Employability Skills

Enhancement Module
(ESEM)

Model Student Handbook

Content Index

Preface and about ESEM 3

Communication Skills Essentials 4
Interview Essentials 13
Etiquette 30
Resume & Cover Letter Writing 40
Presentation skills 54
E-Mail Writing Etiquette 59
Intrapersonal Skills 64
Interpersonal Skills 72
Social Responsibility 81
Growth dynamics and Job opportunities in AP 87

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Preface

The Employability Skill Enhancements Module is a 40 hour program designed with

the sole aim of imparting skills to the unemployed youth. The focus is mainly on
skills that are sustainable, applicable and tangible.

How will ESEM Training help?

Despite a high number of youth graduating every year across various streams, the
percentage of the freshers population that gets aspired job is below 12%.
Employability Skills can be defined as the trainable skills needed by an individual
to make them 'employable'. ESEM aims in training critical components that are
essential and sought after by the industry. Besides Domain Skills, the Corporate,
MNCs look for candidates who have good communication skills, confidence, ability
to interact, good writing skills etc.

Learning Modules

1. Communication Essentials
2. Interview Essentials
3. Body Language and Etiquette
4. E Mail Writing
5. Presentation Skills
6. Intra Personal Skills
7. Interpersonal Skills
8. Resume & Cover Letter
9. Social Responsibility
10. Growth dynamics & Job Opportunities in AP

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 Module 1
Communication Skills Essentials
What is Communication Skills?

Effective spoken communication requires being able to express your ideas and
views clearly, confidently and concisely in speech, tailoring your content and style
to the audience and promoting free-flowing communication.

Why Communication Skills are important?

To secure an interview.
You will need good communication skills to make sure your application letter is
read and acted upon.

To get the job.

You will need to communicate well during your interview if you are to sell yourself
and get the job you want.

To do your job well

You will need to request information, discuss problems, give instructions, work in
teams, interact with colleagues and clients. If you are to achieve co-operation and
effective teamwork, good human relations skills are essential. Also, as the
workplace is also becoming more global, there are many factors to consider if you
are to communicate well in such a diverse environment.
To excel in your career.
Organisations and companies want employees who can think for themselves, use
initiative and solve problems, staff who are interested in the long-term success of
the company. If you are to be seen as a valued member of the organisation, it is
important not just to be able to do your job well, but also to communicate your
thoughts on how the processes and products or services can be improved.

Six Essentials of Effective Communication

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1. Assertiveness
Assertiveness is a skill regularly referred to in social and communication
skills training. Being assertive means being able to stand up for your own or
other people's rights in a calm and positive way, without being either
aggressive, or passively accepting 'wrong'.

2. Authenticity
Communicating authentically means being honest, open and thoughtful in
what you say -– and in how you listen and respond to what you hear.

3. Open Mindedness
An effective communicator should be open to varied point of views and
sometimes a contrarian view. Open-mindedness is the readiness or
preparedness to engage in and with the situation and the other person and
culture. In communication and interaction with other people, open-
mindedness is required from both sides.

4. Empathy
The feeling that you understand and share another person's experiences and
emotions. But most importantly, Empathy essentially means taking up action
towards making a bad situation better. Sympathy on the other hand only
means expression of sorrow, solace through words wherein Empathy means
action with words.

5. Clarity
Clarity in effective communication means both in terms of though and
speech. Clarity of thought is important for both articulation and
comprehension wherein clarity of speech is critical for articulation.

6. Listening skill
The critical component of effective communication is Listening. Listening is
a process of receiving → comprehending → responding to spoken or non
verbal message. It essentially involves element of willingness to pay
attention to what we hear.
• Make effective use of body language and speech. Be sensitive to the
other person’s body language and focus on what they are trying to
communicate : eye contact , gestures, appropriate humour and analogies

• Listen Attentively

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 • Good listening builds a rapport and understanding with the speaker and
allows them to freely express their views. It motivates them to say more.
• Poor listening makes assumptions, creates resistance and hostility,
demotivates the speaker, inhibits their development and creates
dependence on the listener.

• Use ACTIVE LISTENING.

a. These reflect back what the speaker is saying in other words to
clarify understanding: you paraphrase and repeat back key points.
b. They may summarize and bring new interpretations to the speakers
words.
c. They show you're listening carefully and checks you are
understanding correctly what they are saying allowing the speaker
to confirm or correct your feedback.
d. They encourage the speaker to elaborate and to define their
problems.
e. It is often the most useful way of giving positive feedback to
someone: "I hear what you're saying and take it seriously". You can't
keep saying "uh-huh" or "yes" for too long without it sounding false

Types of Communication

Verbal communication is about language, both written and spoken. In general,

verbal communication refers to our use of words

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Nonverbal communication refers to communication that occurs through means
other than words, such as body language, gestures, and silence.

Visual communication like signs, maps etc. These typically reinforce verbal
communication, and they help to make a point. Visual aids can help a speaker
remember important topics, give the audience something to look at, and generally
help convey the message being presented.

Communication Skills mainly is about 2 aspects.

1. Articulation
2. Comprehension

The issues that we face is mainly attributed to ‘Articulation’ and hence rather than
‘Comprehension’. Hence, it’s essential to focus on Oral Communication.

4 Pillars of Oral Communication

Questioning and gathering information

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Question types to avoid
• Closed Questions
• Leading Questions
• Negative Questions

Good Question Types

• Open Ended Questions
• Probing Questions
• What if Questions
• Clarifying Questions

Good Conversations

1. Should be both way with both the parties equally involved and interested
2. Build them around respect
3. Talk about mainly positive things
4. Willingness to be open
5. A good conversation makes a difference; something useful happens and it
has a satisfying conclusion.
6. Leave Spaces
7. Nod your Head
8. Summarize regularly
9. Make description specific

Bad Conversations

1. Making guesses and assumptions

2. Our opinions and feelings are denied

Begin with light topics such as the weather and later move onto more serious
topics.
1. Light conversation/small talk
2. Humour
3. Friendly gossip
4. Affection
5. Support
6. Discussing deep subjects

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JAM SESSION

Just A minute session or Just A Minute session is a session where the person should
select a topic and speak about it just for 1 minute. In most of the cases
Interviewer decides the Just A Minute topics Job speaker should speak on. In the
process of recruitment Just A Minute session plays a major role.

Tips

• Try to avoid long sentences and language with complex vocabulary

• Interviewers generally look for simple English
• Prepare on few common topics before it because this helps you when they
asked you to choose the topic
• Don’t try to repeat your ideas at any cost. Try to share something new as
they given you only one minute
• Avoid words like and, but in between where ever possible
• Try to avoid Mother tongue Influence at maximum; this will create
impression on you.
• Avoid Negative words or sentences
• Try to use words like However, Definitely, Certainly where ever possible
• Have few mock JAM sessions before your friends ask them to monitor your
performance

Sample Topics

1. Engineering is a right platform to take-off for a bright career

2. Are Engineering Colleges really producing professionals?
3. Technical fests in Engineering Colleges
4. Do we really have freedom of speech?
5. Human being most advanced and powerful species on earth.
6. Sometimes wars are the best solution to a problem.
7. Are we really working for our Goals?
8. Is there any future to languages other than English?
9. Role of youth in Global warming.
10. Examination Stress on students

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WRITING SKILLS

Effective writing tips

Rule 1. Use concrete rather than vague language.

Vague: The weather was of an extreme nature on the Western Ghats.

This sentence raises frustrating questions: When did this extreme weather
occur? What does "of an extreme nature" mean? Where on the West Coast
did this take place?

Concrete: Mumbai and adjoining areas had unusually cold weather last
week.

Rule 2. Use active voice whenever possible. Active voice means the subject is
performing the verb. Passive voice means the subject receives the action.

Active: Barry hit the ball.

Passive: The ball was hit.

Notice that the party responsible for the action—in the previous example,
whoever hit the ball—may not even appear when using passive voice. So
passive voice is a useful option when the responsible party is not known.

Example: My watch was stolen.

Rule 3. Avoid overusing there is, there are, it is, it was, etc.

Example: There is a case of meningitis that was reported in the newspaper.

Revision: A case of meningitis was reported in the newspaper.

Even better: The newspaper reported a case of meningitis. (Active voice)

Example: It is important to signal before making a left turn.

Revision: Signalling before making a left turn is important.

OR Signalling before a left turn is important.

OR You should signal before making a left turn.

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 Example: There are some revisions that must be made.

Revision: Some revisions must be made. (Passive voice)

Even better: Please make some revisions. (Active voice)

Rule 4. To avoid confusion, don't use two negatives to make a positive without
good reason.

Unnecessary: He is not unwilling to help.

Better: He is willing to help.

Rule 5: Use consistent grammatical form when offering several ideas. This is
called parallel construction.

Correct: I admire people who are honest, reliable, and sincere.

Incorrect: I admire people who are honest, reliable, and have sincerity.

Correct: You should check your spelling, grammar, and punctuation.

Incorrect: You should check your spelling, grammar, and punctuate

properly.

Rule 6: Word order can make or ruin a sentence. If you start a sentence with an
incomplete phrase or clause, such as While crossing the street or Forgotten by
history, it must be followed closely by the person or thing it describes.
Furthermore, that person or thing is always the main subject of the sentence.
Breaking this rule results in the dreaded, all-too-common dangling modifier, or
dangler.

Example: Forgotten by history, his autograph was worthless.

The problem: his autograph shouldn't come right after history, because he was
forgotten, not his autograph.

Correct: He was forgotten by history, and his autograph was worthless.

Example: Born in Chicago, my first book was about the 1871 fire.

The problem: the sentence wants to say I was born in Chicago, but to a careful
reader, it says that my first book was born there.

Correct: I was born in Chicago, and my first book was about the 1871 fire.

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Example: While crossing the street, the bus hit her. (Wrong: the bus was not
crossing.)

Correct:While crossing the street, she was hit by a bus.

OR She was hit by a bus while crossing the street.

Tips
• Think carefully about what you are going to write.
• Collect facts related to your paragraph or essay topic
• Write down your own ideas
• Find the main idea of your paragraph or essay
• Organize your facts and ideas in a way that develops your main idea
• Write the topic sentence, supporting sentences, and closing sentence.
• Write clear and simple sentences to express your meaning.
• Focus on the main idea of your paragraph.
• Use the dictionary to help you find additional words to express your ideas.

Grammar and Spelling

1. Check your spelling.

2. Check your grammar.
3. Read your essay again.
4. Make sure each sentence has a subject.
5. See if your subjects and verbs agree with each other.
6. Check the verb tenses of each sentence.
7. Make sure that each sentence makes sense.

Style and Organization

1. Make sure your paragraph has a topic sentence.

2. Make sure your supporting sentences focus on the main idea.
3. Make sure you have a closing sentence.
4. Check that all your sentences focus on the main idea.
5. See if your paragraph is interesting.

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 Module 2
Interview Essentials
What is a job interview?

A job interview is a formal conversation which occurs between a potential

employer and a job applicant. During the job interview, the employer has the
opportunity to assess applicant’s qualifications, and general skills for the job
opening and the role.

In short, an Interview is an interaction.

One has to bear in mind, a technical interview essentials seeks accurate/correct

response. However, an HR round of interview essentially assesses the candidate’s
ability to comprehend and respond to questions. It’s more of a personality
assessment where the accuracy of response is secondary. The primary aspect is
expressing the perspective.

Traits that get assessed in an interview

• Personal Characteristics. Do you have good grooming? Do you have good
manners? Do you maintain good eye contact?
• Self-Expression. Are you confident in expressing your ideas?
• Maturity. What about your overall sense of balance? Can you make value
judgments and decisions?
• Personality. What are you like? Outgoing? Shy? Overbearing? Quiet? Will you
fit into their corporate culture?
• Experience. What about your academic achievements? Involvement in
extracurricular activities? Job skills?
• Enthusiasm and Interest. Are you really interested in the employer? The
particular job? Industry?
• Career Goals. What do you want to do in your professional life? Is it
consistent with the company goals?

