Gandhi Institute of Engineering and Technology University: Campus-to-Corporate Soft Skills Training Design for HR Interns

A two-hour soft skills workshop for freshers works best when it has three or four timed activities, each tied to one observable behaviour, and a rubric that scores what participants did, not what they said they would do. This guide gives GIET University students a full outline, handout content and an assessment rubric that an HR intern can adapt and propose to a supervisor.

Designing a session instead of analysing needs: what an HR intern is actually producing

Training needs analysis asks what gaps exist. Session design asks a different question: given a gap that has already been named, what will 25 people do for 120 minutes, and how will anyone know it worked? An intern is rarely asked to decide strategy, but is often asked to prepare materials, schedule a session or co-facilitate. Producing a clean, usable workshop pack is a realistic and valuable task.

The pack has five parts: learning objectives, a minute-by-minute outline, activity instructions, handouts and an assessment rubric. If any part is missing, the facilitator has to improvise, and improvisation is where sessions overrun and lose focus.

Soft skills are also notoriously hard to assess. People can say they will listen better and then interrupt in the first role-play. The design principle in this guide is to make participants do something observable, such as introducing themselves in thirty seconds, giving feedback to a peer or writing a short professional email, and score that behaviour against clear descriptors.

GIET University students: how the placement cell’s training ladder shapes a fresher workshop

The university’s placement cell page describes a year-by-year training ladder: Communicative English and personality development in the first year, Business English Communication (BEC Vantage) and accent training in the second, and group discussion, personal interview techniques and soft skills in the third. Third-year aptitude and soft-skills training includes arithmetic, reasoning, general English and mock tests, plus a Campus Connect Program and HR meet-and-interaction sessions. The page says alumni talks help build confidence for interviews, and that the fourth-year track covers training gap analysis, company-specific brush-up sessions and the start of recruitment drives.

The page also says the cell sends students for summer training and industry exposure. The institution’s About text describes it as established in 1997 by the Vidya Bharati Educational Trust, with a link to a University Act 2018, and gives the campus address as Gobriguda, Kharling, Gunupur, Rayagada, Odisha.

For a workshop designer, this suggests two things. The campus already teaches communication and interview skills in stages, so a corporate-readiness workshop should not repeat the same material but should bridge from campus practice to workplace behaviour: how to write an email to a manager, how to take feedback and how to handle a first-week meeting. And since the cell mentions company-specific brush-up sessions, the workshop is best positioned as a general workplace-readiness layer that works for any employer. These are design suggestions, not statements about what any employer or the placement cell requires.

The page describes the cell’s own programmes. Whether an intern-designed session can run for your batch, and who must approve it, is not stated and must be asked.

Verification steps for GIET University students designing a fresher training session

1. Write to the placement office (the page lists placement@giet.edu and 06857-251157) asking whether a workshop designed during an internship can be offered to students, and who approves it.
2. Ask your department how an internship project that produces training material is documented, assessed and certified.
3. Ask your host organisation whether it has an approved training format, branding or content restrictions you must follow before designing anything.
4. Check the current soft-skills syllabus for your year with your department, so the workshop does not duplicate or contradict what students are already taught.
5. Get written permission before collecting any participant scores or feedback and agree how that data will be stored and reported.

Setting objectives for a campus-to-corporate soft skills session

Choose three objectives at most. Each should start with an action verb and describe something you can watch.

• Introduce yourself professionally in 30 to 45 seconds, including role, skill and one interest.
• Write a clear, polite workplace email of under 120 words with a subject line and a specific request.
• Give and receive one piece of feedback using a simple structure, without defensiveness.

Avoid vague aims such as “improve confidence” or “learn teamwork”. They cannot be observed in two hours. If a supervisor insists on them, break them down into behaviours.

Two-hour workshop outline with timings

The agenda assumes 20 to 30 participants, a room with movable chairs and a whiteboard or flip chart. Adjust timings if the group is larger. Build in a five-minute buffer by trimming activity three if needed.

Activity instructions the facilitator can read out

Activity 1: The 40-second introduction

1. Show the structure on the board: name, current role or course, one strength with an example, one interest.
2. Give each person three minutes to draft in their own words.
3. In pairs, one speaks while the other times and notes one thing that was clear.
4. Swap. Then ask three volunteers to present to the group. Thank each one before giving a comment.

Activity 2: First-week email

1. Give the situation: “You joined on Monday. On Wednesday you need access to a shared folder and you do not know whom to ask.”
2. Participants write a subject line and body of under 120 words.
3. They swap with a partner, who marks one thing that is clear and one thing to shorten.
4. Show one example on the board and invite two participants to compare theirs with it.

