Career counselling: Questions and answers

Q1: I am a regular reader of your column in Daily Jang. My son obtained 82% marks in First Year FSc Pre-Engineering. However, he is not interested in engineering field and intends to take admission in BS Economics & Data Science. Please advise me about this subject, whether this subject is suitable for him or not and what is the scope of this subject for future of my son. Is there any demand of this field in Pakistan? (Muhammad Nawaz, Lahore Cantt)

A: If your son has deep and strong interest in IT and Computer Science and understands Computational Mathematics, with of course a strong Mathematics throughout his academic career, I believe this could be the best course going forward. Data Science or Big Data with Economics is a rare combination and provides a broader landscape towards career prospects in this emerging domain. However, he needs to explore the contents and modules of the degree programme that he intends to choose and do not get confused in Economics and Business information systems rather than data science.

Q2: My daughter is a fresh Pharm-D graduate from the University of Karachi and wishes to continue her studies. She requires guidance regarding what subject to study further that will prove to be fruitful for further job opportunities. (Mirza Javaid Iqbal Beg, Karachi)

A: The five-year degree programme your daughter has completed gives her a comprehensive understanding of the pharmaceutical industry both from the development of medicines, their compositions, properties and also covers the diagnostic approach. My advice would be that she finds a job or an internship in the pharmaceutical industry whether on the side of research or development. This will give her an idea to navigate her interests and identify the area that she would like to focus within this industry. I would recommend her that she looks at drug development, and sustainability within the pharmacy studies both of these areas should have a suitable postgraduate or master’s degree that would enable her to enhance her career prospects.

Q3: Sir, I need your advice for selection of my career ahead. I have cleared FSc in Pre-Engineering and now I’m interested in pursuing my career in Computer Science. Can you please tell me which field in Computer Science is effective to select? I am very confused about what to choose among Software Engineering, Networking, and Artificial Intelligence & Robotics. What's the scope of these fields of Computer Science abroad? (Saim Masood Shaikh, Karachi)

A: My advice to you would be to complete a degree in Software Engineering which covers both hardware and software along with the understanding of Computing Science. There are a number of subjects and modules that you would study spread over eight semesters that involve both hardware and software aspects, networking, artificial intelligence, human interaction and other areas that are developing into specialisms. Once you have completed your bachelor’s degree, you would be in a better position to identify the area of specialism with more confidence and that would be the right time to choose a specialism for your postgraduate study.

Q4: I have done BS Bioinformatics from COMSATS Sahiwal with 3.71 CGPA on the scale of 4. Now I want to do MS/MPhil Bioinformatics. I want to know which university will be best for me, NUST or COMSATS Islamabad? I also want to know the scope of my degree in Pakistan as I should continue with it or change my field. Also please tell me the other fields of Biological Sciences with high scope in Pakistan. (Nimra Murtaza, Sahiwal)

A: Bioinformatics is an emerging subject area and I think you have achieved a very good CGPA which will help you to find entry to good universities both in Pakistan and abroad may be with scholarships where applicable. I see that you have mentioned about pursuing a master of science or a master of philosophy however, you must understand that MPhil is basically done when you have plans to do research / PhD in this area while MS or MSc will expand your existing base towards finding new career prospects. To begin with my advice would be to finding an internship or work placement for few months to identify the area of your interest in this emerging subject. As for your question regarding NUST or COMSATS will also depend on the area of specialisation that you wish to undertake in the bioinformatics or perhaps the biomedical sciences as you rightly pointed out in your email. I hope this information will help you to find the right specialism going forward.

(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).