Interview Types
• Face-to-Face
• Telephonic
• Video Conference

Interview Category
• Technical
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 o One-o-One
o Panel
• HR
o One-o-One
o Panel

Interview Checklist

Before the interview

• Research the company

• Research the role
• Find out how to get there
• Think of some interview questions you may be asked and practice your
answers
• Prepare some questions to ask at the end of the interview
• Get your outfit sorted
• Grab anything else you need for the interview the night before (e.g. a copy
of your CV, a notebook and pen, a small but particularly stylish umbrella)
• Relax

On the day of the interview

• Leave the house in plenty of time

• Arrive at least 15 minutes early
• Be polite and professional from the moment you enter the building
• Relax

During the interview

• Give your interviewers a firm handshake when you meet them

• Be aware of your body language
• Take a deep breath before each question
• Take notes (if applicable)
• Ask questions to learn more about the company and the role
• Ask what the next steps are thank the interviewer for their time
• Relax

After the interview

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 • Send your interviewer a thank you email
• Follow up a week after the interview to ask for feedback
• Be positive
• Be persistent – you may not get the first role you interview for, but
maintaining the right attitude will increase your chances of success

What are key competencies?

Skills that employers look for when recruiting. Some key competencies include:

• Teamwork
• Responsibility
• Communication skills
• Decision making
• Leadership
• Problem-solving
• Organisation
• Goal orientation

Critical aspects of Interview

• Dress Code
• Body Language
• Answering Top 10 common questions

Importance of Dress Code in Interview

The way you dress for an interview gives potential employers their first impression
of how you present yourself professionally. Even if you look great on paper, if you
don’t dress appropriately for an interview, you give the impression that you lack
respect for yourself and those you are meeting with.

Appropriate dress code for Interview

What’s appropriate for Women?: Simple & Elegant and most importantly
comfortable dresses are always recommended.
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What’s inappropriate for Women?: Skimpy or uncomfortable grand dresses .

Appropriate footwear for Women?Inappropriate footwear for Women?

What’s appropriate for Men?: Formal Shirt – Trouser – Belt - Shoes.

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Inappropriate for Men?: Casual dressing – T-shirt – Jeans – shirt tucked out.

Appropriate footwear for Men?

Inappropriate footwear for Men?

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Appropriate belt for Men? Formal belt made of Leather/Foam leather
Rule: The colour and shade of the belt should match with the colour and shade of the shoes. If
you wear a black belt, the shoes should be back and vice-versa.

Inappropriate belt for Men? Casual belts/canvas belts

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Appropriate watch for Men/Women

Inappropriate watch for Men/Women

Appropriate Pen for Men/Women

Inappropriate Pen for Men/Women

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Interview Questions
Questions in an interview can be categories into 4 stages
A. D1 - About yourself (Education, Family, Strength, Weakness, Hobbies etc)
B. D2 – More details about answers given on D1 (If hobby is ‘reading books’ –
then “Who is your favourite author”... “Explain the last book you read”
C. D3 – Any question that cannot be anticipated or prepared for. In this stage n
the questions are asked to determine the confidence level of the candidate
in varied subjects.
D. D4 – Shuffling between D1-D2-D3 to determine the focus and stress levels of
the candidate

Common Questions asked in Interview and indicative answer

1. Tell me about yourself
2. What are your hobbies?
3. What are your strengths?
4. What is your weakness?
5. Why should I hire you?
6. Tell me more about this company
7. Why are you aspiring for this job?
8. What are your salary expectations?
9. What are your career goals?
10. Why is your percentage fluctuating
11. Tell me something that’s not in your resume
12. What is your dream company?
13. What was the most challenging situation you ever faced?
14. Are you willing to relocate?
15. Are you willing to sign a bond?
16. Are you willing to work in the night shift?
17. If you don’t get selected, what will you do?

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1. Tell me more about yourself [Self Introduction]
State your name, where you are from, education background, family
background in brief.

My name is Kiran. I live in Vijayawada. I have completed my B.Sc in 2016

with specialisation in Computer Science. I live with my family of 4
members. My father is a government employee and my mother is a teacher.
I have 2 siblings. My brother works in Infosys and my younger sister is
pursuing her Intermediate.

2. What are your hobbies?

I like reading books, playing cricket and watching informative programs.

3. What are your Strengths?

Speak about personality traits that add value to your life and can help the
organisation. Secondly, add examples of real life incidents to substantiate
why a certain trait is your strength.
My strengths are
You should always give 3 qualities, below are some qualities that can
help you:

1. Hard working
2. Smart
3. Confident
4. Team player
5. Disciplined
6. Punctual
7. High Performer – This is for students, who have excellent
academic performances
8. Consistent
9. Flexible
10. Adaptable
11. Leader
12. Solution Oriented
13. Multi-tasker
14. Helpful
15. Responsible
16. Quick Learner

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4. What is your Weakness?
Speak about personality traits that you need to work on. Also state the
action plan to convert the weakness into strength.
My weakness are
• I feel nervous when I have to interact with a group of people
• Straight forward attitude
• Trusting others
• Stubborn
• Laziness
• I come from non-English medium background, hence am a little
hesitant, when I have to interact quickly –but am working on it
• Am not a multi tasker, I take up one activity at a time
• Am a little impatient – but am working on it
• I trust people easily

5. Why should I hire you?

Speak about your strength and build on what you answered on Q# 3.
Every company has something called “Job Role”, that is the job that you
will be doing. Job role is nothing but the position you will be working for. If
you can form an answer around that, it’ll be perfect.

But if you are not aware of the job role, you can focus on your qualities
which are strength.

Some sample answers

• Am flexible I can work in any environment

• I like working in challenging environment
• Am good with programming languages like C,Java,C#,DB,Tally etc.,
• Am confident and hardworking hence, I will be able to work
effectively
• As you can see in my resume, I have always scored well in my
academics, I take my work seriously
• Am goal oriented
• Am focussed

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 6. Tell me more about this company
Go through the website of the company. Speak about the
• Values the company stands for
• Their products & innovations
• How they have helped people build their career
• Their CSR contributions
• Company founder
• Company current CEO
• How many branches
• How many employees

7. Why are you aspiring for this job?

Explain your career goal
Explain your zeal to build skills
Talk about our short term and long term goals
Explain how this job will help you achieve your goals

8. What are your salary expectations?

If you are a Fresher, never quote an amount. If you are experienced, you
can ask for 30% higher than last salary
For freshers, speak about your focus on career and state the reason why you
would accept the company’s policy with regards to the salary package
designed for freshers like you.

9. What are your career goals?

Short Term: Speak about what you want to achieve in next 2-3 years.
1. To get placed in a job
2. I want to work in a company, learning and growing
3. To get a job and start taking family responsibility
4. I want to work
Long Term: Speak about your desire to become an expert and contribute.
1. As a team lead
2. In a respectable position

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10. Why is your percentage in academics fluctuating?
1. If, your percentage is low only in your graduation, but it’s good during
school and intermediate, then tell them, during school and intermediate
days, there were few subjects and a lot of time and you focussed on
education more, but in graduation, you also wanted to participate in other
things like NCC or any other activities, because you wanted to build on your
personality not just score marks
2. If, your percentage is low throughout your education, then you can say, I
study well, but I find writing exams a little challenging, however I worked
on my exam fear, and during my graduation I scored much better
3. Or you can be very genuine at answering, tell them it was a genuine mistake
of not being to score, but now you have realized being focussed is very
important, hence you have enrolled yourself in some course, so that you can
make you sure, you have acquired all the skills required for a successful
professional life.
4. Some of you who come from Telugu Medium background, but changed your
medium later at graduation level, tell them you found it difficult to adjust
to medium as entire terminology while writing an exam is very different.
But you wanted to learn and be professional ready hence you took a risk,
now you are comfortable with the medium.
5. If, you come from uneducated background (both your parents are not
educated), you can answer them by saying, I come from an uneducated
background hence, I did not have enough guidance, but however though my
percentage might not be high, but my hard work is definitely high.

11. Tell me something that’s not in your resume

You should share an experience in your life and how that experience helped you
become better

Example :

• I worked quite hard during my tenth, I did not become topper but I
really enjoyed working hard. From then I have always worked hard.
• I trusted my friends and when they betrayed me I was hurt, but that
experience though painful, helped me become tough and now am good
at handling any stressful situation
• I come from a farming family, hard work and never give up attitude is a
part of our upbringing, which has always helped me.

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12. What is your dream company?

If you are attending your dream company, say the company name and why,
but if you are not attending your dream company, tell them you don’t have a
dream company, all of you have a dream job, where you can contribute to
the company’s growth.

13. What was the most challenging situation you ever faced?

Share any personal or professional experience from your life, and how did
you manage to overcome it.

14. Are you willing to relocate?

Yes.

Always say yes, even if they ask you remote or unsafe places, still say yes, as
they are just checking your attitude.

15. Are you willing to sign a bond

Sure, that will not be a problem.

16. Are you willing to work in the night shift?

Yes.

17. If you don’t get selected, what will you do ?

I worked very hard to attend this interview, hence I will be disappointed,

but I’ll continue to work hard until I get a job.

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Group interview tips: Do’s and Don’ts

To help you make the right first impressions, here’s our list of group interview:
do’s and don’ts…

Group interview Do’s:

1. Arrive early
2. Remember the icebreaker
3. Sit up straight
4. Prepare questions
5. Include everyone/be inclusive

Other things to do: Praise others’ ideas, take notes, dress appropriately, smile.

Group interview don’ts:

1. Be fake
2. Talk over people
3. Get lost in the group
4. Become too
5. Lose concentration

Other things not to do: Make too much eye contact, insult the other interviewees,
insult the interviewers, Panic.

How to answer differently

To start with, every candidate is different, in their own self. Please make sure all
your answers are not mugged up and also make sure you speak about your
experience rather than your friends.

How to make an impression

Three P’s are important to make an impression.

P : Preparation

Prior preparation is very important. Preparation is confidence. Preparation gives

you an edge especially if you are weak in language, preparation is even more
important.

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P : Presentation

Presentation includes

1. Dressing
2. Other general etiquette

Dressing :

Dressing is very important as first impression is best impression. Combing hair,

ironed dress, no sweaty palms.

Other general etiquette

• Knock the door, while you walk in. Greet the interviewer with a smile.
Shake hands only if your hands are not sweaty or if the interviewer offers a
handshake.
• Keep a copy of resume handy, give them your resume and ask them if you
can sit, if you have not already sat.
• Don’t shake legs or play with fingers on table
• Sit straight , make good eye contact
• Also carry some extra copies of resume, in case there are more people
interviewing
• After the interview, say thank you with a smile and walk out confidently
• Close the door behind slowly(Don’t bang the door).

P: Performance

Performance is everything now. After making sure you follow two P’s(Preparation
and Presentation).

In performance, the way you speak is very important. Students who prepare are
usually confident to answer the questions. Choose your words carefully, sound
confident. Listen to the question entirely.

Never leave a question you are good at. And your preparation will ensure, you can
reduce the number of questions you don’t know.

Common mistakes to avoid

Students despite all the preparation, make few mistakes. Please read the below
list, to make sure you don’t make those.

1. Not preparing prior to the interview

2. Not dressing aptly
3. Shaking legs
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 4. Not knocking the door
5. Not preparing resume based questions
6. Not working on subject based questions
7. Not working on most frequently asked questions
8. Not listening to the entire question and answering
9. Starting tell me about yourself with “Myself yourname” is not rite.
10. Don’t speak about family or near one’s as strength
11. Don’t speak about food varieties or family in weakness as well
12. Don’t say no for relocating, bond or night shift
13. Don’t speak in detail about family

Success tips

A candidate will not be selected or rejected based on a single question, an entire

process of selection or rejection will determine. Don’t lose confidence, if you get a
couple of questions wrong. Fear will not get your selected, confidence is the key.

