Over the past few weeks, BridgeWee, a pioneering education institution assisting English medium students to access public universities in Bangladesh organised a series of career development workshops for high school graduates and university freshers. The sessions were a thrilling experience for most participants and effectively assisted them to find a navigation point towards the career they want to pursue. In order to pull off this initiative, BridgeWee worked in partnership with EMK Center, working to nurture arts and public service in Bangladesh. The gist of the series of workshops is documented below to enrich and inspire the youth.
YOU are a brand!
The workshop on “Personal Branding and Communication Skills” was conducted by Saif Kamal, the Head of Marketing and Partnership of Dhaka Tribune. The workshop started with a heavy booster and a motto to find what’s unique about “you.”
Saif focused on personal branding as a necessity for success. To be successful today our most important job is to be lead marketer for the brand called “you.” It is important to create, maintain and develop your personal brand. If you are not branding yourself, be assured that others are.
Every person you meet makes a judgment about you in the first three seconds. 90% of communication is non-verbal, and the importance of posture and gesture is unfathomable.
Saif discussed communication skills, starting with the basics of conversation paradigms. Several points were tackled like undivided attention, sharing anecdotes to keeping an open mind to culture, sexuality, religion etc. There was a small discussion on table manners and etiquettes.
A slideshow of the most empowering personalities was at the fore of the discussion on presentation: Dr Yunus with his signature Khadi coat, Barack Obama with his usual blue tie and Indra Nooyi , the CEO of Pepsi with her remarkable red scarf.
Participants learnt that personal branding is a journey and only consistent practice helps one thrive in their goal. This workshop helped shed light on the valuable things that often go unnoticed but deserve utmost priority. It was the kind of knowledge one isn’t always fortunate to gain, let alone from a workshop.
Active engagement for a successful career
The workshop conductor Ivdad Ahmed, an MBA candidate at Duke University and Managing Director at LightCastle Partners and Ex-Director of Youth Leadership at BYLC, commenced his session with a deep question, “What matters to you most and why?”
The participants shared their career ambitions following which Ivdad delivered an insightful discussion on career development. He said that chasing academic excellence should not be the only priority and we must concentrate on opportunities around us.
Ivdad shared his inspiring experiences at BYLC. He discussed the five dysfunctions of a team: absence of trust, fear of conflict, lack of commitment, avoidance of accountability, inattention to results.
The section moved to an awareness test. Ivdad showed us a video in which two teams were passing a basketball among their respective team-mates. Ivdad asked us to count the number of passes “Team White” made. After the video ended, he asked us the number. There were common responses before he asked, “Did you see something weird in the video?”
When nobody answered he played the video again and this time we were
dumbfounded to notice a big, fat bear walking by the players in the middle of the video. Ivdad immediately carried forward the analogous lesson to us: always keep your eyes open.
We only see what we are looking for. Focusing on only one thing makes us miss opportunities around us.
How to live in your top 1%
Quazi M Ahmed started his workshop with an enthusiastic slideshow of stock photos depicting Bangladeshi children involved in different activities; he said, “This isn’t me, obviously, but we did these things!” His energy is infectious.
A brief overview of his academic history, consisting of IBA, IUJ and NYU was supplied, followed by the stops in his career – teaching positions at IBA and NSU, a stint at Jetro in Japan – leading to his current position as the Lead Consultant and CEO of FutureLeaders. His passion was apparent. “I love what I do” seemed to be the general aura. This pervasive aura is what made him an appropriate and well-qualified speaker above all else.
He did not quite tackle the common “Bengali” issue of having our parents choose our careers, but a tangent of it – how people end up in careers that they are not suited for. He briefly explored a few of the reasons this happens – lack of knowledge; how we assume that we must go into something because we are good at it in school; parents and teachers; peer pressure; the “mob mentality” etc.
It’s a shame, he said, that we spend so many perfectly good years of our short lives doing things that we not only may be unsuited to, but that we may also dislike. We should all do things we are passionate about and likely to be good at.
The workshop required us to take The Myers Briggs Type Indicator Quiz and find out our personality type. Based on 4 different variables, the quiz divided us into 16 different personality types. We then went “shopping” for careers suitable to our personalities.
Most of us agreed – the charts seemed to show a remarkable understanding of our attributes and problems. Some of us agreed with the career choices, but some of us were horrified. “A teacher?” some exclaimed. “A Computer Analyst?” Others were not only satisfied but ardently so. “It matched perfectly,” said Afnan, a participant and an associate at BridgeWee.
A fresher’s perspective on career
Getting into university is overwhelming; we feel free, independent and as if the destination has been reached. This is where we have the idea wrong. It is a process which leads to success, not an achievement.
Instead of just attending classes it is wise to grab all available opportunities, experiment with skills and figure out and work on our flaws.
These were the points Salman Hossain, the Head of Marketing & Sales at G&R Technologies, began his workshop “Secrets of Being a Successful Graduate” with.
Most of us usually wait for fate to make things happen for us. Instead we should have a game plan. It is okay to try and fail. Long-term goals keep us from frustration.
The workshop discussed competitiveness. We live in a “survival of the fittest” world. Hard work and perseverance is all we need to topple competition. We need to adapt to new ways of thinking and new methods of getting things done.
Networking is another factor which contributes to finding success in life. Meeting right people is vital. It helps us connect and get things done more effectively. Another highlight of networking is information sharing. Networking can start from our existing circle of friends, and expand eventually.
