A few weeks ago, I got a message from my friend saying that a guy had committed suicide. I seriously thought that this guy was playing a prank on me. Later I discovered the truth. He did commit suicide. I had always seen this guy to be one with great self-esteem and self-confidence. Then why out of nowhere should he take this decision. That was all people spoke for a couple of months. Everyone had only one question. The same question, to be exact. Why?

Now thinking about this issue of suicide, I did a little research and the results I got were too shocking. Statistics show that every five minutes, someone, somewhere in India, attempts suicide. This makes suicide the third major cause of death. Also, annually more than 1,00,000 people commit suicide in India, of which one-thirds are youth.  Diverse backgrounds, diverse goals and diverse opinions! But same decision!

Today, the youth in India form one of the most vulnerable groups, who on the one hand are expected to be the leaders, the backbone of tomorrow’s India, while on the other hand, are a demoralized and confused cluster. There is an imbalance between the youth population and the limited opportunities for admission in schools and colleges, and specifically in professional courses. This puts the youth under great pressure. First class and second class are hardly adequate results anymore.  Parents are helpless too, as both public and private institutions have caused economic burden to them. If you think getting admission is the toughest thing that youth can ever experience, rethink! Placements are another hell. You need to get everything right. And even after getting placed, the comparison in relation to the pay received, causes all the more pain. A person with the pleasure of working but with limited salary is certainly not welcome in this society. People have come to a point where they are ready to trade their work pleasure for money. Tough deadlines and hectic work atmosphere have taken the lives of many youth.

Friendships and relationships have also played equal parts in this gamble for life. Youth are too sensitive to sort any sort of relationship problem. The problem may be anything; fight with best friends, bitter misunderstanding with girlfriend/ boyfriend followed by an even bitter break-up, family issues with parents fighting over their lives or over financial issues. But the youth are greatly affected. They bundle up all these grievances in their hearts and eventually give their hearts a complete rest so they will never have to face the same, again.

There are plenty of youth who have followed their heart to be what they wanted to be. But the fact that this suicide virus is taking away the lives of millions of youth is alarming. Something has to be done to cripple it. In battle between the thirst to have their dream life and the urge to fulfill the expectation of the society, many are shattered. While a very few regain their stand, the rest take the ultimate decision of ending their lives.

Untreated depression is the number one cause for suicide.

Untreated mental illness (including depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, and others) is the cause for the vast majority of suicides. Also, some people are genetically predisposed to depression, and thus they may not appear to be undergoing any negative life experiences, yet still become depressed, and may die by suicide.

So, some people die by suicide because of a depression that was caused by genetics. You probably have heard about some individuals who died by suicide and did not exhibit any symptoms or appear to have any serious problems. In these cases, it is possible that the person had depression that occurred because of this genetic factor. It is very rare that someone dies by suicide because of one cause. Thus, there are usually several causes, and not just one, for suicide. Many people die by suicide because depression is triggered by several negative life experiences, and the person does not receive treatment – or does not receive effective treatment – for the depression. (Some people need to go through several treatments until they find one that works for them.)

Some of the negative life experiences that may cause depression, and some other causes for depression, include:

• The death of a loved one.
• A divorce, separation, or breakup of a relationship.
• Losing custody of children, or feeling that a child custody decision is not fair.
• A serious loss, such as a loss of a job, house, or money.
• A serious illness.
• A terminal illness.
• A serious accident.
• Chronic physical pain.
• Intense emotional pain.
• Loss of hope.
• Being victimized (domestic violence, rape, assault, etc).
• A loved one being victimized (child murder, child molestation, kidnapping, murder, rape, assault, etc.).
• Physical abuse.
• Verbal abuse.
• Sexual abuse.
• Unresolved abuse (of any kind) from the past.
• Feeling "trapped" in a situation perceived as negative.
• Feeling that things will never "get better."
• Feeling helpless.
• Serious legal problems, such as criminal prosecution or incarceration.
• Feeling "taken advantage of."
• Inability to deal with a perceived "humiliating" situation.
• Inability to deal with a perceived "failure."
• Alcohol abuse.
• Drug abuse.
• A feeling of not being accepted by family, friends, or society.
• A horrible disappointment.
• Feeling like one has not lived up to his or her high expectations or those of another.
• Bullying. (Adults, as well as children, can be bullied.)
• Low self-esteem.

SUICIDE – A FACT

Incidence and Rate of suicidal deaths in India (1989-2011)

Year	Suicide Incidence			Estimated Mid-year Population (in lakhs)	Suicide Rate(per 100,000)
	Male	Female	Total
1989	40212	28532	68744	8118	8.47
1990	43451	30460	73911	8270	8.94
1991	46324	32126	78450	8496	9.23
1992	47481	32668	80149	8677	9.24
1993	49851	34393	84244	8838	9.53
1994	52752	36443	89195	8999	9.91
1995	52357	36821	89178	9160	9.74
1996	51206	37035	88241	9319	9.47
1997	56281	39548	95829	9552	10.03
1998	61686	43027	104713	9709	10.79
1999	65488	45099	110587	9866	11.21
2000	66032	42561	108593	10021	10.8
2001	66314	42192	108506	10270	10.6
2002	69332	41085	110417	10506	10.5
2003	70221	40630	110851	10682	10.4
2004	72651	41046	113697	10856	10.5
2005	72916	40998	113914	11028	10.3
2006	75702	42410	118112	11198	10.5
2007	79295	43342	122637	11366	10.8
2008	80544	44473	125017	11531	10.8
2009	81471	45680	127151	11694	10.9
2010	87180	47419	134599	11858	11.4
2011	87839	47746	135585	12102	11.2

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Age and Gender wise profiles of those who died by suicide in India (Year: 2011)

Occupational profiles of those who died by suicide in India (Year: 2011)