Some important tips:

1. Explore internet about your previous year papers and questions of the
company you were appearing for, most of the times similar questions might
appear.
2. Learn about the company before appearing.
3. Reach the interview venue, at least an hour prior, so that you can interact
with candidates who have attended interview and can take tips from them.
4. Never fumble in the question you are good at.

Interviews - Questions You Should Be Asking

• Is this post a new or existing one?

• How many other people are there in the team?
• What would my day-to-day responsibilities be?
• What are the promotion prospects?
• Do you run any training schemes?
• What are the company’s plans for the future?
• How would you describe the ideal candidate?
• When can I expect to hear from you?

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Interviews - Questions You Shouldn’t Be Asking

• What does your company do?

• Can I work at a particular location only?
• Can i move into other areas of business?
• How much sick pay do I get?
• How did I do my work?

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 Module 3
Body Language & Etiquette
What is Body Language?

Body language is nonverbal communication that involves body movement.

“Gesturing” can also be termed as body language which is absolutely non-verbal
means of communication. People in the workplace can convey a great deal of
information without even speaking; through nonverbal communication.

In Non-verbal communication, our human body expresses our feelings and

intentions through conscious and unconscious movements and postures,
accompanied by gestures, facial expressions, eye contacts and touch. This
collectively forms a separate language of the body within the ongoing
communication. This is called Body Language.
It isn't necessary to strike up a conversation to make a first impression on others
because you'll be judged by the way you look, your posture, your expression, and
how you gesture. That's why you need to pay close attention to the way you carry
yourself and your body language. People notice and will judge you by even the
subtlest movements. This is true in both social and professional situations, including
job interviews.

Why is Body Language Important?

Since interpretations of body language differ from people to people and cultures to
countries it is important to learn about them. Body language alone comprises of
55% of total communication whereas spoken words comprise of 7% and tone of
voice comprise 38%.
Do’s:

• Smile politely
• Eye contact
• Relax
• Firm body posture
• Let the hand movements be confident
• Crossed legs or firm legs

30
Do Not’s:

• Slouching
• Shaking hands and legs
• Leaning
• Lock your hands
• Bite nails
• Touching hair
• Tap your feet
• Tap your fingers on table
• Keep your hands out of pocket

Types of Body Language

a. Parts of the body
b. Intention
Parts of Body
• The Head - Movement and placement of the head, back to front, left to
right, side to side, including the shaking of hair.
• Facial Expressions - The face has many muscles (anywhere between 54 and
98, depending on who you ask) that move several areas of the face. Each
combination of movements of the following face elements communicates a
state of mind:
o Eyebrows
o Eyes
o Nose
o Lips
• Body Posture - The way you place your body and arms and legs, in relation
to each other, and in relation to other people
• Body proximity - How far or close to other people.
• Shoulder movements
• Arm placement
• Leg and feet placement
• Hand and finger gestures; Handling and placement of objects (eg. pens,
papers, etc).

31
The intent
• Voluntary/Intentional movements - Usually called "Gestures". These are
movements you intended to make, like shaking a hand, giving the finger,
blinking with one eye
• Involuntary movements - Any body movement you have no cotrol over falls in
this category.
The Body Language of Gestures
• Waving of hand to indicate good bye or draw the attention of a person
• Shaking Hands display the greeting
• Shrugging of shoulders indicates indifference & unconcern

• Pointing index finger indicates allegation or charge

• Thumbs up sign indicates wishing “Good Luck” or saying ‘Good’

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The Body Language of Posture

o Means “an attitude or position of body”

o Each movement of body has expressive & defensive functions.
o The way, in which we sit or stand, walk in walk out tells a lot about us.
o A good posture indicates confident attitude

Facial Expression

Eye Contact

33
• Always maintain eye contact with the person you are speaking with
• Eye contact has very much in face-to-face communication
• Absence of eye contact shows lack of interest & understanding
• We look faster than listen or talk
• Eyes are human windows except them there is no life
• The speaker must look in to the eyes of the audience from right to left & left to
right this will built up the confidence & eliminate the nervousness
• It build the rapport between the speaker & the listener

Hand Shake

The initiator of the gesture demonstrates confidence. Normally, the person

with more power will initiate the handshake. If you wish to show respect to the
person you are meeting, you may wish to wait for them to begin the motion.

When you are at a job interview or you are about to engage in a negotiation, you
can let others know that you are a confident person by extending your hand first.
For an audience that is more conservative or one which the individual is of much
higher status than you, it’s better to wait to show that person respect.

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 Important Points for Hand Shake
• The Grip: Apply same strength as other person
• Time: Wait for appropriate time. Do not initiate a handshake when the
other person is eating, on a phone call etc.
• Eye Contact: Maintain eye contact while shaking hand
• Greetings: Greet the person while shaking hand ‘Good Morning’, ‘Good
Evening’, ‘How are you doing’
• Duration: 3-6 seconds
• Motion: Up and down
• The Other Hand: Do not place the other hand in your pocket, do not pat
the shoulder of the other person

Inappropriate Hand Shakes

Social Manners

As one of the old saying says,” treat others like how you want them to treat you”.
Politely greet people with a smile. Always dress to the occasion.

Conversations

35
Introduce yourself by stating your name and which department you work. Never
encourage or initiate any negative conversations. Don’t ever raise sensitive issues
especially, region or religion related.

You can be a good listener, if you are not a conversationalist.

Do put forward your opinions which you think will not hurt or sound provoking to
others.

Do not engage yourself with your mobile, as this is a serious concern off late.

GD and interview rounds are example where interviewers usually test the
conversation skills.

Telephonic Etiquette

Telephonic etiquette, thanks to the modern technology is not easy challenging as it

was during the previous era.

1. Greeting

Just like a face to face conversation, the other party in the telephonic
conversation expects you to open the conversation with a nice greeting.

It is suggested that you begin the phone call with an appropriate greeting like
Good morning/Afternoon depending on which time of the day you are calling.

Do not answer by using words such as "yeah" or "yes."

2. Take permission and be polite

A polite word or two always helps in bringing warmth into the conversation.

While it is very important to take permission to speak to the person you have
intended to call, one should always remember to use a polite tone.

Use phrase like "May I please speak with___________".

Try to record your own conversations. You will then hear how your sound to others.

3. Identify self and the organisation

The most common mistake that people make during a phone is call not identifying
oneself.

36
It is considered inappropriate and can also lead to miscommunication, always
introduce yourself before getting into any conversation; telephonic or face to face
-- that's the thumb rule!

4. Clarity

Do not use broken phrases.

Always use a clear, crisp and simple language.

5. Purpose of the call

Before making a phone call, be sure of the purpose of the call.

Think through exactly what you plan to say and practice before you place the call.

Writing down the items you want to discuss and questions you want answered can
help in making a smooth conversation

6. Avoid fillers and keep it interesting

Filler words -- like um and uh -- are never written into a speech, and add nothing
when a speaker utters them.

During a telephonic conversation, a filler word sends a signal to the other person
which says "I'm still thinking, and I'm not willing to pass the conversation back to
you just yet."

This only conveys that you are confused and still thinking of what to say next.

7. Find some quiet place

Communicating over the telephone is much more effective when both parties can
hear each other clearly without background noise.

Plan to make your call, whether it's for work or just to catch up with an old friend,
at a time in which you are not required to attend to any other business and ensure
that there is no disturbance around.

Blaring noises, such as the television or road traffic can interfere with both your
listening and communication skills, making it difficult for a conversation.

8.Close

37
There are various benefits of summarising and paraphrasing, it helps you to
reaffirm what was discussed during the phone call.

So if there is any information which needs to be changed or altered, the other

party has an opportunity to add on.

Always end the call with a pleasantry like -- "It was pleasure speaking with you" or
"You have a nice day."

Social Manners

Man is a social animal and rightfully so he or she must follow certain social
etiquettes that are appreciated by one and all. Everyone wants to be socially
accepted and hence all of us want to engage in social conversations. But many of
us either become nervous, shy or find ourselves paralyzed in front of a large group
of people. Due to this, we curl inwards and do not make any conversations with
people. In yet another scenario, there are times when people do not realize of
their inappropriate behavior in social circuit. Social etiquette tips help us to be
correct with our mannerisms, communication and our behavior in general.

Pulling a chair and allowing a woman to sit first

While conversing with a group of people, you need to be polite, humble and
sophisticated. Also, use language effectively and do not forget saying basic polite
words like thank you, please, welcome, sorry etc wherever necessary. When a
group of people are talking, always allow others to talk and only when they finish,
make your point. In case you interrupt someone by mistake, apologize and request
him or her to complete their conversation.

38
 Letting Others Go First

Always ask relevant and appropriate questions. It is assumed that you are socially
aware and hence asking questions that reveal that you do not know about a
common topic in news may not make a good impression about you. Hence, read
newspapers regularly and keep yourself aware of what I happening socially and in
the world in general. In case if there is an awkward silence that you may want to
avoid, comment on the ambience of the place, on music that may be playing or on
weather in general just to keep the conversation going. Remember to not pass any
personal remarks on anybody you avoid any displeasure in the group. Also, do not
pass any mean or sarcastic comments on people.

While conversing with people make an eye contact with everyone. Making
everyone feel involved in a conversation is an art in itself. Your body language
should also be polite and respectful. Also, remember personal hygiene is also an
important part of social etiquette. Always carry a handkerchief with you. Smell
good and present yourself well by dressing appropriately. Social etiquette is
important because it creates an impression about your personality that in turn
affects the perception and treatment of other people towards you.

39
 Module 4
Resume & Cover Letter

What is a Resume?

Most often than not, we find the terms “C.V.”, “resume” and “bio-data” being
used interchangeably. However, it does make a little sense to learn how these
documents are different from one another.

Resume: Pronounced as ‘Ray-zyoo-May’ is a brief document of your personal,

educational, and professional qualifications and skills that you create when
applying for a job. It is very brief in a sense that is as long as a page or, at the
most, two. It is an ideal document for use by freshers.

CV: A Curriculum Vitae meaning “course of life” is a document which gives a

detailed professional profile. This would include educational qualifications,
previous job experiences, knowledge gained / training undergone relevant to the
new role applied for etc. That is, it contains every aspect of existing / acquired
expertise.

Bio Data: A “bio-data” (short for “biographical data”) is a document that contains
all your personal information. Perhaps, you may be required to add the details of
your last salary, your height and weight, your parents’ names, your blood group,
your caste, your religion, marital status, validity of driving license, passport, PAN
etc.

IMPORTANCE AND FORMAT

Your resume is a kind of tool with which you market your skills and abilities (and
experience, should you have any). The purpose of a resume is, obviously, help you
land an interview (and, of course, ultimately, a job). What with the number of
job-seekers increasing every passing day, it is vital that you create a resume that
stands out from the bunch of resumes that a recruiter might handle.

Remember, that you have hardly a few seconds to impress upon the recruiter that
you could be a good prospective candidate for any post. Here are a few pointers on
what to include in your resume and how you can present them to make this
happen.

40
CONTENT POINTS

No Heading: A resume doesn’t need a heading “resume”.

Name and Contact Details: The first detail you ought to put down on your resume
is your name. After this, come your residential address, e-mail id and phone no.
Including photo is optional.

Objective: A career objective is a highly desirable statement in a resume. This is,

at its best, a very clear and specific definition of what your career aspirations are.
The following is an example of a non-specific career objective.

“To obtain a challenging role in a progressive organization where I can contribute

my skills and shape my professional career.”

The problem with this is that it doesn’t help the recruiter understand what skills
you have and / or what role you are looking for and how you will be useful to him.
It might even put him on the defensive against you, “Is my company not
progressive?” It is easy to look past a profile which has such an objective
statement. If, on the other hand, you were to write something like “A first-class
Computer Engineering graduate seeking an entry-level position in the field of
Software Development”, it will induce the recruiter to browse further through your
profile. Remember that your objective statement is your “only” chance you get to
create a “first impression” and you better make an indelible one!

