Career counselling: questions and answers

Q1: Dear Mr Abidi, I am studying BS-Information Technology (6th semester). Though I have been studying for five or six years I think my interest is still not developed in this field. One of my friends has advised me to do CSS because he thinks that my general knowledge is good. I am also interested in doing CSS but my English is not very good; so kindly suggest me subjects for CSS and let me know how to improve my English. (Khaleel Qureshi- Karachi)

Ans: Dear Mr Qureshi, for CSS exam eligibility you must have a minimum of bachelor’s degree recognised by HEC. I understand you would complete your bachelors in the coming year from a recognised university following which you can attempt CSS. The key subject areas that you need in-depth information would be Politics, International Relations, Current Affairs, General Knowledge and English Literature. Yes, you need to enhance your English proficiency particularly in reading and writing and this means that you should take extra classes for English wherever you can find these and a regular reading material, watching English news channels would also be helpful.

Q2: Dear sir, my son did BBA (honors) Finance and ACCA. I wanted to have your expert opinion regarding MBA. Do you think an MBA (Finance) would be a good choice for my son’s further studies or something else? (Afnan Kamboh - Faisalabad)

Ans: Dear Mr Kamboh, I advise that your son should gain some practical and relevant experience whether through paid employment or an unpaid internship to get a hold of real time hands-on experience. My suggestion would be to look at chartered accountants or companies engaged in making financial feasibilities and budgets that also involve risk assessment and evaluation. Having worked for a few years in the commerce he can then look towards doing an MBA.

Q3: Sir, I did Masters in Mathematics and I am confused to which career/ department should I opt further as now I feel that I have lost interest in Mathematics. I would be obliged if you please guide me for a better career. (Zarqa Laiq Siddiqui – Lahore)

Ans: I am surprised to see that while you have been studying 16 years and got qualification in mathematics but now all of sudden you have lost interest in this subject at this point of time. The closest subject area I can suggest would be finance since you are good at numbers and statistics. I believe you should do well if pursuing a degree in finance or financial management. This will open up career opportunities in financial institutions for you.

Q4: Respected Mr Abidi, I am doing Intermediate in Pre-Medical (final year). My percentage in the first year was 64. Sir, I am getting confused to choose between Law, D-Pharm or BS English. Could you please help me out in this regard? (Shaheen Afridi-Peshawar)

Ans: It’s very difficult to answer your query precisely until/unless I have seen your transcripts and hear out your reasons for choosing Pharmacy, Law or English. Each one of them is widely apart in terms of their relevancy and therefore your level of interest in each subject will be the key decision factor. I would suggest a third option based on your FSc Pre-Medical is to do a degree in Biological Sciences or Biomedical Sciences which has wider career opportunities.

(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).