LAHORE: Eminent industrialist and entrepreneur Hamid Zaman says employers always prefer those candidates who have a positive attitude, better communication skills and most importantly a passion for work. “I interview hundreds of young graduates every year and often feel that the pride of doing something is missing from our youth. They are always eager to know that what they are going to get from the job they interviewed for, instead of having the passion to bring something new and better to the workplace,” Sefam and Bareeze Chief Executive Officer Hamid Zaman said while addressing the concluding ceremony of a job fair at Government College University, Lahore. As many as 42 noted organisations including, information technology firms, non-governmental organisation, manufacturers, textile industries and ecommerce websites set up their stalls at the Job Fair and offered more than 1,200 internship and permanent placement opportunities to the university’s students and graduates. The companies conducted on-campus interviews and short-listed candidates for different positions and also offered them internship opportunities. Zaman advised students to strive for excellence and then wait for returns. He also said universities should develop strong liaison with industries, adding that degrees and curriculums rapidly become stale due to changing industrial requirements. Speaking on the occasion, GCU Vice Chancellor Professor Dr Hassan Amir Shah said such job fairs played a crucial role in bridging the gap between the universities and industries and also helped them understand modern market demands. He said that academic environment and ethos of GCU concentrated on overall grooming, confidence-building and personality development of students which was the reason that the reputed companies preferred their students. GCU Quality Enhancement Cell Director Iram Sohail said employability was an indicator to access the quality of graduates. She said that such job fairs fast tracked the placement of their students in reputed organisations. Talking to media, GCU Placement Officer Zainab Humayun was hopeful that more than 250 students would secure permanent job placements and internships from this year’s job fair. GCU Registrar Saboor Khan also visited stalls of all companies and discussed with the company executives their recruitment polices and criteria. Later, GCU VC and Zaman gave away certificates to the representatives of the companies that participated in the job fair. Published in Daily Times, May 7th 2018.