The annual Career Guidance programme was conducted on 21st September at the John Keells Auditorium in Colombo 2. This year the programme took on a community centric approach as a John Keells Praja Shakthi initiative and was open to youth in the Kompannaveediya, Wekanda and Hunupitiya GN Divisions of Colombo 02.

Coordinated with support from community leaders and Group businesses, the Career Guidance Programme aims to provide relevant skills and knowledge to successfully enter the workforce and benefitted 35 youth aged between 17-22 this year.

The programme comprised of presentations on career and growth opportunities in the Retail, Hospitality and Property sectors of the Group conducted by Mohammed Nilshard, Lumbini Pathirage and Supun Fernando of Jaykay Marketing, John Keells Properties and Cinnamon Hotel Management.

This was followed by training sessions on Personal effectiveness and motivation, Positive thinking and Positive attitudes, Essentials of Self Enterprise by external trainer V. Poobalasingam. Staff volunteer trainers, Pramukshi Kariyawasam and Ilmu Sariffodeen also conducted sessions on Personal Grooming & Development and on CV writing & Interview skills respectively.

This year, JKF also invited the Vocational Training Authority of Sri Lanka & Sanken Construction (PVT) Ltd. to present Vocational Training opportunities within their respective institutions. The programme was concluded with exposure visits to two city hotels and a Keells outlet.