranging this wonderful meetup.

Click here to read the letter written by the Principal

The technology is developing at a rapid rate these days. New developments and the introduction of new machinery and equipment brought today will become an old news in a few days. So how do engineers in the various field keep up with the volatile environment? Engineering is a domain where one’s training never ends, even after years of professional schooling. Developing and honing both technical skills and soft skills is an utmost priority to sustain in the market for the engineers. Unlike hard skills which can be proven through technical work, soft skills need to be proven with a decree of one’s latent talent which the person learns through surroundings.

Soft Skills are an amalgamation of people skills, social skills, communication skills, character traits, attitude towards any object or person, career attributes, social intelligence and emotional intelligence quotients that enable people to effectively manoeuvre their environment, work well with others, perform well, and achieve their goals with complementing hard skills. These skills can include communication abilities, personal habits, time management, teamwork and leadership traits, social graces, language skills and cognitive or emotional empathy.

The following list of soft skills may be useful for your resume, job descriptions or training plan.

1. Communication- Communication plays a key role as this skill is two-fold, where one needs to deal with explaining concepts to clients and managers and translating them from technical to conventional methods. The second involves giving instructions to team members and others without rubbing anyone the wrong way.

2. Courtesy- Manners Maketh Man. Being polite is necessary if one wants to progress in any field.

3. Flexibility- Adaptability, accepting new things and a nature willing to change according to situations should be shown by the person in order to sustain in any field.

4. Integrity- A person who is honest and have high ethical and moral values, boosts the spirit of surrounding where he/she works.

5. Interpolation skills- Everyone likes a cheerful, friendly and humorous nature. Showing compassion, empathy, and patience towards other helps in rejuvenating the morale of everyone.

6. Positive Attitude- One must cherish an optimistic, encouraging, happy, confident and enthusiastic nature in the society.

7. Professionalism-  Professionalism, a word which sends an instant and a clear message. The qualities included in it are- poised, businesslike, appearance and well-dressed.

8. Responsibility- Everyone likes a person who is reliable, accountable and gets the job done. This characteristic shows off the true personality of anyone as it is to be proved and not shown.

9. Teamwork- Co-operation, tagging along with others, supportive of others’ work and collaboration - all are synonymous to Team Work. And the proverb “Talent wins games, but teamwork and intelligence win championships” stands true to it.

10. Work Ethic- It’s a belief in work, a set of values centered on the importance of doing work and reflected especially in a desire or determination to work hard.The boss always admires hard-working, self-motivated, loyal employees.