Tech Companies See Dearth of Mobile-Software Developers

Technology companies are running up against a dearth of qualified developers to create applications for mobile devices, according to a survey by online job board Dice Holdings.

Almost 57 percent of employers and outside recruiters that hired for mobile-related jobs this year plan to boost such hires in the next 12 months, the survey showed. More than half the respondents described the supply of quality mobile-software designers and engineers as "scarce."

Companies need app developers as the market for mobile software surges to $17.5 billion by 2012, from $4.1 billion last year, according to a study by Chetan Sharma Consulting. The demand for programmers who can write for mobile platforms, such as Apple's (AAPL) iPhone, Google's (GOOG) Android, and Research In Motion's (RIMM) BlackBerry, has stoked competition among recruiters, driven up salaries, and led employers to consider getting new talent through acquisitions.

"We're seeing a lot of companies that have mobile as a component of their strategy," said Steve Fredrick, general partner at private equity firm Grotech Ventures in Vienna, Va., and founder of job site StartUpHire. "There just aren't that many people who have experience with mobile software, and there's a desire for people who know how to make that work."

The software publishing industry employed 257,300 workers in August, an increase of just 0.7 percent from a year earlier, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The online survey, conducted Oct. 11-15, was based on 283 recruiters who use New York-based Dice's site and said they had hired mobile professionals this year. Dice sells services to businesses that recruit employees through its site.

Increased Hiring

More than a fifth of respondents said they hired substantially more mobile experts this year than last year, and more than a third said they added slightly more. Some 36 percent hired about the same number, while 6.6 percent said mobile hiring fell this year. In the next 12 months, a fifth of recruiters anticipate a substantial increase in hiring, 37 percent see a slight increase, and 34 percent plan to hire about the same number.

The most common salary range for mobile engineers and designers was $75,001 to $100,000, according to 41 percent of respondents. About 28 percent said average pay was $100,001 to $125,000, while 21 percent said it was $50,001 to $75,000. Almost a third of employers raised salary levels for the average mobile worker "higher than normal," citing the increase in demand for talent.

Experience with Apple's mobile platform carried the most weight on résumés, with 72 percent of recruiters saying they are hiring for development of iPhone applications, and 38 percent saying iPhone expertise is the most attractive among platforms. "Anybody that has an application that has been working on a notebook now wants that to work on an iPad, an iPhone, and on Google Android," said Todd Thibodeaux, chief executive officer of the trade group Computing

Technology Industry Assn. in Oak Brook, Ill. He described the supply of qualified talent as "scant." "There's a whole bunch of specialties that have to develop and emerge there," Thibodeaux said.

About 60 percent are hiring for Android development, and 23 percent said new recruits with knowledge of Google's platform are most highly prized. Some 48 percent of employers are hiring for BlackBerry, while just 16.1 percent said that's the most desirable type of mobile expertise.

This month, Dice's site had 758 job listings requiring skills or experience with the iPhone, up from 264 a year ago. The site had 685 listings requiring Android skills, up from 158. "If you look at jobs that require either iPhone skills or Android skills, the number of jobs is still pretty small, but if you look at the growth rate, it's huge," said Tom Silver, senior vice-president at Dice.

Mobile Priority

Mobile was described as one of the top three priorities in technology hiring by 35 percent of employers. A year from now, as more businesses incorporate mobile technology, Silver predicts that number will be closer to 50 percent. The vast majority of employers, or 95 percent, said mobile hiring was either competitive or extremely competitive.

That competition has intensified partly because of increased demand for talent in other countries, especially India and China, said Russell Hancock, CEO of Joint Venture: Silicon Valley Network, a San Jose-based group formed by business leaders to focus on talent-pool concerns in the region.

While programmers and other skilled workers from India and China have had a significant presence in technology companies during the Internet boom, "in the past decade, that has tailed off significantly," Hancock said.

Some businesses are resorting to acquisitions. About half of the respondents plan to add mobile-software expertise by buying companies in the next 12 months. Other companies have learned to be more flexible in their hiring. Jeremy Stoppelman, co-founder and CEO of local-business reviews site Yelp, said he began recruiting engineers talented enough to learn and adjust to new types of mobile platforms. "If you're doing searches for people with iPhone experience, it isn't going to be a deep pool of people," Stoppelman said. "We just look for good engineers."

The Dollar: Soon to Swoon?

Reports of the demise of the U.S. dollar may be premature. But when some of the world's most powerful investors are warning of the currency's decline, investors take notice.

Berkshire Hathaway (BRKA) Chief Executive Warren Buffett warned in a New York Times op-ed on Aug. 19 that the U.S. debt load threatened to turn the U.S. into a "banana republic economy."

A flood of greenbacks from the Federal Reserve and the Obama and Bush Administrations may be necessary now to prop up the ailing economy, Buffett said. But the government must control its debt in the future—or risk the consequences.

"The dollar's destiny lies with Congress," Buffett wrote.

On Aug. 20, the head of the world's largest bond fund, Pimco Chief Executive Mohamed El-Erian, sounded as though the dollar's decline were a foregone conclusion.

"The question is not whether the dollar will weaken over time, but how it will weaken," El-Erian told Bloomberg, echoing Pimco founder Bill Gross, who has said the dollar could lose its status as the world's reserve currency. "The real risk is that you will get a disorderly decline," El-Erian said.

The Dollar as Safe Haven

The problem with such bold pronouncements is that the currency markets are notoriously unpredictable. An accurate currency forecast makes a correct stock pick look easy, as it requires foresight into economics, trade flows, capital flows, politics, and market psychology—all on a global scale.

In the late 1980s many worried the U.S. dollar was losing out to the Japanese yen and other world currencies. But those worries were quickly forgotten in the 1990s as U.S. deficits narrowed and growth heated up.

Last fall the value of the dollar spiked as the world sought refuge in its strongest currency. That had little to do with economic fundamentals. Ironically, it was a U.S.-born financial crisis that was causing investors to push their assets into U.S. dollars.

Impact on Commodity Prices

"It's in nobody's interest to see a substantial weakening of the dollar," says Brian Dolan, chief currency strategist at Forex.com, a division of Gain Capital Group. Yes, a weaker dollar would help American manufacturers sell goods overseas, increasing U.S. exports and allowing U.S. companies to report stronger profits from abroad.

