News
“Fit for the global working world”, Cologne, Germany
A professional development soft skills training, sponsored by the European Commission, recently held at Radisson Blu Hotel, Köln Messe, Germany, from 18<sup>th</sup> - 20<sup>th</sup> November, 2016.
This professional development training was organized by the Erasmus+ Students and Alumni Association (ESAA). ESAA is an organization that brings together the Erasmus Mundus Students and Alumni Association (EMA), Erasmus Student Network (ESN), garagErasmus (gE) and OCEANS Network. More specifically, ESAA is an organization that brings together all European Union funded exchange students and alumni and offers a dynamic platform for networking, professional development and intercultural learning while promoting European Higher Education and worldwide cooperation.
Among other objectives for the ESAA’s CMS soft skills training included: exposing participants to the awareness for values in different cultures, sensitizing them with the understanding of cultural differences in the workplace and equipping them with strategies for successful communication. Additionally, this training intended to help selected participants on how to create motivation to work productively in an international environment and recognize the usage of potential synergies within an international team of professionals.
The 3-day professional development training was held for 22 Erasmus+ students and alumni who came from different academic backgrounds, professional outlooks and geographical descriptions, both within and outside of Europe and equally possess capacity to apply professional skills in the job market and international organizations. According to a reliable source, only 22 selected applicants were qualified for this intensive professional training, out of over 100 applications. The training started on Friday, 18th of November, by 6 pm, with welcoming of participants at the lobby of Radisson Blu Hotel and proceeded with a welcome dinner for the participants at Pffefermuehle Restaurant, Heumarkt 54, Cologne, Germany.
The training was coordinated by icunet team members. Adam Farnik of ESAA, gave the opening remark, introduction of icunet members and informed the participants more about ESAA’s activities and its umbrella associations. Michael Goulao and Nuno Monteiro presented the training and other members of icunet who were involved in the organization of the training and coordination included: Eike-Maria Hinz (icunet Project Manager), Valeriya Pak (icunet Community and Event Manager) and Anne-Kathrin Loos (icunet Community and Event Manager).
The training commenced on Saturday by 9 am after the participants took their odoriferous breakfast at Radisson Blu Hotel. Part of the major subjects addressed in the training included: leading international team, succeeding the critical markets - Asia and Americas, working successfully with virtual teams, understanding personality type and self discovery.
Feedbacks from participants were astonishing and thought-provoking. Adam Farnik gave the closing speech and the training successfully concluded by 2.30 pm, with a lunch and departure photos at Radisson Blu Hotel.
