What I learned from PPD......

PPD molds us into an efficient individual who is ready to face the world and solves all the problem confidently and effectively......
 It is your way to a better life, to become an improved version of yourself. As a University students we want to pay more attendance to this unique subject then we can learn a lot through this PPD lesson. Throughout this year we did so many useful activities such as:

Trust Walk
CV Writing
Self Reflection
Expert and Pen Game
Session in WSO2
Emerging Technologies
Cake Activity
How to face an Interview
Story Chain
Paper Rocket
Every session of PPD tought us many lifelong lessons which we have to follow in our professional as well as personal life.
Leadership Quality
Communication Skills
Decision Making
Self Confidence
Team Working
Creativity
planning Skills
Presentation Skills
Public Speaking
Problem Solving
Time Management
Overcome obstacles and achieving goals
Adjusting to the changing environments
Improving personality and confidence.

CV writing

CV writing

Have you ever thought how important a CV is when you apply for a job position?
When applying you always worry about the interviews. But the CV where we give the first impression on us also plays a major role in selecting for a job.

Our CV is the first chance we get to make a good impression on a potential employer. A top quality CV will considerably boost out chance of getting face to face interview. So it is worth spending time and effort on the content and presentation. It will make all the differences= in obtaining the position we want. We must therefore highlight our skills,expertise and value.

It should be in our own format. We should not copy from someone else format. It should be concise and accurate. We should provide with true details. We should tailor it specifically to he job we are applying for and include the skills,qualifications and experience which are most suited to the job.

It is good to make the CV using word processing SW
Highlight the headings - different font size
Keep the email as a hyperlink
Do not mix font styles
Document should be able to copy and paste
Maintain the years in one line

CV should consist with many information.

Photograph - should be a professional photograph with good dress. (Not with fancy dresses or a selfie) Head and shoulders. At the top right corner.
Personal Details - Name and address, a phone number, and your email address.
Personal Profile - A statement about our self, summarizing the skills and carrier interests
Skills - Soft skills and technical skills
Educational Qualifications - Write in chronological order a brief list of school and university qualifications, such as O/Ls , A/Ls , etc., together with the grades we obtained. Then list any further qualifications we have obtained, together with the names of the awarding bodies.
Projects
Work Experiences - Start with current or last employer and work backwards. We should include the dates of employment,  job title,  responsibilities, duties and achievements.
Volunteering, Conferences, Extra curricular activities, Training - Recent activities first.
References - There is no need to write the details of your referees on your CV. Simply state that they are available on request, but make sure that you know who your referees are and that you have asked their permission to use them.

Trust walk

Trust Walk

As we live with other people or in other words we live in a society with different kinds of people. TRUST is something very important when we live with those people. We should not trust people blindly but with good understanding.

In last ppd session we were asked to find a partner (not a life partner .. hikz). Then we were instructed to cover the eyes of the partner. The other person had to give instructions to the blind person about the obstacles, paths, where to turn etc. So there the one person played the role of a listener and one played the role of an instructor. The instructor should navigate the listener to the final destination. This activity had two rounds where the listener of the first round became the instructor in the second round and vice versa.

When we proceed the path we had to go over  stair cases where we had to instruct the blind person with the no. of steps and where to stop. There were white board markers on the path and if somebody put the leg on it, he or she might definitely fall. That is why we were instructed to listen the instructor well. At the first round we had to go along the path and tap a brick. While in the second round we had to tap on two concrete blocks and the brick. In the first round all most all the students walked and tap the brick with the correct instructions. But at the second round some students forgot what to do. Some forgot to tap on the brick after tapping he concrete blocks.

When we trust someone we should not trust him or her blindly. Even though we can not see anything we have a brain to think and analyse. We can choose what we should do and what should not. We can instruct the other person when he or she does a wrong thing. In this occasion also some instructors forgot to tap the brick after tapping the concrete brick. If blind one communicated with the instructor well they won't do such a mistake. Miss Sarasi never prohibited the communication between the instructor and the blind person.

When someone keeps his or her trust on us, we have a responsibility of protecting it. Trust is like a glass. When it is broken we can't fully make it in to what it was. Some times some people keeps their life on another persons hand trusting him. In this activity also the blind one keeps trust on the instructor. If one step was taken in a wrong way sometimes the blind one may fall. So we should e a good instructor to the others. Protect the trust that someone lay on us.

Blind person also should give the maximum support. If he does what he wants to do, it is really disturbing for the instructor. We should be a good listener and trust the partner. Help hi or her to do their task. Correct their path when they deviate.

These things are really important when we live in the society. When we work we have to trust so many people and follow their paths. Be wise. Trust the people. But do not blindly trust...

Self reflection

Self reflection

    Last ppd session was very important for all of us. It was very interesting session because, there was a very interesting topic for the day. It was "Self Reflection".
    At first, Sarasi madam asked about the extra curricular activities that we are doing in the university, other than our academic things. But, most of us were very weak in extra curricular activities. Then she explained about the importance of doing extra curricular activities.
    The topic was the day was self reflection and she delivered the session on the topic of self reflection. And I got a lot of things to my life during the session.

    "Reflection" means thinking about something and "Self Reflection" means thinking of yourself and it is a very important term. Sarasi madam explained it very well. She told some examples as well that she got in her life. We can judge ourselves and be good character. WE can judge our own qualities. Self reflection is like looking into a mirror. The most important thing is our character in the society. If we have good qualities, the society will identify us as good persons.

