Leading youth to economic self sufficiency

A two days long exciting, interactive and capacity building workshop 'Towards Trans-formative Career – Season II' was organized by South Asian Youth Society (SAYS) in association with IABC | BRAC University in order to introduce the youth of our society to a wide range of career and educational opportunities available to them, including non-traditional choices in occupations, ultimately leading them to economic self-sufficiency.

The day started with the welcome speech of Nayeem Chowdhury (Executive Committee Member and Head of Event Management at SAYS, General Secretary at IABC).He gave a brief introduction of SAYS and showed the promotional video of SAYS, exclusively made by the newly recruited SAYS members (2014-2015).

Khan Ahmed Murshid (Director Office of Career Services and Alumni Relations at BRAC University) inaugurated the session and praised SAYS for this wonderful initiative.

He quoted “Transformative carrier is such a carrier that not only fulfills one’s one ambition but also has a major impact on transforming the society”. He wanted the youth to be honest and genuine and try to contribute to the society.

Then there was an ice breaking session where the delegates got to know each other better and learn about networking and competition.

George Mesthos (Cultural Affairs Officer, The American Center, Dhaka) and Mushfiq Hasan (Outreach Coordinator, US ambassy delivered the next session on "Global Opportunity and Higher Education". They provided valuable information to the students who want to study and have carrier abroad.

Then Mr.Tanvir Sobhan (Faculty of BRACU and an adviser of IABC) conducted a question-answer session related to carrier development. He discussed about different courses on finance marketing and other subjects conducted worldwide.

Mr. Imrul Karim Emil (Celebrity Singer & Senior Marketing Manager of Coca-Cola, Bangladesh) talked about “Branding in the corporate world”. He said “Branding is not what you say about yourself, it is what others say about you when you are not in the room”. He showed the key to successful branding by discussing about being dependable by delivering exact work on exact time, keeping a good relationship with the colleagues, listening to others, giving due credits and finally exploring outside one’s own comfort zone.

In the next session Tanvir Chowdhury (Correspondent/Producer of Al Jazeera English in Bangladesh) talked about "Career in Global Media and Journalism". According to him individuals from any background can have a carrier on global media if he has some basic knowledge and skill in these matters.

Johanna Rein (Researcher at Uppsala University and observer at South Asian Youth Leaders' Summit 2012) shared her successful career experience with the delegates. She believes for having a successful carrier choice of a proper life partner is essential.

Then in the last session of the day Palki Ahmad (Celebrity Singer and Staff Researcher at Institute of Educational Development, BRAC University) delivered speech on 'Leading from Heart'. She said “Leadership is like a candle, the candle that will light many more”. According to her bravery and courage to step out of one’s own comfort zone and following own passions are the pursuits that will lead the way to success.

The next day started with Tahsan Rahman Khan (Senior Lecturer, BRAC University and Corporate Brand Consultant and Celebrity Musician) who offered guidelines on interpersonal skills and business etiquette in a corporate environment. The etiquettes highlighted mainly the norms and the dos and don’ts in a business atmosphere.

Asif Saleh (Senior Director of Strategy, Communication and Empowerment at BRAC and BRAC International) conducted the next session on communication techniques for strong work relationships. Importance of making clear and concise statements and doing adjustments in a changing environment were highlighted throughout the session.

Towfique A. Khan (The Founder and President of SAYS) held an interactive session among delegates on the importance of communication, team work, media literacy, creativity and networking. Then he conducted a group activity for executing a peace message and writing up a strategy for organizing a peace campaign. The delegates came out with some wonderful and realistic ways of implementing peace in certain sectors with the help of social media and voluntary organizations. Team 5 quoting “Compromise For Change” came up first in the challenge.

Kaji Shahanur Kabir and Rakshinda Huq (OCSAR) conducted the next session on effective resume and cover letter writing & interview Skills. They pin-pointed on the harsh realities of number of jobs in ratio of the number of applicants and suggested making the resume as good and attractive as possible through contents rather than graphics and attending an interview well prepared.

Then there was Solaiman Shukhon (Head of Marketing, Elite Technologies and also a Standup Comedian) who with his vibrant presence both motivated & entertained the audience. He talked about networking and other communication skills.

Mr. Shariful Islam (Founder of Bangladesh Brand Forum) in his session gave a visualization of how important it is to act on fulfilling the childhood dream rather than running after money.

Mr. Iresh Zaker (Executive Director of Asiatic Marketing Production) has taken a valuable session on advertising and creative media where he gave a visual reality tour on marketing in social media. According to him an advertiser’s way of communicating with the consumers should not only depend on one medium but on different mediums targeting specific age groups.

After that Punna Islam (Executive Member, SAYS) and Mr. Ratul Dev (EC Member of ‪SAYS and President of IABC) discussed about the activities of SAYS and IABC.

Professor Fuad Hassan Mallick, (Pro Vice Chancellor of BRAC University) praised SAYS for this wonderful initiative and he was glad to see the inspired faces of the participants.

The two day long program ended with the speech of Towfique A. Khan where he said “it’s our responsibility to make a peaceful and prosperous South Asia and Bangladesh”

One of the delegates named Anika Bushra Khan, student of BRAC told that the workshop was really helpful for her and she hoped to see more of this kind of initiative in the future.

Syed Murtaz Zahid and Tahrima Hossain contributed their parts to the report.

By Tahsin Firoza Khan Amina