Work Experience:

If you have some work experience even as you finish your graduation, include that
in your resume. Spell out the company name in full and state the position you had
held and the duration for which you were there. Avoid internal jargon.

Educational Qualifications: Tabulate all your educational qualifications giving

these details – name of the institution, name of the certificate / qualification you
obtained, year of passing and your CGPA / percentage.

Suggested template:

Name of the University / Year of

Degree Percentage/CGPA
Institution Board Passing
UG
HSC/DIPLOMA
SSLC

Co-curricular Activities:

41
Mention the certifications you had obtained, the trainings and workshops you had
attended, etc. in reverse chronological order. Be sure you talk about your
internships and project work also. If it is a mini project, merely state what the
project is about. If it is a major one, mention details of the project name, a
sentence or two on what it is about, how you did it and what the final output was
like. You could also talk about some seminar you had attended or conducted.

Professional Areas of Interest:

The next item you should have in your resume is your professional areas of
interest. For example, if you are a computer science or b.com Graduate, this could
be botany, physics, accounts, computers, economics, Flash Games Design. This
will help your recruiter know how / where to test you and ultimately decide if you
will fit his needs or not.

Computer Proficiency:

This is one another item which would help you inch towards landing a job. You are
trying to make your recruiter know the list of computer languages, packages and
technologies that you are aware of.

Extra-curricular Activities:

Under this heading, if you are learning an additional language, undergoing music
training, or if you are a part of some NGO, you can put them down here.

Hobbies / General Interests:

The term “general interests” include the kind of books / authors you would like to
read; the kind of music that interests you; your leisure activities like gymming,
swimming, riding, trekking; the places you would like to visit and the like.

Languages known:

Under this heading, you tabulate the set of languages that you know and specify at
what level (whether it is “beginner’s, intermediary or fluent) you know the
language you possess each of the skills of Speaking, Reading and Writing.

No declaration and references: A resume is a document to tell the recruiter that

that there is this person with these skills and experience and character traits. It is
NOT a letter of communication and so, simply doesn’t warrant a declaration

statement. At the most, (SOME) companies demand a signature from the

candidate. This is optional

PROOFING POINTS

42
Font Style: While there are numerous fonts to choose from, for a professional
document as a resume, it is best to choose one of Calibri, Times New Roman, Arial
and Verdana. Make your titles bold and underline them.

Font Size: The first ever item on your resume, (your name, if you remember!),
should be in the largest font size. Ideally, this should be in 14 pt. All the headings
(like company names, names of educational institutions, the words “grade
obtained” / “percentage scored” etc.) should be 12 pt. and all the other content
matter in 11 pt.

Bullets and Numbering: Use professional looking bullets and avoid fancy bullets at
all costs. For the amount of job experience and qualifications you are likely to
possess at this stage, there wouldn’t be much of a need to use bullets and
numbering much. Thus, a heavily formatted resume is likely to get on the nerves of
a recruiter.

Language Style: It is ABSOLUTELY essential that your resume is devoid of ANY

spelling and grammatical errors. You can use U.S. or U.K. spelling and punctuation,
but you need to be consistent throughout. Also, ensure parallelism across your
bullet points. Get your resume proof-read independently for grammar and
punctuation errors by at least three people. You yourself do it once in three days
and you will be surprised that you had missed some “glaring” errors! Another
golden rule to remember is NEVER USE PERSONAL PRONOUNS.

Good Luck in your job search and for a successful career!!

SAMPLE RESUMES 1

43
SAMPLE RESUMES 2

44
 Email ID: ****@gmail.com
Contact No. +91-*******
Career Objective

To work for an organization which provides me the opportunity to improve my

skills and knowledge to growth along with the organization objective.
Profile Summary

• An enthusiastic fresher with highly motivated and leadership skills having

bachelors of engineering degree in Mechanical Engineering
• Expert in implementation of each step of project.
• Eager to learn new technologies and methodologies.
• Always willing to innovate the new things which can improve the existing
technology.
Personal Qualities

• Highly motivated and eager to learn new things.

• Strong motivational and leadership skills.
• Ability to produce best result in pressure situation.
• Excellent communication skills in written and verbal both.
• Ability to work as individual as well as in group.
Academia

• Bachelor of engineering from ASD institute of Technology with 75%

• Diploma in Mechanical Engineering from AKL Institute with 73%
Technical Qualification
2D Drafting Package: AutoCAD.
3D Drafting Package: Solid Edge
Analysis Package: Femap
Project
Leaf spring by using Natural fibres
Duration -3 month
In this project we use natural fibres for using as leaf spring and it is cost effective
production.
Achievements

• FOUR suggestion certificates issued by TVS for my best suggestions.

• “SAE INDIA MEMBER” and attended one day workshop conducted by SAEINDIA.
• Participated in International Conference on Emerging Trends in Energy and
Environment.

45
• Completed training on Basic Life Support and First Aid Skills.
• Completed training on Basic Fire Safety and Emergency Preparedness.
Extra Curricular Activities

• Participated in Robotics Championship in SDF University.

• Actively participated in program of ASD NGO.
• Reading Books
Personal Details

Languages Known- Hindi, English

DOB- MM/DD/YYYY
Address- NBJSBJSB

3. SAMPLE RESUMES 3

Ranjth Kumar
HYDERABAD
Contact no: 87757575757
E-mail: [email protected]

Career Objective:
To be a dedicated human resource professional who is consistent and reliable with
a belief in Professionalism and career development

Professional

Qualification:
Pursuing Master in Business Administration (MBA) HR and Marketing as my
specialization, from Andhra University

Educational Qualification:

Year Degree Institute University/Board

BA
2009
(ECONOMICS)

2006 12th
(ARTS)

2004 10th

Computer Proficiency:
PGDCA (MS-Office, FOXPRO, C, C++, Oracle, VB, Tally)

46
Well conversant & confident with the Internet applications.
Industrial Exposure:
Undergone summer internship for 8weeks at CMC Ltd, Hyderabad on the topic
“Applicability of HR policies &Factory Act”.
Participated in an extensive study on Indiana Bank as a part of Academic Industry
Interface programme.
Participated in a Socio Economic Survey..
Done project for finish regarding sanitation for rural people of Andhra Pradesh

Extra Curricular Activities:

Active participation in social activities.
Active participation in a team as a leader.
Active participation in cultural activities.

Strength:
Sincere and Hard Working
Strong determination & positive attitude

Personal Particulars:
Name :
Father’s Name :
Date of Birth :
Sex :
Marital Status :
Language known:

Cover Letter
What is a Cover Letter?

47
Cover letters are one page documents that you send with your resume when
applying for a job. It is meant to introduce yourself to the recruitment manager.
Cover letters are one page documents that you send with your resume when
applying for a job. It is meant to:
• Introduce yourself to the hiring manager
• Argue why you’d be a good fit for the job
• Fill in places your resume cannot describe
• Further explain other aspects of your resume

Is it mandatory to add a Cover Letter with every resume?

When you send your resume by email, a cover letter is appreciated but it’s not
mandatory.
Structure of Cover Letter
▪ Contact Information
o Mention your email ID and contact number
o Mention the recipient company’s name and location
▪ Addressing the recipient: Find out to whom you’re writing
o Dear Sir/Ma’am
▪ Introduce yourself: In the first paragraph, begin by telling the employer the
position you are applying for and how you learned about the opportunity
▪ Mention your key skills and highest qualification
▪ Conclusion: Inform them that you’d love to get interviewed

Format of Cover Letter

▪ Font Size: 10-11

▪ Font Type: Arial/Calibri
▪ Indent: Maintain a uniform alignment throughout. We suggest keeping all
paragraphs left-aligned

Cover letter mistakes you should avoid

Your cover letter is like a handshake—it’s how you introduce yourself to employers
when you apply for a job. Like a good handshake, you want your cover letter to be
strong, succinct, and make a great first impression.

Make sure your first impression is a good and lasting one by avoiding these common
mistakes below when writing your cover letter.
➢ Overusing “I” to address yourself
➢ Using a weak opening
48
 o Weak: Please consider me for your sales representative opening.
o Better: Your need for a top-performing sales representative is an
excellent match to my three-year experience as Sales Lead.
➢ Missing out on critical skills: A cover letter is a sales letter that sells you as
a candidate. Just like your resume, it should be compelling and give the
main reasons you should be called for an interview. Winning cover letter
tips include emphasizing your top accomplishments or creating subheadings
from the job posting
o Your ad specifies: Communication skills
I offer: Five years of public speaking experience and an extensive
background in executive-level report.
o Your ad specifies: The need for a strong computer background
I offer: Proficiency in all MS Office applications with additional
expertise in website development and design
➢ Making it too long: It should not exceed half a page
➢ Repeating your resume word for word

Sample Cover Letter

HR Manager

HCL Limited

49
Hyderabad

Hello Sir/Ma’am

Please find enclosed a copy of my Resume in response for the open position in your
organisation for the role of ‘Software Development Engineer’. I am currently
pursuing my final year of B.Tech in Computer Science from JNTU Hyderabad.

As a part of my academic curriculum, I have undertaken 2 projects for automation

and digitization methods for Library.

As you can see from my Resume, my academic background with technical skills are
focussed in software development. Besides that, I have also participated in various
seminar and discussions on role of youth in social transformation.

I am available for interview at any time and should you require any further
information please do not hesitate to contact me.

Yours sincerely

Ranjith Kumar

Common mistakes to avoid

• Do not write paragraphs in your resume

• Have proper alignment
• Have uniform font-size
• Have uniform font color
• Do not highlight your percentages or grades or CGPA if you have scored low
• In personal details use the word “Gender” and not “Sex” to convey whether
you are a male or a female
50
 • Personal details about candidates should not be copied
• Career Objective should be original and relevant
• Do not write hobbies in first page
• No printing or alignment issues

Success Tips:

Resume is also otherwise known as “Face of the candidate”. Even before candidate
reaches the venue, a lot of times resume reaches prior. Candidates apart from the
regular format can also try creative formats.

Most of the interview questions are based on what’s written in the resume.

• Quantify your achievements

• Have a uniform font
• You can try colorful or creative resumes
• Customize your resume if needed, for different job roles you are applying
• Be very clear about your career objective

How to apply for jobs

Planning your job search strategy is very crucial after graduation.

You can use different methods available in the market to apply for jobs

1. Attend Walk-in interviews

2. Apply through company websites
3. Apply through job portals
4. Attend Job Fairs /Job Melas
5. Apply through Referrals

Job Portals are one of the best places to look for jobs. Whenever there is a new
job position available in a company they would advertise regarding the
requirement using advertisement feature in job portals along with making the job
posting active on their company websites.

Here is a list of few job portals available

1. Monster
2. Indeed
3. Naukri
4. Times Jobs

51
How to apply jobs using a job portal

Go to the portal site Example - https://www.naukri.com/

• Click on Jobs – Search Jobs -To view the list of companies that are hiring
candidates
• Click on the company you would like to apply for. View the available
positions and apply for the position that is suitable for your Qualification,
Location, Desired Salary Range and Experience (If applicable). Click on
register and apply

Alternatively click on register with us button to register as a fresher and provide

the details to complete the registration process and apply for the job

52
Once you register with a portal from next time you can directly login using the
login button available in the home page of the site, to view the available positions
by the company and apply for the relevant jobs available.

