March 11, 2021

What is Critical Thinking?

It is not about how many books someone has read or how much knowledge they have stored away at the back of their head; Critical Thinking means thinking clearly. It is about taking a given situation in hand and being able to think critically. Emotions often make people make decisions that they come to regret later, be it in a professional workspace or even in personal life. Critical Thinking is about making a rational decision and being able to think logically about the given situation.

It is not just questioning what, but also how, why, where, when and by whom.

Why is it Important?

We live in a world surrounded by fake news and false tips. The world is constantly changing, and the information given in textbooks are quickly being outdated. Critical Thinking emphasizes active learning, questioning ideas and being open to new ideas that do not sit well with the already constructed safe notions.

In any sector of work, Critical Thinking is important. People are not looking for mindless robots they can hire to complete their work- in fact, even robots can think rationally now. Companies and employees are on a constant lookout for bright minds and new ideas. They are looking for people who can read between the lines, think for themselves and come to a decision using cognitive skills.

How to Develop the skills

Curiosity

Unless one is curious about their surroundings, nothing can be questioned. It is very simple to sit back and take what is given to us. Everybody does that. To critically think anything, the first and the most important question asked is- “Why?” Though often it is thought that a child is born with the quality of being curious, such is not the case. It is about making the conscious choice of sitting up, looking at the situation and pushing oneself to ask why something is happening. It might take time but by this small method, anybody can start looking at the world in a new light. Just ask, “Why?”

Observation

Along with an open mind, a set of open eyes and ears will take everyone a long way. Observing the surroundings often produce answers that would have otherwise remained obscured in plain view. There are various techniques to develop observational skills, like journaling or writing down all that one sees or actively listening to the chatter around. Once someone begins to pick up on all this information, questions will automatically start popping up.

Accepting biases

Everyone no matter how educated has a set of biases. Prejudices people have been brought up, things that have forced someone to be cautious and just make a choice. To critically think, one does not have to let go of these biases though that is the hopeful ultimate goal. At the moment, it is about accepting biases that one might have. One can be extremely prejudiced against another community of workers or such. We need to be aware of this bias, and then move to ask questions like “Is the bias affecting my ability to think?” “Who does this bias actually benefit?”

Identification

One cannot start to think about a situation unless one has actually identified the situation. Whenever faced with a new challenge, a question or perhaps a new variant of the same old problem, keep an open mind. Question the people who are behind what is happening, why is it happening and how it will impact everyone

Research

To be able to think critically, one needs to know what is happening. Think of the context of the information or the source.  This will not be served to anyone on a silver platter and one has to make an active effort in order to understand the context. Without the background information and just face value of things, anybody can easily mislead. Once again, it comes back to questioning everything.

Active learning

Any sort of thinking will fall short if the individual does not have information. There’s a reason successful people urge students to constantly keep reading books. They are a source of information and keep the mind engaged. Today’s world presents everyone with even more learning opportunities like audio books, educational videos and so much more. Being up to date with the current happening in not only your field of work but also the current events can help you make a more informed decision.

We at Career Kites are working on building the gap between college and companies with our 6 weeks of training and learning program. This training module focuses on both technical and soft skills and developing the overall personality of an individual. Some of the topics we cover are Basic Excel, Resume Building, Interview Cracking and Mock Gd’s.

If you want to be a part of this program and transform your career opportunities, then enroll for our 6-weeks skill-building program.

Written By:- Amber Keshari, Shubhr Aakriti

Edited By:- Ashutosh Dhar Dwivedi, Zeya Ullah Saif

What is Time Management?

Even if a student was just focusing on their classes, it is important to note that with the class schedule, traveling time and resting time, self-study often gets lost in the void. Often, just looking at the clock tick away is the way of wasting time. As it would happen, even if the student were to open the book and sit down, going in the flow makes people forget about other engagements post the study time. To juggle all of this in a manner that helps students and others alike get their life in line is what Time management is all about. It is not about making and sticking to a schedule where every moment of your day is important. Time management is about planning, setting up a goal, choosing priorities and organizing all of those ideas to suit one’s needs

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Benefits of Time management

Productivity

With a set plan and time managed, anybody will be able to achieve more. Since a time is already dedicated to a certain task, the other slots remain free. How anybody designates those slots is up to personal preference and with wise choices, that could mean getting more work done. Productivity will certainly increase with careful time management.