But a weaker buck would hurt global businesses that import into the U.S. And a softer dollar usually increases prices of commodities, such as oil, which are bought and sold in dollars. "If the dollar were to weaken, commodity prices would increase fairly rapidly," Dolan says. In the U.S., "that would hamper a consumer-led recovery."

In the longer term, panics and politics may be less important for the dollar's future than economic fundamentals. This is Buffett's point, with his concern about America's fiscal situation. It's also reflected in worries that the U.S. dollar is losing its preeminent status among global currencies.

Counter Influences

One counterpoint to these concerns is the reality that currencies trade on a relative basis. "We're not alone in running up these massive deficits," Dolan says.

Also, as many observers have pointed out, the rush into dollars during the financial crisis demonstrated that, for now, there are no viable alternatives to the U.S. dollar as the world's preeminent currency.

Though inflation could hurt the U.S. dollar, economists and other observers say it's difficult, perhaps impossible, to suffer inflation in an economy hit this hard by an economic downturn.

"There is no present danger of inflation," says University of Virginia professor Herman Schwartz, author of Subprime Nation: American Power, Global Capital, and the Housing Bubble. With so many factories idled and so many Americans out of work, the economy has plenty of excess capacity before inflation starts to threaten the dollar's value. "We've got a long way to go before we get there," Schwartz says.

Longer-Term Danger

That doesn't mean Buffett wasn't right to warn investors and policymakers that inflation could eventually sap the value of the dollar. Schwartz sees Buffett's editorial as a "warning shot across the bow of the Administration."

The federal government needed to pump money into the economy, says Cornell University professor Jonathan Kirshner. "We did the right thing and prevented the economy from totally cratering," he says. "But this leaves in its wake serious issues."

The solution to the heavy U.S. debt load isn't to slash spending or hike taxes now, he says. Doing so would hurt the economy. Rather, President Barack Obama needs to show over the next couple of years a "path to sustainability"—a plausible scenario whereby the U.S. can begin to pay off the big bills racked up in 2008 and 2009.

The future of the U.S. dollar may well be determined by simple, big-picture questions: What will U.S. inflation or economic growth look like, relative to other countries? But the currency markets are also places where subtlety and nuance matter. For example, a gradual decline in the dollar would do less damage than a rapid drop—and might even help parts of the U.S. economy in the process.

Like other investors, Buffett is hoping that Obama and other policymakers have the requisite skill to navigate an economy beset by ballooning deficits and subpar growth without doing damage to the U.S. currency. That will be a tall order.

World and Economic Predictions 2011-2012

On December 31st 2008, when gold was trading at USD$850.00 I predicted it would go to over USD$1400.00. At the end of 2010, gold is now trading at USD$1420.00.

At the end of 2008, when silver was trading at just USD$11.00, I predicted it would go over USD$30.00. At the end of 2010, silver is now trading at USD$30.89.

Had you invested in gold you would have made a profit of 65% and with silver you would have made a profit of 153%.

Let me give you my predictions for gold and silver for 2011:

Gold will go to $1800 and above and silver will go to at least $45.00. If you have not yet invested in gold and silver, it is still not too late. Precious metals are yet to become mainstream and therefore have a long way to go. We are at the beginning of a long-term bull market and there could be shortages of the physical metals in the future.

I predicted that real estate would fall dramatically in the US and it is continuing to fall. I predict that over the next two years, property prices will drop overall another 20% the US and that the Chinese and Australian property bubbles will burst. There will be small pockets of land and real estate that will hold their value even during the economic crisis that still lies ahead, but they are few and far between. In the main, if you are thinking of buying property, think again. You may want to rent for a while to keep your options open. Don't get into something that looks like a "real bargain" only to find six months later that its price has dropped by another 20%.

Stock markets will be more volatile than ever. Between now and 2014, the Dow Jones could still fall to 90% off its all time high. If you are thinking of trading on the markets during 2011, make sure can afford to lose the money you are investing as there will be wild fluctuations in prices and people will become even more speculative than before and bubbles will form and burst in the twinkling of an eye.

The US dollar will continue to fall and we will see the start of currency wars, trade wars and cyber wars.

Unemployment in the US is at a 26 year high and unemployment among the young is at over 50% in Spain and Italy. This sets the scene for greater unrest and revolts against authorities and governments to come.

During 2011 we will see the schism between the haves and have nots widen with more austerity measures piled onto average person. We've already had civil unrest in Greece, Ireland and the latest in the UK with the students' revolts and an open attack on Prince Charles and Camilla.

We will see more bailouts this coming year, governments taking on even more debt and more printing of colossal sums of money. We've already had QE 2 and I am fully expecting to see QE3 some time in the summer to fall of 2011. The same holds true for Europe where the situation is also worsening.

Governments worldwide will be imposing more and more taxes. Sales taxes, property taxes, income taxes etc., cash strapped states, councils and governments will be looking for ways to squeeze cash out of the everyday person. Make sure you keep your accounts and business dealings in order as I am seeing Inland Revenue departments chasing even small sums of money such as $50 or $100.

There will be more groups who want to expose corruption in governments, banks and big business. It has started with Wikileaks and OpenLeaks, but the power of hackers around the world remains unknown and they may be able to bring down the likes of Paypal, Visa, Mastercard and Amazon. Take your privacy seriously and do whatever you can to put in place protections for your online security and financial security.

We will see more government leaders voted in and out of office quickly, just as we saw in 2010 with Kevin Rudd voted out by his own party within a year of taking office. And in the US the November mid-term elections where there was a sweeping change in the balance of power.

There will be more natural disasters in places we least expect them. In 2010, Christchurch experienced a 7.3 earthquake and seismologists were not aware of a fault line in that area of New Zealand. There continue to be severe aftershocks that are still affecting the people and the buildings. Changing weather patterns will bring about freak weather conditions. In Australia there is severe flooding in areas that have had droughts for the last ten years.

I predict that we will see flooding so excessive in some places where small towns or even whole cities will go underwater. A proliferation of water borne diseases could ensue.

The majority will stick it out in the cities and towns and they will face civil unrest, uprisings, austerity measures and restrictions on their personal freedom. Others will withdraw, retreat to nature or live communally with others of like mind. They will be concerned with survival issues and will live independently and self-sufficiently, growing their own food and generating their own power. If you are unable to escape from where you are living, but feel vulnerable to the changes ahead, at least stock up with some basic food and water supplies, a first aid kit, torches and make copies of all your important documents. Think of it as taking out insurance – be prepared for the worst and hope for the best.

