Career counselling: questions and answers

Q1: Dear Mr Abidi, I have completed my Polymer and Process Engineering (2.66 CGPA) from UET Lahore. Currently I’m also studying Software Engineering from Virtual University and after six semesters, my CGPA is 3.26. I’m also giving tuition for the last four years, to O/A level students as I did A levels too. I also wrote an undergraduate article related to Polymer Engineering. I’m now interested in studying abroad, especially in Canada with a scholarship if possible. Your guidance will be highly appreciated. (Sanaullah Qureshi, Lahore)

Ans: Dear Mr Qureshi, after carefully going through your academic history and research interest I suggest you should go for masters by research in a subject which is relevant to Software Engineering in Canada. If you successfully pass your degree with a CGPA of 3.5 or more you may have chances to get scholarships in Australia or UK because Canada is not a good destination for scholarship seekers as there are very few opportunities for this purpose. I hope my information and guidelines will be helpful and I wish you best of luck.

Q2: Dear Sir, I have just started my BS in Accounting and Finance from Multan. I wonder if this subject/ field has good career opportunities. My family is recommending me to do Business Administration as according to them it has more chances of success and career prospects. My marks in intermediate Pre-Engineering were 73 percent. Please let me know which field I should finally choose for my career. (Arbaz Gul, Peshawar)

Ans: Dear Arbaz, I can assure you that Accounting & Finance is a very popular subject area and high in demand in the future as well. If you check professional accounting bodies, you will find many of these bodies are offering a wide range of exemptions towards professional qualifications such as ACCA or ACMA etc. You can also try your luck in Finance, Economics and Risk Management as these are also emerging subject areas. I will recommend you to consider doing a postgraduate degree in Finance and Risk/ Risk Management, Finance and Economics, etc. Selecting one of these degrees will open avenues of success in your professional career related to AF & Management.

Q3: Sir, I need your help in choosing my subject for BS either in Biotechnology or Bioinformatics. I will be grateful if you can help and let me know which subject is in demand or has more career scope? I request you to please answer as soon as possible. (Farkhanda Jillani, Karachi)

Ans: Miss Farkhanda, as I have not seen your intermediate result; therefore, not sure of the marks /grades you scored in either Computer Science or Biology. Therefore, I’m a bit hesitant to give you any suggestions. However, I can tell you that if you are good in information technology and you have more interest in IT and you understand the hibernation of IT and biology then you should know that this field has great potential not only in our country but also in foreign countries. Please note that Biotechnology is an area that is high in demand globally but again whichever specialisation you choose will have an impact on your career/ profession.

Q4: Dear Mr Abidi, I want to get your kind and expert opinion regarding my daughter who is currently studying ICom and is in her final year. She is willing to study for a Business Administration Honors degree. Please let me know if she can study this and if being a girl would be a better choice. (Zamin Nazeer Raja, Islamabad)

Ans: Dear Mr Zamin, I’m quite sure if your daughter gets excellent grades then my recommendation to her would be Accounting and Finance in bachelors. But if she ends up with low scores/grades or if she is not good in Math then she can choose to do Business Administration. Let me assure you that both degrees are better choices. In my experience, women are very successful as accountants, managers or working banks or in trade /commerce etc. Let her choose the degree in which she has more interest and in my opinion, she will be more successful this way.

(Syed Azhar Husnain Abidi is a renowned educationist in Pakistan, with more than 20 years of experience as provider of education counselling services. He has represented Pakistan in over 100 national and international seminars, conferences and fora. He is a recipient of the most coveted civil award Tamgha-e-Imtiaz).