Career counselling: questions and answers

Q1: Dear Mr Abidi, I am a student of National Textile University, Faisalabad. I am doing Polymer Engineering (Final Year). I will be thankful if you can please reply with some guidance on whether I should study further or look for job? How I can get scholarship to study abroad? Your guidance in this process shall be highly appreciated. (Ghufran Chattha, Sialkot)

Ans: Dear Mr Ghufran, there are limited opportunities when it comes to textile, especially Polymer Engineering. However, there are many secondary areas that you can explore.

There are always two options once you graduate, firstly get some industrial experience and then select a good postgraduate degree for further studies or straight away do your masters.

Scholarships are not automatic and depend on various factors such as your academic profile, the country and the university you are choosing, the extra-curricular activities and last but not least, your English language proficiency.

It is very important when applying for scholarships in most of the countries. However, before you do that you need an offer letter and you must explore which course that you wish to take up for your postgraduate studies that will give the right top up to your undergraduate degree in enhancing your career going forward.

Q2: Sir, I completed my degree in Power & Electrical Engineering with CGPA 2.33. I am willing to do further studies but facing some difficulty in admission in MS i.e. because of CGPA which is very low. I am quite sure your suggestion would be very useful that’s why I am requesting you to kindly advise whether I should go abroad for studies or what to do? (Abdul Rafay Khan – Karachi)

Ans: Dear Abdul Rafay, no doubt, you got very poor grades. I am not sure doing MS or related engineering degree at postgraduate level in Pakistan will do much for you. Anyway, if you have any desire to study abroad which is a good option, you must study Pre-masters in Management Engineering as a top up degree. This is a very useful blend of engineering and management and surely has a chance to enhance chances of your future success.

Q3: Respected Mr Abidi, I have studied Urdu, Pakistan Studies and Islamiat (CIE exams). These were my three subjects and scored 1A* and 2As respectively. Now I am preparing to give rest of my CIE exams/ in English, Maths, Biology, Physics and Chemistry this year. Can you please guide me what to do after O levels as I am planning to go into the medical field while staying and studying in Pakistan? Sir, I am worried to hear from my friends if you go for O-levels and then you want to join medical field, that is not possible because no matter how good grades you achieve in your O levels, your equivalence numbers would be very less and your dream for going into government medical college is shattered, leaving you with only one way i.e. private medical colleges.

Sir, can you please guide me what should I do after O-levels, either A level or FSc. Also please guide me about what other fields are available that are popular and have good scope in Pakistan for me if I go for A-levels other than medical. Looking forward for your response and guidance.

(Khawar Butt, Islamabad)

Ans: Dear Khawar, keeping in view your current performance I am sure there is no need to shift to FSc Pre-Medical even whether to want to stay here in Pakistan and wish to do MBBS if you will do the same hard work and get similar grades in Maths, Biology, Physics and Chemistry. The equivalency system is going to go away and all you would have to do is to prepare your NTS test and if you do well in your NTS test and with the grade you will achieve in A-level should give you a combination that will allow you to compete in major medical institutions across the country. However, you would still need to work hard to understand how the NTS test system is designed and assessed.

Q4: Sir, I did my FSc recently and currently studying Mechanical Engineering. Now I want to change it next year and want to ask your guidance if changing it is a good idea. What should be my next choice? I am considering Physics and Computer Science or Engineering. I feel that Physics is more interesting as compared to engineering. (Rukhsana Mumtaz – Lahore)

Ans: Dear Rukhsana, if you share your FSc and first term results of your mechanical engineering it would be easy and appropriate for me to advise you regarding changing your degree specialism. Also share the name of the university that you are currently studying etc. I can give you a comprehensive guideline and information once I have the above information.

(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).