Soft skills are characteristic traits and interpersonal skills that characterize a person’s relationships with other people. They are also often known as ‘transferable skills’, ‘people skills’ or ‘social skills’. Soft skills get little respect but may make or break the career. It includes work ethics, attitude, communication skills, emotional intelligence and a whole host of other personal attributes that are crucial for career success. Nowadays soft skills are a priority while hiring, as they are often essential for workers to succeed in modern organizations. One is expected to have not only good speaking abilities, but also good at listening to other people’s point of view in any field. A lack of soft skills can limit the potential, or even lead to the downfall of one’s career. By developing strong leadership, teamwork, and communication abilities, students can run their projects more smoothly, deliver results that please everyone, and even positively influence their personal life by improving how they interact with others.
Soft Skill Training 2021-2022
Corporate Relations Committee (CRC) at Pillai Institute of Management Studies and Research conducts soft skill training for all the students of MMS in offline mode from. Ms. Gursharan, Ms. Vrushali, Ms. Shipra Lal, Prof. Balashankar Ramdas, Prof. Shailendra Pawaskar and Prof. Mamta Nair are members of the CRC committee. Beginning of semester III is the right time to start active preparations for final placements. Keeping this in view, the CRC committee has prepared a pre-placement training program schedule for second year students of MMS program. It was decided that personal interview sessions will be conducted batch wise. Students were advised to attend the personal interview sessions regularly and be present in formals. Attendance was made compulsory for all these sessions.
Various activities are organized by the committee are listed below as follows:
| Topic Covered | Date |
|---|---|
| Session 1: Introductory Session | 20th October, 2021 |
| Session 2 : Grooming - I | 27th October, 2021 |
| Session 3 : Grooming - II | 24th November, 2021 |
| Session 4 : Personal interview - I | 8th December, 2021 |
| Session 5 : Group discussion | 15th December, 2021 |
| Session 6 : Personal interview - II | 22nd December, 2021 |
| Session 7 : Two days Aptitude Training | 29th December, 2021 |
| Session 8: Understanding the Test Pattern of different Companies | 5th January, 2022 |
Session – 1: Introductory session
Date: 20th October, 2021 Time: 3:00 to 4:00 p.m.
Session Details:
In this session second year students of all the specializations were briefed about the detailed soft skill training workshop and later on feedback and suggestions were solicited from them. Afterwards, students were asked to speak for at least three minutes about any general topic or their specialization or any topic of interest and at last feedback was given to them for further improvement. In this session, placement policy was also discussed in detail.
Participants:
There were 143 students who attended the first session. Specialization wise attendance details are attached separately.
Suggestion given by the students:
- Involving students in the placement process keeping in mind the representation from each of the specializations.
- Students should work for placements only after completion of the lectures.
- There should be regular meetings for smooth functioning of the committee.
- They requested for mock interviews, GD sessions and grooming workshops
Session – 2: Grooming – I
Date: 27th October, 2021 Time: 3:00 to 4:00 p.m.
Session Details:
In this session students were asked to search and complete following details:
- Researching the Profile and Company
- HR Questions in the Interview
- CV Format (Fresher v/s Experienced)
- Formal Dressing
They were asked to complete this task in 45 minutes and it was followed by discussion with them.
Participants:
There were 128 students who attended the second session grooming-I. Specialization wise attendance details are attached separately.
Session – 3: Grooming – II
Date: 24th November, 2021 Time: 3:00 to 4:00 p.m.
Session details:
- CV format (fresher v/s experienced)
- Formal dressing
Remaining two sub topics CV format and importance of formal dressing for management students were discussed in this session. They were told about dos and don’ts of both. Students were advised to prepare one page CV and submit it to the placement cell for correction within one weeks’ time.
It was decided in the session that students will wear formals on weekdays and college uniforms on Mondays.
Participants:
There were 130 students who attended the third session on Grooming II. Specialization wise attendance details are attached separately.
Session – 4: Personal Interview – I
Date: 8th December, 2021 Time: 3:00 to 4:00 p.m.
Session Details:
In this session students were informed that they will have to wear formals on every Monday in college and about Monday to Friday dressing incorporates.
- How to deal with difficult questions (salary expectation, break in studies etc.)
- How to answer – What are your weaknesses?
- Mock interviews (general) were also conducted for a few students.
- Tell me about a time you had to deal with a team member who constantly opposed your ideas. How did you handle it?
- What courses did you enjoy the most? The least? Why?
- Why did you decide to major in (subject)?
- What are your strengths and weaknesses?
- Describe a project you successfully managed end-to-end. What challenges did you face and what did you do to overcome them?
Participants:
152 students attended this session. They all were looking for this opportunity to get practice.
Session – 5: Group Discussion – I
Date: 15th December, 2021 Time: 3 to 4 pm
Session Details:
GD was conducted for students to test general awareness of students along with body language and gestures. Students were divided in the groups of 15 to 16 each.
Following topics were selected for GD:
- Should celebrities be allowed to join politics
- Social Media – Curse or Boon
- Scams in Indian Banks
- For or Against Modi Government
- Stone Pelting is a Stumbling Block to the Pride of Indian Army
- Books Have Become Irrelevant In IOT Present.
- Creating more States will disintegrate India
- Digital Payments are Secure and India is ready to go cashless.
- Chinese Goods are a threat to Indian businessmen and the economy.
