Are You Ready? 2017

Are You Ready? 2017

Outside the Civil Auditorium, a promising drizzle was pouring to welcome the industry tycoons, HR delegates, and determined undergrads on the 2nd of November 2017, when the Flagship Day of  22nd Are You Ready? had commenced. Back in 1998, Are You Ready? was the Rotaract Mora’s new-born prodigy; started as a careers’ day to benefit the final year undergraduates to face interviews, which had won the award for the Best Professional Development project in RID 3220. Today, it is a fully-fledged careers’ development programme spanning on a two-week-long, six consecutive projects, culminating at the flagship juncture where the industry spots the gems, leaving only the Dining Etiquette & Grooming session to be completed.  

I was such a delegate from industry that day, as well as an Alumni of Rotaract Mora, looking proudly at the youngsters hosting such a gigantic event elegantly. Interviewers from more than sixty companies, 900+ wilful applicants, and hundred odd Rotaractors energetically awaited at the opening ceremony. Customarily, Vidya Jothi Prof. K.K.Y.W. Perera, the chancellor of University of Moratuwa graced the occasion as the chief guest.

As the formalities of the event progressed, my thoughts walked to the memory den, where I was a company coordinator inviting corporate representatives to participate in Are You Ready? 2012 and then the Almanac coordinator in 2013, shaping the pages of the official graduate directory. Back then in 2012, like how I guided the fourth year interviewees, I was guided for my Are You Ready? interviews in 2015. Like how I supported my panellists from industry, I was supported in 2017 by the Rotaractors.

As the interviews began, the clock ticked faster, leaving the interviewers a tough task to manage the time to meet all the early waiting candidates. Two of the senior managers representing my company, who also happened to be graduates from the University of Moratuwa, expressed their genuine excitement towards the talented & passionate undergraduates whom they had interviewed.  

A day full of energetic & inspiring conversations ended with resumes of prospective candidates. Company coordinators from Rotaract Mora handed over a token of appreciation bidding us farewell. The intense professionalism the organizers of Are You Ready? 2017 displayed throughout, made me realise the several months of day & night, sweat & blood they would have contributed to mark an event of this scale a success. In the end, ‘Are you Ready? 2017’ which truly merits a heartiest ‘Job Well done Rotaract Mora!’, walked into my memory den with a feeling of nostalgia.

By Rtr. Prabodha Chamarie