Sunday, September 6, 2020

Optimizing Your Brain Functoning For Success!!! ( Sunday Best Reads Series)

 

The human brain is a wonder. Unlike animals, human brains are better in many ways. Our brain can store memory and process information. John Medina, A US physician devoted his 20 years in the research of brain and their ways of functioning. He had written a book called 12 brain rules summing up his 20 years of research. There are lots of information to incorporate into our lives for a successful career. So, let us discuss one by one in simple language in the shortest possible time.

(1) Exercise boost brain power: Medina’s research refers to those aerobic exercises which increase heart rate is excellent for brain power improvement. It enhances memory and processing power. When you exercise, your brain gets more blood. Blood supplies glucose to the brain. Thus, the brain gets energy. It can process well. One should keep in mind that the human body was developed for 12 miles of walking thousands of years ago if you are reluctant to exercise.

(2) Human brain involves two: The brains of lizards have amygdale which can perform basic things such as breathing, walking, digestion etc. Humans were also like the lizards millions of years ago. But, we humans have evolved. Our brain got an upgrade called cortex when humans arrived Savanah. With his new gadget in the brain, we can process information, think, speak and store memory. After this upgrade, humans have never looked back. So modern humans use both amygdala and cortex for processing, speaking,  memory storage, reproduction etc.

(3) Every brain wired differently: Brains of two individuals are different depending on their day to day activities. Their brain neurons wired differently. Even for simple memory, their brains use different places for information storage.

(4) We do not pay attention to boring things: Our brain can focus only on one thing. Even if our sensors pick up a lot of things, our brains automatically delete them within a few seconds. We are not at all made for multitasking.  The only thing that will catch our attention is the interesting things which arouse emotion. We are hooked to emotional things. You can see the TV ads which are very emotionally arousing to catch your attention.

(5)Repeat to remember: If your remembering skills are poor, you can use this technique. We can improve remembering skill if we recall the things in the same environment when we learn it. Let me elaborate a bit more. We can remember the lessons better during exams if we have learned and practised the lessons beforehand in an environment which resembles like the exam.

(6) Remember to repeat: When we learn something, we forget maximum information in a few seconds later. If you want to memorize your lesson better way, you have to read more supplementary information related to the topic to remember.  You have to revise what you have learned earlier after equal time for long term memory.    

(7) Sleep well, think:  One should sleep well to think well. When you are deprived of sound sleep, your brain is affected negatively. You may have attention loss, memory loss, difficulty in body movement and whole lots of other problems related to sleep. The brain works rhythmically. When you sleep, your neurons replay the things and store peacefully. A simple 26-minute nap can enhance brain productivity by 34%. It has been observed on astronauts. Furthermore, it helps to lessen stress.

(8) The stressed brain cannot learn: When you are stressed, your brain loses processing capacity. When you are given a task, you can perform it. I have experienced it many times. Let us consider, you are seeing a doctor. You are given a hard multiplication problem at the clinic. Would you feel like solving it? The answer is no. Additionally, stress releases cortisol and adrenalin which scars the arteries. It can lead to a stroke.

(9) Stimulate more of the senses: This rule says that the more the senses are involved in a particular activity, the more you can remember the activity.

(10) Vision is the most powerful sense: Vision is the most dominant sense among others. It uses 50% of the brain’s energy. So, one can remember well when he sees the picture, video, or model compared to written and audio.

(11) Male and female brain work differently: It is due to chromosomes in male and female. In males X chromosomes are from mother only while in females, X chromosomes are an amalgamation of father and mother. When you keep man and woman in the same stressed position, male’s right and female’s left amygdale get activated. The females become emotional while male reaches to a conclusion.

(12) We are powerful and natural explorers: As per Medina, we learn more by active learning. Take the example of babies. They experiment with the smallest things and learn by hit and trial method by experiencing. So, do not hesitate to experiment and fail.

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Wednesday, September 2, 2020

Student's Eligibility for Job interviews in Campuses ( T & P Series on Wednesdays: 02)

 

In a college, training & placement cell is the body which works in tandem with the students towards the common goal of placement. Training and placement cell will do everything and anything to get the students placed. Generally, campus placement starts in the mid of the 7th semester. The students must make them eligible for campus interviews. They should keep in mind that they do not have backlogs up to 7th semester. Well nobody likes to have a backlog but one should clear the backlog as early as possible. People with backlog are viewed with suspicion as it raises the question on the integrity of the student’s performance. Many companies reject the candidature of students with backlog but a large section of companies still allow for applying. Students should not think that one company is the last and hence, the end of campus dreams. Many companies will come where you will be eligible to sit. Till then, you have to wait.

Often companies ask training and placement cell to provide the list of students having the highest CGPA. One should maintain higher CGPA or percentage to clear the cut-off mark for particular campus placement. The persons with higher CGPA or percentage get priority to sit in the drive. The rest are not allowed to appear in the campus placement. Therefore, one should be an informed person regarding CGPA. A high CGPA or per cent does help.

