The University Counselling and Placement Guidance Cell organized Employment Fair under the patronage of Directorate of Students’ Welfare, Punjab Agricultural University (PAU).
In his inaugural address, Dr Satbir Singh Gosal, Vice-Chancellor, emphasized on being skillful and job ready in the competitive era, and acknowledged the importance of self- employment in the changing business landscape. He also encouraged the students to come up with new startups based on vast opportunities in the field of agribusiness.
In the concluding remarks, Dr PK Chhuneja, Dean of Postgraduate Studies, said that students should always be ready to take up challenges in life. It is the high time when the students should learn to focus on their career development along with academics, he added.
Dr Khushdeep Dharni, Associate Director of University Placement Cell, termed it as an exercise to bridge the gap between industry and academia.
Dr Nirmal Singh Jaura, Director Students’ Welfare, thanked all the participating companies, exhibitioners, panelists and students for joining the event.
During the fair, more than a dozen companies interviewed students for over 100 vacancies. Major recruiters for the day were Field King (Beri Udyog limited), AMUL Feed Business, Trishveda Natural Private Limited, Cogneesol Agtech Pvt Ltd, AFI Feed Industries, Think and Learn Pvt. Ltd., Centre of International Projects Trust and Sir Ratan Tata Trust. Besides, a number of diet counseling based business houses such as The Diet Experts, Diet Doctor Clinic, Pragya- The Dietician, Dt. Kanurpreet Arora Narang and SPS Apollo Hospital interviewed PAU students for final placement offers.
Three panel discussions were also organized. First panel discussion was on the theme “Enhancing Employability of Students”. Mr Harish Anand, Assistant Vice-President, Strategy office from Vardhman group, emphasized on acquiring relevant skill sets for being a good industry fit. Mr Ranbir Singh, General Manager, Punjab Agri Expert Corporation, stressed that patience and hard work were the key in climbing the corporate ladder. Mr Baljinder Saini, Executive Director, RGR Cell, Sir Ratan Tata Trust, advised the students to be ready for a drastic transition phase while entering the corporate sector.
Second panel discussion was focused on the theme “Psychological resilience for workplace success”. Dr Tarika Sandhu, Associate Professor (Psychology) from Punjabi University, Patiala dealt with the topic “Handling stress in Early Career”. Dr Shreya Jain, Assistant Professor, Sri Aurobindo College of Commerce and Management, presented her views on the “Role of social skills and positive thinking in workplace success”.
Dr Shweta Batta, Chief Dietitian, Dayanand Medical College and Hospital, urged the students to maintain a healthy lifestyle for enhancing work productivity. She also offered tips regarding food choices for dealing with stress.
Third panel discussion was held on “Self Employment: The New Employment Avenue”. Mr Kaushal Singh, a PAU alumnus and an owner of Cane Farms and Jagger Cane, discussed his journey as an entrepreneur and shed light on associated challenges. Dt. Garima Goyal, also a PAU alumna and an owner of diet clinic, motivated the students to take self-employment and narrated the challenges she faced in her startup. Mr Ashish Mehta, Head (Operations), Innovation Mission Punjab, stated that innovation was a basic building block of entrepreneurship and that students could venture in the domain of agriculture, food processing and allied areas.
Twelve pass outs of PAU displayed their ventures at the exhibition. These ventures included startups based on honey products, bakery products, jaggery, playway, education for children with special needs, diet clinics, interior decorations items, social media marketing, and apparel products. Four banks, namely Punjab National Bank, Indian Overseas Bank, Bank of Baroda and ICICI Bank also put their stalls for dissemination information regarding financial products for both current entrepreneurs and budding entrepreneurs.
Later, all participating companies, exhibitioners and student coordinators were given awards by Dr Chhuneja and Dr Jaura.
Read more: https://www.pau.edu/index.php?_act=manageEvent&DO=viewEventDetail&dataE=datae&intID=8182
