Tamil Nadu HSE Second Year Employability Skills key terms

A way of listening in which you give full attention to the speaker, watch body language, avoid interrupting, and repeat or ask questions to confirm you understood the message correctly.

Sending and receiving messages without words, through facial expressions, eye contact, posture, gestures and tone of voice. It often reveals feelings that the spoken words do not.

Anything that disturbs or blocks a message between sender and receiver. Common examples are noise, unclear language, technical jargon, poor network connection, emotional stress and cultural differences.

The response a receiver gives back to the sender about a message. It may be oral, written or a gesture, and it tells the sender whether the meaning was understood as intended.

Expressing your opinions, needs and rights honestly and calmly while still respecting other people. An assertive person can say no when necessary without becoming aggressive or giving in repeatedly.

Restating someone's message in your own words without changing its meaning. In conversation it shows you have understood; in writing it helps you use sources without copying sentences word for word.

Informal message flow among people who talk to each other casually, such as friends in a canteen or members of a chat group. It is fast but often inaccurate, so important decisions should not rest on it.

A checklist for effective messages: clear, concise, concrete, correct, coherent, complete and courteous. Checking a draft against these seven qualities usually makes it easier for the receiver to understand and act on it.

Knowing your own strengths, weaknesses, emotions, values and habits, and how these affect the people around you. It is the starting point for deciding what to improve about yourself.

Managing your own emotions, impulses and reactions so that you respond thoughtfully rather than lashing out. It includes calming yourself when angry and delaying a reward in order to finish a task.

A goal written to be Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time-bound. For example, finishing a revision unit by Friday evening is clearer and easier to track than simply deciding to study more.

Planning and controlling how you spend hours and minutes so that important tasks are finished on time. Common techniques are to-do lists, prioritising urgent work and cutting distractions such as endless scrolling.

Actions you take to reduce or cope with pressure, such as deep breathing, exercise, breaking work into smaller steps and talking to someone you trust. It protects both your health and your performance.

The drive to do something because the activity itself is interesting or satisfying, not because of an external reward. A student who enjoys solving puzzles for their own sake is driven by intrinsic motivation.

The ability to recover and keep going after setbacks, failure or criticism. A resilient person accepts what went wrong, learns a lesson from it and tries again with a different plan.

Keeping yourself clean, neat and suitably dressed for the place you are in. At work this means clean clothes, tidy hair, trimmed nails and attention to body odour and fresh breath.

The ability to find, evaluate, create and share information using digital devices safely and responsibly. It includes handling a computer, the internet and common software without fear or confusion.

Software used to type, edit, format and print text documents such as letters, reports and resumes. Examples are Microsoft Word and the Writer program in free office suites.

Software that arranges data in rows and columns of cells and can calculate totals and draw charts using formulas. It is widely used for budgets, marks lists, attendance records and simple accounts.

A cyber fraud in which a fake email, message or website pretends to be genuine in order to trick you into revealing passwords, one-time passwords or bank details. Never click suspicious links or attachments.

A password long enough and mixed enough, using upper and lower case letters, numbers and symbols, to resist guessing. It should avoid your name, birthday or a common word, and should differ across accounts.

Saving files on servers run by a service provider, such as Drive or OneDrive, so they can be opened from any connected device. Files remain available even if your own phone or laptop is lost.

The accepted manners for communicating online: be polite, avoid typing whole sentences in capitals, do not share another person's private details, and stay on topic in groups and forums.

The trail of data you leave online through posts, comments, searches and sign-ups. Because colleges and employers may look at it, it should be kept clean, accurate and deliberate.

The process of spotting an opportunity, arranging the needed resources and accepting risk in order to start and run a venture that offers value to customers and earns a profit.

A written document describing a business idea, its customers, competitors, marketing plan, costs, expected earnings and funding needs. It guides the founder and is read by lenders or investors.

Collecting information about customers, competitors, prices and demand before starting or changing a business. Methods include surveys, interviews, direct observation and studying published reports and data.

Willingness to act on a decision even though the outcome is uncertain and loss is possible. Entrepreneurs take calculated risks after weighing the cost of failure against the expected gain.

Introducing a new or improved product, service, process or way of working that creates value. It may be a small change, such as a local shop taking orders by message, rather than a completely new invention.

A structured look at Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats. Strengths and weaknesses lie inside the venture, while opportunities and threats come from the outside market and environment.

The money needed for the day-to-day running of a business, such as buying stock, paying wages and covering electricity before sales money comes in. A shortage of it can stop an otherwise profitable business.

Using resources in a way that meets present needs without destroying what future generations will need. It links environmental care with social fairness and long-term economic survival.

The knowledge and abilities used to protect the environment and support sustainable work, such as saving energy, managing waste, conserving water and maintaining clean technologies.

Energy from sources that naturally refill, such as sunlight, wind, flowing water and plant matter. Using it reduces dependence on coal and oil and lowers the pollution released into the air.

The total amount of greenhouse gases, usually counted as carbon dioxide, released by a person's, product's or organisation's activities over a period. Travel, electricity use and waste choices all raise it.

Separating waste where it is thrown away into wet or biodegradable, dry or recyclable, and hazardous categories. Correct separation makes composting and recycling possible and keeps landfill sites safer.

A waste hierarchy in which you first avoid creating waste, then use items again, and finally process old material into new products. Reduction saves the most resources and recycling the least.

Employment that helps protect or restore the environment, for example in solar installation, waste management, water treatment, organic farming or energy auditing. Such work grows as economies shift to cleaner technology.

Discarded electrical and electronic items such as old phones, chargers, batteries and computers. It contains valuable metals but also toxic materials, so it must go to authorised recyclers rather than ordinary bins.