Building a Professional Presence

This is the first workshop which i attended. i found this workshop particularly useful because it made me realise the importance of dressing well and taking care of your own personal grooming to secure a good first-impression on prospective employers and whoever is crucial to your employment. It is a very good start to the whole subject because the module requires students to dress formally in suits to the lessons. It ensures that everyone knows the Dos and Don'ts of dressing formally. The notes provided were detailed with individual components highlighted, example: jacket, blouse, skirt etc.

Besides talking about the grooming and dressing, it also gave basic knowledge about caring for our skin and products which help. Living in a tropical country like Singapore, it is inevitable there will be breakouts from time to time, but the information given helps to reduce the possibilities of them by keeping our skin nice and clean. The component on the 'Facts and Myths' of skin was particularly enlightening. I always thought drinking more water could help to prevent dry skin, however, that was not that case. Instead, it had to do with the skin's ability to hold water.

Another information which i found very useful is the different dress codes (Casual, business casual, black tie etc.) and what they mean and how to dress for them. After this component, i felt I would not have to worry about what would be appropriate to wear for different occasions anymore.

Building a professional presence of course does not only include how one dresses. How an individual carries his or herself also plays a significant part in looking professional. Some of the aspects included in the workshop which I found to be more important were 'small talk', 'body language' and 'telephone and email etiquette'. This is because they did not only apply to business but are useful as well in our normal lives.