The youth of a densely populated country like Bangladesh faces the impending challenges of finding relevant work in a saturated job market. The Commonwealth Scholarship Committee (CSC), UK recognises the increasing competition for economic growth in Bangladesh. As part of CSC’s new focus on creating higher community engagement by Bangladesh’s Commonwealth alumni, Commonwealth Scholarship and Fellowship Programme (CSFP) hosted a workshop on Career Development. This workshop was arranged to provide the alumni in Bangladesh a much-needed platform to share their expertise and knowledge with young graduates who are looking to start their career.
Job application is a key stage that students must succeed to leap academic to professional life. Many find the tasks challenging, particularly the different aspects related to CV writing, interviews, etc. The workshop was aimed to offer useful tips and guidance to the young graduates for making better job applications and securing their ideal jobs.
A group of Commonwealth alumni conducted sessions on key areas of career development such as effective career planning, CV writing and excelling job interviews. The alumni also shared examples from their professional lives and outlined their journeys from the academic sphere to their current professional roles. There was a discussion session at the end which allowed the participants to pose questions directly to the panellists to get further clarity about specific topics.
Close to 100 students attended the workshop to learn about career development. Participants learned how to plan their career to achieve success and various aspects of CV writing and facing interviews, effectively enabling them to produce better applications and increasing their self-confidence. Feedback from the participants reflected how they were able to improve their understanding of job application procedures, along with their confidence to increase the chances of finding their desired jobs. “I am sure what I have learnt today will help me find the right job once I finish this semester and start job hunting,” said one participant.
CSFP gears up to host similar workshops in the future, to help a higher number of participants join their ideal career paths and contribute to decent work and economic growth.