Career counselling: Questions and answers

Q1). I wish that I could become media anchor or lawyer, but due to Fata background I have no guideline. My elders guided me to choose subject of disaster management and currently I am in sixth semester. Now I do not feel like doing it anymore because I have lost my interest in this area so guide me in this regard that should I continue it or choose any other field? (Fazeel Ahmed- KPK)

Ans: Disaster management is a very important and emerging subject area and has huge potential both in Pakistan and in the western world. There is no reason you cannot complete your degree and still be a media anchor based on the intelligence that you will gain from this degree. I suggest you continue to work hard and continue this degree.

Q2). I am an accountant in a multinational in Peshawar. I want to do LLB and afterwards I want to start practice of law. Kindly, guide me from where should I get degree without attending classes because I can’t leave my job. Your advice will be very valuable for me in making a decision. (Shakir- Peshawar)

Ans: My first advice for you would be not to do ordinary law as you are an accountant by profession and experience. If you are still interested in doing law, I would suggest you look at doing corporate law or tax law and for this I am not sure whether you would find many institutes in Peshawar but certainly you can look at through the internet which institute offers corporate law and you can do it without leaving your job.

Q3). I am an electrical engineer and working in a leading oil and gas company as trainee engineer. The core of this industry is petroleum engineering and I want to work as a petroleum engineer. Please, suggest me that if I do master’s in this area, will I fit somewhere good in this field? (Ali Murtaza- Lahore)

Ans: There are a number of courses that will give you more options within the oil and gas industry and you can certainly do master’s in any of these fields. However, if you can gain more than three years experience and do a good IELTS of 6.5 or above, you could look at doing an MBA in oil and gas offered by different international universities which will open up huge prospects for you in future.

Q4). I'm a student of FSc pre-medical group and I got 91 per cent marks but couldn't perform in entrance test. I can easily afford to take admission in private medical college and, on the other hand, there’s also a chance for me to repeat the entrance test. I’m confused what to do whether I should get admission or I retake the test. You are requested to guide me about the right path. (Farman Ali- Multan)

Ans: If you are confident that by repeating the entrance test, you will make it, you may wait. However, all HEC and PMDC approved MBBS courses are similar and if you do well in your first professional year, you may request for a migration which is based on either mutual agreement between two private universities or due to vacancies in public sector universities in year two where students leave to opt out of the course. In both cases, do not waste time.

(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).