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Sunday, August 30, 2020

Mending your Communication Skills in College for Job Interviews (Sunday Series)

 

Sujith Kumar is the head of HR in Infosys, India. He goes for recruiting in engineering campuses. He stresses that the students should be proficient in soft skills. He mentioned an incident in the Pondicherry university recruitment drive. While interviewing the topper from Pondicherry University, he noticed that the topper with 96% cannot communicate in English. He answered in yes or no only. He could not recruit him. The placement officer charged Sujith Kumar that why he did not recruit the topper. Sujith told the TPO that when he had asked the topper to go ahead with the answer, the boy went out of the room and had to send for him by the peon. Then, he asked why he had left without answering the questions. He said, “Sir, you said go”. He did not understand the difference between go ahead and go. You can check the story in his videos.

There are two types of communication skills. One is required to communicate your thoughts, and the other is necessary to maintain healthy communication in workplaces and society.  While studying in colleges, we are concerned with the first one only. The second one will be required when you get older.

For excellent communication, you have to have good command over the spoken aspect of the English language. In India, students are taught in the mother tongue. Though they read and write English well, they cannot speak fluently. The reason is the non-practice in schools and society while communicating. Hence, this aspect never grows in us. Suddenly, you are asked to express your thoughts and communicate in English in colleges and interviews. You fail to deliver. There is always a way when there is a will. I have gone through websites and videos regarding practical communication skills. I have collected the information and writing in summary form to help you.

Now, let’s get down to the business of practical communication skills. There are specific steps which one should follow religiously. These are given below.

(1) Listen: We learn a language by listening. So, we need to hear more. You watch the news, cricket, commentary, or listen to audiobooks & radio etc. to improve English. This will help you to pronounce better too.

(2) Read: When you read, your vocabulary gets improved. Additionally, your general knowledge increases. Therefore, you have an idea regarding every topic. Most of the time, we cannot say anything because we do not know about the issue. We feel less confident and hesitate to speak. But reading fills that void by making you self confidant to take on anything or everything that comes in the way. One should read editorials of reputed newspapers and magazines of one’s interest to develop the habit. Initially, you will stumble upon new words in every sentence. Slowly, this will get reduced and read without seeing a dictionary. Your vocabulary will be impressive by your surprise. 

(3) Speak:  Once you have developed the habits of listening and reading, we need to focus on the speaking aspect of the problem.  Generally, we do not get opportunity to speak English. That is why spoken English is rusty. You have to take any chance to talk in English. Initially, it may be in broken sentences, but later on, it will improve immensely upon practice. Furthermore, one can take a topic in day to day life and try to express it in English at home by recording his voice over phones. This helps. Now a day, there are online apps and sites which helps you in this regard.The main point is practice and practice. Do whatever suits you.

(4) Observe: One can learn by observing too. When I travelled to Shanghai in 2019, I used Google translate and used to communicate in the Chinese language. In a few days, I picked a few sentences and could go market to buy things by using those small sentences. They always greeted my wife and me with a smile as we tried to speak in their language and still got discounts on items. To learn the language, you need to observe it and repeat it shamelessly. Do not worry. Nobody is going to care much. If somebody laughs at you, let it be. The next day will be yours. You will be better prepared.

These are necessary steps. There are no short cuts. But I would like to tell one thing. One can express better something when he or she understands that thing completely. Most of the time, we cannot express our thought not because of a lack of speaking power but because of understanding deficiency. Always try to understand things wholly to communicate it better. Most of the time, I feel that I can better explain something which I have encountered already. This keeps people interested and hooked to your talk.

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Wednesday, August 26, 2020

Role of Training Placement Cell in Your Engineering Life (T & P Series on Wednesdays : 01)

 

When you are pursuing a professional degree like B.Tech, MBA etc, you will definitely set foot on training and placement cell of that institute. Training and placement cell is an essential part of the institute. In most of the institutes, it is headed by faculty members and in some institutes officials having MBA as background may be running the cell. The ultimate motto of the cell is to get the students placed. There are certain activities which a placement cells perform on daily basis. These are

(1) Database maintenance

(2) Industry contracts maintenance for tours

(3) Profile maintenance of target companies

(4) Brings speakers from industry

(5) Organize off campus and campus interviews

(6) During placement, the cell briefs on interview process

(7) Trains the students for interviews

(8) Trains students for communication skills.

(9) Prepares brochures for corporate

(10) Prepares presentations for corporate

(11) Creates alliance with industry

If you are having all the above activities done by your placement cell, it is running well and fine. If you are not having anything like that in above mentioned way, you need to ask more. The cell is bound to provide.  

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Schedules of upcoming posts. A Great month ahead. 

Health is wealth for students

   (Photo source:pexels.com)   Nowadays, when I look around, most of the students are either obese or have some kind of health issues. ...