How about the Subject of Social Sciences as a Career in near Future?

[Master Killer]

I really need help from Career Councillors, who are using XPC, to guide me about the Scope of Social Sciences Subjects(especially Sociology And Psychology) in the near future.

 

[Ayyan :D]

They're good.
You can become a Sociologist.

Every field is good, it depends on how far you excel in that field.

 

[Master Killer]

They're good.
You can become a Sociologist.

Every field is good, it depends on how far you excel in that field.

I know what I will become, but I was asking that whether Sociologists and Psychologists are Well-Paid or not, And whether jobs are eaasily available for them or not?

 

[Ayyan :D]

I know what I will become, but I was asking that whether Sociologists and Psychologists are Well-Paid or not, And whether jobs are eaasily available for them or not?

Again, that depends on you.
There are levels of everything.
There are doctors with very low pay, as well as those doctors who are really well-paid and are earning a lot.
Same goes for Sociologists and Psychologists.

Jobs are available abroad.
The pay will depend on your capabilities and the university you studied from.

 

[Master Killer]

Again, that depends on you.
There are levels of everything.
There are doctors with very low pay, as well as those doctors who are really well-paid and are earning a lot.
Same goes for Sociologists and Psychologists.

Jobs are available abroad.
The pay will depend on your capabilities and the university you studied from.

But, What is the value of this field within Pakistan?

 

[Ayyan :D]

But, What is the value of this field within Pakistan?

Well, you can become a Sociology lecturer in a university, or a teacher in school.
And get a normal pay as other teachers.
Not much value in Pakistan, i think.

 

[Master Killer]

So if aiming for a Bright future in Social Sciences, one should leave Pakistan as soon as Possible.

 

[teachyourself]

at this point in your life you cannot really understand the type of work you will actually do in your career... studying some thing as a subject at the O-levels and A-levels is not in any way a good way to make a career choice.. as far as going abroad and living there, doing a job etc involves many problems until and unless you have a dual citizenship... the type of visa you get, the conditions for being able to first convert the student visa to work visa after you finish your education provided the visa expires after your graduation which in turn depends upon whether the country you are studying in allows converting student visa to work visa, then being able to continue the work visa which is always dependent upon whether you will have a job, sometimes even with a job your visa might not get renewed... what would you do then? come back to Pakistan and teach in our pathetic universities?... btw do not expect a job abroad if you do your degree in sociology from Pakistan until and unless you do the University of London external program but even then your degree will have limited appeal for a prospective employer..theoretically a major draw back being that for being a Sociologist you need to know the society of that place inside-out, as a basic assumption of sociology as a career field... in reality however, a host of factors impact your ability to get a job... unemployment in the west US and Most of Europe (other countries i cant say... so google it)... being a major factor because students from top universities over there are without jobs and this is not likely to end anytime soon, so a lot of highly qualified competition, especially right now

my point being keep an open mind, finish you A-levels do not start your BBA immediately... get internships or do jobs for free if they really develop your career for example if you were made a junior marketing research associate or or market surveying officer for an FMCG or a clearing forwarding agent basically any decent entry level job that you would not expect to get after A-levels.. for call center jobs DO get paid.. a job on a resume looks better... the sooner you build your CV/resume the better for your career... ask around about the various types of careers out there...

1. Remember fields that are related to social sciences generally do not pay well, especially in Pakistan ... FORGET the idea of "do what you LOVE"... that idea is a luxury, most in Pakistan cannot afford such an approach.. until and unless your parents have loads of money
2. There are many ways of making money ... most of them you might not like because where there is money to be made... there is a lot of insincerity, humbleness, swallowing your pride, office politics and general need of awareness regarding how much deception there is in the real world, where nobody is on your side EVER ... it is your task to arise above that daily challenge in which way you ever can
3. Think about making money in this way ... if you started from scratch on your own and if you had to get back to being able to afford the life you live off your parents money, it would take you most of your life ... here are some basic numbers:-
Monthly expense of a typical teenager (EXCLUDING house rent, clothes, electricity, gas, transport, expensive cell-phones, laptops, restaurant food) will be around 500 Rupees daily so in a month it will be Rs. 15,000 (this includes food, water, general sanitation, grooming products, credit) and you earn at a Call Center (the only place likely to hire you for pay) around 10,000 to 15000 .. the numbers never add up so where does the rest of the money come from? ask your parents, you might get funny reactions ...the point is your salary is NOT enough to cover your expenses hence majority of the people in the world live sort of pay check to pay check... so why not choose a career that is compatible with your abilities and pays well
4. So the best way to appreciate real life is to live it like a real person which can be done either by i. Starting a business OR ii. Starting a job ... and trying to afford your at-least your daily expenses that by itself will be tough enough at this stage in your life