Efficiency

Since things will be planned out by date and work to be done, efficiency will begin to reflect in the work done. A time already dedicated to meet the goals will help in finishing them.

Less procrastination

If someone already knows what they are going to do, how they are going to do it and when they are going to do it, eventually they will find themselves dragging to their desk and getting the work done. With a scheduling such that there is time to rest, it will result in getting more work done and less time wondering where time has gone.

Want to learn how to overcome procrastination? Check out the blog on the procrastination.

Less Stress

With everything planned, the stress levels will automatically come down. Careful planning can relieve much of the tension about finishing the work.

Time

This might seem like a joke, but rest assured it is not. If a person manages time well and is able to delegate work to a certain time period, they will have time to plan and reflect as well. With everything compartmentalized, an individual will be able to see how the time is spent and move around their work accordingly. This, in the end, will help greatly in saving time. Often humans overestimate their work, and with time management this can be much easily finished.

How to Manage Time

Goal Setting

The primary stone of everything. Unless someone knows what goals they are working towards, planning, organizing or anything else would be of no use. Goal setting does not need to be a life goal like becoming a multimillionaire- it can be something as simple as learning how to code by the next month or perhaps preparing a personal project by the end of the year.

The idea associated with goal setting is that one should know which subheading it falls under. That is not necessarily important. Listing down all the goals on the paper is the best place to start.

Prioritizing

Personal, private, professional, official, urgent, long term- there are some of the many categories that anybody’s goals can fall under. What is important is prioritizing goals. Which ones need to be finished first- this can be due to a deadline or a personal reason, but making this distinction is very important. Between two tasks due this week and next month, the one for this week definitely takes precedence.

Time is not the only factor which helps in prioritizing. The overall development of a person is more important, and thus tasks with that should be given priority.

Planning

It is not about making a straight line and presentable work- it is about figuring out which time slots are at someone’s disposal. Class hours and work timings are non-changeable. Similarly, taking time out for all meals and daily activities is a necessity. If it takes someone fifteen minutes to get ready, that needs to be taken into account.

Questions to ponder upon while planning is whether the time slot between two heavy classes will be better spent studying or resting so that more time can be given to work later? How long does it take me to finish a certain amount of work, and if I do not have the stretch to do so how can I divide it?

Decision making

It is important to come to a decision regarding your schedule. There are different ways of Time management- micromanagement, fixed schedule or rotation on a bi-weekly basis rather than a weekly basis. Every person will have to choose what kind of schedule suits them best. If one cannot micromanage every second of their life, perhaps it would be a good idea to leave some time slots empty. The more flexible a calendar can be, the better.

Stress management

Often one engagement goes over the time or the time allotted goes missed due to some other work. Incidents like that can cause much stress, and it is important to note that Time Management is not about delegating a starting point for a task. Even if someone missed the starting point, starting later or rescheduling is always an option. In case there are unchangeable events, one can be prepared in advance. It is important to keep flexibility in the schedule to avoid much stress.

Organization

The final step of Time Management is organizing. Through paper or online applications like Google calendar, one can organize their day, week, month and even the year. It would behave like a helper- in case of anything happening, the person can refer back to the organized piece. In case calendars do not work for someone, merely making lists and sticking it where it remains in the mind would be extremely helpful.

All of these ways are mere helpful tools. These subjects are often looked over in school. We at Career Kites are working on building this gap between college and companies with our 6 weeks of training and learning program. This training module focuses on both technical and soft skills and developing the overall personality of an individual. Some of the topics we cover are Basic Excel, Resume Building, Interview Cracking, and Mock GD’s.

If you want to be a part of this program and transform your career opportunities, then enroll in our 6-weeks skill-building program.

Written By:- Amber Keshari, Shubhr Aakriti

Edited By:-Ashutosh Dhar Dwivedi, Zeya Ullah Saif

Every job requires a certain number of abilities, techniques, knowledge, and dedication towards the work that has to be assigned. The applicant must have some of it. However, it is apt to note that those skills might not be something that you would have thought of before. A job ad can very well look like this: “Hiring now! The ideal candidate should have the following characteristics:

Proficiency in SEO, Creative Writing, Proficiency in MS-Excel, Time Management skills, Good communication skills

Apply by:

XX-XX-20XX”

As you can very well see, the skillset expected is not very linear. Two different kinds of abilities are looked for. They can be divided into soft skills and technical or hard skills.

