Students need to ASK. Ask what, you may ask? Kavidasan, Director, HR, Roots Industries Ltd, Coimbatore, delivering his inaugural address at the first edition of HR Connect 2014, at Arunai Engineering College, Tiruvannamalai, TN, said that students with the right ‘ASK’ — attitude, skills and knowledge — will help them bridge the gap between learning and the requirements of a job.

Peppering his address with a great deal of humour, Tamil couplets and loads of common sense, Kavidasan exhorted students to break out of their inhibitions of being from a rural background. He said students need to imbibe four types of learning – information, integrated, inspiring and empowered learning – which can take them to new heights. “Updating constantly will save you from being outdated and today being slow and steady will not help as it’s replaced by fast and perfect,” he told the students.

Outlining what lay for the students once they entered the job market, Vinay Kamath, Senior Deputy Editor, Business Line , said the very definition and nature of work has changed, which the students would discover once they began working. The world of work which they would enter may not be a traditional 9-to-5 one, but with the internet and smart phones, the workplace could be anywhere and flexi-time could be the order of the day. The HR function too needs to redefine itself to recognise this new reality, he said.

Cricket, cinema, circus

D Ganesan, Manager, HR, L&T Valves, emphasised the significance of individuals to a team and added that channels for communication, delegation, managing conflicts, mutual trust, respect for individuals' competencies and views and signifying togetherness were all very important. The main example for team work can be taken from the 3 ‘Cs’, he said: cinema, cricket and the circus, where interactions and acceptability of the individual members contribute to the success of a team. The need of the hour, he said, is effective working and not efficient working which gives real success not only to individuals but also to the entire team.

S Rajendren, General Manager, HR and IR, JK Tyre & Industries Ltd, outlined what today’s employer demands from fresh engineering graduates: communication skills, professional skills and core employability skills. He also talked about the forces changing the skills demand and what would be the most required competencies in the next five years.

The most critical broad competencies, he said, are 3Cs: Critical thinking and problem solving; communication/collaboration and creativity.

Santhosh Vijay, an alumnus of Arunai, launched a portal for the college’s alumni, at the event. Several HR managers from top corporates participated in the two-day event. Others who participated were S. Thiagarajan, Coromandel Engineering; Rajeev Bhatnagar, L&T; TK Santosh, Royal Splendour; BR Preethi, HCL; KS Pasupathi, Wheels India and Anuradha Nagarajan of Genome Life Sciences.

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