salary level in various careers within the field of Sociology read the following and get an idea
http://qz.com/73999/the-class-of-20...ce-the-great-recession-even-sociology-majors/ ----- positive findings
http://www.recruiter.com/salaries/sociologists-salary/ ------ the information in this link is too optimistic and maybe even outdated
http://www.thecareerproject.org/blog/top-10-worst-college-majors/
http://careerservices.colorado.edu/CommonFiles/PDFs/students/NACEAll.pdf ---- updated research
http://orgtheory.wordpress.com/2011/05/25/the-value-of-your-college-major/ --- realistic salary targets do check the report link given

Career choices
http://careers.theguardian.com/sociology-degree-career-choices
http://careers.theguardian.com/sociology-degree?commentpage=all&guni=Article:in body link
http://www.lse.ac.uk/sociology/study/Alumni and careers/LSE Sociology alumni.aspx

 

[teachyourself]

btw the above advice might seem like 'life advice' but sadly it is unavoidable .. careers choices and the financial realities of life go hand in hand and usually it is too late to realize how wrong our assumptions were at say ar the age of 17 or 19 .. because usually parents or teachers either lie to your face because of some idealistic vision they have for you OR they themselves are pretty much clueless, hence they give you text book answers but they never tell you to get a taste of real life on your own... infact it is looked down upon by some people in our society, at least call center jobs were looked down upon within my circles in my day, the whole "Status" thing


for psychologists it is slightly better ..
http://psychology.about.com/od/careersinpsychology/tp/psychology-career-trends.htm
http://salarybystate.org/tag/demand-for-psychologist-2013
http://psychology.about.com/od/careersinpsychology/tp/highest-paying-psychology-careers.htm

career guide
http://www.apa.org/careers/resources/guides/careers.aspx
http://careersinpsychology.org/psychology-careers/

 

[Master Killer]

Sir, actually I'm doing my O Levels Right now. But i'm really confused which career to choose in near future.
And, above all thanks for your advice, and your time you spent and the energy you used for guiding me (specially while writing the whole BIG essay) Once again THANKS ALOT

Sir, now I should tell you the whole story of mine, so you might guide me more specifically. 2 years before when I had to choose my O Levels subjects, my parents insisted me to take Biology (when i was not wanting to do so). They are dreaming for me to become a doctor. I always try to tell them that I'm not interested in that field, and that I find it too difficult. Now please you don't tell me that "Nothing is difficult if you believe it from your heart". If heard that alot

So, being confused I decided to pick some more subjects of O Levels. In june 2013 session I gave 4 papers: Urdu, Pak. Stu amd Isl (being compulsory) and Sociology as an extra subject. It was at that point, where I found Sociology too interesting and even after giving me paper and getting an A* even, I kept on researching on this subject. I discovered that this subject is part of the field known as "Social Sciences" which consists mainly of 4 subjects: 1)Sociology 2)Psychology 3)Economics and 4) Anthropology.

In November 2013 session I gave the paper of 1) Statistics and 2)Principles of Accounts. Here I found Statistics very interesting, while Accounts very Boring. In June 2014 I would be appearing for 7 subjects. 1)Biology 2)Chemistry 3)Physics 4)Maths 5)Add-Maths 6)E.Language 7)Economics. Again I find the science subjects very boring and difficult even I'm studying it for past 2 and half years at my school as my regular subjects. But i started my preparation for Economics some 2 weeks earlier and found it to be very interesting subject for me.

So now I have told you my STORY, and you might have discovered how confused I am.
I would appreciate your guidance in this matter to help me to choose for correct subjects for my future Studies.