Get more than just "a presence" on the Internet

The water purification salesman had been talking to us for what seemed like hours. During a lull in his monologue, I asked if he had a website.

"Yes. In fact, we are the only independent distributors of this product who does," he proudly beamed.

"So you get a lot of leads from the website, then?" I asked.

"No, actually I don't think we've gotten a single lead from it," he replied.

"Then why do you have a website?" I wanted to know.

"To have a presence on the Internet."

A few days later, our home inspector was giving us an update on the state of our house. We had bought it a few years earlier in winter, when snow was on the ground and on the roof, and we thought an update would be a worthwhile investment.

"Do you have a website?" I asked.

"Yes, I do. But, I don't think a single customer found me that way."

"Then why do you have a website?" I asked.

"To have a presence on the Internet."

A lot of entrepreneurs and small businesses are sold on paying for a website because it is important to have a presence on the Internet. For many businesses, that is true. But what does "a presence" mean?

Would you open up a store in the corner office of the fifth floor of an office building, or would you open it up in the mall?

Would you leave the windows bare, or would you fill the windows with merchandise and open the door to make your store inviting?

Would you ignore customers when they enter the store, or would you carefully place merchandise and staff to maximize the revenue from each visit?

"A presence" is only valuable if the website serves a purpose, if it fulfills its goals. Just sitting there, somewhere in cyberspace, is not a sound business strategy. An experienced website marketing consultant can help you determine what goals, if any, are viable for your business website.

Here are a few of the goals you might want for your website:

Online pamphlet.

If you connect with customers by telephone, this is an ideal way to instantly deliver a pamphlet to them. No mailing, no delays, they can even call up your information while you are on the phone with them. This website has to look credible and be choc full of information.

Credibility booster.

If you are selling a big ticket item, particularly one that requires a good reputation, a website can help. This website should look upscale and focus on credibility-boosting content. It is ideal for speakers, consultants and other business-to-business service providers.

Lead generator.

One excellent use for a website in many non-retail businesses is as lead generator. The idea is to funnel traffic (website users) into the site and lead them to take action. Such action might be to call you, to request a brochure, to request a free sample, etc. The main requirement for this is the maximum amount of targeted traffic possible, of people interested in what you have to offer.

By way of example, my marketing website serves these first three goals: online pamphlet, credibility booster and lead generator.

Email Address Gatherer.

This is really a form of lead generation, but it is unique in that you are not trying to sell through the website, but through an email newsletter (also called an ezine). The website is there primarily to pique interest, and the newsletter is there to build affinity and trust in order to make the sale. You need to have a newsletter set up, and you need targeted traffic.

By way of example, my personal growth website serves this goal, attracting subscribers to my Daily Dose of Happiness.

Sell.

Of course, if you sell hard goods, electronic goods or even many services, you can make the sales right online. You need some form of payment gateway and/or shopping cart, and your website needs to be able to make the sale from start to finish, which is not always easy. Of course, you also need customers in the form of targeted traffic.

By way of example, my liquid vitamins website serves this goal.

What you want your website to achieve should dictate the look, the structure, the content, the writing style and whether or not the site is optimized for the search engines. Before investing any more money of time in your website, invest the time required to determine the goals you want your website to achieve.

Or you could be like that water salesman or my home inspector, satisfied with having "a presence". Of course, many people go through life having "a presence" on Planet Earth, but most entrepreneurs I have met are go-getters. If "a presence" is not good enough in the real world, why settle for it in the online world?

A website should be an investment, not a cost. If your website is not working for you, or if you feel your business should have a website, determine realistic and useful goals, then set your website up to achieve them.

Maybe you don't need a website at all. Or maybe your website could double your profits. Either way, don't let it sit there gathering dust somewhere in cyberspac

Tips Every Small Business Should Know

Prior to starting a business, it is important to take some time and understand the cost of the project, your cost of living, and where you have some wiggle room. Staying in shape (financially) when you start a business is not just important; it might actually the determining factor in the success or failure of your business.

The following tips have been collected from a number of small businesses. Their experiences are helpful as you try your hand in being an entrepreneur. Read on, learn from their mistakes, and imitate their success stories.

Do what you love
Ahhh, this is the most important advice that you can get. As you are going to devote a lot of time and energy to starting a business and building it, it is really important that you truly, deeply enjoy what you do. I have a friend who loves drinking. Guess what he got into? Right! Well, he made use of his passion for the lager to build a very successful beer joint for all the beer guzzling people in his town.

Start your business while you are still employed
This is a sound advice for anyone who is contemplating on starting a business. As money is very important, you should ask yourself how long you can survive without money because it might be a long time before you actually realize some profit.

Do not do it alone.
Use those color business cards and start networking. You absolutely need a support system if you are starting a business. It is a good idea to have a buddy, preferably someone you trust very well, to partner with. Family members are not recommended though because of issues that might be difficult to resolve on a personal level. However, a close friend, a college buddy, or somebody who enjoys the same passion might be a good partner. Even better – find a mentor; if you qualify, apply for a business start up program. Experience is the best support system you can ever get.

Do not wait until you have officially started your business to line these up because your business cannot survive with them. Apart from those listed above, start networking with potential clients. Immediately place an online business card printing to get you started. Make the contacts. Sell or even give away samples of your products or services. As a piece of advice, you cannot start marketing too soon!

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Five Pitfalls of Relevant Direct Marketing

Relevant Direct Marketing is the way marketing should be done! Some people call it personalized, some people call it customized. Below are five mistakes marketers make that make their marketing so irrelevant.

Relevant Messaging: Marketers who send the same message to all either are just plain lazy or have a product that is very unexciting. The best practice is to identify interests of your audience and send them personalized messages with relevant information.

Timing: The timing of most marketing campaigns is dictated by when the company is ready to send out a message and not by when the customer wants to buy. Not connecting to the customers when they are in their buying cycle results in missed sales opportunities. If you send out to 100 people, only 30 might actually be in the market to buy that product at that time. If you launch a new cool refrigerator, it does not mean that people are going to replace the fridge they just purchased 6 months ago. So it is important to figure out which customers are in the market and how to hit them with the right message at the right time. Use timing to your advantage and communicate when customers are most likely to buy. With offset printing and some other traditional methodologies, this approach just wasn't possible because you had to create these large scale printing jobs. Now with digital printing, you can send out 100 offers a day all based on incoming preferences that you've received from customers.