Percentage share of various states of India in incidence of suicides  (Year: 2011) 

Importance of Training and Development

Optimum Utilization of Human Resources – Training and Development helps in optimizing the utilization of human resource that further helps the employee to achieve the organizational goals as well as their individual goals. Development of Human Resources – Training and Development helps to provide an opportunity and broad structure for the development of human resources’ technical and behavioral skills in an organization. It also helps the employees in attaining personal growth. Development of skills of employees – Training and Development helps in increasing the job knowledge and skills of employees at each level. It helps to expand the horizons of human intellect and an overall personality of the employees. ·         Productivity – Training and Development helps in increasing the productivity of the employees that helps the organization further to achieve its long-term goal. ·         Team spirit – Training and Development helps in inculcating the sense of team work, team spirit, and inter-team collaborations. It helps in inculcating the zeal to learn within the employees. ·         Organization Culture – Training and Development helps to develop and improve the organizational health culture and effectiveness. It helps in creating the learning culture within the organization. ·         Organization Climate – Training and Development helps building the positive perception and feeling about the organization. The employees get these feelings from leaders, subordinates, and peers. ·         Quality – Training and Development helps in improving upon the quality of work and work-life. ·         Healthy work environment – Training and Development helps in creating the healthy working environment. It helps to build good employee, relationship so that individual goals aligns with organizational goal. ·         Health and Safety – Training and Development helps in improving the health and safety of the organization thus preventing obsolescence. ·         Morale – Training and Development helps in improving the morale of the work force. ·         Image – Training and Development helps in creating a better corporate image. ·         Profitability – Training and Development leads to improved profitability and more positive attitudes towards profit orientation. Training and Development aids in organizational development i.e. Organization gets more effective decision making and problem solving. It helps in understanding and carrying out organisational policies. It also helps in developing leadership skills, motivation, loyalty, better attitudes, and other aspects that successful workers and managers usually display.

Resume Writing Tips:

There is more to a C.V. than meets the eye. Your C.V. is your first communication with your prospective employer. It serves as a personal advertisement for you and it must be organized in a manner to make it interesting, informative, yet brief, and good enough to take you to the next stage i.e. ‘INTERVIEW’.

There are Two Types of C.V.’s :
• Chronological Format:
Here the experience is given in the reverse chronological order & with specific dates.
• Functional Format:


Experienced group by functions / dept – e.g.- Sales – Mktg, Purchase, Personnel, etc. no specific dates.
We recommend the chronological format as Employers & Personnel Manager are used to it. Based on your experience, make a choice. It can also be a combination of both.
Don’t miss on any essential information that should be there in every C.V. Be factually accurate in your CV. Most critical , do not misrepresent yourself.

Tips
• Always accompany your resume with a cover letter.
• Do not fake your resume.
• Simplicity is the key, Use a clear, simple. Legible font.
• Use good paper; it does not have to be the most expensive kind.
• Check your grammar and spelling.
• Do not write, "Resume" on your resume.
• Do give your full name, address and telephone number, so the employer can contact you.
• Write a strong statement of your goals taking care not to exaggerate.
• Keep your resume concise but informative as far as stating your education goes. List out special skills and highlight any extraordinary job skills you might have. Use bullets if necessary.
• If you are looking for an entry level position, put your educational qualification right after your goal.
• If you have experience, list your jobs first, starting with the most recent one. Indicate how long you were at each job. Mention all projects (however small) you worked on at each job, your role in the project, how you accomplished the assigned tasks.
• Mention awards and honours you may have received, papers you may presented.
• If you are just out of college, and do not have any experience, elaborate on projects you may have worked on. This will give the employer an idea of how you may fare in job atmosphere.
• Mention that references will be available upon request

SOFT SKILL BHILAI: Young India lacks soft skills: Survey

SOFT SKILL BHILAI: Young India lacks soft skills: Survey: White Paper India’s demographic dividend – its young population – is in danger of becoming a liability. By a conservative estimate, ...

Young India lacks soft skills: Survey

White Paper

India’s demographic dividend – its young population – is in danger of becoming a liability. By a conservative estimate, more than one-third of the millions that graduate each year are unemployable.

A survey of 303 employers across the country by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Ficci) in 2010 found a majority of graduates lacked adequate “soft skills” to be employed in the industry.

Only about one-third employers were satisfied with the communication ability of their employees and about 26 per cent with their employees’ writing ability. If this trend continues, the prospects for the 1.4 billion youth estimated to enter the work force by 2020, and consequently for the economy, look anything but promising.

An April 6 report in the Wall Street Journal highlighted this growing mismatch between the labour force and the skill set available.

“India graduates millions but too few are fit to hire,” the report says. “Engineering colleges in India now have seats for 1.5 million students, nearly four times the 39,000 available in 2000. But 75 per cent of technical graduates and more than 85 per cent of general students are unemployable”.

Narendra Jadhav, Planning Commission member in-charge of education and former vice-chancellor of Pune University, agrees. “Survey after survey has shown that 33 per cent of our graduates are unemployable,” he said. “The quality of teaching on our campuses is outdated. They do not follow the latest market demands. Added to that is the student’s level of learning, but most crucial is the lack of communication skills,” he added.

The Ficci survey found that only 26 per cent employers are satisfied with their employees’ ability to communicate in English, “the most widely used professionally communicated language”.

According to the survey of decision-makers in the country, which included top CEOs, MDs and human resource directors, the importance of “soft skills” in today’s employment landscape cannot be overemphasised. Though of late, the human resource development ministry appears to have woken up to the fact that ‘skill development’ is an area that needs urgent attention in our education system. But experts say the focus of the programme is still skewed – it still focuses only on vocational education, missing out ‘soft skills’ training.

Source:India Today Article