Professional Grooming Workshop

A four-day workshop on "Professional Grooming" was conducted by the School of Liberal Arts in collaboration with the department of Training & Placement at IMS Unison University, Dehradun between September 27 to 30,2022. The workshop started with lighting the lamp and was followed by Sarasvati Vandana, by Amrita and Upasana. 

In the inaugural session, Prof. Madhu Prabhakaran, Dean SOLA mentioned the importance of preparing for professional grooming.  He said that the objective of the workshop is to inform and update the students about different skills, knowledge and behavioral practices that are must for not only placement but to work in the corporate world apart from technical fundamental knowledge. 

Prof. Ravikesh Srivastava, Pro-VC, motivated students for professional grooming and career building. Further, he said, "This workshop is the first of its kind at IMS, and the success of this event will make it a regular happening". 

Dr. Swati Bist, Dean (T & P), appealed to students to dream, since transformation can only come when one starts dreaming. Through this grooming session, we would try to transform your personality and sensitize. 

Then, Mr. Siddharth Guj made students familiar about proper grooming and a professional appearance to gain respect in the workplace. He said that the way professionals look and carry themselves create an impression on the people they work alongside. He provided specific examples of dressing sense and professional appearance. 

The day second, began with session Prof. Vinay Ran, Dean Hotel & Management, in which he highlighted the aspects of body language and public appearance in detail. While explaining various gestures, he said, "Body language is a range of non-verbal signals that you can use to communicate your feelings and intentions. These include your posture, facial expressions, hand gestures, and ability to understand and interpret other people's body language, which can help you to pick up on unspoken feelings. " He says that first impressions always matter a lot and the way a person looks and carries himself creates an impact on people, so he throws a lasting impression. 

The day third, began with the session Dr. Amit Adalakha, Dean SOM, in which he oriented students the importance of resume building, attitude development, and skill development. He highlighted the important industries that are growing fast, like tele-communication and health care, along with various kinds of tourism, and then he talked about the elementary skills to get into industry. Further, he said, "First and foremost is an attitude to being selected or being recruited. After that, professional skills with an innovative mindset can create a space for doing work to perfection. " 

He gave an example of a Delhi-based artist who was very much concerned about perfection in his work because a person always works for his own improvisation and not for others. However, institutes and companies are just facilitators for getting things done well. He asked students if they had started working on their resumes yet. He suggested students that first spot your career choices, then industry requirements, and after that, start working on that and complete the respective courses with the required certifications. At least six to seven certifications are required, he suggested. He acknowledged that liberal arts students are generally good at language, communication, writing skills, and narration, but other professional skills must be learnt to make them brighter. 

On the day forth, prof. Madhu Prabhakaran, Dean SOLA, took a session on   'Claim Your Liberty for Artful Existence,’ he says that liberal arts students should engage in out-of-the-box thinking rather than preparing to write an answer to a specific question. Imitating the ideas of others is not going to help. One should be imaginative, creative, and must expand the horizons of personal space. Being reverentially inclusive and breaking into novelty are the gist of the liberal arts. That is why it is known as the liberal arts. Therefore, change your mindset and orientation. All four sessions were concluded with questions and answers from the students. 

 An important attraction of the four-day session was presentation of recap by the students, On the day second, a student of the first year, Komal Avantika, gave a quick recap of the first day’s sessions from the inaugural to the last, in a very systematic and articulative manner with a sense of humour. On day 3rd, a student of BA(Hons), Sarthak, presented a quick recap of yesterday’s session on body language. In his presentation, he pointed out all the details regarding various types of body language and what they had learned from the resource people. The last day's recap was presented by Isha Kansal. In her highlights, the topics covered were core competency, teamwork, leadership, mastering, business ethics, interpersonal behaviors, personality development, resume writing, and interactions with the interview board.