Finishing School (1)

Finishing School-An Overview A finishing school is an institution, which offers training in cultural values and norms. People attend finishing school after their basic education is completed, “finishing” their education with instruction in how to live in society. Many finishing schools focus specifically on upper class values, generating cultured, polite women who tend to do very well in society, thanks to their extensive training. The length of a session at finishing school varies. Some programs last up to a year, while others offer much shorter, intensive terms. While at a finishing school, students are expected to conduct themselves in a well mannered way, and many schools have dress codes and other behavior requirements which are designed to remind students of the basic rules of polite behavior. Obviously, etiquette is a big part of finishing school, and etiquette courses include everything from being a well-mannered hostess to meeting foreign dignitaries. In addition to etiquette, students also learn about a variety of activities. Many finishing schools offer instruction in the arts, such as painting and dance, and they also offer instruction in things like tennis, riding, skiing, and so forth, ensuring that their graduates will be able to enjoy themselves in a variety of situations. Language instruction has also classically been offered at finishing school.

Need For a Finishing School The finishing school has to be started with the vision of enhancing employment amongst fresh graduates, imparting world – class business skills for sustained performance and career success and to meet the ever-growing industry demand for suitable talent at the entry level. The philosophy and objective of the Certificate Program in Executive Excellence, which is the core program offered is designed to be interactive, experiential and is oriented towards development of skills, necessary for success in the globalized workplace.

The Certificate Program in Executive Excellence would run for four months of classroom instruction, followed by two months of internship training with prospective employers, before final placement. The course would also provide for coaching and mentoring, assessments in the areas of cognitive, behavioral and English skills and preparation for interviews, group discussion and placement.

Faculty All faculty at the Finishing School are full time employees of the Institution. They carry with them rich corporate backgrounds from diverse fields like IT, ITES, Banking, Insurance, Telecom, Manufacturing, Hospitality, Healthcare, etc. and add tremendous business relevance and value to the pedagogy through the breadth of their work experience. In addition, Finishing School would also organize guest sessions and Industry talks involving practicing managers from the best of organizations, from different sectors.

Facilities •

At the Finishing School, the concept is that learning and development happens best in an environment, which supports it. Given this belief, the school offers to its student’s best in class facilities as they learn and grow.

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A fully structured building, along with state of the art infrastructure, is combined to create a platform providing functional suitability and personal comfort.

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A well-equipped computer lab enables the students to take learning from the classroom to the World Wide Web and study and practice through self – learning tools.

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A large multimedia Audio Visual Theater creates just the right ambience for large group activities and Industry talks and events.

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A fully functional cafeteria makes sure that while the school takes care of food for thought, students have access to hygienic food options in the premises itself.

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All students will be provided with the requisite course material for the program enrolled. A library facility is also available for adding to the learning and development activity.

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Students are encouraged to maximize usage of these facilities that are provided to add to their all-round learning.

At Finishing School, these practices are set which ensure smooth transition of a student to a working professional. Practices followed at the Finishing School: •

Benchmarking of the course syllabus with that of the requirements of IT companies to find what is lacking and appropriately modifying the content.

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Syllabus audit by working senior software professionals to find the areas for further improvements

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Using tools like video conferencing for delivering quality by industry experts from different parts of the globe to a large number of students.

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Infrastructure ensuring smooth functioning of the school- PCs, LAN, Internet, LCD, over head projectors etc. for use by faculty and students.

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Orientation for faculty to ensure compatibility with latest development tools and methodologies

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Code of conduct for students and faculty members, including professional ethics and social responsibilities.

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Periodic review of student performance

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Corrective measures identification for performance enhancement of the students

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Periodic industry visits and seminars by industry leaders

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Bio data preparation

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Library access

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Student motivation practices

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Conducting mock interviews for equipping students with necessary interview facing skills

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Live project execution

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Presentation skills

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Unlimited access to labs for practice sessions

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Employability and Life Skills

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Confidence building.

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Communication/Fluency in English.

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Effective group interactions.

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Interpersonal relations.

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Presentation skills.

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Social manners and etiquettes.

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Public speaking skills.

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Duration 3months.

Soft Skills: •

Analytical and problem solving skills.

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Decision making skills.

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Planning and time management skills.

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Team management and leadership skills.

