Career counselling; questions and answers

 
July 22, 2019

Q1). Respected Mr Abidi, I did BS in Statistics about six years back. It has been two years since I am working as a statistician. Now I wish to study MPhil. But the problem is with my full-time job as I am unable to manage my studies full-time or I have other option of doing masters in “Epidemiology and Biostatistics”. Please note that it is equal to MPhil once thesis is submitted. Can you please advise me which one I should choose MSc Biostatistics or MSc Statistics? (Mohad Butt, Lahore).

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Ans: If you want to study MPhil, it shows your intention that you would also be planning to do PhD and after which you would be going to teaching which is a very good option. I tell you that there is a very high demand of health statisticians or medical statisticians and yes these are very expensive courses. However, if you do these courses, your chances of better job are very high. I hope this information will help you getting to a better decision.

Q2). Sir, I am confused which field I should choose for admission in bachelor’s after my successful completion of FSc Pre-Medical. I am interested in doing either Textile Designing or Biomedical Engineering. I seek your kind guidance in this regard. (Bazeela Azeem, Faisalabad)

Ans: I noted the courses which you have chosen are very appropriate and good for women. Please note that Textile Designing needs some creativity and some knowledge of drawing/sketching, etc. If you think you have some knowledge or you are good on the above-mentioned skills, then it’s good subject. On the other hand, Biomedical Engineering is no doubt a very popular and emerging subject area but for this you need to have good marks in physics, chemistry and mathematics.

Q3). Dear Mr Abidi, I am doing four years’ honours degree in Social Work. But I am not sure of its career prospects. I have requested my teacher several times about the scope of this degree but didn’t get a satisfactory answer to this. I had main interest in Mass Communication but I was selected in this department. Please advise me the right path as I am not sure if my course selection is good? (Neelofer Shehzadi, Gujrat)

Ans: My advice to you is that you should try and work hard to get your degree successfully completed. Once you are done with this degree, try to study a postgraduate degree in a different subject. At that point I can give you proper guideline how to study further.

Q4). My degree in BS Botany is going to finish this year. I wish to go abroad for higher studies but I do not have funds. My question to you is if there are any scholarships available for MS/ MPhil? If yes, please let me know how to apply for these scholarships. Also note that I don’t have IELTS certificate. I will appreciate your guidance for my future as I know your advice would be very useful for me. (Samantha Clement, Nankana)

Ans: As your results are yet to be received; therefore, I think it would be too early to think about studying in a foreign country or getting a scholarship. It depends what grades/marks you get in final result of your degree because scholarship requirements are always very high and require a very good CGPA or percentage. As far as IELTS certificate is concerned, it is a language and mandatory requirement for admission to foreign universities which means no question for scholarship arises if you don’t have this. (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).

(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).

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