Career counselling: questions and answers

Q1: Dear Mr Abidi, my daughter is in her second year of Intermediate (pre-medical). Her first-year percentage was 91. She is not interested in doing an MBBS, instead, she wants to be a lecturer. Please guide us in this matter, so that we can advise her in the right direction for further studies. (Zaahir Tarar – Hafizabad)

Ans: Dear Zaahir, there are many subject areas that your daughter can take up, and those are related to medicine which she can utilise in doing her further education to become a lecturer. These courses can be Bachelor in Microbiology, Molecular Biology, Biochemistry or BSc Biomedical Engineering, etc. Moreover, please note that there are huge research and postgraduate study opportunities in these areas and also a vacuum in terms of qualified teachers in colleges/universities throughout Pakistan. However, she will have to excel and obtain a high GPA to qualify for the Punjab Public Service Commission (PPSC) competitive examination.

Q2: Respected sir, I passed BCom (Hons) with a majors in Accounting and an MBA in Marketing, my thesis too is in marketing with the title ‘Effects of shopping store environment on consumer buying behaviour’. I have completed my masters with 85% but I am unable to find any job. Please guide me what I should do next to find a better job? (Shamroze Siddiqi – Karachi)

Ans: Mr Shamroze, first of all, please note that MBA is only for those who have work experience and therefore, the MBA in Marketing you did is not going to help you in professional life until unless you start working. I do realise that you need to find work and a job that combines your accounting and marketing background and I feel sorry that unfortunately, you are not able to find a suitable job so far. I suggest you should do a paid or unpaid internship in a good multinational company. I’m very much confident that if you are not asking for a salary most people would let you in to do a relevant internship. This will help you to understand how the different marketing concepts behave in a practical environment and shall also let you develop connections and networks which will ultimately lead to finding a full-time appropriate position.

Q3: Dear sir, I have done a 4-year bachelor's in Biomedical Engineering. Please let me know what is the scope of this degree in Pakistan. Which specialisation should I choose for masters and what about CSS? (Ubaidullah Butt, Lahore)

Ans: Dear Ubaidullah, Biomedical Engineering is an upcoming field and there are huge opportunities going forward especially if you do post-graduation in the areas of Tissue Engineering, Bio Instrumentation, Clinical Engineering or Rehabilitation Engineering under the domain of Biomedical Engineering. For CSS which is a competitive examination and involves a high level of IQ in current affairs, international relations, Politics, English Literature, and Basic Sciences whereby you will be choosing optional subjects along with compulsory subjects, and therefore, you will have to take this important decision yourself.

Q4: Dear Mr Abidi, I’m confused about what subject area my son should choose for his bachelor's. He is willing to do computing science from the UK. He is currently a student of A-levels and appearing in finals next year and hoping to get straight A’s. Please suggest some top universities he should apply to. (Asghar Khan, Peshawar)

Ans: Dear Mr Khan, Computing Science is a subject that is becoming very important in the rapidly changing digital world. Many universities offer bachelor's and master's degrees in computing science depending on the area of specialisation and research. In the UK, the top few universities are Imperial College London, St Andrews, King’s College London, Leeds and Sheffield etc. All have different entry qualifications but if your son is expecting straight A’s there should be no problem if he applies well in time.

(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).