Activity 3: Feedback role-play

1. Introduce a simple structure: the situation, what I saw, the effect and one suggestion.
2. Give each trio a short scenario, such as a report submitted late with good content.
3. Giver delivers feedback in under two minutes, receiver responds without arguing, observer scores using Handout C.
4. Rotate roles twice so everyone plays each part.

Activity 4: Meeting etiquette scenarios

Give each group a card: arriving late to a team meeting; disagreeing politely with a senior; being asked a question you cannot answer. Each group writes two do statements and one avoid statement and shares them. The facilitator groups the answers into themes.

Handout content ready to print

Keep each handout to a single page. Put the participant’s name and date at the top, and leave white space for writing.

Assessment rubric for fresher workplace-readiness skills

Score each criterion from 1 to 4 during the activity, using the observer sheet. The rubric is for developmental feedback, not for pass or fail, so share the results privately.

To get a total, add the seven scores (maximum 28). As a rule of thumb, treat 7 to 13 as a prompt for practice, 14 to 21 as a good base and 22 to 28 as strong. These bands are a design choice for developmental use only, not a standard.

A worked illustrative example: running the workshop for a batch of new trainees

Imagine an HR intern at a mid-sized firm helping to onboard 24 graduate trainees. The supervisor asks for a two-hour session in the first week. The intern adapts the outline above, drops the meeting etiquette activity to a ten-minute discussion because the trainees already received an etiquette briefing and adds a short company-specific introduction scenario.

On the day, the 40-second introduction runs five minutes over because volunteers want to repeat. The intern signals the time at 0:30 and shortens the email swap. In the feedback role-play, observers notice that receivers tend to explain rather than listen. The facilitator pauses the trios and models a one-line response. At the end, the average self-rating for “I can write a clear short email” rises from 2.4 to 3.3 on a four-point scale. The intern records that this is a self-rating and says so in her report, and adds the observer scores separately.

The example is illustrative. The numbers are not from a real session. What matters is the habit: record what you changed, how long each segment actually took and what observers saw, so the next session is better.

Facilitation and logistics checklist

• Visit the room a day before and test the projector, microphone and seating.
• Print 10 percent more handouts than the number of participants.
• Prepare a timer visible to the facilitator.
• Pre-fill name cards so participants can use first names.
• Write the three objectives on the board before people arrive.
• Agree who approves the content and who handles late arrivals.
• Prepare a plan B if the group is half the expected size: shorten Activity 3 to pairs.
• Collect feedback forms before the break-up, not after.

Measuring whether the workshop helped

Two measures are practical for an intern. The first is the rubric scores from observers during the session. The second is a short follow-up after two weeks, in which participants and, where possible, their supervisors answer two questions: “Which behaviour from the workshop have you used?” and “What got in the way?” Report both with the number of responses, and do not claim business impact you cannot support.

A free way to rehearse workplace communication before facilitating

If you want to test your handouts on a small scale, the CareerSwami free two-week online internship provides a 14-day project window, a free offer letter and a free completion certificate after successful completion. You could use that period to draft the workshop pack and ask a mentor to review it.

Frequently Asked Questions

How many activities fit into a two-hour soft skills workshop?

Three to four. Each needs instructions, practice and debrief time, so a fifth activity usually forces rushed debriefs.

How big should the group be for the feedback role-play?

Groups of three work well: giver, receiver and observer. With fewer than six people in total, use pairs and have the facilitator observe.

Should the rubric score be shared with the whole group?

No. Share individual scores privately, and report only group averages to the host or college.

How do I design the session for freshers who are shy?

Start with pair work before anyone speaks to the whole group, give preparation time and thank every speaker. Never force a volunteer.

What is a realistic outcome to report after one workshop?

Attendance, activity completion, observer scores, self-ratings before and after, and participant comments. Treat the ratings as perceptions, not proof of changed behaviour.

Can I reuse my workshop pack in my college internship report?

You can describe it, but check the host’s rules first and remove any confidential or participant-specific details.

How should I adapt the session for a larger group of 60?

Split into two rooms with a co-facilitator, or run the activities in groups of six with a roving observer, and shorten the whole-group presentations.

Is a two-hour session enough to change soft skills?

It can start habits, but lasting change needs practice and feedback afterwards. That is why the plan ends with a 14-day action sheet and a two-week follow-up.

Related Human Resources guides

• Prof. Rajendra Singh (Rajju Bhaiya) University: Rural and Small-Town Employer Outreach for HR Interns
• Hansraj College Students: Human Resources Internship Guide to Recruitment and Screening Tasks
• Loyola College, Chennai: Choosing a Human Resources Internship Project in Training and Development
• All Human Resources internship guides