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Negotiation skills.

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Tolerance to cultural diversities.

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Advanced social etiquettes.

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Managing meetings.

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Total time required 60 hours.

Multimedia Centre: The Finishing School in association with Animation Academy provides training in Multimedia and Animation and offers Master Diploma Certificate in Multimedia and Animation. ITES / BPO Training: ITES and BPO sectors are one of the fastest rowing sectors in India today for the young generation and offers numerous job opportunities for graduates from various backgrounds.

In association with Enhance Technologies, Chennai, Finishing School started Advanced Career Oriented Training Programs on ITES / BPO. Voice / Accent Training Voice / Accent Training is being provided by the finishing schools which aims to enhance the communication abilities of individuals that help them to speak English fluently in any situation as well as to present their thoughts more effectively in groups of people. This training mainly seeks for individuals who can understand, read and speak English and want to develop their command over various aspects of spoken English-Grammer, fluency, diction, vocabulary, letter writing, sentence framing, public speaking, group discussions, presentations and email drafting Leadership Development Training This Training is designed to develop general management skills with which individuals can achieve cross-functional responsibilities of company leadership, rather than focusing on subject matter expertise in a specific function. This mainly aims to enhance individuals self-awareness of their strengths and weakness that helps to improve their abilities to lead others and thereby developing leadership qualities.

Finishing Schools-Supply chain of talent in labour market •

A finishing school is defined as a private school for young women that emphasize training in cultured behavior, social graces, etc.

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The name reflects that it follows an ordinary school and is intended to complete the educational experience.

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It may consist of an intensive course, or a one-year program.

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But in organizations Training and Development is a very common phenomenon.

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In organizational development, the related field of training and development (T & D) deals with the design and delivery of learning to improve performance, skills, or knowledge within organizations.

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Both the concept of finishing schools and T&D come under Learning and Development (L&D). So the L&D has a common purpose. These are as follows:

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To ensure the candidate about the right knowledge, skills and experience to perform their current role effectively.

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To help the candidate to develop their career in line with their and needs.

Finishing Schools-Gateways to Employability The concept introduces finishing schools as gateways connecting many worlds. Geographically, people pass through them to opportunities in different regions. They allow people to cross over from unemployed to employed. Employers too cross over to meet people who are unemployable now but can be trained to be employable. Who pass through these gates? Who are the gatekeepers? What transformations occur during this transition? Even more interesting is the fact that these skills are often acquired as "personality development" rather than with a specific career focus.

SWOT Analysis of Finishing schools in Kerala Strengths •

The concept of ‘Finishing Schools’ is widely understood now, is

relatively new to Kerala, though Kerala has for several years many vocational

training schools, nursing schools, Industrial Training Institutes and so on, imparting instructions and training in specialized professional areas and this has helped Kerala youths in getting jobs in the country and in different parts of the world as well. •

Restructure and intensify the skill formation training programmes for the

unemployed educated labour force.

Weakness •

The emerging trend in the Kerala labour market during

the past couple of years is now indicative of the weakness of the labour force in responding to the changing demand of a growing knowledge-driven or IT propelled economy. •

The educated youths are found by employers generally

lacking the necessary soft skills, aptitude, communication skill, personality, confidence, etc., needed for jobs in newly emerging sectors, particularly in IT and IT-enabled industries. •

Kerala is becoming an IT-hub very fast and the

employment opportunities in IT and IT-enabled sector in Kerala are soaring up. At the same time the educated unemployed youths in thousands are not able to reap these opportunities.

Opportunity •

Many new Generation Finishing Schools started coming up in the recent years in Kerala as in other states of India.

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In fact, Kerala is a more fertile state than any other in India for a fast and healthy growth of Finishing Schools.

Threats

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The state being the most literate, educated and populated, with the highest rate of educated unemployment in the country, faces the greatest mismatch between the demands for and supply of educated work force.

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This, being largely because of the non-employability of available educated work force for the new generation jobs that demand much more than traditional basic education, whether it is technical or otherwise.

Thus, there is an immediate need and scope for many good Finishing Schools in Kerala that would nourish the potentialities of individuals. The employability of the labour force and the role of Finishing Schools in Kerala contributing to the employability is not only relevant and significant, but also deserve serious in-depth research.