Career counselling: questions and answers

Q1: I did MSc (Hons) in Agricultural Economics from University of Agriculture, Faisalabad (UAF) with CG PA of 3.7 in 2013. Earlier, I had completed BSc (Hons) Agriculture & Resource Economics with CG PA of 3.4 from the same institute. BSc (Hons) Agriculture & Resource Economics was introduced first time in Pakistan at the UAF in 2004. This BSc (Hons) programme is equivalent (equivalence certificate is hereby attached with this e-mail) to MA/MSc Economics. But we have paid no due consideration where MSc Economics is required for job. We the Agri Economists have no more option rather than going abroad where the Agriculture sector is well-structured and developed i.e. Germany, USA, Australia, Canada etc. for PhD. Unfortunately, in our country, public sector agriculture has very limited demand of Agri-Economist, while in private sector, there is a rare demand of Agri-Economist at all. Up to this moment, I am still jobless.

Please guide me about the job market where I can find demand regarding my degree as due to family constraints I cannot afford higher qualification abroad. (Toheed-ur-Rahman - Faisalabad).A: I am sorry to hear your story and hope that you are able to find a suitable and relevant opening for your career. To begin with my advice to you would be to contact Agriculture Development Banks and those multinationals and NGOs that are connected with providing Agricultural Management and financial services. In addition to this, you can also look at institutions that have now started to offer BSc Agri Economics such as Arid in Rawalpindi and Narowal. The other options could be to contact USAID and Micro-Finance companies which would be interested to hire your services. United Nations is looking at several projects and so is USAID helping Pakistani farmers to increase their profits may need such expertise. In addition to all this, you have to keep on knocking at the doors of government sector institutions both at federal and provincial level in the agriculture sector and I’m sure you will find relevant opportunities. I hope that you would be able to identify a prospective organisation going forward.

Q2: I have done Master in International Relations. Now may I take admission to Mass Communication and can you tell me what is the scope of this degree will it be suitable for me? (Mustafa Mazhar - Karachi)

A: Having done your International Relations I would like you to prepare yourself and attempt CSS examinations to find an appropriate career option. However, if you are interested in media and communication my suggestion would be to look at social media and electronic media degrees that would help you to connect your current international qualifications towards a career option in the media industry.

Q3: Can you please share information about foreign study scholarships for Australia. (Hassan Bukhari - Lahore)

A: Scholarships around the world, including Australia are dependent on various factors. Unless I know what level of qualifications you are aiming to pursue, your grades and the area of studies; it is very difficult to give you precise information on such scholarships. However, there are a number of scholarships that are offered by the Australian government and very recently you must have seen an advertisement in The News from the government of Australia offering postgraduate scholarships. I’m sure you are IT literate and if you browse through their official embassy website you will find this relevant information. There are other scholarships that are available for international students which are offered by different NGOs and you can check the following websites for further information: www.studyinaustralia.gov.au and www.afs.org.au/ scholarships I wish you all the best.

Q4: I had passed FSc pre-medical and got 89 percent marks and also appeared in MDCAT and it made 85 percent aggregate and I did not get admission to any medical college. Please give me a good advice. (Ayman - Gujranwala)

A: It is unfortunate that you could not find a place at a medical school in Pakistan. However, it is the system of selection and process that one has to follow. I’m sure there are other better career options that you would be able to look and explore looking up towards your career in life. These could include doing your undergraduate degrees in Molecular Biology, Microbiology or Biomedical Sciences those are said to be closely linked with Medical Sciences and have huge prospects as allied science particularly when you are looking towards doing a research in Cell, Oncology, Virology and the developments that are taking place in the Biomedical area. I would suggest that you thoroughly consider these options and choose the one that is more near to your heart and interest.

(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).