Career fair: Half the class of 2012 get offers

50 companies participate in FCCU job expo.


Aroosa Shaukat March 28, 2012

LAHORE:


As many as 529 jobs and 68 internship opportunities were offered to the graduating students at the 4th Job and Career Expo at Forman Christian College University (FCCU) on Wednesday organised by the Department of Career Planning and Placement.


As many as 50 organisations participated in the five-hour event including non government organisations, educational institutes and information and technology and media companies looking to recruit young professionals.

FCCU first held the expo in 2009 with 30 organisations.

Muhammad Kashif Fida, the Career Planning and Placement director, said the difference between this year and the previous years was that this year only companies with actual job openings were invited to the expo.

Fida said the department had found placement for 90 per cent of students from the last year’s batch.

Speaking about the department’s operations, Fida said a “students’ trend” was recorded throughout the year. He said relevant companies were then invited.

Idaara-i-Taleem-o-Agaahi was one of the recruitment companies. Usman Ali, the monitoring and evaluation officer at the stall, said he had collected 15 resumes in two hours.

He said the company had 18 positions to offer across the Punjab, eight of them in Lahore.

A McDonald’s team was looking for students interested in four hours a day jobs. Training Manager Ainee Fatima said students needed such platforms to explore career opportunities. Urging students to apply online, Fatima said those selected will get training and certificates.

Raham Amin, a business student, said that a career planning department was essential at all higher education institutes. “These departments help bridge gaps between the employers and the prospective employees,” he said.

Hoping for an internship opportunity at a media organisation, Reema Lakhani, a mass communication student, said the expo had helped her explore the “diverse fields” in which she could use her academic qualifications. “It’s great to see such activities take place on campus,” she said.

For some, however, the expo failed to meet their expectations.

Offering 100 jobs, the highest number at the expo, Syed Hassan Imran, the NetSol Technologies Limited human resource manager said there were not many students relevant to what his organisation was looking for.

“More mass commendation students visited our stall that IT students,” he said.

Though he commended the university’s effort in organising the expo, he said there should be better co-ordination to ensure relevant job opportunities to students of various disciplines at an institute.

Hameem Naveed, a biotechnology student, expressed concern over the fact that there were no jobs for biotechnology graduates. Seeing as many as 28 organisations offering business management jobs, Naveed said she was disappointed.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 29th, 2012.

COMMENTS (1)

Mohammad Ali Siddiqui | 11 years ago | Reply

Great opportunity created for the students.

I hope that other employers will also follow the suit in other cities of Pakistan.

This will slightly reduce the unemployment rate in the country.

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