 

[Master Killer]

First of all, Sir, my aim in life is not be become a teacher. I want to learn more and more and prosper continuously till my death. it is my believe (it's just my opinion indeed) that those who fail in their careers, switch to teaching as the last option for earning. Even if you support teaching profession, to some extent even you cannot completely disagree with my point of view. Especially in Pakistan, the Tuition Culture is very common. Some Popular teachers in Karachi are earning a huge some of money through tuition(you would be shocked if you explore about them! I don't think that any employee would be earning that much in ANY Profession!). I'm not completely against teaching. After all, after my O Levels, besides doing A levels, i would be giving tuition to smaller class students, at least to cover up my own expenses, as my parents don't have LOADS OF MONEY. I'm from a middle class family, and I am Proud that my parents first priority is my education.

Sir, I have not yet gone through your links and file uploaded, because right now I'm feeling very Sleepy . But tomorrow I'll sure go through it.

Sir please guide me for choosing a better field for future studies, that suits me as well as has High scope in near future.
I would really really appreciate your help.

And Once again thanks for your above guidance.

 

[teachyourself]

the advice below is sort of well spread, so be patient and read it .. once you get an idea about what you think you want to do .. then i will be able to narrow down my advice

1. Your general stance:-
well you will have to simply put your foot down on the part of "YOUR" career choice for "YOU" and make sure everyone understands in no uncertain terms that "YOU" call the shots for "YOUR" career because you know yourself and you will find out what the world is, on your own and you yourself will have to live with your decisions.... no one else's opinion matters in this case.. and if they do not listen to your logic then be a little forceful... it is ok to fake your anger to get your point across

beware parents can and do try emotional blackmail and manipulation DO NOT fall for it ... because before being parents even parents were at one time regular people with their own motives and that is a human characteristic that can become inhumane even with the most ideal and noble of intentions even though misguidedly so.. hence, the conclusion: parents' opinions are as dispensable as anyone else's opinions


2. Subject advice:-
The part where you said "...I kept on researching on this subject. I discovered that this subject is part of the field known as "Social Sciences..." .. shows that you have an inquisitive mind and this is exactly what it takes to learn anything, even learning about yourself takes a very inquisitive approach with the questions who, what, when, where, why and how ... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Five_Ws

When you say "...Here I found Statistics very interesting..." that is good as well... because it opens up options provided you learn how to like maths... because with quantitative skills (math and stats) you can enter any field ... engineering, management sciences, economics, quantitative finance, actuarial sciences, risk management, social research, marketing research, computing .. more explanation in the next section

So for now you can give your exams for the chosen subjects for your O-levels it will open up your mind and let you compare various fields... you have spread your subject choice rather well.. something I have not seen anyone do at this stage ... which is good because you are supposed to experiment at this stage in your life but not at the expense of your grades however... the subjects you choose now will have NO bearing on your career at all so you can relax... people change their fields mid-way during their careers as well ... the point is to learn as much as you can right now.. so maintain your daily discipline, study efficiently and enjoy learning stuff from all subjects.. focused curiosity is a friend to anyone

VERY IMPORTANT for understanding how examiners mark your paper via actual candidate responses marked
for a sample check this link:-
www.freeexampapers.com/index.php/directory/download?location=Cambridge+Pre+U%2FChemistry%2FSpecimen%2F9791_Chemistry_Example_Candidate_Responses_Booklet_WEB.pdf

http://www.cie.org.uk/cambridge-for/teachers/order-publications/
http://www.cie.org.uk/cambridge-for/teachers/order-publications/

orders these ASAP to get better results

 

[teachyourself]

3. Subjects and career link
Sadly at this what ever you study is too basic in order to be able to give you even a glimpse of any field's theory, so the question of knowing what practicing that field as a career is going to be like is quite simply impossible.... understand it like this.. even when you do your BBA from the top universities in the world the stuff you learn at those business schools rarely applies... moral of the story? books DO NOT simulate work experience and the paradox of the whole problem... you are supposed to decide you career based on what you learn in books. Funny and sad at the same time, ain't that a treat?

