India Job Search
The Indian government has recognized 16 languages as official. Hindi and English are widely spoken. It is no problem to write your application in English, although knowledge of the Indian language is expected.
Foreign job seekers should be prepared to take India as it is with all of its difficulties, contradictions and challenges. Accept that most of successful expatriate professionals are bilingual and many of them bicultural. Because of that, they can comfortably relate to people from both the East and West.
India Basic Data
Background: The Indus Valley civilization, one of the oldest in the world, goes back at least 5,000 years. Aryan tribes from the northwest invaded about 1500 B.C.; their merger with the earlier inhabitants created the classical Indian culture. Arab incursions starting in the 8th century and Turkish in 12th were followed by European traders, beginning in the late 15th century. By the 19th century, Britain had assumed political control of virtually all Indian lands. Nonviolent resistance to British colonialism under Mohandas GANDHI and Jawaharlal NEHRU led to independence in 1947. The subcontinent was divided into the secular state of India and the smaller Muslim state of Pakistan. A third war between the two countries in 1971 resulted in East Pakistan becoming the separate nation of Bangladesh. Fundamental concerns in India include the ongoing dispute with Pakistan over Kashmir, massive overpopulation, environmental degradation, extensive poverty, and ethnic and religious strife, all this despite impressive gains in economic investment and output.
Capital: New Delhi
Climate: varies from tropical monsoon in south to temperate in north
Ethnic groups: Indo-Aryan 72%, Dravidian 25%, Mongoloid and other 3% (2000)
Languages: English enjoys associate status but is the most important language for national, political, and commercial communication; Hindi is the national language and primary tongue of 30% of the people; there are 14 other official languages: Bengali, Telugu, Marathi, Tamil, Urdu, Gujarati, Malayalam, Kannada, Oriya, Punjabi, Assamese, Kashmiri, Sindhi, and Sanskrit; Hindustani is a popular variant of Hindi/Urdu spoken widely throughout northern India but is not an official language.
Economy - overview: India's economy encompasses traditional village farming, modern agriculture, handicrafts, a wide range of modern industries, and a multitude of support services. Overpopulation severely handicaps the economy and about a quarter of the population is too poor to be able to afford an adequate diet. Government controls have been reduced on imports and foreign investment, and privatization of domestic output has proceeded slowly. The economy has posted an excellent average growth rate of 6% since 1990, reducing poverty by about 10 percentage points. India has large numbers of well-educated people skilled in the English language; India is a major exporter of software services and software workers; the information technology sector leads the strong growth pattern. The World Bank and others worry about the continuing public-sector budget deficit, running at approximately 10% of GDP in 1997-2002. In 2003 the state-owned Indian Bank substantially reduced non-performing loans, attracted new customers, and turned a profit. Deep-rooted problems remain, notably conflicts among political and cultural groups.
Labor force - by occupation: agriculture 60%, services 23%, industry 17% (1999)
Unemployment rate: 8.8% (2002)
Natural resources: coal (fourth-largest reserves in the world), iron ore, manganese, mica, bauxite, titanium ore, chromite, natural gas, diamonds, petroleum, limestone, arable land
Industries: textiles, chemicals, food processing, steel, transportation equipment, cement, mining, petroleum, machinery, software
Currency: Indian rupee (INR)
Exchange rates: Indian rupees per US dollar - 48.61 (2002), 47.19 (2001), 44.94 (2000), 43.06 (1999), 41.26 (1998)
Internet country code: .in
India Job Search Info
Now to finalize your job search, if your cover letter and CV are ready, you may email them through our international job search engine to recruiters and executive headhunters.
In addition, on india cover letter, india CV and india job interview pages, you will find useful tips.
Good luck with your India job search!
