Q1: Sir, my brother has recently done Mechatronic Engineering (Robotics) with aggregate GPA 2.54. He wants to continue his studies, but he is a little bit confused either to join MBA or MS programme. Kindly suggest either of the fields and also the related subject for MS (if suggested) as admission in Electronics or Mechanics is not possible with GPA 2.54. (Saira Ahmad- Islamabad)
Ans: I suggest your brother should work for a few years in the industry and gain some experience before getting into a management degree such as MBA. It is important at this stage to get the practical experience of industry and machines and apply the knowledge and move forward.
Q2: I have given my final exams of Electronic Engineering from Karachi. Please guide me what should I study now? MS or MBA or other and which one you think is the best? Should I study abroad and which country is cheaper so I can afford my expenses. Kindly guide me. (Farhana Iftikhar- Karachi)
Ans: Clearly both the options are open to you; however, my first advice would be to use your Bachelor’s degree and work for few years before you decide which specialism of Postgraduate Degree is best for you. However, with your current background I would recommend that you do a PG degree in Mechatronics or the second option would be Communication Engineering choosing Wireless and Mobile Communication as a specialisation. Both degrees are here to stay for many years to come and shall not limit your prospects abroad and in Pakistan.
Q3: My son did BE in Telecom Engineering from Islamabad in 2011 with 2.49 GPA. He did his Masters in Engineering Management from UK in 2013 with good grades. Presently he is engaged with me to look after my small scale software development related company. He intends to do PhD in Disaster Management. Please advise what we should do? (Zahid Kareem - Lahore)
Ans: Your son is already qualified engineer with one of the good top up master’s degree in engineering management my advice for him is to get some experience in the industry for few years before proceeding for a PhD. However, if he is confident in doing a PhD and that too in a different field of Disaster Management he should explore the subject area quite a bit and make up his mind in developing a worth researching topic in disaster management. There are a number of universities around the world which offer disaster management and once he has chosen the subject that he would like to do research in I will advise him further.
Q4: I have done BCom in 2015 and I have three years of work experience in retail sector in Pakistan markets. Now I am planning to get Masters Degree in Supply Chain Management (SCM). So is it a right decision for me to get degree in this field. Please guide with your expert opinion. (Bilal Khalid - Lahore)
Ans: I think you are very well-qualified and experienced to consider doing a master’s within own specialism of Supply Chain Management. SCM will greatly help you to expand and enhance your career prospects especially if you continue to engage in huge franchise whether household or food chains. A degree in SCM from a foreign country/ good university will give a slightly better edge.
(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).