Too simplify however, I will show the link between subjects and careers

i. Economics becomes very mathematical as you progress so you need to learn to be good at Math (not Syllabus D Math but Additional Math is the real math) to do this Social Science
ii. Stats and probability leads to Statistical Inference which in turn leads to Econometrics... and Econometrics is used for Empirical Research purposes in EVERY field
iii. Sociology is an open field -- with Economics (and remember economics is mathematical) alongside you head towards public policy issues OR with Psychology alongside you head towards consultation AND with either Eco or Psycho with Sociology you can head towards Consumer Behaviour (first few chapters in Economics includes consumer behaviour) and Marketing
iv. With Economics you can also head into Finance but understanding Accounting is essential, since Accounting is the basis of all things Finance
v. Accounting also the basis of Risk Management, however for Risk Management you need to have a good basis for Stats and Econometrics

just check the University of London International Program prospectus and the courses for each degree

So the conclusion is Quantitative Skills are necessary theoretically a LOT and Accounting is necessary for understanding the business side of life... and btw Accounting is the MOST practical subject of them all because we do accounting at every place at all levels: examples household expenses require Accounting, banking requires accounting, managing a business requires Accounting and it is also the MOST boring... because that is what life is generally a typical routine, tiresome and boring ... because remember Human Behaviour the basis of social science can be molded and changed, hence it can be escaped.... Financial Accountability is inevitable and escapable only though fraud... So the moral is that the wonderful side of Academia and Theoretical fantasy is actually very very misleading

Now in the practical world (except for deep and sophisticated research where theory is essential) ... you will NOT use most of the theory and you will use SOFTWARE to do most of your work because most jobs essentially are clerical in nature, just better titles and pay, the level of software usage and type of software depends upon the type of career (the department in the organization) you will get into, as well as the level of sophistication of the organization you work in

Career is based upon departments in a typically found in organizations: Marketing, Operations, Accounts/Finance, Legal, HRM, Research

this is about Pakistani organizations, the software used for practical work and the degree required by them typically
1. General Banking - typical software to process the documents, slightly different at every bank, and generic paper work --- BBA, MBA: practical skills learned = none .... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banking_software
2. Corporate Banking - Excel and Word, and again a typical bank software ---- BBA, MBA but better to have an ACCA
3. Brokerage house - Excel mostly ... maybe a bit of risk analysis software like Crystal Ball which is an excel add-on ----- MSc Eco has little use but adds to the skill set -- for eg. a student with BSc Eco & Math will have to do CIMA or ACCA to work at a reputable brokerage house, BBA, MBA but better to have ACCA, some do CFA but it is useless mostly because the skills learned are not applicable in Pakistan
4. FMCG - excel, SAP, documentation, field work, surveys --- BBA, MBA or MSc Management Sciences
5. Auditing house - accounting software, excel, word ..... ACCA or CA must... better to have CA since there are restrictions upon ACCA students
6. Consultancy Firms: excel, word, ppt ---- BBA, MBA, ACCA, CFA, MSc Eco
7. State Bank of Pakistan and PIDE--- excel, SPSS, SAS,R, word, bank software --- ACCA, Msc Eco
8. Insurance firms --- excel, risk modelling software, --- Acturial Sciences, BBA, MBA,
9. Journalism --- liberal Arts degrees, Bacherlors in Jounalism, Bacherlors in Media Sciences, Degree in Social Sciences
10. Teaching ---- you assumptions are SPOT ON.. however, some professionals with 20 year expereinces do teach at the uni level no one minds earning extra money .. so you can choose teaching as a side profession if you want... or better still do professional workshops and earn even more than a tuition teacher.. however, one thing we do have to admit .. that tuition teachers even failures at real life do know how earn from something as pathetic as formal teaching and tip students off.... if they were truly well intentioned they would be promoting the idea that students learn themselves using video lectures and solution manuals

just check the job positions and the qualifications of people at organizations via their websites .. you will get an idea


4. Sources of learning:- (mostly video lectures)
i. https://www.khanacademy.org/------ for math, chemistry, biology, physics ... very suitable for O-level students --- if you cannot access youtube .... download its torrent via www.piratebay.com
ii. MathTutor .... for math, chem, physics, --- download torrent via piratebay.com
iii. TTC video lectures a wide variety of subjects--- socio, eco, math, psychology, etc --- download via torrents on piratebay.com
iv. tuittor.com -- additional math
v. Schaums' otulines --these are books also available at Urdu bazaar in karachi -- downlaod via torrents, 4shared.com, scribd.com ..... wide variety of subjects math, eco, finance, chem, physics
vi. Excel and other software tutorials .... on piratebay.com ...and the.... http://thenewboston.org/tutorials.php
vii. Use Tor browser to access youtube... and video download helper addon to download the youtube videos... excel is fun is a good channel