Before defining the two, let’s put out attention to the content given above. SEO, Creative Writing and MS-Excel are things that one can learn in school, or through certification.

Meanwhile, skills like time management and good communication are not overtly taught. Technical skills, thus, skills that can be taught via an official program. They are unique to each job. Each hiring manager looks for a certain group of technical skills. Things like Computer programming and analytical research comes under this tag. They can also be taught through interactive media such as videos or audios and even different certifications. These skills appear in your resume or cover letter. They behave as keywords for the recruiters, scanning over the important skill set to shortlist you for the job. Soft skills, on the other hand, is more intrapersonal or interpersonal skill. They are not taught explicitly and individuals often acquire these skills through their own experiences. These skills are important in all respects, irrespective of the job you are hoping to apply for. Things like Time management, diligence, good communication, creativity and problem-solving are some of the soft skills. Many of these need to be showcased for recruiters to know that you possess them. Putting them down on paper is not enough as these are performative and need to be constantly reinforced through your work. That certainly does not mean that you cannot put your soft skills in your resume.

Combined with hard skills, they can further boost your chances of being recruited.

However, the most sought out are these:

There are many soft skills out there. 

Communication skills: Whether it be oral or written, communication is a key skill to have. In any workplace, it is important to express oneself carefully and in a formal yet approachable manner. If an individual is a part of sales, this skill is your best friend. Some of the aspects to keep in mind for communication are clarity in thought, empathy, written and verbal communication.

Teamwork: Every single industry looks for people who are good at teamwork. It is not about an individual win, but rather the team moving further. To do well in a team, one must always have the capacity to resolve conflict, listen actively, collaborate and cooperate with fellow team members

Time Management: This one is a skill that anyone should have. At the end for the day, everyone gets 24 hours and individuals should plan enough time to work as well as relax in order to get maximum productivity. It is important to set a goal and prioritize work, and plan the day, the week and the month in advance with much flexibility.

To learn more about the same, check out our blog on time management.

Stress Management: While this may not seem like a very important soft skill, stress management comes in the top ten skills everyone should have. Ideally, workers have everything in control, but things seldom happen ideally. This is linked with time management. If anybody wants to get maximum work done, it is important to give them time to relax. Even a five-minute break can do wonders.

Each industry has a particular kind of requirement. Some skills surpass these boundaries and are useful in most industries, if not all. Skills discussed below are some of them:

Programming: It is given that software engineers know how to code. However, the very basic knowledge of HTML, Python and C++ can take people a long way. Even Writers are expected to know the basics of HTML in this technology lead era. The Internet provides various outlets for one to learn to program.

Digital marketing: No more is being adept in social media enough; you must know the intricate working that goes behind the scenes. Things like Search Engine Optimizations (SEO), Digital Media and Networking are all important parts of Digital marketing. Learning these skills is imperative if you wish to go further in any job even remotely connected to digital marketing.

Technical Writing: Having a way with the pen is not the end of it. Anyone willing to work with writing needs to know the ins and outs of formal writing. How to draft an email, how to conduct proper research to get secured data and being Subject Matter Experts are just some of the important aspects of it. Thankfully the world is filled with options to learn the same.

Microsoft Office: Yes, everyone has used Office products at least once in their lives. Just knowing the basics of it is not enough though. Learning how to use Formula functions in MS-Excel, using text boxes and SmartArt in MS-Office and knowing how to make appealing presentations in MS-PowerPoint while being formal are some of the most important skills anybody needs to have.

Written By:- Amber Keshari, Shubhr Aakriti

Edited By:- Ashutosh Dhar Dwivedi, Zeya Ullah Saif

Anxiety, fever, stomachache, Loss of Appetite, etc. Don’t worry you have read the heading right & we are not talking about diseases. Actually, these are some symptoms that you come across during your job interviews especially when you don’t have proper practice & you have a lack of knowledge of the Interview environment. According to research, approx. 45-55% of students suffer from Interview fear. At the same time, candidates who overcome the fear of interviews & who are aware of the environment, have a very high probability of being successful.

Don’t worry Career Kites will give you some best tips & tricks to crack job interview, especially HR round, the final but the most crucial round that decides your career.

