Hackathon winners offered jobs by leading corporate entity
‘Hundred & 10%’, the first ever ‘Virtual Career Festival’ organized by CIMA, the world’s leading and largest professional management accountancy body, concluded with high praise for presenting a program filled with timely informative sessions, closely fought competitions and real world winners. The festival, held from the 13th to the 19th September 2020, featured global and local industry leaders speaking on a diverse array of business topics, an elevator pitch competition and a hackathon.
The weeklong event attracted over thousand registrations for seventeen sessions built around Technical, Leadership, People, Business, and Digital Skills, the five skills covered in the CGMA Competency Framework. Over 45 speakers from Sri Lanka and overseas came together to discuss, debate and deliberate on a diverse array of topics important for employability over seven days.
Day One of the event focused on technical skills with sessions on pushing oneself above and beyond, and the importance of the ‘Power of Numbers’ was presented to the participants. Day Two was all about people skills, with a forum discussion on ‘Swimming with the Big Fish’ and a focused workshop on ‘Creating a Winning Impression’ leading the agenda. The day also saw the much hyped ‘Hackathon’ event take place, with over 50 teams applying for the 24-hour event with cash prizes on the offer, followed with the winning team members also being offered employment from a leading conglomerate.
Zahara Ansary, ACMA, CGMA, Country Manager for CIMA Sri Lanka was ecstatic with the response to the Virtual Career Festival. “When we conceptualized ‘Hundred & 10%’, we were focused on building the relevant skills that will help youth and assure their employability in the post-COVID 19 world. Our aim to inspire the next generation of Sri Lankan professionals has been fully met with the first-ever Virtual Career Festival organised by CIMA, as evidenced by the enthusiastic participation of youth and professionals in the many forums of discussion, and competitions.” she said.
Leadership skills dominated the conversation on Day Three, with the timely topic ‘Breaking the Glass Ceiling’, starting the day off, with a stellar panel of female leaders followed by a lively discussion on ‘Succeeding Through Collaborations’. The more serious discussions on business skills covering topics such as ‘Guardians of the Money’ and ‘Starting Something Big’ were reserved for Day Four, while the closely contested Elevator Pitch competition with over 25 applicants fighting for 4 spots in the final, and a coveted cash prize for the ultimate winner was the highlight of Day Five, which also hosted the discussion ‘Becoming Entrepreneurial’.
“I am encouraged that the youth of tomorrow are gearing up to go above and beyond in their careers. Every industry leader who participated in ‘Hundred & 10%’, both local and global, gave of their knowledge and experience freely, making the event a truly enriching learning experience”, Zahara Ansary continued, on achieving the objective of the Virtual Career Festival.
The last two days of the event dived into interesting offerings. Day Six was all about diversity, with thematic presentations on ‘Creating Magic’ and ‘Employability in the New World’ capturing talent, diversity and inclusivity in the workspace whilst also showcasing the diversity of the CIMA members who ranged from marketing giants to entrepreneurs. The last day of the festival reminded all participants of the newest and most versatile tool, digital skills. ‘Embracing Opportunities and Riding High’, and ‘Digital Innovation’ were first discussed on Day Seven, which ended on the aptly titled presentation ‘Tomorrow’s Skills’.
‘Hundred & 10%’ – first ever ‘Virtual Career Festival’ organized by CIMA explored the various skills necessary for employability in the future world and aimed to inspire the next generation of Sri Lankan professionals to go above and beyond in their careers. Those who wish to hear what the speakers at the ‘Virtual Career Festival’ discussed, can now access the archives of the event maintained by CIMA on their facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/CIMASriLanka/
About CIMA
Building on 100 years heritage of providing leading professional qualifications, the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA), founded in 1919, is the world’s leading and largest professional educational body. As part of the Association of International Certified Professional Accountants (the Association) its members and students operate in 179 countries, working at the heart of business. CIMA members and students work in industry, commerce, the public sector and non-profit organizations. CIMA works closely with employers and sponsors leading-edge research, constantly updating its qualification, professional experience requirements and continuing professional development to ensure it remains the employers’ choice when recruiting financially trained business leaders.