 

[teachyourself]

5. Career advice
Just do your O-levels, get good grades ... do not worry if you don't end up doing well in chem, bio and physics, after o-levels start learning excel immediately

After O-levels it will depend upon what you can do with the family resources you have like stay here to study or go abroad etc

i. Staying here you have the above mentioned career direction list so let me know which organization you want to work in... the pay will rise gradually if you are good at maintaining contacts, a decent image within the job market etc ... so let me know which field you want to go into and I will be able to tell you specific options .. like doing your A-levels privately or not, whether you should opt for B.com then do MBA (to save time and money), whether you should do the Uol program, FRM, ACCA, CFA, etc... also the value of Pakistani universities from a career perspective and an intellectual perspective, etc

ii. Going abroad just to study--do so only if you get into a top 10 university for your chosen field ... otherwise save your money and concentrate on being flexible when it comes to earning money.... remove your eog, self respect and pride entirely out of the equation

iii. Staying abroad ... well that is a very complicated life choice.. just too many variables and too many unknown factors .. so forget this option for now

iv. ALWAYS be flexible with your career options ... everyone hits a bump or two in their career path... and do not panic EVER if you do hit a career block or something similar


6.Easy and difficult:-
I will tell you that nothing is EASY nor DIFFICULT .... especially when it comes to formal education during the teenage years... because of several reasons:-
1. The way our education culture constantly focuses on subjects being difficult or easy hence concluding that a student is either intelligent or unintelligent, mostly people do not believe in the concept of 'Challenging' subjects thereby implying that a student can IMPROVE during that period of few months and make the DIFFICULT into EASY hence overcoming the challenge .... or vice versa , because studying something too 'unchallenging' makes u relax too much, doesn't motivate you give it time and hence, a person does not overcome the 'Challenge' of keeping ones hard work continuous and not achieve what they otherwise would
2. The concept of learning has been misunderstood, because learning depends upon perception and perception depends upon the medium of exchange and tool being used too study ... video lecture, live video lecture, type of teacher, blackboard or ppt usage too teach, the way the teacher speaks: choice of words, clarity of voice and words, etc ... so for example I personally used to get distracted by a teachers' facial expressions during a lecture so I prefer video lectures without a teacher being visible like in Khan Academy videos... so the personal make of a person also plays a role in perception
3. The teenage brain is still underdeveloped (the brains develops well into the late-20s and for some into the mid-30, hence you will see many impulsive, emotional and immature decision makers even at the age of 35) primarily the pre-frontal cortex and the frontal cortex, because of which there are just too many signals being transmitted in the brain's grey matter leading to distractions and short attention spans, the white matter helps control that erratic activity. The limbic system is also too blame. However, you can control that, what used to help me and still does is that I question myself at every step and wait for a second before I do anything impulsive (btw I did not have the benefit of this research.. this research came around in 2009 .. check the links below), also organize everything into steps and little organized pieces because the brain functions better when you process information in bits and pieces (for practice remove the headings in my message and delete the line spaces.. it will automatically become more difficult to understand) also keep in mind that everything has a reason you just have to find it
http://www.theguardian.com/science/2010/may/31/why-teenagers-cant-concentrate-brains
http://www.aboutkidshealth.ca/En/News/NewsAndFeatures/Pages/My-limbic-system-made-me-do-it.aspx

 

[teachyourself]

one thing i forgot to mention ... in order to understand what type of a career you are suitable for then I suggest you take the online personality assessment tests:-
1. MBTI - this is used for job selection but research says that it should be used for job placement and career guidance
2. Big 5 Personality test - research strongly supports its usage for employee selection

take both these tests and you will get a better idea about the type of career you are suited for

 

[Master Killer]

First of all, Sir, what's your name? And what's your Profession?