53
 Module 5
Presentation Skills
Common rules and etiquettes

For any presentation usually the following are the general rules and etiquettes:

• Arrive early
• Dress formally
• Smell good
• Carry your own water bottle
• Check if all the necessary equipment is in place and working viz., mike,
projector, markers, chargers etc.,
• Check if all the audio and video devices are in place
• Take someone along, your buddy may be, ask him/her if you are audible
• Be prepared, just in case you have power outrage or any other unexpected
fluctuations, you should still be able to continue
• Visualize your interaction with audience
• Greet people who arrive early with a pleasant smile
• Strike a little conversation with people who arrive early, they will like you
better throughout presentation

Body Language

• Smile
• Make eye contact
• Don’t lock your shoulders
• Don’t show them your back – (Prepare so well, you don’t have to look at
your content)
• Move – walking a bit helps you ease your nervousness
• Don’t lock your knees
• Strong posture
• Voice modulation

54
How to articulate ideas

Typical dictionary definition of the word articulate is (of a person or a person's

words) having or showing the ability to speak fluently and coherently:

• Clarity of Thought
• Creative
• Confidence
• Content
• Communication
• Co-work
• Continuity
• Contradiction
• Comfort Zone
• Crisp

Clarity of Thought:

You should have a clarity on what do you want your audiences to take away from a
meeting or presentation.

Creative:

Being creative makes your entire presentation very effective. You can make your
presentation creative by either using softwares like Microsoft power point or either
some cue cards to distribute.

Audience usually enjoy creative presentations better.

Confidence:

Confidence as we know is the key for success. It’s okay if you forget some points as
no one else knows what you wanted to say, don’t lose your confidence if you
forget few points.

Content:

Thanks to internet, on any topic, you will have loads of information, hence it is
important to churn the content to your abilities and your audience.

Communication:

To articulate any idea, communication is required. But for presentation

communication is not just about speaking, it is interacting; it is making your
audience a part of your presentation.

Do prepare well ahead, how do you want to interact with your audience, may be
walk to them sometime, sometime just show them some slides and ask them to
answer.
55
Once audience start to participate, your confidence will also increase. And they
will remember you and your presentation for a long time.

Do not use fillers and do not pause unnecessarily

Use tone fluctuations. As tone can help you connect to your audience.

Co-work:

Working with a team, also means a lot of learning. Whenever you are co-working
make sure, you distribute the work base on your strengths.

Continuity:

Continuity can be challenge. But while preparing have an order in mind or power
point presentation.

Have some mnemonics to make sure you have a proper continuity.

Contradiction:

Never contradict your own point.

Comfort Zone:

If the speaker is not in the comfort zone, despite a wonderful content, you might
not pull off your presentation well.

Use a vocabulary that you are comfortable with.

Crisp:

Keep the entire presentation crisp. Crispy presentations usually end up grabbing
audience attention much more.

56
 Chart of presentation

How you Dress -

20% 20 %
25%
Body Language-
25% 25 %
30% Content-30 %

How to manage audience

There is a popular statement in English, “Think Globally, act locally..” Some of the
best speakers at times end up having a pretty bad day at work.

That’s typically because usually a presenter forces their ideas, their entire
knowledge onto the audience.

We are already in the internet generation, so information is available free of cost.

Information on anything and anyone.

Your audience is not looking for information in any presentation; your audience is
looking for structure. Structuring of that huge information into slices that are
useful for them or that is though provoking for them.

Every audience is different, some of them are enthusiasts and some of them are
intellectuals.

You need to always have a clear idea about who your audience is. Once you are
very clear which age group and what’s the purpose of giving them a presentation,
all you need to is structure your presentation.

No matter who the audience is, in the beginning everyone will listen to you. You
need to use that time to create a great impression.

Once you quickly introduce yourself and give them agenda of your presentation,
audience will connect better.

Be audible, if it’s a larger audience, make sure you reach well ahead and test your
mike and speaker settings.
57
If you don’t want your audience to use their mobiles or talk to each other, then
your presentation has to be creative, you need to constantly interact with your
audience, make your presentation, fun, informative and interactive.

How to conquer nervousness

There is a term “Reptile behavior” i.e., reptiles, they attack other beings because
they believe other creatures are attacking them. Snake is an example of a reptile.

Every human also has certain reptile behavior in them. Nervousness is a result of
such behavior.

This word could be repetitive but preparation helps. A day prior to your
presentation, keep visualizing how you want your presentation to be, practice it on
a couple of friends or colleagues.

Anticipate the questions raised by audience, during your course of presentation.

Dress well, well dressed people in themselves are much more confident.

If you notice, world’s best speakers walk or have certain hand gestures on dais to
beat their nervousness.

You need to understand your strength and set your benchmark accordingly. It’s
okay, if you forget a point or two. Nobody knows how many points you prepared.

Walk in with a smile, as they say “Smile is the best hello”.

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 Module 6
E-Mail Writing Etiquette

Overview
In the information age, email has become the dominant form of communication.
Being able to write a polished, professional email is now a critical skill both in
college and the workplace. Below are some key distinctions between formal and
informal writing, as well as some guidelines to follow when composing a formal
email to a superior or someone who does not know you.

Informal vs. Formal

Informal

• Written to friends and family

• Accuracy and grammar (spelling and punctuation) are not important

Example:

Hi Anita,

How are you doing? I hope your trip was superb. I miss you so much! Can’t
wait to see you on Friday!! It’s been so long since we met

Maybe we can go to the movies or dinner or shopping. Lets plan quickly.

Yayyy

Take care

Smita

Formal

• Written to employers, colleagues, superiors etc

• Must always be professional
o Proper structure
o No mistakes in grammar, spelling and punctuation

Example:

Hello Mr. Singh

I am writing to you with regards to the meeting we have scheduled next

Monday to discuss the plan and implementation. Please let me know if we

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 can meet before the important meeting so that we can discuss about any
issues.

Looking forward to hear back from you.

Regards

Sunil

Email Components

1. Subject Line
• Keep it short
• Be specific
• Eliminate redundancy or unwanted words
• Create interest to make the receiver open the email and read it

2. Considering Audience: The recipient of the Email can be listed in 3 fields

• To: It can be one or many. The person from you a response or action
is mandatory
• Cc: Persons marked in this field are kept to be informed. A response
or action from them is optional
• Bcc: Persons marked on this field can see the names of those marked
in To and Cc. But they can’t see the recipient marked on Bcc

3. Factors to consider when you choose a recipient

• Why is the person marked?
• Is the recipient important?
• Is the recipient relevant for this email?

4. Salutation: The salutation of a formal email is similar to the salutation of a

letter. When writing to someone you do not know by name, you put “To
Whom it May Concern”. When applying for a job, you would address the
person by, “Hello Hiring Manager.” If you do know the recipient’s name, you
put “Hello <mention name>”

5. Body of the email: The main message that needs to be conveyed

6. Closing: Like the salutation, the closing should also be formal.

• Thanks and regards
• Regards
• Best wishes
• Thank you

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Structure of Email Body

The main structure of the email should ONLY contain must know & need to know
information.

Anything which is Good to know can be added. However, please remove any
information which is not needed in the email.

Email design approach

DOs

• Use Bullet points if multiple points to be mentioned

• Maintain consistency of Bullet points design
• Follow descending order of importance
• Use headers
• Use para break whenever there is a change in thought group
• Maintain indent
• Expand ad-hoc acronyms in first time usage

DON’Ts

• Do not use ‘Red’ font

• Do not exceed font size beyond ‘10’ or ‘11’
• Never use illegible font types
• Never use ‘Comic Sans’ font
• Avoid using upper case and bold
• Never send an email message written in capital letters, LIKE THIS
• Do not reply to everyone who received an email unless it’s relevant to them
• Avoid usage of text message lingo (pl, wlcm, k,)

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 • Never make spelling mistakes
• Never make grammar mistakes
• Beware of common punctuation usage – [Apostrophe]
• Avoid uncommon acronyms and abbreviations
• Do not use email for any illegal or unethical purpose

EMAIL SAMPLE

You are a job aspirant for the role of Quality Analyst in Victory Technologies.
You recently saw a job posting for an open position. Write and email the HR
Manager, Vinod Singh asking for details about the eligibility and interview.

Poor email

What are the issues with this email

• No proper salutation
• Poor structure
• Spelling mistakes
• Grammar mistakes
• Poor content in the body
• Lack of respect for the receiver
• No proper closing

Good email

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Why is this a good email

• Respectful salutation
• Introduction
• Main body has detailed content
• No mistakes with grammar, spellings and punctuation
• Summary
• Respectful tone for the receiver
• Proper closing

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 Module 7
Intrapersonal Skills
Understanding Self:

Just like our finger prints, we are all unique. They key is understand yourself, how
you are different. Working on oneself is the biggest assignment.

Especially, job aspirants, you cannot be busy copying others. There are certain
protocols which are expected to be uniform, example the way you dress formally.

Apart from those protocols, you should work hard to understand yourself. In the
interview room, it is all about playing with your strengths.

Self awareness is important because when we have a better understanding of

ourselves, we are able to experience ourselves as unique and separate individuals.
We are then empowered to make changes and to build on our areas of strength as
well as identify areas where we would like to make improvements. Self-awareness
is often a first step to goal setting. Self-awareness is being conscious of what
you're good at while acknowledging what you still have yet to learn. This includes
admitting when you don't have the answer and owning up to mistakes.

Some of the applicants might not be great with the language but they can be
amazing at their respective academic specialization, as an aspirant your focus
should be to showcase that skill as much as possible.

Before attending any interview, kindly make a small chart, and as per the
requirement of the job, spend some time on what are the qualities in you, which
will push them to hire you.

Once you understand yourself better, you will be able to present yourself better.

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How to build Confidence

Confidence, as defined is the ability to showcase belief on oneself. Failures can

help us become better but it is success which ultimately brings us the confidence
needed.

Some of us are born confident, while the rest of us progress gradually to become
confident.

Success gives us immense confidence.

Below steps can help us build confidence :

Start:

Usually people who are scared, they lose their confidence, Hence they find It
difficult, even to start the work.

As we all know, “First step is the most difficult step”.

Taking an example of Sachin Tendulkar, He scored Zero in his first three matches,
but what’s important is, he didn’t leave just because he scored a zero. Today
when we see, in India, he is a role model for every cricket aspirant.

Start, that’s the most important step.

Start preparing for your interviews, start believing you’ll crack the next interview
you attend.

Progress:

Once you start either good or bad, you have experienced now, you know how it is
going to be next time.

All you need to do is, maintain a journal, and keep track of all your performance.

What was good about your performance, how many people attended, did you
deliver at least half of what you planned etc.,

Next job interview you attend, you need to have a complete control your progress,
and turn it into amazing performance.

Habits:

Thousands of books have been written on habits of successful people. They have
the immense confidence to tackle any situations in life let it be personal or
professional life.

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They are organized, they take time to talk to themselves, and they do not have
any kind of addictions.

They spend their time wisely in their line of work, which helps them focus and
perform better, in turn making them feel confident.

Some of the effective habits have been, reading different books (might sound
boring, but once you get into the zone, you will never stop), waking up early
(again this could be tricky to listen to, but waking up early morning usually clears
your head, you will be able to focus on yourself), having a mentor (could be
father, mother, family member, a good teacher) etc.,

Instead People born after 1990, their entire life majorly is about spending time in
social networking. Talking to people face and face, striking some good
conversations etc., is on a decline. Suddenly when you have to be in real world,
you are nervous; your general confidence is down.

Make sure to build right habits to develop great confidence going forward.

Importance of Motivation

Motivation is the word derived from the word ’motive’ which means needs,
desires, wants or drives within the individuals. It is the process of stimulating
people to actions to accomplish the goals.

Motivation it does wonders to each one of us. Other way to speak of motivation is
to call it as magic.

There is nothing more beautiful than a positive energy that flows through us.

We all understand science. Why young people can perform better than older
people. Why kids are so vibrant in every home. The answer is simple, it is all
science. Science is all about energy.

Young age is all about absolutely being energetic. We learn an entire language i.e.,
mother tongue without anyone teaching us, only by observation we have learnt an
entire language. That is the beauty of sharp and focussed energy.

