AmCham’s ‘Entering the Corporate Arena’ connects students with CEOs

The American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham) is connecting young students with high profile CEOs of different industries with ‘Entering the Corporate Arena’, a forum for career guidance and entrepreneurship which was held successfully for the fourth consecutive year on 10 May 2013, at Hilton Colombo.

Entering the Corporate Arena was held with the objective to provide students with an insight into Corporate Sri Lanka, and identify the skills and competencies required to build their careers. During the event, three distinguished corporate leaders shared their knowledge and experience on different topics, to help undergraduates better prepare themselves for their future roles. The speakers who enlightened the forum were Brandix Lanka Ltd. Chief Executive Officer Ashroff Omar, Standard Chartered Bank Chief Executive Officer Anirban Ghosh Dastidar and Expolanka Holdings Plc. Group CEO Hanif Yusoof.

Ashroff Omar emphasised on two key points during his speech, perseverance and playing fair. He said, “Perseverance is the key to making a breakthrough. In most projects, the beginning is exciting and then you start facing the bumps. Often people give up and start something else. I regularly see CV’s where the applicants have changed many jobs. I am reluctant to take these people onboard. As you begin your careers you will come across many hurdles. Don’t give up, unless you are convinced that it was a dumb project to begin with anyway”. He thus conveyed the importance of pursuing what you are passionate about and staying on it through thick and thin. Also, he said “My experience has been that if you use fairness as a yardstick without letting your pride or ego get in the way, then things work out much better,” and emphasised on the magnitude of playing fair and living by principles no matter how hard the circumstances are. He described his personal experiences involving these principles and how they helped him succeed.

Anirban Dastidar focused on how a new entrant should adapt to the work environment, especially when working with multi-national companies and also the importance of being disciplined. He also mentioned that when students first start a career, it may take a few tries to figure out what they really want to do and what they are passionate about. So it is important to have discipline not to give up.

Hanif Yusoof explained why being passionate about what you do is key to success. He said, “Having a good idea isn’t enough if you cannot support in with passion. Passion is what keeps you going amidst the ups and downs of entrepreneurship.” He also advised students, “It is important to always maintain good relationships with those who interact with you, as you never know when that relationship can be useful to you.”

This event also featured the inauguration of AmCham Connect, an IT portal that allows students and aspiring young entrepreneurs to interact with top Sri Lankan company CEOs. The vision of Amcham Connect is to provide a medium for every aspiring student to connect with senior business leaders in the country and obtain their knowledge and insights for career guidance.

The forum was moderated by AmCham Vice President Prasath Nanayakkara. The event was sponsored by Brandix Lanka Ltd., Expolanka Holdings, Standard Chartered Bank and Calcey Technologies. It was attended by over 120 university students/interns representing local and foreign universities and educational institutions.