#Tip 1.  Research the Company

Before appearing for the interview, make a thorough research of the company, Its mission, vision, motto, work-environment, founder, and projects because there is a high probability of 1-2 questions from this. And it will show your dedication and willingness for the job role.

#Tip 2. Overcome the fear of rejection/failure

Just be confident and have a positive attitude in your mind and go with the mindset of learning & gaining experience and don’t think much about the result because if you focus on the process & everything goes fine then the result will automatically go in your favor. And if you are not selected then analyze your flaws, work on them & crack your next interview.

#Tip 3. Understand the job role/position properly 

Go through all the details & skills required for the job role. Take help of Google, YouTube, and another medium to acquire brief knowledge about the position & some frequently asked Q&A related to it. Make sure you have all the required skills & certificates needed for the eligibility of the job post before appearing for the interview.

#Tip 4. Prepare Your Portfolio

Preparing one portfolio is of the utmost importance when preparing for an interview, investing in a good quality binder to hold copies of your resume, references, awards, list of questions, and notepad are going to be well worth the money. Although in most cases, an employer will have already got a duplicate for your information, it’ll show them you’re an organized individual once you come prepared to provide it. Make sure that you’ve got each document in a file in an organized manner so you’ll quickly reference it during your conversation. Otherwise, it’s going to cause you to become a touch nervous once you are fumbling through your portfolio to extract the required documents.

#Tip 5. Dress to impress

No matter what the position is that you simply are applying for or what the corporate culture is, dressing professionally is important. Aside from the unlikelihood that the employer specifies otherwise, a business professional outfit is acceptable in almost every situation. Remember of strong cologne, perfumes, deodorant, and other smells. Any such product should be used sparingly on not distract the interviewer. Details are important so confirm your

Shoes are dirt-free and glossy and your clothes are ironed and laundered.

#Tip 6. Rehearse!!!

There are many sources on the web that you simply can find in reference to what quite inquiries to expect and samples of answers to offer (including our site). It’s important to review these questions and skills you’ll answer many of them. Another useful gizmo is to role-play an interview. While many of us may feel uncomfortable pretending to be at an interview, this will make the important thing an entire lot easier. Have a loved one, friend, or someone you’re comfortable with to practice with. It’s important to not only practice the question and answer portion but to incorporate the introduction and ending also.

#Tip 7. Get directions and plan your Route

If your interview is during peak traffic hours, make certain you intend to depart your house accordingly. It’s nerve-racking to be stuck in traffic or an accident that causes you to be late for an interview. An honest rule of thumb is to plan your arrival ten minutes before the interview.  You ought to search directions via Google maps or MapQuest, especially if you’re unacquainted with the route. If the interview location may be a bit tricky to seek out, don’t hesitate to ask and write down directions during your conversation together with your potential employer before the interview.

How Career Kites help you to crack HR interviews??

We at Career Kites conduct pseudo interviews with a panel of Industry experts regularly to make you familiar with the environment & also highlight your strength & weakness & how to tackle them through our 6 weeks training/learning program.

So, don’t think too much, just enroll in our 6 weeks training program & make your career bright & secure.

Hopefully, we have covered all the important points required to crack an HR interview & help you land your dream job. If you have any other relevant points, you are most welcome to add them by commenting down in the comment section.

Written By:- Amber Keshari, Shubhr Aakriti

Edited By:- Ashutosh Dhar Dwivedi, Zeya Ullah Saif

According to AICTE, around 15 lakhs Engineers graduate every year. Of which around 5-6 lakhs engineers only get jobs in Campus placements i.e. 40% and rest 60% are unemployed. And unemployed youths go for other jobs in sectors like railway, banking and others and have to struggle hard even after having a technical degree in hand.

Reasons for unemployment of graduates in India

1._College Curriculum:- The curriculum is outdated and only focuses on education specifically theoretical and won’t focus on overall personality development of an individual.

2.  Lack of Exposure:- Most Indian engineering colleges provide no or very bad internship opportunities. Most engineers have no idea what the industry actually is like & how it works.

3.  Lack of skills:- Most engineering graduates don’t have industry standard skills and practical knowledge and lack soft skills.

4.    Lack of Discipline:- Improper timetable, no cleanliness, no hygiene, zero fitness, laziness, no yoga, no exercise and always making excuses are the present trend of engineering students.

