Recently, the fourth national commercial secretary skills contest, co-sponsored by the National Examination Centre for Business Secretaries of the Ministry of Commerce and Professional Committee of the National Business Secretaries, was held in Nanhu School of Jiaxing Institute, Zhejiang province.
A total of 112 participants from 28 teams representing undergraduate universities and higher vocational schools from 11 provinces such as Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Shanghai competed in the contest, with the Nanjing RTVU team winning the first prize in the group contest. Individual competitors from the university, including Chen Ling, Chen Qinqin, and Liu Chenhui each won first prizes, Chen Jie second prize, while two teachers, Li Yue and Lu Qin, were awarded prizes as Outstanding Teacher. It is the third time for the university team to win the group first prize at the event.
This contest tests participants on such topics as secretarial theoretical knowledge, document writing, conference activities planning, hard brush calligraphy, impromptu speaking, exhibition of secretarial scenario, individual talent, etc… with the objective of showcasing the students’ professional skills and vocational quality.
Through multi-stage examinations, the Department of Social Management of Nanjing RTVU selected four students, including Chen Ling, who majored in secretary, Chen Qinqin, who majored in business English, Liu Chenhui, who majored in legal secretary, and Chen Jie, who majored in media planning. These four entered the contest as representatives of the university. Training was organized to prepare the contestants in the fields of professional secretarial etiquette, document and event proposal design, impromptu speaking, team work display, and individual talent, which highlighted the core professional skills of secretaries and showcased the thoughts and comprehensive qualities of secretaries. The department also took full advantage of the newly set up alumni association of the secretary major and invited competing alumni of all previous years to come back to their Alma Mater to explain their experience to this year's contestants and direct their training, which played a key role in model demonstration and encouragement.
The national commercial secretary skills contest has always adhered to its purpose of “promoting studying and teaching with competition” and has attracted more and more universities and institutions to compete. This year’s contest showed three features. Firstly, universities and institutions came from a wider geographical scope than ever before, besides former participating institutions from Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Shanghai, and Anhui, universities and institutions in Guizhou, Inner Mongolia, Henan, Chongqing, Jiangxi, and Hebei also competed. The event gained a bigger influence than ever before. Secondly, undergraduate universities competed with vocational colleges. This year there were 10 undergraduate universities and 16 vocational colleges participating in the contest. Students from both vocational colleges and undergraduate universities exchanged ideas with each other and exhibited their own strengths through brilliant performances. Thirdly, the standard for evaluation was closer to what would be expected in real world business scenarios. The challenges created to exhibit the talents of the contestants in this contest were reviewed by famous secretarial educational experts such as Professors Tan Yiping, Zhao Danqi, Wang Ruicheng, and so on, who served as judges, and who evaluated the performances from multiple angles including the work etiquette of the secretary, their skills, and thoughts. It showcased real situations encountered in the secretarial field and reflected the principles of secretarial work.
According to the introduction of relative teachers in the Department of Social Management, through participation in the contest, they understood more clearly how to set goals and plans for the training of secretaries in order to better equip them to meet the needs of society and business. They also better understood the importance of teachers as the front line for enterprises, and how to fulfill their “dual teacher” duties. What’s more, they knew that it was essential to help students gain even more practical training in real professional environments via effective simulations.
By Di Yong, Nanjing RTVU