Actually, i'm very good in maths and above all I find it very interesting! I know that's really an advantage for me, as Maths is involved in almost every major fields of profession. Sir, now I want to ask whether Professions relating to actuarial Sciences are well paid or not? (Specially in Pakistan) As you told Sociologists and Psychologists are not well paid and in Pakistan the condition is even worse, so I must move to another field of my Interest, (that is DOMINATED by MATHEMATICS). This is what you said in your Post: "because with quantitative skills (math and stats) you can enter any field ... engineering, management sciences, economics, quantitative finance, actuarial sciences, risk management, social research, marketing research, computing"
I don't want to be an engineer at all! I don't know anything about 'management Sciences','quantitative finance' and 'Risk Management'. Tell me something about it. I find Economics very interesting. About actuarial sciences I searched a little, and came to know that it is Dominated by Maths. So Actuarial Sciences could be interesting for me. Field of Social research will be interesting for me, but as you said Sociologists are not well paid. So Social Research can't be my first choice. I have heard a little about 'Marketing Research' and whatever I have heard, I can say that this field too will be interesting for me. And lastly, I'm not much interested in computing and also found Accounting to be very boring.

You are correct that I'm doing some experiments right now, as i believe this is the right time. By doing this, I'll learn more and more, and that is also not risky all!

Sir, what about Journalism? There is no doubt that Journalists are well paid! And this field also includes my subject of interests, Social Sciences. So wouldn't it be a right choice to choose Journalism as a Career?



You said: "Just do your O-levels, get good grades ... do not worry if you don't end up doing well in chem, bio and physics, after o-levels start learning excel immediately" Are you talking about Microsoft Excel?




After O Levels, I'm definitely not going anywhere. But after my A-Levels, I'll think of it! I wouldn't be doing my A-Levels privately, as with my Good grades in O Levels I'll get scholarship in one of the Good Schools(InshaAllah)!




You also said in your post: "so let me know which field you want to go into and I will be able to tell you specific options .. whether you should opt for B.com then do MBA (to save time and money), whether you should do the Uol program, FRM, ACCA, CFA, etc... also the value of Pakistani universities from a career perspective and an intellectual perspective, etc"
So, tell me if doing B.com and MBA will lead me where? Also tell about the value of Pakistani Universities from both perspective. Are University of London Programmes only available in that University? And if qualifying from these programs, will lead me where?


Dont forget to tell about Yourself

 

[teachyourself]

as a rule for eliminating any chance for bias i do not inform people about myself... the information is always more important than the person

Accounting is too essential in life to ignore....a good approach is to study Financial Analysis then head into accounting it gives meaning to the accounting procedures...once you understand accounting you can understand how to detect Financial Fraud

if you think you are good in Math then you should go for Further Math it will give you slight glimpse into what undergraduate math is like... use the 4. Sources of learning i mentioned in my previous message... check the Further Math syllabus most of it is covered at khanacademy.com ... and a good teacher for Further Math is Hashim (he has been recommended by MIT) he is associated with Nixor and Nasir Ghani.. though there is another Hashim giving tuition as well

1. Actuarial Sciences is related to Risk Management particularly for Insurance firms risk modelling... over here in Pakistan you will get paid very well if you can clear the Actuarial board papers.. however, i do not recommend staying over here to study for Actuarial Sciences since the teachers over here will not be able to teach you properly because they are not good enough by a mile.. CBM offers a BSc in Actuarial Sciences but it is basically useless because teachers are pathetic (because even foreign universities do not have Actuarial Programs developed they teach Math courses and Stat courses but specifically developing courses for Actuaries is not an easy task for every university probably due to not being able to get very good teachers) and furthermore over here you will apply very little of the skills you would have gained... in fact you will use it so less that over time you will become rusty in Actuarial Science... for example State Life has not revised its Actuarial Models since the late 80s or early 90s at least that was the case 5 to 10 years ago .. the biggest problem is Data Collection about which no one knows a lot over here.. because without data it is very difficult to develop accurate models. However, a person who has actually an Actuary will be able to inform you better.... and yes Actuaries are very well paid in Pakistan due to shortage of people in this field

http://online.adamjeelife.com/adamjeelife/whoweare.htm --- Noman Noor Muhammad --- you can ask him he seems qualified... i would suggest it would be a good thing that you first message him that you want his advice then proceed as he tells you to
http://online.adamjeelife.com/adamjeelife/Forms/AL Employee Contact.pdf --- Noman Noor Muhammad --- contact info

for actuarial sciences program curriculum check
http://www.math.uiuc.edu/~gorvett/actprob/advising.pdf
http://www.lse.ac.uk/statistics/study/prospective/bsc_actuarial_science.aspx
http://ocw.mit.edu/courses/mathematics/ -- this link has lectures and assignments etc and also lots of other courses