    When we think about self reflection, there are some factors that we have to think about. The most important things are strengths and weaknesses. We must identify our strengths and weaknesses and we shouldn't afraid to the challenges that we meet. Every time we should be very strong and should take right decisions. Other than that we have to identify our skills and improve our own skills. Some times there can be hidden skills that we couldn't identify ever. We have to improve such skills.
    There can be lot of problems in our lives that we face. We should face those problems strongly and think about the solutions wisely. And we have to face lot of challenges as well. We should have a strong mind to face those problems and challenges. Always be yourself and be kindhearted. If you are a person that can get the pain of other peoples', you are a great character for the society. Be a man that lives forever in others' heart even after your death. People will hold your good qualities forever. Somehow I got a new lesson to my life through the session. At last, what I want to say is that "be yourself" and be a great character in the society.

Find the expert level & Thread and pen

Find the Expert Level

In last PPD session Miss.Sarasi has instructed the class to engage in a new activity which has been very interesting. Unfortunately I was unable to attend.

On that day Miss. Sarasi has divided the class in to 4 groups and has asked to pick 3 areas that the group members are specialized in. Then come up with an innovative product which can be implemented with those specialized 3 areas.

When we work it is really difficult to find people with same ideas, same talents etc. We should have the ability to manage the abilities according to the need. It is really essential when we become professionals and perform as a team.

Our teams have come up with many ideas and presented it.

Team 1
       Areas: Handmade things, Bike riding, Reading
       Product: Eye glass cover

Team 2
      Areas: Taekwondo, Painting, Gaming
      Product: Taekwondo video game

Team 3
      Areas: Gaming, Chess, Painting
      Product: Chess video game

Team 4
       Areas: Cricket, Painting, Gamimg
       Product: Cricket video game

This activity can guide us to practice think beyond the box and make new products.

The next game was Thread and Pen. It was also a different kind of game and we were seated in the same groups, that we separated earlier for Expert Game. Now what madam did was, she gave us a paper, pen, Thread and a Selotape. Now what we asked to do is we want to plan a strategy and wrote down the word "Viper" on the paper without touching the pen and the paper with the use of Thread and the Selotape. Luckily all the teams were managed to do that work correctly. From both of the games we learnt how to work as a team, how to manage given resources.
Thank You.

Visit to WSO2

Technical writing

On the 12th  of September us, the 2nd year batch of software engineering degree program visited WSO2 company which is one of the leading software companies in Sri Lanka. It is kind of a dream  that most of the software engineers has to work in WSO2. It was a good experience to start our new semester.

At the entrance we were given a very nice note book and a pen. What I first notice at there was they were well prepared and has organized every thing before hand. We went there at 8.30 am because we wanted to give them a good impression on Software Engineering students in Kelaniya University as it was our first workshop at WSO2.

In the first session they gave us an introduction about what the technical writing is. It is kind of a very interesting job. Though it calls as technical writing, a technical writer has do writing only about 5% from their total job. All other things deal with requirement gathering, study about the product etc. There are lots of job positions associated with the technical writing.

 A user manual should be in a very simple manner with clear and correct language which should help the user to understand the product and product functionalities. To attract a customer it is really important to have a good user manual. A technical writer has to think in user perspective and compose the document. A technical writer should posses a good writing skills with clean and clear language and with the ability to quickly learn and deals with new technologies. It is really challenging thing to learn about new technologies, new products etc.

 We learnt about some grammar parts in English which we ignore most of the times. It is really important use the correct words at correct places. A single full stop can change a meaning of a sentence upside down.

Most of the times workshops get boring with the time. But the technical writing crew at WSO2 did some games associated with the workshop which everyone actively and happily participated. The winners were given very attractive gifts like t-shirts and chocolates. And also they provided us with refreshments.

This workshop showed me some new areas which I should improve in myself. It is okay, we can write in English, can deals with subject verb object. But it it hard to become a professional in writing. We have to read a lot. We have to write a lot. Blogging will help us to improve our language.

As under graduates it is essential to learn about the industry. By having workshops in companies, industry visits it makes us to adapt to the professional background. Those places were really clean and all the works were done on time. The WSO2 crew was really friendly which showed the ares that we need to improve to become a professional.

Facing an interview

Facing an Interview

In our last ppd session we had a nice experience. In there, we all faced to a small interview which was conducted by our own friends.

We were asked to follow what we learnt from interview ppd sessions. We walked with confidence, kept a smile on our face, answered what our friends asked. At that moment we really thought about job positions about our strengths, weaknesses . So from that we realize what are the things that we want to improve as well as to do to show our strengths in an interview. In some occasions we forgot to keep eye contacts. Sometimes forgot to rearrange the chair when we got up. Forgot to say thank you.

Most of us made simple mistakes during our interviews. May be it is because we have very little experience. In some cases, that was the first time in an interview.
Experience gives us many things to learn and realize. So it is very much important to practice the procedure of an interview with a friend until you are confident.



                              Cakes....

Can You cut a cake in to 8 pieces only with three cuts.

Miss. Sarasi has grouped our friends and has given a small piece of cake. Then she has asked above task. Only 1 minute has been given to do that. All the groups have imaginary  tried it in different ways. But only one group has won the task.

The way that has to do it is vertically cut the cake into 4 pieces using 2 cuts and one horizontal cut.
 We should think before dong somethings. In some cases we can have a trial. But some occasions we have to try at once. We must think creatively.