Response Mechanism: One of the biggest marketing pitfalls is not making your response channel relevant. Marketers will spend countless hours creating the right message and sending it out. And when somebody is interested in your product or offer then they call or go to the website to say “I'm interested in buying this.” But what do they find? The confusing jungle called your website where they can't find the product or the special offer. They talk to the call center where they are told “we don't know anything about it.” Or they go to the retail store and nobody there has an answer either. Even if five prospective buyers do not get a positive response then all the hard work has gone down the tubes. So when we think about marketing, we have to optimize the entire conversion pipeline.

Multichannel: Another mistake is focusing on only one channel or medium. Print is one medium, but there are a lot of other mediums that we have to use to get our message across. The Marketer or the enterprise does not care how you get the deal; all they want is to get the deal. They are not buying printing, they are buying sales. Get used to getting them the sales they want through any channel possible.

Testing: The value of direct marketing over brand marketing is that you can measure response. By testing your direct response advertising, you can help improve the response. By not testing, you just waste all that value.

Importance of content writing for effective SEO

Search Engine Optimization is the new buzzword in the online marketing industry and SEO copywriters are widely in demand to cater to the optimization needs of different organizations. Diversifying from their role of content writers, these professionals are now assisting in the process Search Engine Optimization by creating content that is reader friendly as well as search engine friendly.

Content writing is important because content is the lifeline of any website, and the effectiveness of content can determine its success or failure. It is due to this importance that companies are now hiring professional content writers to develop content that is fresh, informative and reader friendly. However, the role of these writers does not end here. They also have to create the content of a website in such a way that it satisfies the norms of all major search engines. An optimized content will enable the website to rank higher in search engine results, thus increasing its visibility.

One of the most important criteria of effective content writing is that the content should by relevant and informative. If the content on a website is not supporting the main purpose or theme of that website then it would not remain effective. Rather, it would create a pool of dissatisfied readers, who were looking for something relevant but found the content to be irreverent and uninformative. Most of the individuals searching for information on the internet already have some basic knowledge about that subject. Thus, if they find the content on a website to be irrelevant, then they are immediately going to switch away from that website to a competitors website.

This is where the role of SEO copywriters gains importance. These copywriters are experts in the field of developing content which is not only relevant and informative, but also search engine friendly. Search Engine Optimization is a specialized field, requiring techniques such as keyword optimization, use of Meta titles, Meta descriptions, building inward links, etc. SEO copywriters have to consider all these techniques, along with developing relevant and informative content, in order to effectively optimize a web page and increase its visibility.

Companies are gradually realizing the importance of hiring web content writers, who are familiar with the tools and techniques used in Search Engine Optimization, to improve the effectiveness of their websites. These web content writers ensure that the content ranks higher in search engine results and when individuals read through the content, they find the relevant information which they were looking for. This creates a sense of satisfaction in the minds of the readers and increases the chances of closing on a sales deal.

3 Reasons Why Blogging Will Boost Your Business!

Building your business can be a difficult task. You can put hundreds of hours of effort into the business, but if you still don’t have important components, you will not be successful. Today business owners are realizing that blogging boosts business. Blogs are typically only seen as personal places to express yourself and your views. The truth is however the blogs are also great places to reach people about your business or your products.

There are several ways to do this type of blogging. The best way a business can use blogging to boost their business is by taking part in the blogs of others. You can easily create quality posts with your business in mind without needing to set up a blog of your own. Try finding blogs that pertain to the area of business you are in. This will help you get started. With millions of blogs out there, you should be able to find some with no problem. Choose to post on all of them, or choose the few that get the most activity. Then begin posting. When you do, you will see positive results come in. If you are still curious about how this can boost your business, check out these three reasons blogging boosts business.

Quick Name Recognition The fastest way to get your business’s name out in the public is to make it known to your targeted marketing group. If you want to get your company’s name out to men who like fishing, then you can find a blog that is about just that. When you find the blogs pertaining to this marketing group, post useful and intelligent information about topics that pertain to your company. You might not want to sound like an advertisement. Think about responding to another comment and simply tagging your signature with your company’s website. This is a subtle way to get their attention. The more you post on blogs, the more widely known your company’s name will become with the select marketing group. When they tell their friends and family about the site then your consumer group will have grown even more. This is a fast way to get started. You will have to invest some time however. At least an hour a day can be used for this type of task.

Consumer Testimonies Your company might even think about hiring professionals to blog for your company. You can offer these employees products to try and give them the task of finding blogs where they can appropriately “praise” the product. By paying these people to do the task, you will be getting the work done that you need without having to devote much time. Consumer testimonials go a long way with other consumers. If these bloggers are productive enough, you will see an increase due to it.

Building Relationships Smart business owners know that they can go further with the help of others. A great way to connect and build relationships with other businesses is via their blog. If you are a regular poster who values their business, they will be more likely to work with you. Working together with advertising is a great idea. You can swap ad space for no fee if you like. These are great things for business owners and are easy to get into when you blog regularly.

As you can see, blogging can be a great way to do business. It may seem like tricky advertising, and it is in some ways. However, it is free advertising that does the same thing as a commercial on television does. It reaches a targeted marketing group and lets them know your company’s name, products, and sometimes offers an endorsement. Overall, it is an effective way to get your business out there. When people have no idea who you are, they are not going to feel comfortable working with you. The better your reputation is, the more likely they will trust you. When you have no reputation at all, they will not trust you either. So, even if you just want to use blogging to build your company’s reputation, it will be worth your while. Give it a try and see what type of results you can get using these tips.

Best Growing Careers

When we think of the top growing careers, we always talk about the job creation in this sector and the salaries which the professionals in these sectors might get after spending some years in the industry. The top growing careers would be those which offer great advancement opportunities to young professionals. In order to make a good fortune from these fast growing careers, candidates need to have the right kind of educational qualifications from good institutes and work hard for success, as the competition for such jobs would be fierce. Given in the next section are some of the top growing careers for the future.

Surgeons
Among the top growing careers, careers as a surgeon has been named first because of the rising need for their skills, in addition to their high salaries. The health care field will witness a great growth in the years to come thanks to the ever rising population and changing lifestyles of people due to high stress levels, especially in large cities. Surgeon salaries can be anything between $100,000 to $370,000 per year depending on their skills and education. So, indeed, this is one of the best careers for the future.

Pharmacists
The field of pharmacy will also witness a huge demand in the years to come and pharmacists would be the most sought after professionals. The duty of the pharmacists involve giving doctors as well as patients good guidance about different medicines, their uses and dosages. To become a successful pharmacist, you need to have a degree from a reputed institute and also adequate work experience. Pharmacists can make anything between $60,000 to $100,000 or more depending on their skills.

