GCTU Business School Hosts Career Development Seminar
The GCTU Business School in collaboration with the African Centre for Career Enhancement and Skills Support (ACCESS), has held a seminar on career development on 12th March 2024 at Florence Onny Auditorium at the main campus, Tesano.
The event titled “Your Career Trajectory: After Graduation, What Next?” focused on transitioning academic skills into workplace proficiency. It covered career navigation, networking, interviewing techniques, crafting personal statements, effective CV writing, and job search strategies.
Global Human Capital Expert and Resource Person, Dr. Pascal Brenya, emphasizes the importance of students actively engaging with their career choices. He highlights the significance of crafting a compelling personal statement in a CV, as it serves as the initial point of contact for potential employers. Taking time to create a concise and appealing introduction showcasing qualifications, skills, and experiences is crucial for career readiness.
“A personal statement must be brief. “A personal profile or statement is your “banner headline”, it allows you to describe yourself, the personality behind this document called a CV,” he said.
Dr. Brenya emphasized that, before and during a job interview, certain skills/guides will help a prospective applicant to succeed. These include in-depth preparation, research, emotional intelligence (being able to answer tough questions & staying calm under pressure), punctuality, active listening and confidence.
According to him, there are ways to improve one’s confidence level, namely challenging negative thoughts about yourself, positive thinking, learning to deal with failures and rejections, challenging excuses and accepting yourself.
He gave insights into what he called “My level 100 experience: What I wish I knew or had known.” Dr. Brenya encouraged the students, particularly the freshers, to get mentors, make good friends on campus, do away with aggressive behaviours, dress professionally to lectures, be attentive and ask questions or contribute in class, attend lectures and events 15 minutes before they start, read the information on notice boards, avail themselves for leadership roles and join study groups.
He concluded his presentation by admonishing students to be assertive learners. Dr. Brenya defined assertiveness as enjoying your rights with integrity, expressing your feelings with honesty, asking for what you want with directness and stating your views with respect.
