Pearl Academy of Fashion, Chennai organized a 2 day Retail Conclave and Career Fair on 22nd and 23rd February 2008.
The Retail Conclave held on 22nd February 08 had its theme as Empowering Retail Manpower and was held at GRT Grand convention center. The conclave was attended by an overwhelming 350 students and others aspiring for Career in the booming Retail sector and was addressed by the Senior HRD personnel from leading companies in Retail like Future Group, Reliance, Life Style et al.
In the morning session Mr. A K G Nair, Group Director of Pearl Academy of Fashion, Delhi welcomed the distinguished speakers and the students/aspirants and underscored the need for professionals in the growing Retail sector and relevance of the Retail conclave where the Industry experts will expose the students/aspirants of various opportunities available and what are their expectations in terms of qualification and other attributes.
Mr. Sanjay Jog, Head Human Resources .Pantaloons inaugurated the conclave and painted a vivid picture of the unfolding scenario in the Retail sector and the opportunities and challenges ahead. He particularly highlighted the fast paced changes and stressed that the professional entering this sector to equip themselves to face the challenges.
This was followed by 3 panel discussion sessions where Senior Personnel exposed the eager audience to the various opportunities for Career development
In Session 1 the functional aspects and positions required were highlighted by Mr. Umapathy Murthy, DGM(HR), Reliance Retail.,Mr. Premath M, HR Lifestyle & Mr. Major Bhargava, GM - HR & Admin.,Valdel Retail. Mr.AKG Nair anchored this session.
Afternoon in Session 2 in the afternoon Mr. Melwyn Riberio, VP, Loots detailed the modus operandi of a Franchisee operation and later Mr.Praful Kumar Bisani MD of SKC gave a spirited account of his building the SKC empire with interesting anecdotes from his practical experience. This session was steered by Mr.V.Muralidharan,MAPS.
The final session saw Mr.Balakrishnan of Stems, who is closely associated with Pearl Academy of Fashion (PAF), Chennai outlined in fine detail the various areas of career opportunities in Retail as also the key attributes and knowledge base required for each.Mr.V. Muralidharan of MAPS also a close associate of PAF, Chennai peppered his exposition of the burgeoning Retail sector with numerous practical experiences and lessons to be learnt.
On 23rd Feb morning during the Career fair at Pearl Academy of Fashion’s premises at Nungambakkam more than 100 participants from the Conclave came to seeking suitable positions in the Retail sector and were filtered by the Academy. Later a few companies came and interviewed and selected candidates based on their requirements and compatibility.
Pearl Academy of Fashion is proud to have hosted such a topical and useful event and will endeavor and is committed to bridging the career aspirations of the students and Industry needs.