If we are motivated, we will be able to do the following:

• Using all our energy in one direction

• Improves level of efficiency
• Builds confidence
• You can make a network enough for a lifetime

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Using all our energy in one direction:

Energy without a direction, we will just end up being lost, as they say “Jack of all,
master of none”. Rite motivation helps us focus on one idea. As Swami
Vivekananda Says “Take up one idea. Make that one idea your life - think of it,
dream of it, and live on that idea. Let the brain, muscles, nerves, every part of
your body, be full of that idea, and just leave every other idea alone. This is the
way to success. “

To stay focussed on one idea until you enjoy the ultimate happiness and success,
it’s not just about hard work, it’s more of about your desire to stick to it, believe
in it, excel in whatever you do, and it requires that you stay motivated.

People, who underestimate the value of motivation, usually give up anything must
faster.

Improves level of efficiency

Efficiency is what makes each of us different and deficient. Efficiency can be

defined in multiple ways. Efficiency improves with the following:

• Love what you do

• Concentrate
• Reduce distractions
• Train your mind
• Never forget why you started

Love what you do:

Few of us do what we love and rest of us should learn to love what we do. Career
or personal life, if there is no heart in what we do, we never will be able to enjoy
or reach the peak of our efficiency.

As long as you are not skilled, you cannot expect great efficiency, as long as you
are doing any efficient work, you will not love what you do.

Concentrate:

Being good at something and being efficient at something are two different
entities. Being good will give you motivation to perform better. But being efficient
requires hours and days of effort.

Going that extra mile, in everything we do, requires a lot of concentration.

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Concentration is not as scary as it looks. Rite from school days, we always heard
different people say concentrate on what you do, well! all those people are either
successful because they concentrated well enough or they could never reach their
full potential in terms of efficiency because their level of concentration was bad.

Reduce distractions

Internet initially was invented for the purpose of sharing work of scientists
throughout the world. Gradually, internet was used by military, intelligence,
doctors and other highly deserving/qualified people.

Over a period of time internet spread across the world so rapidly, that today every
single adult and in some cases children have a mobile on their own.

All our life, we have trained to get distracted than to concentrate on anything.

Though internet has both good and bad, as the human nature goes we get
attracted to bad easily as good things requires effort, morale, positive attitude
etc.,

Social networking if used in rite way, can get us some amazing contacts, while
onto other end, addiction to anything beyond necessary can make us weak. As per
a research a common man on an average looks every 12 minutes. That’s a
staggering data. As we can clearly see with the data, the level of distraction is
quite high.

Distraction is not just in terms of looking at mobile, it is also in terms of getting

effected emotionally with the information.

Human mind is capable of reaching moon, human mind is capable of creating a

aeroplane, human mind is capable of saving thousands of patients with medical
advancement, human mind is capable of capturing great moments in life.

Don’t let anything take over human mind, for your mind is capable of doing some
wonderful things.

Train your mind

As we have already seen, capacity of a human mind is high. Just like you’ll have a
great body, if you work hard on it, even mind needs to be trained for it to be in its
best form.

• Knowledge is power – Reading is the best mind exercise

• Solving puzzles – Sudoku is one puzzle which will generally make our mind
master.

• Mathematical Equations – As simple as finding factors of different numbers

that you spot at road on different vehicles.
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 • Mentor Talk – Everyday spend some time with people who are better than
you.
• New Language – People who upgrade themselves with the ability to speak in
different languages are found to be sharp
• Revision – Everything that you learn, if you can constantly revise.

Never forget why you started

If you really want to take your efficiency to peaks, never forget why you started.
You started something because you found your mind and heart there. Every time
you want to procrastinate or push things away, remember why you started.

Nobody in this world every regretted finishing a thing, that was important.

Your primary goal is to crack an interview and see yourself placed, don’t get
discouraged just because you dint crack one interview, don’t get discouraged
because you din’t crack one, may be you are just one interview away before you
step into big professional world.

How to conquer FEAR

Each one of us is scared of something or the other. Never stop saying it to your
mind, there are things you can control and there are things you cannot control.

Things that you can control, you can definitely wipe the fear away. Things you
cannot control, well there is no point in getting scared.

In the interview room, a lot of candidates are scared, hence they do not perform
to the level expected.

Imagine, if all our freedom fighters were scared how we would never be able to
enjoy the hard earned freedom.

Fear is an unwanted emotion, or an emotion we experience when we are put

through unfamiliar situations or familiar situations which we could not handle
properly.

As the statement says, “Rome was not built in a day”.

Fear will not go away in a day. It’s a gradual process but it will go away.

Write down your biggest fear, make a plan to conquer it into possible short term
chunks.

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For example if you have a fear of attending interview, take one step at a time.

• First start preparing for all the questions.

• Watch some videos online
• Get trained by professionals
• Talk to your dearest friends, on areas to improve

Once you have done these basic steps. Before you attend your interview, tell
yourself, you are just interacting with strangers, and they will not remember you
after the interview, it’s okay to make mistakes.

Tell me about yourself, is going to be the definite question in any interview, hence
prepare it so well and talk to the interviewers.

Remember ? every friend was one day a stranger. And Interviewers were also
fresher’s one day.

They do not expect perfection from you, they expect information.

Just like our school days, when we were excited to show the teacher, if we’ve
done our homework and if we were ready with the chart work. Likewise don’t
think of cracking interview as the first step, take one step at a time.

Unleashing inner strength

Job aspirants, usually forget the fact that they are young and vibrant and they
have immense potential to unleash amazing things in their life.

Education and degree should give us confidence and power to understand ourselves
better, and keep pushing ourselves to the best of our abilities.

For example, Inner strength can be qualities like your leadership, team player,
ability to deal with pressure.

Until you participate in activities, you might not even know, you have these
qualities within you.

Only way to unleash your inner strength is by “participation”.

For example, “When a Canon engineer rested his hot iron on his pen by accident,
ink was ejected from the pen’s point a few moments later. This principle led to
the creation of the inkjet printer. “

Sometimes, you might not even know, your participation could lead to something
amazing.

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Penicillin, Microwave Oven, Pacemakers, X-Ray machine, Coca Cola,, Potato chips,
they all came to world because they were continuously working.

Now it’s your turn, you might perform better than you know, you might turn out to
be a great team lead with amazing leadership qualities going forward.

Remember participation is the key, as job aspirants, you should not be scared.

SWOT analysis

SWOT analysis is a proven technique to analyse oneself or a system. Starting from

sports to politics, SWOT analysis is applied across all the fields.

Divide into four columns:

Strengths – qualities which a company will find it useful

Example: Team player, leader, high performer, quick learner etc.,

Weakness- Your drawbacks, which you think you should work on

Example: fluency in English, nervousness etc.,

Opportunities-Exploring different opportunities, it can either be, your personal

references, through job portals, government training and placement programs
etc.,

Threat: Heavy competition, people with better academic performances etc.,

For the different jobs that you are applying kindly check what skills are they
looking at, and how many you possess and how many more you need to work on,
you need to keep updating your SWOT chart regularly Every time you update your
SWOT chart, you should make sure to get over your weakness by working on it.

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 Module 8
Interpersonal Skills
Importance of Interpersonal Skills

Skills we need for everyday survival. To communicate with others individually or in

the groups

People with strong interpersonal skills are often more successful in both their
professional and personal lives.

Interpersonal skills include a wide variety of skills, though many are centered
around communication, such as listening, understanding body language, being good
with EI(Emotional Intelligence), ability to respond smartly/sensitively.

Types of interpersonal skills required exclusively for students/Job Aspirants:

• Listening
• Verbal Communication
• Non-verbal Communication
• Team Work
• Patience
• Negotiation

Listening:

Job aspirant, at times, do not listen to the question properly and answer quickly.
For example, tell us something about yourself, which is not there in the resume?
Candidates do not listen to the “not there in the resume”, and continue to answer.

Also, as a fresher, your ability to listen, take down the notes etc., helps you
quickly solve others notice.

Verbal Communication:

Ability to speak relevant and grammatically rite sentences is the requirement for
all the job aspirants.

What you think is not important, what you speak matters in public life. Especially
in interview rooms or after getting job, the way you put forward your points, the
way you continue to use absolutely clean language even after being put in
pressure, all of this has a high impact where ever you are.

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Non-verbal Communication

Body language, facial expressions, general gestures, they fall under the category of
non-verbal communication.

As you can see in the above picture, non-verbal communication is 65%. The way
you want into interview cabin, the way you make yourself comfortable, the way
you confidently smile while greeting your interviewers, the way you politely
answer, the way you thank them while leaving the room, the way you gently close
the door on your way back, all of this makes a high impact.

Team Work

As a popular quote goes, “Coming together is a beginning, keeping together is a

progress, and working together is success”.

Especially for your project based questions, most the students end up answering “I
was the team lead in the project, I did everything in the project” etc., Companies
don’t appreciate the tone of I, A good leader is the one who shares credit but
takes the blame alone.

And also, as a fresher you might not be hired for a lead position, so good team
member is the requirement of the day.

Any initiations you have taken, certainly can be put up.

Patience

Patience is not the ability to wait, but how you act while you’re waiting.

Patience in the interview room, patience in the job is not an obligation, rather it’s
an expectation.

People who are patient have a long way to go. This is the biggest strength anyone
can possess. If you already have fantastic, otherwise it’s time to work on.
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Negotiation

Negotiation is not an art to get the best price for everything, negotiation is an art
to slip through your idea into others head and convince them.

For example, why should I hire you is a classic case of negotiation. You are helping
them understand, how the qualities in you will add value to their organization.

Importance of Interpersonal Skills for Students/Job Aspirants

1. It helps them ask their doubts from teachers and learn better
2. Helps in building good relationships with their peer group, teachers, family
members and society
3. Boost their confidence and personality development
4. Helps them express their thoughts/ideas and feelings to their parents,
teachers or classmates to get help/support
5. Improves their social status as they interact and entertain their friends and
acquaintances
6. It helps them value the diversity, individual respect and different
customs in the society
7. With better soft skills, a person is considered more ethical and gets respect
in society

Working with People

In the interviews, when the candidates say, “am a good team player”, Interviewer
might ask a follow up question, “can you demonstrate where you showed your
team player skills”.

This is where candidates are a little lost, suddenly, they do not know, what to
answer exactly; hence they give very random answers.

Instead you need to structure your answer properly. For example, During my
college fest, we organized an event, We had to deal with people in position of
power (Principal, HOD etc.,), we had to talk to sponsors, we had to sit through

every day in the night to measure our progress and work on details to conduct a
successful event.

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Usually companies check your ability to work with people, when they ask a
question are you willing to relocate, their intention behind that will be, how
comfortable are you working with people who you never met before, or how
quickly you can appreciate different cultures etc.,

Working with people is both fun and challenging in its own way. If you are working
with like-minded people, it is fun but if you are working with different mind-sets
you might find it little challenging.

Working with people, you should learn to build the following things:

• Appreciate other’s work

• Don’t be in a hurry to snatch credit – everyone eventually gets their due
credit for good work
• Do not make fun of other’s culture, race, creed, caste
• Respect each-others work – Give respected and take respect
• Overcome your fear of being with different people
• Have conversations that are not easy

These are the basic expectations, any organizations would expect.

Importance of Feedback

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Feedback both good and bad, help us become better. Feedback especially in this
generation is taken as criticism, feedback is not criticism, and it is constructive
criticism.

Positive feedback not only instills confidence, but also motivates us to perform
even better next time.

If the interviewer says, that’s a good answer that is also a feedback which will help
you.

Sometimes, you might think, you are very good at something but you got a
negative feedback on the same, for example you prepared best of your resume,
and you are very impressed with it, however your interviewer shows displeasure on
the same, you are either furious or you end up thinking interviewer is just being
unfair. None of that is true, we all take reference to make resume from someone
or the other, and the interviewer might not like it, for certain reasons, so that
next time you will have a better resume.

The choice of words for giving a feedback is important, if you really want someone
to grow. Likewise, if you receive a negative feedback, it doesn’t mean you are
bad, it just means you haven’t focused on certain aspects, which others could
easily identify.