2. Management Sciences (Operations Research) deals with making management an exact science basically giving management decisions a mathematical backing it is utilized at Airlines, in Supply Chain Management, Production, etc ... in Pakistan you will use it but not extensively, however even if you do a BSc in Management Sciences you can go for an MSc in another field check link below

http://www.lse.ac.uk/management/programmes/bsc/management-science/home.aspx

MSc Management Sciences it has two streams or specialization as offered at LSE
http://www.lse.ac.uk/study/graduate/taughtProgrammes2014/MScManagementScience.aspx

3.Quantitative Finance is related to the development of Financial Derivatives and Software for automated trading, you will use computing, math and finance ... this field so far has been useless and has not solved any real problems infact it has made things worse since it has made the financial world very very complex.. this field is also very new and has been mis-used for corporate scandals... Enron Scandal, the Financial Crisis of 2008 check the documentaries on both. In Pakistan you cannot apply this field not for a long time our Financial Markets are too underdeveloped not enough expertise nor professionalism, the link below has the most clear advice about being a Quant
http://www.markjoshi.com/downloads/advice.pdf

4. Risk Management is a field that is well behind the current needs of today's global financial turmoil there have been just too many financial scandals in the west to let us say that Risk Management is working because it isn't working... read the links below and get an understanding about this field, the basis of Risk in the financial world is the Basel 3 regulation (you first need to understand money and banking check khanacademy.com, again a lot of stats and math the application of that Stats and Math will vary from field to field... the basis of risk from a statistical point of view is based upon Probability (chance) ...Risk Management and Actuarial Sciences are very similar, it is just that Actuarial Sciences is insurance specific
http://www.rmmagazine.com/2013/04/12/is-risk-management-obsolete/
http://fxtraderpaul.com/2012/08/06/...-20-years-behind-aviation-in-risk-management/
http://fxtraderpaul.com/2012/08/06/...-20-years-behind-aviation-in-risk-management/

5.A - Marketing Research is well based upon a lot of field work and running surveys... Research Methods is the course relevant to this... if you know how to conduct research then you can do Marketing Research however, again over here the problem is data collection there are not enough governmental data collections nor is there enough computer usage and literacy within the country to allow for easy market data... basically most marketing campaigns are blind over here... so this field will be less technical and more dependent upon how you can convince people to give you data if they collect any in the first place... this field requires a lot of people skills

 

[teachyourself]

5.B - Economics is relatively a useless field to specialize in not enough decent jobs in Pakistan until an unless you have a Phd, plus with Economics you do not really learn a lot of practical stuff that involves office work (economic research) until and unless you study at a top ten university in the field of economics, economics is mostly theoretical and such sophisticated theoretical knowledge is never appreciated in Pakistan.. however, large multinationals do use a few economists and large multinational financial firms or consultation firms do hire economists depending upon their ability to carry financial analysis for financial firms and consultation skills for consultation firms http://www.iconsulting.org.uk/
http://www.icmci.org/certified_management_consultant

6. You should be interested in computing it is just too essential to ignore.. having computer skills gives an edge to you regardless which country you are in

7. Yes I am talking about Microsoft Excel ... Learn it

8. Journalism is well paid yes but those who are show hosts or main anchors... other than that it is useless... if you want to be journalist then in Pakistan it is a PR game... the more contacts you have the better.. and no need for fancy degrees to be a journalist... for journalism you International Relations, Political Science or get a journalism degree from a good foreign university and be a standout person over here.. but what i am giving you is text book advice for journalism... I have never been interested in it so I cannot say much, btw most journalists andTv Show Hosts are NOT highly educated

9. Going to a good A-levels school is pointless... do it privately along with several internships... because the earlier you start your career the better .. though it will require a lot of discipline .. meaningful internships and jobs will add a lot of weight to you student application.. work for free if you have to .. no call center jobs, they are useless.. get an internship at a Brokerage house and go in the Equity Research department there you will learn to analyze businesses. a VERY necessary skill

10. Well B.com will let you get over the useless BBA and then head directly into the MBA (though the Time Duration for B.com students' MBA is longer) an MBA is only important from a job perspective it makes the CV look good... however, with an MBA even from LUMS you will not learn essential workplace skills. This is or people who want to climb the corporate ladder with a lot of "Yes Sir" .. but a risk with the B.com is that it is an obsolete degree so HEC can discontinue it in the future you never know