Psychiatrists
Psychiatrists are also expected to see a rising demand in the time to come due to the increasing demand of their services. Psychiatrists can seek employment in government as well as private sectors in clinics and specialty hospitals. They can also think of setting up their own practice after sufficient experience. Candidates with a master's and doctorate degree in this field can command a high salary between $70,000 to $130,000 per year. This is indeed one of the top careers in demand in today's times.

Software Professionals
Among the top growing careers, we need to mention software professionals who work for global software giants. Software professionals such as developers, programmers and technical writers would be recruited in huge amounts in the time to come. The salaries offered by major firms would be competitive and earning anything between $60,000 and $90,000 per year would not be very difficult. Interested candidates need to have themselves acquainted with the changing trends and software to stay in the competition.

Accountants
The careers for accountants can also be amongst the top growing careers or the most lucrative ones. Accountants can either work for top notch firms belonging to different sectors of the economy or practice as an independent professional and cater to their clients. A thorough knowledge of accounting practices, conventions and rules is necessary for accountants along with degree in accounting and the requisite licenses. Accountants can hope to earn anything between $50,000 to $200,000 per year depending on their level of expertise and skills. Given below is the list of some more top growing careers.

Some More Top Growing Careers

Here is a list of some more top growing careers:

• Lawyers
• Computer Systems Analysts
• Clergy
• Veterinarians
• Prosthodontists
• Registered Nurses
• Physical Therapists

The data on top growing careers mentioned in this article will certainly guide you in career planning. Take the right career decisions based on your aptitude and skills and emerge as a winner. Good luck!

Conflict & Cooperation In The Workplace

One topic that is of interest to most people in the workplace is conflict; how it works, how to avoid it, and how to deal with it when it occurs. It is indeed the rare organization that doesn't have to face the issue of conflict, and how to harness it so that it produces positive results rather than destruction.

In this article, we are going to look at some important elements of conflict, how it escalates over time, and suggest a few general strategies for dealing with it.

Two Types of Conflict

In the workplace (and almost any setting), you are likely to find two forms of conflict. The first is conflict about decisions, ideas, directions and actions. We will call this "substantive conflict" since it deals with disagreements about the substance of issues. The second form, "personalized conflict" is often called a personality conflict. In this form, the two parties simply "don't like each other much".

Substantive Conflict

Substantive conflict can occur on just about any issue, but its moving force is that the two parties simply disagree about an issue. This can be a good thing or a bad thing. Handled correctly parties in conflict can create, for themselves and those around them, the ability to resolve an issue with something creative, something better than either party's original position. Let's look at an example.

A branch manager and a staff member are in conflict over work hours. The branch manager expects all staff to work standard hours, beginning at 8:00 am so that the public will receive service startingfirst thing in the morning. The staff member wants to begin work at 9:00 am, because he has child careresponsibilities. On several occasions the staff member has arrived late, which makes it appear to the manager that the employee is being deliberately unwilling to follow the rules.

Rather than the situation deteriorating, the parties approach the situation, not as one that should be won, but with an eye on solving a problem. After discussing the situation, (and understanding each other's needs), they realize that a) almost no customers call in the early morning b) the few that do can be handled by other staff who like to be in at 8:00, and b) there are more customers calling in between 4:00 and 5:00 pm. The parties agree that it makes sense to modify work hours. The result: a happier employee and better service.

The benefits would never have occurred if this conflict hadn't occurred, or if either party played the situation as if it was a game to be one by one person or the other. (Did anybody really lose in this situation?).

Personalized Conflict

While substantive conflict, if handled correctly, can be very productive, personalized conflict is almost never a good thing. There are several reasons. First personalized conflict is fuelled primarily by emotion (usually anger, frustration) and perceptions about someone else's personality, character or motives. When conflict is personalized and extreme each party acts as if the other is suspect as a person. Second, because personalized conflict is about emotion and not issues, problem solving almost never works, because neither party is really interested in solving a problem...in fact, in extreme cases, the parties go out of their ways to create new ones, imagined or real. Third, personalized conflicts almost always get worse over time, if they cannot be converted to substantive conflict. That is because each person expects problems, looks for them, finds them, and gets angrier.

Let's look at the previous example but change the way the situation was handled.

When the branch manager approached the staff member about the tardiness, he showed his irritation plainly. The staff member, already feeling under the gun, felt that the manager was being unfair, and accusatory, and became defensive. This, in turn, resulted in the manager "laying down the law", andthat was how the situation was left. After the discussion, the manager felt the employee was lazy and making excuses, while the employee felt the boss was out to get him.

Not surprisingly, the situation got worse. Even when the staff member was a few minutes late, for good reason, the boss jumped on him like a "ton of bricks". The employee, angered and frustrated, started taking longer coffee breaks and was away "sick" more frequently. The situation became increasingly polarized, with other people being sucked in, and taking sides, privately.

Oddly enough, the initial perceptions of both bossand employee became the truth. After a while the boss acted as if he was out to get the employee, and the employee acted as if he was lazy and uncaring. The original issue was all but forgotten, as the parties developed an intense dislike of each other.

Solution Strategies

Identification

When involved in a conflict situation, it is important that you are aware of whether you and the other party are dealing with a substantive conflict or a personalized one. It isn't always easy to tell them apart, and it is difficult to look honestly at oneself. Ask yourself the following questions:

Do I dislike the other person or get frustrated with him/her?

Do I see the other person as untrustworthy, and undeserving of respect?

Is my emotional reaction to the conflict appropriate to it's seriousness or lack thereof?

Do I really want to "win"?

If the answer to any of these question is yes, you may be setting yourself up for a personalized conflict that nobody can win in the long term.

With respect to the other person, one good indicator of a personalized conflict situation is that the person will try to counter your substantive point on the issue with a series of DIFFERENT reasons why you are wrong. For example, let's look at the following dialogue.

Manager: We can't have you come in at 9:00 am because we need to answer the phones.

Employee: That makes sense, but I checked and we get only one or two calls between 8:00 and 9:00 but we get between ten and twenty calls in the later afternoon.

Manager: Well, maybe, but if you come in later, then soon everyone else will want to...

Note that in this case, the manager isn't really problem solving, but trying to find reasons to refuse the request, either because he doesn't "like" the other person, or for some other emotional reason we don't know about.