More importantly, your enthusiasm to take feedback is important.

Managing Conflicts & Ego

Unless ego doesn’t go away from us, we will never be able to enjoy or live our life
to the fullest, let it be, personal or professional life.
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Kids who are about 3 years old, these days, we often hear the word “bored”. Some
parents immediately react to that and either give them a gadget or play some
cartoon for them. Child is happy and parents think they have done a good job as
well. Instead of reacting may be they respond, they ask the child

”why are you bored?”, “It’s okay to be bored at times” child might crib and cry for
some time, but they will soon find a toy and play.

Ego is an unfortunate reaction we give to different situations of life, while

common sense, patience are the response to different situation.

Usually a clash of ego occurs, when two or more people have this fanatic urge to
be right. As some researchers say ego is a result of “Jealousy, lack of proper
communication, lack of long term vision”

Family, friends, colleagues, neighbors, we hear of ego issues almost everywhere.

Ego satisfaction as we say is just a momentary happiness, in the bigger picture,

people with high ego do not have peace of mind. Underestimating others ideas,
ignoring the facts.

Example, you have a thief, but we cannot call him thief, until proven everyone is
innocent. There is a lawyer who wants to prove he is thief, and there is lawyer,
who wants to prove he is innocent, at the end of the day, only one wins, the one
who has better negotiation skill, the one who has put forward facts.

Likewise, at workplace, spending enough time to research on things, before you

take up, and sticking by facts while nourishing your negotiation skills will help you
handle your ego better. People will also think twice before messing up with you.
And every day your job is not to prove you are rite, every day we are inching a
step close to become better, productive and enjoy our work/personal time.

There is a statement, “If everyone is thinking alike, there is someone who is not
thinking”, difference of opinions is healthy, they give us a new perspective. When
we aggressively react to it, we end up taking it to our ego, even if we realize we
are wrong, we don’t want to politely apologize, as you believe you will damage
your image.

Work on the following so that, you don’t ever push things hard enough to arise an
ego conflict:

• Listen to others completely

• Rely on facts and not assumptions
• We cannot be rite always, think twice before you act
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 • Work on your skill, so that people believe in your judgement better
• It’s okay to make mistakes
• Everything is not life and death, so you don’t have to react onto same level
for everything, let go off things at times for the future
• Patience

• Silence can give us an edge than words when we are angry

• Everything is not about you, everybody is good at something

Team building

TogetherEveryoneAchievesMore

Stages of team building:

• Coming together
• Thinking together
• Performing together
• Succeeding Together

Coming together

Right people rite time, is all we need for success. But it rarely happens, rite
people don’t just walk in rite time. Hence group of people once they come
together, we need to form a team out of it.

We should assess our strengths and weakness and form a team.

Thinking together

Brain storming is the word; people have to discuss the ideas before narrowing
down on the executing.

Discussions can be exhaustive, discussions can lead to healthy arguments, but

discussions certainly will help us get a good plan.

Performing together

Once we have assessed our team, prepare an execution plan, now it’s time to work
on it.

If everything goes as per the plan there is nothing to worry about, as each
individual has a different skill set, it become challenging to implement, but never

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the less, this is where your team player skills, leadership skills come into the
picture.

How well, you can go that extra mile to help your team members, how well you
can train your colleagues, how quickly you can learn from others, how well you can
take responsibility.

Succeeding Together

Billions worth projects with some great minds, failed to execute because people
were running for individual success.

A group of individuals always fail, but a team always wins!

Work together, learn together and grow together !

Leadership skills

A leader is someone who takes both responsibility and risk. Ordering others to do
their work is just being boss but helping your team succeed is being a leader.

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 Leader who shares responsibility

Students usually in interview say, I possess leadership qualities, when the

interviewer asks them to demonstrate the same, they get confused.

If you have the following qualities you can become a great leader:

• Competent – Skilled
• Responsible
• Shares the credit
• Ability to take risk
• Confident
• Emotionally matured
• Ability to handle pressure
• Ability to work on feedback
• Decision maker
• Great listener
• Highly patient
• Never letting others down
• Ability to put ego aside
• Ability to resolve conflicts in a smart way
• Not in-secured by team members growth
• Team goals first and personal goals next
• Enthusiastic
• Solution oriented
• Trust worthy
• First person to come and last person to leave
• Ability to nurture others

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 Module 9
Social Responsibility

Introduction

Social responsibility is an ethical theory, in which individuals are accountable for

fulfilling their civic duty; the actions of an individual must benefit the whole of
society. In this way, there must be a balance between economic growth and the
welfare of society and the environment.

The theory of social responsibility is built on a system of ethics, in which

decisions and actions must be ethically validated before proceeding. If the
action or decision causes harm to society or the environment then it would be
considered to be socially irresponsible.

Moral values that are inherent in society create a distinction between right and
wrong. In this way, social fairness is believed (by most) to be in the “right”, but
more frequently than not this “fairness” is absent.

Every individual has a responsibility to act in manner that is beneficial to society

and not solely to the individual.

There are four levels of social responsibility in terms of business :

• Economic - Responsibility of the business to be profitable

• Legal - Businesses must comply with the law and regulations
• Ethical - Choose the action that causes the least, if any, harm
• Philanthropic - Idea that businesses should give back

ISR or individual social responsibility refers to our awareness of how our actions
affect the community as a whole. ISR can include volunteering time, giving money,
and standing up for issues that affect the rights of others.

Definitions:

Social responsibility is an ethical framework and suggests that an entity, be it an

organization or individual, has an obligation to act for the benefit of society at
large.
Social responsibility is a duty every individual has to perform so as to
maintain a balance between the economy and the ecosystems.

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Individual Social Responsibility (ISR):

Individual Social responsibility involves respecting individual and cultural

differences. Finding admirable qualities in others, especially those who appear to
be quite different physically, mentally, or in personality style, are acts of being a
responsible person.
Social responsibility relates to good citizenship. Individuals withskillsin this
area actively take part in community building projects on a regular basis.

The concept of Individual Social Responsibility has several strands:

• The degree to which people minimize their negative impact on others.
• The positive benefits people bring to the community and to society in
general.
• The positive steps people make to minimize their environmental impact.
• Following a code of ethics.
• Being more “We than Me”

So, in summary, then we can perhaps see Individual Social Responsibility as “The
continuing commitment to behave ethically and contribute to people’s
development while improving the quality of life of other individuals, groups, teams
as well as society at large”

82
Some examples of the lack of individual social responsibility and the possible
consequences are as follows:

➢ Cars parking on yellow lines = dangerous overtaking is needed, traffic flows

are blocked

➢ Cyclists dressed in black and with no lights on at night = little visibility for
others = accidents/personal injury

➢ Litter = someone has to pick it up (at a cost to “society”)

➢ Speeding = a dangerous practice causing loss of life and accidents (that

always happen to someone else)

➢ Not voting in a democracy = cultural apathy

➢ Not responding to requests for public consultation, e.g. on planning

regulations = views “they” do what they want

Overall, not thinking about the effect our behaviour has on others

By not challenging outdated rules and procedures that we know are wrong, we
merely “continue to row the boat we know” yet “if we always do, what we have
always done, then we will always get, what we always have got”.

Citizen responsibility in today’s society:

a) Community Building:
• Community building is a field of practices directed toward the creation or
enhancement of community among individuals within a regional area or with
a common interest.
Example: participate in activities that enrich or enhance the opportunities for
learning, service / Entertainment among people etc.,

b) Service:
• Doing something without compensation to help others experiencing stress,
personal loss, or discomfort.

Example: Donating blood and Organize a community blood drive, For your next
birthday, ask for charitable donations instead of gifts, Help register people to
vote etc.

83
c) Teaching/Training:
• Assisting another person to change or learn new skills, knowledge, and
attitudes

Example: Tutor children during or after school etc., Sponsor a child etc.,

d) Empathy:

• The ability to experience the feelings of someone else as if they were your
own

• The projection of one's own personality into the personality of another in

order to understand the person better; ability to share in another's
emotions, thoughts, or feelings

Example: Listening, Opening up on the discussion, Offer physical affection,

focusing your attention outwards.

e) Multicultural Understanding

• The experience of a positive relationship with someone different from

yourself in terms of culture, language, social condition, or history.

Example: Greater understanding, sensitivity, and appreciation of the history,

values, experiences, and lifestyles of groups etc..,

f) Social Ethics and Morals

• Morality refers to the social norms and values that guide both individuals
and their interaction with their fellow human beings and communities, and
with their environment.

• Ethics is a systematic and critical analysis of morality, of the moral

factors that guide human conduct in a particular society or practice.

Example: Honesty and loyalty, Respect for work, Punctuality, regularity,

Discipline, Courtesy and politeness with others, judicious use of
resources and Taking initiatives etc..,

g) Caregiving

84
 • Doing something on a regular, sustained basis to nurture and sustain another
person.

Example: Adopting or sponsoring a kid and donating to orphanage etc., h)

Social Consciousness
• It is important for a human being to be well aware of the society wherein
he lives.
• Socio-political consciousness helps the individuals in the society to
make maximum use of collective life as it is through social life that
human beings have made marvellous achievements.

i) Responsibilities towards the environment:

• Society and its environment is a collection of all the animate and

inanimate objects and the relationship among these components.
• Interdependence of all the parts of the environment is important for a
balanced world.
•
Example: For Some key responsibilities: Discovering the local environment,
valuing and conserving water, care for the pets, planting a tree, recycle-
reuse-reduce, think globally and act locally etc..,

j) Cleanliness

• Cleanliness is a habit or state of the surrounding or our self that is a state of

being clean and free from dirt.

• Cleanliness is only achieved by the cleaning activity by cleaning yourself and

our surrounding by various activities. Cleanliness is a good habit to leave a
very good and healthy life.

• The cleanliness leads to a healthy and happy life. Besides keeping safe our
body from the various diseases, it also develops the positive vibes for the
spirit. Everyone needs to develop the habit of a regular cleaning.

Exercises

85
Name and discuss at least two companies you believe to be socially
responsible. Address each of the four areas of social responsibility in your
discussion.

Example:(Warren Buffet, Bill and Melinda Gates, Mark Zuckerberg (Facebook),

GMR etc..,)

Team activity for listing out ISR they have abided so far/ will take up in the
future.

86
 Module 10
Growth dynamics & Job Opportunities in AP

Swarnandhra
The Government of Andhra Pradesh (GoAP) envisions remoulding the State of
Andhra Pradesh (AP) as “A Happy and Globally Competitive Society”. It proposes to
do this by becoming one among the three most developed states in India by 2022,
when India celebrates its 75th year of independence.
While the objective is to achieve the status of a developed state by the year 2029,
it is envisioned that Andhra Pradesh will become a leading global destination by
the year 2050.
Overview of AP’s Economy
Andhra Pradesh is the 8th largest state of India with 13% of India’s coastline.
Andhra Pradesh clocked ₹ 6,07,388 Crores GSDP in FY 2017-18, Andhra Pradesh’s
GSDP is currently growing at more than 11% and more than 10% growth across
agriculture, manufacturing and services sectors.
At the current rate of growth (business as usual), the projected size of Andhra
Pradesh’s economy is estimated to grow by 2029 to around INR 12.5 Lakh Crore (at
2014-15 prices), roughly three times the size of the current economy. The per
capita income during the same period is projected to grow by about 2.5 times to
about Rs.1.12 lakhs (at 2014-15 prices).
Andhra Pradesh has been the national leader in Ease of Doing Business (EODB),
enacting reforms consistently for the last two years. It was ranked second in 2015
and was the leading state in 2016 and 2018.
Further 12 airports and 14 ports are being developed in Andhra Pradesh as India’s
gateway to the east.1
Government of Andhra Pradesh (GoAP), in collaboration with the Confederation of
Indian Industry (CII) and the Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion (DIPP),
has organised three Partnership Summits in Visakhapatnam, one each in 2016, 2017
and 2018, showcasing investment opportunities and highlighting investor friendly
policies.2
The Summits resulted in 1,594 MOUs have been signed, with an investment
potential of Rs.15.21 lakh crores and creation of 32.53 lakh jobs. In fact, the
conversion rate of MOUs in AP has been 30–40%, whereas in other states it is 10–
15%.