11. Another route is that you can directly do an ACCA after your A-levels.. it has good job prospects but in Auditing it becomes problematic since ICAP requires that you do CA before becoming an auditor and you need internships to do CA and if you have an ACCA then Auditing Firms will not formally give you an internship since it is not in Pakistan. The ACCA is accepted by the HEC to be equivalent of a Masters Program

12. Pakistani universities are good for careers in Pakistan only and IBA, LUMS top the list for business side students... but apart from that nothing special.. no skills are taught as such... even academically they are useless.. our universities are MILES and MILES away from being able to compete with foreign universities.. for example LUMS is # 220 or something in Asia (not World Rankings) according to QS Rankings but other international rankings do not even rank Pakistani Universities

13. FRM mostly banks' risk department, CFA leads primarily into brokerage houses, treasury management in banks, asset management firms, ACCA will lead to Financial Management area, brokerage houses, banks, consultancy firms, a significant part of the knowledge/skills that you gain in the FRM and the CFA will not be applied in Pakistan since the financial sector is underdeveloped... ACCA is based on Accounting so it is applicable, there is another accounting based qualification called CIMA it is more focused on the Financial Manager position NOT auditing .. however, CFA and FRM help make a CV look good but these are primarily for people in the field of Finance

13. The University of London International Program is an external program... it can be done privately or through an institute in Pakistan. However, it is tough due to the way you have to study, because you use study guides as a replacement for lectures and then you refer books as mentioned in the study guide, the Pakistani teachers will not be able to teach properly... it is a very good program but not worth the trouble especially since the job market does not even recognize the value of this program... however, if you do get good grades and do the final year of the program in the uk then that will be good since then it will be worth a foreign degree... and the Uol Program's value depends upon which college you are doing it through.... the LSE programs are the only ones worth the trouble but only if you end up doing the final year abroad

 

[Master Killer]

Yeah, I have heard about Nasir Ghani, and of course, Nixor. But never heard about Hashim! By the way, my first choice for A Levels College would be Nixor. Hope I get scholarship there. But, why are you not in favour of "A-Levels Colleges?"

And, Thanks sir for your efforts to guide me in different areas of interests. I'll surely keep all guidance in mind, whenever thinking for my Career Choice. Information you provided was really really helpful. Thanks Alot! And, if you have something more to say for me, so you can inbox me anytime. I'll really appreciate that!

 

[teachyourself]

A-level schools are a waste of time, money and A-levels is something that you can study on your own with the help of private tutiion until and unless you are a chem, bio phy student...it is better get an internship or a job and give your A-levels privately..... until and unless you are taking chem, bio, phy then in that case you need a school for lab work... internships from well known organizations where you actually learn something are better for your college applications... plus once you start an internship you officially start your CV or resume ... and if you get a 2 to 3 year work experience then that is a solid way to start your career at the age of 17 or 18... and also try to get into a college that offers flexible timings for classes so that you can work at the same time you study... and universities do not care whether you are a private student or through a school

schools deliberately tell you that being a private student is bad.. otherwise they would lose out on the money you pay them...also many people believe that students at the age of 16 or 17 are not mature enough to study on their own... that will depend entirely upon the student... but being a private student and not doing an internship would be bad thing though... because if you write in your application (personal statement) that you went on to do your A-levels privately because you realized that the four walls of a class room do not teach you reality BUT at the same if you DO NOT do anything in practical in the real world it shows laziness

if you do something in the real world for example an internship, charity work, your own business, any other project, learn some skill (programming financial modelling) things that schools do not provide you exposure to, then that is a big sign of maturity and if you get decent SAT scores (around above 1900), decent SAT 2 scores, and decent A-level grades, not less than a B in any course, then you will justify your decision as a person who has outgrown the class room

i am also against students doing their BBA from Pakistani universities ... because they do not teach you anything that you can use in the work place .... and that is after studying 46 to 48 courses ... it is better to simply do the CA in which you actually learn something...

also if you start working at the age of 17 imagine all the time you will have to make contacts .... contacts are important because your career advancement depends upon contacts and Pakistani universities are not a good enough place to build contacts

for a detailed and applicable discussion you can refer to my messages in this thread https://www.xtremepapers.com/commun...l-schools-in-karachi.11534/page-6#post-689492