Career counselling; questions and answers

Q1: Dear Mr Abidi, I got 72% marks in FSc Pre-Engineering and a year has passed. I have now planned to study more but do not have information about institutions/ universities. I request you to please give me your expert advice about what is best for me to study onwards? (Javeria Tariq, Lahore)

Ans: You need to make a decision on your own in first place as to what you wish to study, whether you want to study in Pakistan or abroad. This definitely depends on your family circumstances, your financial background and your current place of residence if you choose to study at a Pakistani university. In case you wish to select a university abroad then all these things become very important before an advice can be given to you. Once you give me your answers to the above question only then I can help you in finding a suitable degree and university for you.

Q2: Sir, l did Masters in Business Administration (HR) and my CGPA was 2.67. Now I want to do a job. I will appreciate if you could please guide me as to which can be the best career for me in future? (Tabbassum Rauf, Karachi)

Ans: As I can see you already have got a degree of MBA with specialisation in HR; I recommended that you choose a career within the human resource domain. While, you can focus on HR you may be able to use your management skills to learn more about management decision making, marketing, finance and other aspects of business. If unfortunately, you face problems in finding a suitable and relevant job, I suggest that you do an internship paid or unpaid and once you have a hands-on experience your career opportunities will be enhanced in future.

Q3: I am a medical student and have an urge for appearing in CSS exam. I am a little bit double minded whether I should continue my medical career or go for civil service. I was told to contact on this mail address to get some guidance. So what should I do? This confusion sometimes interferes with my studies. (Akif Rizwan, Islamabad)

Ans: I am unable to answer your question and I tell you that it is a difficult area/ domain; until/unless I know which year of medicine or professional examination you are currently passing. If you are about to complete your medicine then it would not be advisable to leave this degree half way through but I will suggest that you complete your MBBS, do your house job, get on with a practical experience/job and meanwhile try to appear for a CSS examination. It is unfortunate that you will be making this decision because doing medicine is not easy and the entire mode you would be foregoing a very pious and respectable profession that most people want to do. I would suggest you give it a good thought before finalising your decision.

Q4: Abidi Sb, I used to read your columns in Jang Group and I am glad to see the way you guide people. I want to get guidance too. I did Masters in Human Resource Management in 2014-2016 from University of the Punjab. After that I did teaching in American school in UAE, but I really want to proceed in Human Resource field. Now I am coming back to Pakistan and need to know what should I do.? (Shumaila Farhan, KSA)

Ans: HRM is a very vast field within the business domain. It is particularly suited to the female gender if they do this with interest and passion. I am sure once you return to Pakistan and apply for a job at good multinational organisations you will at least get a startup position. If not, don’t be disappointed and look for a good internship in HRM and once you get into a workplace environment you will find many opportunities to move forward and to better understand which area is best for you. Best of luck for your future plans.

(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).