1
http://apedb.gov.in/newsletter/apedb-newsletter-july-2018-issue5-english.pdf
2
http://apedb.gov.in/newsletter/apedb-newsletter-july-2018-issue5-english.pdf
87
Focus Sectors

Andhra Pradesh has identified 10 focus sectors to drive industrial growth, i.e.
Aerospace &Defence, Agro& Food processing, Automobile, Electronics, Energy, Life
sciences, Leather, Mineral based industries, Petroleum & petrochemicals, Textile
and apparel. Focused industrial policies have been developed in the sectors of
Aerospace and Defence manufacturing, Biotechnology, Automobile and Auto
Components, Electronics, Food Processing, Retail, Textile and Apparel, Solar
manufacturing with a major emphasis on Industrial development and MSME sectors.
From 2014−18, GoAP has finalized 512 projects in the manufacturing sector, with a
committed investment of Rs.4,32,384 crores and creation of 10,86,361 jobs. Of
them, 171 projects are underway, with an investment of Rs.44,299 crores,
employing 95,639 persons. 3
Table 1: Marque Investments in Andhra Pradesh

Established Under Implementation

Isuzu Kia Motors
Foxconn Apollo Tyres
Berger Paints Ashok Leyland
Pepsico Greenply
Gamesa Jain Food Park
Dixon Hero Motors
Celkon Asian Paints
Mondelez Patanjali

During the last four years, 29,020 MSMEs have been established with an investment
of Rs.13,053 crores, generating employment for 3,36,811 persons. From June 2014,
the Government has allocated Rs.3,001 crores towards industrial incentives, out of
which Rs.1,364 crores has been released. There is a dedicated MSME Corporation,
with a corpus fund of Rs.100 crore, to focus on the development of this sector.

3
Ibid
88
GoAP also has an M-Parks Policy focusing on establishing 175 state of-the-art MSME
Parks with plug and-play facilities. 8,926 cents of land has already been identified
in 96 assembly constituencies. 4

The efforts of GoAP has produced creditable results, with the growth of the
industrial sector, in 2016−17, in AP, touching 10.16% − higher than the national
average of 8.31%.5

4
Ibid
5
Ibid
89
Industry ecosystem in Andhra Pradesh
3.1 Automotive sector overview

Figure 1: Automotive clusters in AP

Vijayawada
India’s largest auto 1. Jawaharlal Nehru Auto
entrants in the last two Nagar – Asia’s biggest Auto
years have invested in Industrial Estate & South
Andhra Pradesh India’s largest truck body
building cluster
2. 2000+ Automobile servicing/
1. Forge – India’sUnits
BharatManufacturing largest
exporter of Auto Components
to set up Auto Components
park

Anantapur Chittoor
1. Kia Motors along with 1.
Sri City - One of India’s largest
subsidiaries & vendors auto hubs with presence of Auto
– Production plant is & Auto component
live and recruitment is manufacturers
ongoing 2. ISUZU – rolled out its first pick
up truck in April’16 from its
facility in Sri City
3. Hero MotoCorp – Facility for 2-
Vijayawada, Nellore, Chittoor and Anantapur are poised towheelerbecome a strong
manufacturing hub
set to
start civil works
for Automobile & Auto Components. Vijayawada is home to Asia’s biggest Autond
4. Amara Raja Group – India’s 2
Industrial Estate and South India’s largest truck body building cluster
largest in Jawaharlal
automotive brand, will
Nehru Auto Nagar. There are more than 2000 automobile servicing/manufacturing
expand its operations in Chittoor
5. Apollo Tyres – One of India’s
units. Nellore is home to Bharat Forge, India’s largest largestexporter of Auto
tyre manufacturers will
Components. set up a tyre mfg plant in
Chittoor
Anantapur is home to KIA Motors and its subsidiaries, who have invested
approximately USD 2 Bn. Chittoor is home to ISUZU, Hero MotoCorp, Amara Raja
Group, Apollo Tyres. Chittoor also hosts Sri City, One of India’s largest auto hubs
and Electronics Parks with presence of Auto & Auto component manufacturers and
Electronic R&D, design, manufacturing and assembly operations.
Andhra Pradesh is one of the front runners for the prestigious INR 300 billion (USD
462 million) Coastal Economic Zone (CEZ), to be implemented by the centre in
partnership with the state government to attract globally competitive industries
and create large scale employment opportunities6.

6
https://assets.kpmg.com/content/dam/kpmg/in/pdf/2018/02/AP-report-full.pdf
90
3.2 Aerospace and Defence sector overview

Figure 2:Aerospace and Defence clusters in AP

Kurnool Visakhapatnam
1. Upcoming DRDO Missile Testing 1. Eastern Naval Command HQ
Project near Orvakal 2. World class MRO facility, air
cargo complex at proposed
Bhogapuram Mega Aerotropolis
West Godavari Bhogapuram 3. Hindustan Shipyard in
1. VEM Technologies’ Visakhapatnam Visakhapatnam
Rambilli 4. Upcoming naval shipbuilding
Weapons integration
facility facility by RelianceDefence at
Rambilli
5. MoU signed between GoAP and
Machilipat United ShippingCorporation
Orvakal nam (Russia)

Krishna
Anantapur
1. BEL’s Advanced Night Vision
1. Upcoming BEL Defence Gudipalli
products unit at Machilipatnam
Palasamudram
Systems Integration 2. Missile launch testing station at
Complex at Tirupati Sriharikota Nagayalanka
Palasamudram
2. Vittal Innovation City to
Nellore, Chittoor
set up a dedicated A&D
Park near Palasamudram 1. ISRO Main Satellite Launch
3. Upcoming multimodal Station at Sriharikota
manufacturingfacility 2. National Atmospheric Research
by Bharat Forgenear Laboratory near Tirupati
Gudipalli

Andhra Pradesh will be home to 12 airports by 2020, 1 Greenfield Aetropolis to

come up in over 7500 acres in Visakhapatnam with a state-of-the-art MRO facility.
INR 20,000 crore of new investments are envisaged for the sector by 2020.
Aerospace and Defence parks are planned to come up in Anantapur and Chittoor/
Pottisriramulu Nellore districts7

3.3 Food processing sector overview

7
https://www.apindustries.gov.in/apindus/UserInterface/SingleWindowServicesApplication/Public/
AerospaceAndDefencePolicy.aspx
91
 Figure 3: Food processing clusters in AP

AP is India’s largest producer of fruits, eggs, and a top state in marine exports

✓ 3000+ Food Processing

units
✓ 11 Food Parks
✓ Multiple Agri-Export
Zones & Cold Chain
Facilities

₹23,846 crore Foreign Direct Investment inflow to the sector during 2013-14, AP is
1st in the world in production of banana, mango, papaya, chickpea, garlic, ginger,
and okra. AP is 2nd in the world in production of sugarcane, rice, potatoes,
groundnut, dry onion, green pea, pumpkin, gourds, cauliflower, tea, tomatoes,
lentils, wheat and cow milk. 42 mega food parks are being set up with an
investment of Rs 9,800 crore.

3.4 Petrochemical sector overview

Figure 4: A thriving petrochemical hub

Home to maximum oil and 92

gas discoveries in India in
the past 2 decades (71 Visakhapatnam
discoveries in last 5 years
till Jan. 2016) • India’s first underground rock cavern
for emergency oil reserves
• Proposed brownfield expansion of
 Andhra Pradesh Petroleum, Chemicals & Petrochemicals Investment Region (PCPIR)
spread across 603 sq. km. in the state for establishing manufacturing and services
facilities for domestic and export led production in the industry. India’s largest
offshore gas field in Krishna – Godavari Basin spread across 50,000 sq.km. LPG
bottling plants in Krishna and Kurnool districts. HPCL brownfield refinery in
Visakhapatnam planned for capacity expansion from 8.3 MMTPA to 15 MMTPA
within 5 years. ₹3,43,000 crore (US $ 51.4 billion) envisaged investment in the
sector by 2020-22.8

3.5 Textile sector overview

Figure 5: Potential textile zones in the State

PRAKASAM
• Concentrated spinning Weaving, SRIKAKULAM
industry
8 in & around
https://www.apindustries.gov.in/apindus/UserInterface/SingleWindowServicesApplication/Public/
Processing &
• Coastline suitable for Made ups VIZIANAGARAM Readymade
PetroleumAndPetroChemicals.aspx
processing Garments &
93 VISAKHAPATNAM Technical Textiles

EAST
WESTGODAVARI
GODAVARI
ANANTAPUR VISAKHAPATNAM
Readymade KRISH • Existence of 2 Apparel
Andhra Pradesh is famous for Dharmavaram silk, Venkatagiri sarees, Chirala sarees,
and Ponduru khadi etc. 25 lakh bales (provisional) production of cotton in 2015-16.
₹6,000 crore of new investments envisaged in the sector by 2020. 9
Operational Textile and Apparel parks in AP:
a) Brandix India Apparel City (BIAC) - A unique, integrated apparel supply
chain city spread over 1,000 acres in the port city of Visakhapatnam.
b) Integrated Textile Park (ITP) coming up at Edlapadu on Guntur-Chennai
National Highway is expected to give fillip to textile industry.
c) Chennai-Bengaluru Industrial Corridor (CBIC): An industrial hub is
proposed in the Krishnapatnam node encompassing textiles and apparel
industries.
d) Gandrajuaplli- Chittoor Silk and Garments Cluster coming up at Chittoor
district in Andhra Pradesh in 100 Acres is expected to give fillip to Silk and
Garments clusters
e) Piler – Chittoor District Silk and Garments Cluster – Piler in Chittoor
district in envisaged to host another Silk and Garments cluster
f) Raidurg- Anantpur Garment Cluster – Raidurg- Anantpur Garments cluster
is envisaged to be developed as one the leading garment clusters in the
state.

9
https://www.apindustries.gov.in/apindus/UserInterface/SingleWindowServicesApplication/Public/
TextileAndApparelPolicy.aspx
94
 3.6 Mineral based industries overview

Figure 6: Mineral wealth and potential for mineral based industries

₹10,000 crore worth of

minerals produced in
Andhra Pradesh in
2014-15. 2nd largest
source in India of
calcite and limestone. 9.2% growth in sectoral contribution from mines and
minerals. Exclusive quarry zones being identified around Visakhapatnam, Guntur &
Chittoor districts.10

3.7 Solar sector overview

Figure 7: Solar Cell/ Module and Wind Blade manufacturing plants in AP

700 MW Solar Cells &

500 MW Solar Modules Manufacturing unit
USD 418 Mn. (INR 2,800 cr.)

1000 MW Multicrystalline Solar PV

10
https://www.apindustries.gov.in/apindus/UserInterface/SingleWindowServicesApplication/Public
Cell Manufacturing Unit
/Mineral_Based_Industries.aspx
USD 179 Mn. (INR 1,200 cr.)
95
VISAKHAPATNAM

Blade and Nacelle Manufacturing facility

USD 149 Mn. (INR 1000 crores)
Andhra Pradesh is the 1st state in south India to assure 24x7 power to industrial and
domestic sectors. AP recorded 36.3% growth in installed capacity from August 2015
to August 2016. 9,500 MW nuclear power plant is upcoming at Kavvada,
Srikakulam. 4,000 MW thermal power plants to be set up in Srikakulam and
Visakhapatnam. 255 MU estimated energy requirement in the state in 2029-30.11

3.8 District and Sector wise estimated employment opportunities:

11
https://www.apindustries.gov.in/apindus/UserInterface/SingleWindowServicesApplication/Public
/Energy.aspx
96
97