Introduction to Industries & Sectors in India
W
ith the career you choose, another aspect that you’ll get tagged with is the industry that your employer operates in. Most goods and services produced by companies usually fall in the same industry. Some bigger conglomerates are active in multiple industries.
This means that your professional portfolio would include not only the technical skills (like accounting, programming, sales, quality control) needed to be productive in your role, but also an understanding of the environment in which you are functioning.
While it may not be imperative for you to know everything about the industry, it’ll surely help if you could convey a balanced and deeper understanding of the internal and external dynamics that affect the industry.
In fact, knowing about other industries where your skills may be relevant (apart from the one you have been working in) would broaden the number of career change opportunities for you.
List of industries
While there’s a huge list of independent industries, it would be difficult to cover everything on the site. So we’re starting off with a smaller subset that a majority of our readers might be interested in.
Financial Services
All economic activity in the world uses a common language – money. There are a lot of tasks that revolve around generating wealth and managing, transferring, storing, investing, protecting and accounting for it.
This is where companies that provide a host of financial services come into the picture to make life easier for regular folks who lack the expertise or time for it.
Related sectors: Retail banking, insurance, investment banking, hedge funds, wealth & asset management, venture capital, private equity, credit cards, private banking, foreign exchange, accountancy, consumer-finance and brokerage.
Read more about the financial services industry in India and abroad.
Technology
It’s difficult to imagine life without the all-pervasive (and often all-intrusive) technology products and services that touch almost every facet of our day-to-day lives.
It may focus on automating routine tasks or improving our general quality of life or help companies manage the avalanche of data that billions of transactions generate each day.
Related sectors: Information technology, nano-technology, bio-technology, aerospace technology, robotics, artificial intelligence.
Read more about the technology industry in India and abroad.
Consulting
Consultants bring in specialised knowledge that companies and individuals may not possess. While the general definition of consulting may apply to almost any field from health to personal relationships, one of the most lucrative career options for fresh and experienced graduates is in the area of business consulting.
Related sectors: Management consulting – business strategy, technology, operations management, process re-engineering.
Read more about the consulting industry in India and abroad.
Manufacturing
Compared to the new age industries (such as technology), manufacturing can be considered as the world’s oldest industry (not to be confused with the world’s oldest profession).
It involves mass production of end products or components which in turn are used in more complex products. Think about the number of individual parts that work in unison in a car, or a fridge, or defense equipment like tanks.
Related sectors: Production, fabrication, packaging, assembly line and plant design, process automation.
Read more about the manufacturing industry in India and abroad.
Consumer Products
While the bare essentials for survival might still revolve around food, clothing and shelter, the number of items you can choose from in each category is mind-boggling.
You could be part of a company that satisfies these primal and sophisticated wants and needs of the modern man.
Related sectors: Toys, household products, pharmaceuticals, dairy products, fast moving consumer goods (FMCG)
Read more about the consumer goods industry in India and abroad.
Retail
All the consumer goods produced by the folks in the above category need to find a way into homes, sometimes spread across the world. The retail industry helps build that connection between the company manufacturing the product and the consumer waiting to buy it.
Related sectors: Offline retail (shopping chains, malls, department stores), online retail
Read more about the retail industry in India and abroad.
Telecommunications
‘Global village’, ‘small world’, ‘glocal’ are all words made possible by companies in the telecommunication industry that bridge the gap between geographies and enable the most basic needs among humans (and now, machines too) – to communicate with each other.
Whether is audio, video or data communication, you have a plethora of options to suit your speed and personalization requirements.
Related sectors: Telephones, mobiles, carrier networks, fiber optics, internet, voice over IP (VoIP), LAN / WAN, virtual private networks (VPN).
Read more about the telecom industry in India and abroad.
Food and Beverages
The agriculture industry produces raw material (grains, fruits, vegetables) that is perishable in nature and does not have a long shelf life.
Companies in the Food and Beverage industry come into the picture to consume this raw material and create a whole new breed of products (some more healthier than others) that are easier to store, transport and consume.
Related sectors: Packaged and processed food, alcohol, soft drinks, wellness / health foods, bottled water.
Read more about the food and beverage industry in India and abroad.
Media and Entertainment
All work and no play would make for a very dull life. Media companies play an important role in keeping people educated, informed and entertained.
International news travels faster than domestic news, thanks to the huge network of journalists and technology that come together help you stay connected.
Related sectors: Television, movies, radio, newspapers, books, magazines, websites, animation.
Read more about the media industry in India and abroad.
Every single business listed above is an ocean in itself. The market leaders in each industry are worth billions of dollars and employs millions of people. While the pay at the bottom of the rung may not be much, the perks rise as you grow within the industry and build cross-disciplinary skills.
We’ll start exploring several of these on our website. So hang around.