Move To Substantive Issues

Even in situations where both you and the other party have personalized the conflict, you can work to focus on specific issues. You have not direct control over another person, but you have control over yourself. By moving to the issues, and staying there, you will also encourage the other person to do so.

It isn't easy, of course. The trick is to try to put aside your negative perceptions about the other person, and not to dwell on them. That's an internal thing. Every time you think to yourself "what an idiot"(or all the other negative things), you make it that more difficult to stay focused on problem- solving, rather than winning, or getting your own way.

Work To Personalization

It is rare that personalization occurs just on the basis of two incompatible personalities. Usually, personalization occurs because conflict on substantive issues is handled badly. That is, one or both parties behaves in non-cooperative ways.

Leadership - The Link Between Planning & Doing

If you have read the preceding articles in this section on strategic planning, YOU will have a sense that strategic planning involves more than getting together for one day a yearto develop a strategic planning document. Strategic planning is both a logical, rational process, and a process that involves people. It takes more than developing a plan for that plan to be implemented. In this article, we consider that the critical link between planning and doing is leadership.

Traditional Planning Methods

The traditional way for government organizations to plan is for a group of people, usually executives/management, but sometimes including employees, to get together for some period of time each year. Generally, inadequate time is allocated to the exercise, but if it is completed, it results in a document that contains a mission statement, broad organizational goals, and other elements as is deemed appropriate. Then, the plan is usually hidden away somewhere, never to be seen again. Traditional methods yield traditional results. As a wise man once said "If you keep doing what you have been doing, you will get what you have always got".

It needn't be this way.

Reconceptualizing Strategic Planning

Planning should be considered as a blueprint for change. The plan should be the basis for introducing controlled change into an organization so it can adapt to changing times. By anticipating shifting demands, the plan serves the purpose of allowing the organization to control its own direction, rather than waiting until political forces demand change (and demand change NOW). In addition, the plan allows for consistent monitorin~ofsuccess,~nd re-examination of the degree to which organizational resources should be structured and allocated to achieve future goals.

But, if we look at strategic planning in this light, as a blueprint for change, we also need to consider that any organization has built-in inertia.. the tendency to keep on doing what one has been doing. On its own, the strategic planning process, as traditionally undertaken, is insufficient to overcome this inertia. Other forces need to come into play if the plan, and proposed changes get implemented.

Leadership - The Key Force

In the context of strategic planning, leadership means a number of things. We can outline the role of leadership in the following ways, keeping in mind that leadership may come from appointed leaders (management and executive) and from the ranks

. 1.Those in leadership roles ensure that as many members of the organization as possible buy into the values, mission, and broad organizational goals. There are two components to this function. First, leaders manage the perceptions of staff with respect to the planning process. Remember that most people have experienced the "plan-in-the-drawer" syndrome, where effort expended in planning is seen as wasted when the plan is ignored. Prior to the planning process, leaders must emphasize that THIS TIME, things will be different.

Second, leaders manage the planning process so that staff feel that they have adequate input into the process, that they are heard, and their values and visions are incorporated into the final plan and its implementation. Specifically, leaders arrange things so that the process is open, and conforms to accepted rules of communication. That may mean hiring an external consultant to orchestrate the planning sessions. It will certainly mean that rules get established to guide participation. Everyone who wants to participate should have the opportunity, and even reticent staff should be gently encouraged to involve themselves.

2. While managing perceptions of the planning process is important, the critical role of leadership occurs after the plan has been completed. Leaders must treat the planning results as the "organizational signposts that guide behaviour and decision making". After all, nobody is going to take a plan seriously if the formal leaders ignore it, or never refer to it again.

If you are serious about using strategic planning as a tool for organizational success, consider some of the following actions. A. When working with staff to set individual objectives, be sure to mention how the individual objectives will contribute to the achievement of the mission and organizational goals as outlined in the strategic plan. Make sure that the employee is familiar with the plan when individual objectives are set.

In addition, at each meeting with each employee, work with the employee to help him/her determine how the values outlined in the strategic plan apply to them. In other words, given the particular values, strategic goals and mission statement how is the employee to behave or make decisions.

B. Once the strategic plan has been completed, the formal leader of the organization (and perhaps others) should present and discuss the plan with the up-line manager or executive. It is NOT sufficient to send a copy. Because you will need up-line support to implement the plan, you will need their commitment, and commitment will only come from discussion and explanation of the plan.

C. At staff meetings, when decisions are required, explain how the strategic plan is used, or is to be used to make decisions. If you are the manager communicating a decision you have made, explain your rationale in light of the mission, values and goals expressed in the plan. If you are using a participative decision making process, help staff refocus on these components of the plan, so that they can be used to guide decision making

D. When doing performance reviews with staff, ask the individual to explain how his or her actions are consistent with the elements of the plan. How has their action contributed to organizational goals? Has their behaviour been consistent with organizational values? What needs to change so that the individual can further contribute to implementing the plan? Consider recognizing contributions to achievement of the plan, even if the individual did not have specific responsibility as outlined in their individual objectives. And, when setting future objectives, consider writing an objective that refers to the values expressed in the plan. For example: "Will act in accordance with the organizational values expressed in the strategic plan". If you go this route, make sure -that~the implications of these values are clear to the employee in terms of his or her,.

some take on the role of reminding people of the plan, and its relevance to any given decision-making process. Cultivate leaders in your organization by giving increased responsibility, and encouraging this kind of leadership behaviour.

Conclusion

Leadership, regardless of when it comes from formally appointed leaders, or Informal leaders, provides the link between planning and doing. Leadership, regardless of when it comes from formally appointed leaders, or informal leaders, provides the link between planning and doing. Effective leadership helps alter perceptions about strategic planning, and the organization itself, helping to overcome inertia, the tendency to keep things the same.

Without leadership, most strategic plans will end up as dead pieces of paper. Most importantly, when planning occurs without leadership, cynicism increases when staff see that the plan is being ignored, or even violated. The outcome of this is that formal leaders suffer a loss of credibility.

Best Perfumes,Colognes & Fragrances

How to choose Best Perfumes,Colognes & Fragrances Everyone has own special “smell". No one should be aware of your fragrance unless he or she steps inside your "circle." Perfume should be one of the most delicate, personal messages you send to those with whom you come in contact.