- Modi’s ‘Make in India’ Campaign is better than the old ‘Made in India’ Campaign.
- Demonetization is a successful and effective move.
- Govt. can Easily Control the Rising Petrol Prices.
- India needs Bullet Trains
- Industrial Revolution 4.0 – Pros & Cons.
Participants:
Session was attended by 160 students and it was liked by them. After every GD session, there was lots of discussion among faculty and students about dos and don’ts of the GD. Students requested for some such sessions.
Session – 6 : Personal Interviews – II
Date: 22nd December, 2021 Time: 3:00 to 4:00 p.m.
Session Details:
Corporate relations committee took a dedicated session on dos and don’ts of the interview. Committee members having rich corporate experience shared their views and interview experiences with the students and Placement in charge, Mrs. Swati shared company feedback with the student.
Towards the end of the session mock interviews were conducted for few of the students due to constraint of time and remaining students were asked to prepare for the same.
Participants:
132 students attended this session. They all were looking for this opportunity to get practice.
Session – 7: Two Days Aptitude Training
Date: 29th December, 2021 Time: 3:00 to 4:00 p.m.
Session Details:
Experts are involved in conducting aptitude training for all the second year MMS students.
Brief Profile of the Trainers is Given Below:
- A Doctor by Qualification, Dr. Shashank Prabhu has Completed his MBA from FMS, Delhi. He has a happy knack of cracking entrance tests and helping aspirants do so, the highlight being a 100 percentile in the CAT 2011. He has worked with ITC Ltd., Tata Administrative Services and PaGaLGuY.com donning various hats and has been mentoring aspirants since the past five years.
- An MBA from JBIMS, Mumbai with a 99.99% i.e in CET, Prasad Sawant is currently putting his entrepreneurial skills gained through the SYB program from S. P. Jain Institute to good use by combining it with his lifelong passion for teaching and mentoring. He has been a faculty member with Career Launcher, a senior consultant with Great Place to Work and is a certified behavioral interviewer.
- An alumnus of JBIMS, Sriram Krishnan has worked in strategy, finance, media and IT roles with SEBI, Shree Renuka Sugars, HT Media and Accenture. He has scored 99+ percentile in CAT four times and a 99.99 percentile in CET. An avid quizzer, he has been the national champion of CII Inquizzite, NHRD Quiz; national runner up of Mahindra AQ and Mumbai champion of Tata Crucible. Our team Proposed synergies
Students were trained on the following aspects:
- Data Interpretation.
- Inequalities.
- Percentages
- Number Series.
- Arithmetic Aptitude
- Profit and Loss
- Simple Interest and Compound Interest
- Age Problems
Participants
Session was attended by 170 students and it was liked by them. After every session, there was lots of discussion among trainers and students.
Session – 8: Understanding the Test Pattern of Different Companies
Date: 5th January, 2022 Time : 3:00 to 4:00 p.m.
Session Details:
In this session, students were informed about various types of tests conducted by the corporates for final selection of the students.
- Job knowledge tests
- Emotional intelligence tests
- Skills assessment tests
- Personality tests
- Physical ability tests
- Cognitive ability tests
- Integrity tests
Job knowledge tests
Employers give job knowledge tests to identify your knowledge about the job you’re applying for. For instance, if your prospective employer is hiring a managerial accountant, you might receive a job knowledge test on the employer’s internal accounting processes. Students were asked to prepare thoroughly to improve the chances of passing such tests.
Integrity tests
Integrity tests are one of the most objective tests employers can administer, and they help measure the reliability of applicants. Employers may ask questions related to integrity and ethical guidance. Students were advised to answer these questions honestly to give the employer an accurate description of the type of employee you’ll be if you’re hired for the position.
Some questions an employer may ask on an integrity test include:
- How would you act if a manager or a coworker gave you a task that violates company policy?
- Is it ethical to publish work samples on your website?
- Have you ever lied?
- If a client asks you to do something illegal, do you do it?
Cognitive Ability Tests
Cognitive ability tests ask questions about your mental capacity to work in a position. The answers you provide help employers predict your job performance since they’ll then know more about how you handle complexity. It is conducted to check ability to use logical, verbal and numeric reasoning to approach tasks. Students were asked to take practice tests to prepare for potential questions and answers.
Personality Tests
Personality tests indicate to employers if you fit within the company’s culture and if your personality leads to an increase in productivity. Test results might help employers evaluate your engagement level and if they think you’re interested in a long-term career with the organization. Students were asked to properly represent their personality to employers.
Emotional Intelligence Tests
Emotional intelligence tests analyze your relationship-building skills and your knowledge of emotions. Having high emotional intelligence shows how you can defuse conflicts and relieve the anxiety of coworkers if they’re frustrated or disappointed. Some employers may use the Berke assessment to review the range of your emotional skills to see they fit for the position you applied for.
A few skills that can be revealed during your emotional intelligence test include: Teamwork, adaptability and empathy.
Skills Assessment Tests
Skills assessment tests overview your soft and hard skills. Employers test for these skills once they’re in the later stage of the hiring process to understand who they might want to hire. Additional skills assessment tests may require you to demonstrate your research skills, presentation or leadership skills to advance in the hiring process.
Physical Ability Tests
Physical ability tests feature your strength and stamina. They also reveal if you’re capable of performing in roles that require physical work, like a firefighter or a police officer.
