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Thursday March 28, 2024

Career counselling: questions and answers

By Syed Azhar Husnain Abidi
February 06, 2023

Q1: Dear Mr Abidi, my son will pass his A-Level this year with Physics, Chemistry, Maths and Computing. He wants to get admission in Chemical Engineering or Petroleum Engineering. He is excellent in computing too. Please advise what is the scope of these fields. (Mrs Shahroze Aslam, Faisalabad)

Ans: Mrs Shahroze, I would rather recommend that he chooses Electronics, Communication Engineering or Mechatronics Engineering which has wider scope in the future rather than Chemical Engineering or Petroleum Engineering. If he has strong Mathematics and Physics he can succeed well in any of the above areas.

Q2: Sir, I have taken admission in BS (A&F) in IBA Sukkur and wanted to ask if this field has a good scope for me in the future? My friends are suggesting that I take admission in BBA instead as BBA has a greater scope. My marks in FSc are 72 percent. Kindly suggest which field to choose from and has a better scope for me in the future? (M. Ahmad Qayyum, Lahore)

Ans: Dear Ahmad, Accounting and Finance is a very strong area and there are huge career opportunities going forward. I am sure when you search the sites of professional accounting bodies you will find many of them would offer you a range of exemptions towards professional qualifications such as ACCA or ACMA etc. There are other emerging career opportunities in the area of finance and risk management and perhaps you can consider looking at doing a postgraduate qualification in Finance and Economics, Finance and Risk Management, and Finance Capital and Money, etc. All these degrees will lead to open further prospects for you within the domain of accounting and financial management.

Q3: Dear Mr Abidi, I am totally confused about the field selection for BS. I have listed Biotechnology and Bioinformatics. I want to ask which one of these has better scope in Pakistan? What should I choose: Biotechnology or Bioinformatics? (Hareem Chohan, Narowal)

Ans: Dear Hareem, since I am not sure or have seen your FSc result and grades that you achieved in either Computer Science or Biology, I am a bit reluctant to give you any advice. If you are strong in IT and have relevant expertise or passion for information technology and you understand the combination of IT and biology then you should be aware that this field has great potential within Pakistan and abroad. Biotechnology is, of course, a very well-recognised subject area and again depending on what specialism you choose will have an impact on your final career opportunities.

Q4: Sir, my daughter is a student of ICom Part-2. She wants to take admission in BBA. Can she do it? Also, advise us on what is the best field for girls for future success or any other way for a better future? (Mehran Baloch, Karachi )

Ans: Dear Mehran, if your daughter has done her intermediate with commerce and obtained good grades then I would suggest that she should go for a bachelor's in accounting and finance. However, if she has less marks or she lacks interest in mathematics, or is not good at numbers then she may choose to do a degree in business and administration. Both degrees are suitable for females and quite successful in becoming accountants, managers or working in trade commerce and banks etc. I hope that your daughter will be able to choose a degree that is close to her heart and academic background.

(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).