For a long-lasting effect, perfume should be layered all over the body, starting with toilet water or eau de parfum, next in strength to perfume, to build the fragrance foundation. Skin type will also affect the way a Perfume smells on a person. Perfume wearers with oilier skin should remember that fragrances interact with the oils in their skin to create a more intense scent. Dry skin does not retain fragrance as long as oily skin, requiring the wearer to reapply the fragrance more often Things to Remember while Purchasing Best Perfumes Keep your Perfumes safe from extreme cold or heat

Once a bottle of perfume is opened it should be used. Otherwise it will begin to fade or change its character with time.

Long exposure to strong sunlight or extremes in temperature can disturb the delicate balance of the perfume and change its scent.

Apply fragrance directly to the skin when you are testing new scents. You cannot get a true reaction to the fragrance from the bottle. Apply a few drops to your wrist. Allow the heat of the body to develop the fragrance on your skin and then sniff.

Make it a rule never to try more than three scents at one time when you are shopping for a new fragrance. Your nose will lose its ability to tell the difference.

Perfume should be kept in a cool, dry place away from direct light, preferably in its beautiful box.

If you would like to test one or two additional scents, apply one to the other wrist then wait for sometime and then apply the third to the inside bend of the elbow.

Use fragrance throughout every day. It will increase your feelings of well being. Different scents are believed to have their own unique affect on mood and feeling.

Introduce the enjoyment of fragrance to every young person you know. It is never too soon for them to experience the fun and benefits of fragrance. Types of Perfume For centuries, perfume has been an essential part of human culture: people have perfumed their hair and bodies with oils, resins, flowers, herb extracts and animal scents since earliest history. Wearing scent is pleasurable; it’s an expression of eccentricity.

Perfumes, Colognes and scents are usually complex combinations of natural materials, such as essential oils from plants and synthetic products that increase the lasting power and heighten the smell. Alcohol is used as a liquid base for perfume, and basically this ratio of alcohol to scented perfume concentrates determine what the final concoction is labeled.


Eau de Toilette, Eau de Parfum and Eau de Cologne are the most famous versions of scented luxury and are most commonly know as EDT, EDP and EDC

From highest concentration to least, the different forms of perfume are:

Perfume, also called Extract or Extrait (also see Glossary), can include 15-40% perfume concentrates. This is the purest form of scented product and is the most expensive as a result. Perfume (or “parfum”) lasts longer than other scent types; typically around six hours.

Eau de Parfum(EDP)

contains about 7-15% perfume concentrates. This is the most popular and common form of perfume. It provides a long-lasting fragrance and generally doesn't cost as much as extract perfume.


Eau de Toilette(EDT)

has around 1-6% perfume concentrates. This makes for a light scent that doesn't linger as long as the more intense versions. It was originally intended to be a refreshing body splash to help people wake up in the morning.

Eau de Cologne (EDC)


is sometimes used interchangeably with the term eau de toilette. However, the concoction began as the name of a light; fresh fragrance mixed with citrus oils and was made popular by Napoleon. Some perfumers today have a version of this called Eau Fraiche.


While these are the main classes of perfume, other products are frequently scented with perfume concentrates too. Lotions, creams, powders, body splashes, aftershaves, soaps, and other cosmetic products may contain variable (though usually small) amounts of fragrance.
So, now you should know exactly which “Eau de” you should be using every time … we're sure you'll smell like a rose all day!

Super Fruit called MANGO

MANGO originated in Southeast Asia where it has been grown for over 4,000 years. Over the years mango groves have spread to many parts of the tropical and sub-tropical world, where the climate allows the mango to grow best. Mango trees are evergreens that will grow to 60 feet tall. The mango tree will fruit 4 to 6 years after planting. Mango trees require hot, dry periods to set and produce a good crop. Most of the mangos sold in the United States are imported from Mexico, Haiti, the Caribbean and South America. Today there are over 1,000 different varieties of mangos throughout the world.

Vitamin Content: Mango is rich in Vitamin C and Vitamin A. Vitamin C content is more in raw mango as compared to that in ripe mango. It also has traces of Vitamin E, Vitamin B and Vitamin K.

The dulcet, juicy insides of the mango pack a nutritional punch. Its characteristic orange color is a clue to its storehouse of beta carotene (Vitamin A). Ripe mangos hold the highest levels of beta carotene, while green mangos are higher in Vitamin C. These antioxidant carotenoids are known for their protective power against certain cancers. Mangos also supply ample potassium, making them ideal for hypertensive patients or anyone looking to replenish energy after physical activity.

Mangoes are high in antioxidants, low in carbohydrates (although they are about 15% sugar – but good sugar!) and like other yellow/orange fruit such as pumpkin and carrot, they are an excellent source of beta-carotene (Vitamin A). They also contain Vitamin E and selenium which help protect against heart disease and cancer. You can obtain 40% of your daily fibre intake from a mango.

We all know the importance of fiber in our diets. If you are eating your mango-a-day, irregularity is not a problem for you and so we'll spare the gruesome details regarding constipation, piles and spastic colon. Research has shown that dietary fiber has a protective effect against degenerative diseases, especially with regards to the heart; may help prevent certain types of cancer, as well as lowering blood cholesterol levels.

The nutritional value of mango makes it good for weight gain, eye disorders, hair loss, heat stroke, prickly heat, diabetes, bacterial infections, sinusitis, piles, indigestion, constipation, morning sickness, diarrhea, dysentery, scurvy, spleen enlargement, liver disorders, menstrual disorders, leucorrhea, and vaginitis.

Mango, being high in calories and carbohydrates, is good for those who are trying to gain weight. The phenolic compound found in mangoes has been found to have powerful antioxidant and anticancer properties. Being high in iron, mango is said to be very good for pregnant women as well as for people suffering from anemia. Mango is believed to be effective in relieving clogged pores of the skin.

Mangoes are a good source of vitamins and minerals essential for the human body. It is an affordable and seasonal fruit. In India mangoes are grown widely in the southern belt. 'Alphonso' variety of mango which is exported world wide is cultivated in 'Ratnagiri' in the southern part of India. Mangoes can be eaten both raw and ripe. Raw mangoes have a sharp sour taste, while the ripe mangoes are juicy and sweet to eat. The fragrance of ripe mangoes tingles ones taste buds

MANGO,the free encyclopedia

Mango is a fruit which is indigenous to the Indian subcontinent,^[1] belonging to the genus Mangifera, consisting of numerous species of tropical fruiting trees in the flowering plant family Anacardiaceae. While other Mangifera species (e.g. horse mango, M. foetida) are also grown on a more localized basis, Mangifera indica – the common mango or Indian mango – is the only mango tree commonly cultivated in many tropical and subtropical regions, and its fruit is distributed essentially world-wide.

