Good response to ‘Show your Potential’ programme

MUSCAT — After a successful launch of the ‘Show Your Potential’ programme, the first three study workshops took place in the Microsoft Oman offices recently. The workshops were attended by the first 40 who had registered for the programme, with the sessions being well received.

Graham Watkins, senior consultant with Microsoft Gulf and senior infrastructure consultant at the Innovation & Support Centre (ISC) elaborated: “The aim of the workshops was to introduce the participants in the programme to the new breed of Microsoft certifications and help them choose which path they wanted to take. In addition, we explained how to start studying for the exams and helped everyone discover the huge amount of resources that are available, both on the Microsoft website and elsewhere on the Internet. The key to being successful in passing Microsoft certifications, in addition to any experience you may have, is knowing what resources are available and how to access them.”

“As part of the workshop, we also provided some additional job hunting skills and study techniques which I hope will make studying for the exams more efficient. An important part of the Show Your Potential strategy is to build study groups. This can be useful as each participant in a study group can be assigned the task of learning a particular item of knowledge which they can then share with the rest of the study group. This approach encourages everyone to take part and to study while also building some team spirit and group determination to pass the exams,” he added.

Mohammed Al Tamami, branding and communications manager of KnowledgeOman.com said: “The overwhelming response was not a surprise since more companies need certified professionals especially in the ICT sector. Over 300 people consisting of students and working professionals signed up for the workshops, some who registered from places as far as Nizwa and Saham. KnowledgeOman.com plays host to a bilingual community portal to hundreds of professionals and students in the Sultanate with over a thousand registered members and thousands of regular visitors for the site’s interactive content of news, interviews and columns.

KnowledgeOman.com will also facilitate the study groups since many are from around the country. By hosting a forum to those interested to watch the sessions online, download videos, or gain access to information on the programme and study resources. The Show Your Potential programme is in discussions with potential sponsors to help fund both study materials and examination fees. Graham concluded by saying, “Our aim is to eventually bring together those passing Microsoft certifications with companies in Oman who need qualified employees and of course the Show Your Potential programme sponsor companies will be the first on the list. The participants of the programme are also getting additional information about Microsoft’s plans for the following year to allow each individual to customise their own training plan to capitalise on additional products that will hopefully make an impact in the next year. This way as new products are released the participants of the programme have had the opportunity to learn about the new products as they are making an impact so they can be ready to take advantage. Having met the first group of Show Your Potential participants, I am confident the programme will see some spectacular results as everyone was very keen to take advantage of the opportunities that the programme can supply.”

The programme has seen a huge number of registrants from places other than Muscat. The Show Your Potential team is investigating ways of including these remote participants using technologies that can make use of the Internet to bring the Show Your Potential programme to the homes of those who cannot travel to Muscat. The workshop presentation given by Graham on the night is available for download from KnowledgeOman.com.

Now that the first round of workshops has been successful, those wishing to still participate should not worry. More workshops will be organised in August for those who have so far missed out.

Details will be released soon and all those interested are encouraged to visit KnowledgeOman.com for further details. If interested and have not yet registered for the Show Your Potential programme, one can register by logging on to www.knowledgeoman.com.