PEF organizes ‘Career Guidance Seminar’

One of the most prestigious professions in the world is engineering. For many, it’s a dream which comes true for a few. Those who come at par with their engineering programs and obtain degree consider themselves among the luckier ones. It’s also evident by the state of competition for admissions in prestigious universities offering engineering programs that it is not a low hanging fruit. However, the irony is the cream of brilliant students who get admitted to engineering universities through a lot of effort find themselves nowhere after graduation.
Some disappointing estimates notify a ticking time bomb we’re quite unwarned of the size of destruction of, which include injecting of almost 20,000-25,000 engineering graduates each year in the market, their high level of unemployment, struggling to walk in, in the organizations, lack of jobs, lack of training/internship opportunities,
poor industry-academia linkage making graduates clueless on their placements, worst economic crisis limiting opening of job opportunities, shameful starting salaries ranging from Rs 15,000-Rs 25,000 nearing minimum labor wage rate, lack of skill, lack of business understanding, lack of guidance and corrupt practices of organizations who just want to purchase the certificate number on quite a feeble cost from already frustrated young engineers who’re left with no other choice than to go for easy money.
Amid this cloud of uncertainty among young engineers, Pakistan Engineers Forum (PEF) Karachi Chapter figured out the gaps and designed a program for them which now has converted to being a continuous annual function.
They call it ‘Career Guidance Seminar for Young Engineers’ and invite audiences from all engineering universities of Karachi, Hyderabad and nearby cities. They’ve included aspects every recently graduated engineer is usually concerned about. This covers introducing them to current trends in engineering industry and the status of jobs market,
the behavioral guidelines a good engineer needs to have, the presentation of their resume and conduct in the interviews, answers to questions about continuing engineering, management or further studies domestically or internationally, pursuance of career in upcoming technologies and the way to access them, introduction to the fields not usually considered as technical in which their engineering knowledge and skills could be utilized, the buzz word ‘Entrepreneurship’, its modalities and implications, rather success stories. Rather it’s a full package a young engineering graduate collects from attending the session. For the sixth time in a row, this year the session was conducted at KSBL Auditorium, Karachi in which senior professionals from engineering industry including Dr Muhammad Bashir Lakhani (Expert in Water Resources Management), Engr Islamuddin Zafar (Engineering and
Management Consultant), Engr Al Kazim Mansoor (Expert Geo Technical Services), Engr Muhammad Shafique (Vice Chairman Pakistan Engineering Council Sindh), Engr Sohail Bashir (Chairman Institute of Engineers Pakistan), Engr Humayun Qureshi (Expert Information Technology & Internet of Things), Engr Haris Mehmood (Lead Corporate Trainer), Dr Irfan Hyder (Dean Institute of Business Management), Dr Imran Amin (Head of Computer Engineering SZABIST), Dr Hassan Jamil Syed (Associate
Professor FAST-NU), Dr Saad Nadeem (Assistant Professor NED University) and Engr Muhammad Mustafa Ahmedzai (Young Entrepreneur) were invited to share their thoughts and success stories with young engineers.
Engineering Review observed that a large number of engineers were present at the event and when interviewed, they applauded the efforts made by PEF Karachi emphasizing the need for an increase in guidance programs for young engineers as such