5.  Theory Vs Practical:- Most of the engineering colleges and their Boards never think of providing a quality time on PRACTICAL approach for students. Hands On experience & Real time applications is something not seen in most of the engineering colleges.

6.  Attitude Issues:- Indian engineering students are lazy and always keep their work pending so always make silly excuses and lies too much hence develop a negative attitude and highlight themselves as incapable and screwed up.

7.  Recession:- Time to time slowdown of markets due to various factors, weak government schemes and natural disasters also cause unemployment in the society.

8.  Lack of soft skills:- Students won’t be able to convey their thoughts correctly, incapable of speaking as well as listening in English as some of them studied in government schools or lack proper guidance and hence aren’t aware of work culture and all.

10. Lack of well qualified mentors:- Faculties of various private Engineering colleges are not well qualified and inexperienced and lack hands-on experience and don’t have proper knowledge to teach students which results in skill less students.

How can we tackle this issue and train engineers to get employed?

To overcome from this problem and guarantees employment to our engineering students we have to take some measures such as:->

1. Update Education curriculum.
2. Focus more on practical’s rather than theoretical parts.
3. Focus on developing the overall personality of an individual.
4. Organizing training/internship programs in different companies by colleges to help them aware of work culture and access to hands-on experience.

5. Provide them experienced and Industry ready faculties with hands-on experience and proper skills.

We at Career Kites are working hard to bridge the gap between college and companies with our 6 weeks training/learning program conducted by top industry experts. This training module focuses on skill building and developing the overall personality of an individual by providing knowledge of various industry required tools such as LinkedIn, MS-office, Mail merge, Resume building and so on.

So what are you waiting for?

Come enroll for Career Kites 6 weeks training/learning program and land your dream job in Top MNCs.

Written By:- Amber Keshari

Edited By:- Ashutosh Dhar Dwivedi, Zeya Ullah Saif

Tired of college boring, impractical and Irrelevant lectures, worried about career, feeling insecure About a job. Don’t worry, Career Kites will help you to overcome all these challenges by Familiarizing you with industry working and guiding you with all the skill sets required to land your dream job in your dream company & secure your future. Through Career Kites blogs, you will get all the insights of the Technical world & information regarding various ups and downs in the market.

Career Kites is a platform which share some unique tips & tricks to crack group discussion & interview rounds of trending jobs of MNCs & many more other things required to shine bright in a professional world such as effective Resume Building, Active LinkedIn accounts with worthy connections, MS-office, use of mail merge, Business Communication, etc. You will get updates of various trending job notifications regularly & step by step guide to apply for it as well as the interview from various companies will be scheduled for Career Kites members.

Career Kites works with the objective to bridge the gap between education curriculum provided by various private colleges and the needs & demand of industries. Actually, the syllabus and the way of teaching in colleges are both outdated, inefficient & below the Industry standards & as a result the graduates produced every year are less skilled & not fit for the job. Students’ technical skills, soft skills, behavior, attitude, and understanding are all below average which leads to unemployment in the society & possessing a negative impact on our society. It has been proven through various research that around 70-75% Indian graduates are unskilled & won’t fit for the jobs. You have the potential & learning attitude but the thing you lack is proper mentorship & guidance & right understanding of the industry needs & latest Technologies. Many of them don’t even make one’s final projects by own & just copy paste it from somewhere else which hampers precious time, efforts and obviously a lot of hard earned money of your parents & overburden with tremendous pressure and negative thoughts.

The Mission of Career Kites is to revolutionize the way of learning & education sector by enriching students with all the required skills needed in a professional world through 6 weeks online/offline training programs at a very affordable price which can be accessible to students of every sector of the society so that not even single student is deprived of study & hence boosting employability across the nation. For achieving this motto, Career Kites has well qualified Industry expert trainers, members and a 6 weeks detailed roadmap full of excitement, enthusiasm, satisfaction & security who help you to achieve great height in life. The objective here is to encourage and inspire you to fully develop your skills and understand your potential and make full use of it to achieve what you desire in life & taste success.

If you desire to be a part of a life changing program & willing to transform your career & reach at the top, then enroll for our 6 weeks skill building program. 

“It would mean the world to us if you read this post, and share your thoughts with Career Kites. Thanks!!”