In several cultures, its fruit and leaves are ritually used as floral decorations at weddings, public celebrations and religious ceremonies.

Mango trees (Mangifera indica L.) grow 35–40 m (115–130 ft) tall, with a crown radius of 10 m (33 ft). The mango tree is long-lived, as some specimens still fruit after 300 years.^{[citation needed]} In deep soil, the taproot descends to a depth of 6 m (20 ft) and the profuse, wide-spreading feeder roots also send down many anchor roots, which penetrate several feet of soil. The leaves are evergreen, alternate, simple, 15–35 cm (5.9–14 in) long and 6–16 cm (2.4–6.3 in) broad; when the leaves are young they are orange-pink, rapidly changing to a dark glossy red, then dark green as they mature. The flowers are produced in terminal panicles 10–40 cm (3.9–16 in) long; each flower is small and white with five petals 5–10 mm (0.20–0.39 in) long, with a mild sweet odor suggestive of lily of the valley. The fruit takes three to six months to ripen.

The ripe fruit is variable in size and color. Cultivars are variously yellow, orange, red or green, and carry a single flat, oblong pit that can be fibrous or hairy on the surface, and which does not separate easily from the pulp. Ripe, unpeeled fruit gives off a distinctive resinous, sweet smell. Inside the pit 1–2 mm (0.039–0.079 in) thick is a thin lining covering a single seed, 4–7 mm (0.16–0.28 in) long. The seed contains the plant embryo

Cultivation and uses

Mangoes have been cultivated in the Indian subcontinent for thousands of years^[5] and reached East Asia between the 5th and 4th centuries BC. By the 10th century AD, cultivation had begun in East Africa.^[5] The 14th century Moroccan traveler, Ibn Battuta, reported it at Mogadishu.^[6] Cultivation came later to Brazil, the West Indies and Mexico, where an appropriate climate allows its growth.^[5]

Mango is now cultivated in most frost-free tropical and warmer subtropical climates; nearly half of the world's mangoes are cultivated in India alone.^[7][8][9]

Mango is also being grown in Andalusia, Spain (mainly in Málaga province), which is one of the few places in mainland Europe that allows growth of tropical plants and fruit trees.^[10] Many of the 1,000 + mango cultivars are easily cultivated using grafted saplings, ranging from the "turpentine mango" (named for its strong taste of turpentine, which according to the Oxford Companion to Food some varieties actually contain) to the huevos de toro ("eggs of the bull",

a euphemism for "bull's testicles", referring to the shape and size).

Other cultivators include North, South and Central America, the Caribbean, south, west and central Africa, Australia, China, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Southeast Asia.

Though India is the largest producer of mangoes, it accounts for less than one percent of the international mango trade, consuming most of its own output.^[11]

Food

Mango is generally sweet, although the taste and texture of the flesh varies across cultivars, some having a soft, pulpy texture similar to an overripe plum, while the flesh of others is firmer, like a cantaloupe or avocado, or may have a fibrous texture. For consumption of unripe, pickled or cooked fruit, the mango skin may be consumed comfortably, but has potential to cause contact dermatitis (above) of the lips, gingiva or tongue in susceptible people. In ripe fruits which are commonly eaten fresh, the skin may be thicker and bitter tasting, so is typically not eaten.

Nutrients and phytochemicals

Mango is rich in a variety of phytochemicals^[16] and nutrients. The fruit pulp is high in prebiotic dietary fiber, vitami

n C, diverse polyphenols and provitamin A carotenoids.^[17]

Mango contains essential vitamins and dietary minerals. The antioxidant vitamins A, C and E compose 25%, 76% and 9% of the Dietary Reference Intake (DRI) in a 165 grams (5.8 oz) serving. Vitamin B₆ (pyridoxine, 11% DRI), vitami

n K (9% DRI), other B vitamins and essential nutrients, such as potassium, copper and 17 amino acids are at good levels. Mango peel and pulp contain other phytonutrients, such as the pigment antioxidants – carotenoids and polyphenols – and omega-3 and -6 polyunsaturated fatty acids.<>

Mango peel contains pigments that may have antioxidant properties,^[16][18] including carotenoids, such as the provitamin A compound, beta-carotene, lutein a

nd alpha-carotene,^[19] polyphenols^[20][21] such as quercetin, kaempferol, gallic acid, caffeic acid, catechins, tannins, and the unique mango xanthonoid, mangiferin,^[22] any of which may counteract free radicals in various disease processes as revealed in preliminary research.^[23][24] Phytochemical and nutrient content appears to vary across mango species.^[25] Up to 25 different carotenoids have been isolated from mango pulp, the densest of which was beta-carotene, which accounts for the yellow-orange pigmentation of most mango species.^[26] Peel and leaves also have significant polyphenol content, including xanthonoids, mangiferin and gallic acid.^[27]

The mango triterpene, lupeol,^[28] is an effective inhibitor in laboratory models of prostate and skin cancers.^[29][30][31] An extract of mango branch bark called Vimang, isolated by Cuban scientists, contains numerous polyphenols with antioxidant properties in vitro^[32] a

nd on blood parameters of elderly humans.^[33]

The pigment euxanthin, known as Indian yellow, is often thought to be produced from the urine of cattle fed mango leaves; the practice is described as having been outlawed in 1908 due to malnutrition of the cows and possible urushiol poisoning.^[34] This supposed origin of euxanthin appears to rely on a single, anecdotal source, and Indian legal records do not outlaw such a practice.^[35]

Production and consumption

Mangoes account for approximately half of all tropical fruits produced worldwide. T

he Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations estimates worldwide production a

t more than 33,000,000 tonnes (36,000,000 short tons) in 2007 (table below). The aggregate production of the top 10 countries is responsible for roughly 80% of production.

Alphonso, Benishaan or Benisha (Banganapalli in Telugu and Tamil) and Kesar mango varieties are considered among the best mangoes in India's southern states, while Dussehri and Langda varieties are most popular in the northern states.

Generally, ripe mangoes have an orange-yellow or reddish peel and are juicy for eating, while exported fruit are often picked while underripe with green peels. Although producing ethylene while ripening, unripened exported mangoes do not have the same juiciness or flavor as fresh fruit.

Like other drupaceous fruits, mangoes come in both freestone and clingstone varieties.