Students advised to acquire knowledge with skill sets

Updated on: Saturday, November 27, 2010

A combination of knowledge and skill sets would help a student in sustaining excellence in career, said T. N. Manoharan, former president, Chartered Accountants of India, on Friday.

Inaugurating the activities of ‘The Hindu Business Line Club' in the region at Velammal College of Engineering and Technology here, Mr. Manoharan said that knowledge without skill sets would be useless. The Indian youth, he said, were capable of acquiring linguistic, managerial, professional and technical skills; and in future, the whole world would look at Indian talent in every walk of life.

‘Ten commandments'

Explaining a set of ‘ten commandments' to sustain a career, Mr. Manoharan advised the students to acquire knowledge with skill sets and benchmark themselves with the best in the field. Students should also approach their task with confidence and remain competitive throughout their career. “Never live in the past glories,” as only continuous performance would keep a person in the reckoning always. The students, he said, should combine competitiveness with dedication and devotion.

Perseverance, according to Mr. Manoharan, was a trait essential to develop a ‘never quit' attitude. “Defeat is never a denial of success but deferment,” he said, adding that the best way to answer one's critics was to produce results.

He advocated a sense of contentment in one's career, not in terms of aspirations, accomplishments and quest for excellence, but rewards and benefits. “Rewards should not be a benchmark of your service,” he said, calling upon the students to develop humility as a hallmark of their personality. “Success should feed your responsibility and not your ego.”

Stressing that integrity was the need of the hour, Mr. Manoharan said, “You can reach the top through hard work but cannot stay there without integrity.” He urged the students to show gratitude to all those who were responsible for their elevation in life.

In his presidential address, M. V. Muthuramalingam, chairman, Velammal Educational Trust, stressed that a degree alone would not fulfil students' expectations and they should read newspapers to equip themselves better.

G. Ramprasad, Chief Executive Officer, Tata Teleservices, described mobile telephony as a “very powerful force” in which most of human activities converged. Like all new technologies, it also had problems and opportunities. But mobile services had eliminated the problem of access in many remote villages. He appealed to the students to make the best use of opportunities, and said that the objective of the The Hindu BL Club was to facilitate more informed decision-making among the youth. Tata Teleservices, Mr. Ramprasad said, had a participatory programme for students which enabled them to strengthen their talent and build a business as well.

‘Enjoy what you do'

K. Venugopal, Joint Editor, The Hindu Business Line, said that knowledge without skill sets was an issue that confronted the country and employers found students lacking in soft skills. He added one more commandment to Mr. Manoharan's ‘ten commandments' by asking the students to enjoy what they did. “When you enjoy what you do you will do it better.”

Earlier, S. Sevugapandiyan, Principal (in charge), welcomed the participants.

T. Murali, Regional General Manager, The Hindu, Madurai, gave an introduction to the Club.

Students advised to acquire knowledge with skill sets

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