Career counselling: questions and answers

Q1: Dear Mr Abidi, I’m confused about which field I should choose for admission in a bachelor’s after my successful completion of FSc Pre-Medical. My core areas of interest are Textile Designing and Biomedical Engineering. I seek your kind guidance in this regard. (Mazhar Rana, Faisalabad)

Ans: Dear Mazhar, I note that the courses you have chosen are very appropriate and right. Please note that Textile Designing requires creativity and a bit of knowledge and some level of proficiency in drawing/sketching etc. If you think you have these, or you are good on the above skills, then it’s a good choice. 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.

Q2: Dear Sir, I am half way through my BS in Botany. I wish to go abroad for higher studies but I don’t have the 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/procedures. (Anees Rehmani, Nankana)

Ans: Dear Anees, my sincerest advice to you is to focus on your studies and complete your degree with a high CGPA because It’s too early right now to think about studying in a foreign country or getting a scholarship for that matter. As far as funding and scholarship is concerned, it’s directly dependent upon your final score because scholarship requirements abroad are always very high and requires a very good CGPA and a high IELTS/GRE score, depending on the country you wish to apply to.

Q3: Respected sir, I did my BS Hons Telecommunication with a 3.5 CGPA and have been working in a private company that deals in IT solutions. Now I want to do MS Project Management. Am I on the right track? Please advise me. (Farhan Gulzar, Karachi)

Ans: Dear Farhan, Telecommunication is definitely a vast and a growing subject area. Recent innovation and technology enhancement in telecommunication is due to the fusion of IT and Computer Engineering. As you have relevant experience of doing projects in this telecom area and understand the management, analysis and execution of projects in the practical sense, it would be a wise decision doing MSc project management. It will no doubt help you to improve your career prospects and or look at higher level management jobs within the Telecommunication industry.

Q4: Dear Mr Abidi, I would highly appreciate it if you can let me know the prospects of PhD Psychology. And the research area on the mental health of war-affected children in Europe. (Ghufran Haider, Lahore)

Ans: Dear Ghufran, your chosen Psychology subject has a broad domain. The number of highly qualified psychologists here in Pakistan is quite low. On the other hand, the growing number of social issues in society like terrorism, violence against women, crime etc., such incidents need more research to overcome this. For such tasks, psychologists can play a key role. The other important issue is the state of mental health of war-affected families and children, especially in the region of Middle East and Eastern Europe. Therefore, people having PhD in Psychology have more chances of success in research as well as teaching.

(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).