The students of Sir Syed University of Engineering and Technology (SSUET) are no strangers to statistics but when it came to assessing the probability of finding a job, a few of them were at a loss at the convocation on Saturday.
The general consensus was that there aren’t that many jobs for electrical and mechanical engineers because Pakistan’s manufacturing is down.
Computer Science engineers have better chances, said Sadiq Khoja, who was awarded a gold medal in Computer Science, landed his first job in a firm Tech Logics in just two months. While the job came his way because of his stellar academic record, he said that almost half of his classmates are employed as the job market is good for CS Engineers in comparison to Electronics and Mechanical engineers.
On Saturday, 1,044 undergraduate and five graduate students walked off with their degrees at the 14th SSUET convocation on campus. Vice Chancellor Prof Dr Saiyid Ahmed was forward looking as he warned the student body against pessimists who may try to discourage them. He was also nostalgic. SSUET had a modest start in 1994 but has, over 17 years, expanded to offer six bachelors degrees, five masters and two PhD programmes.
Determined to follow a prescribed schedule, the university ensures that under no circumstances are its academic activities disrupted. “The teaching and lab work starts from day one, examinations are held on time and results are announced within four weeks of the examination” he said.
The university’s budget has risen from Rs17 million to Rs676 million and the university has spent Rs185 million on buildings and Rs186 million on lab equipment. The faculty has 22 PhDs and 15 others are in the middle of their theses. The university publishes research papers every year and also provides financial assistance to deserving students.
SSUET’s profile has thus risen. This year, 3,854 people applied for admissions. The university also supports its alumni with career planning and job placement. Out of 7,659 graduates till 2010, 5,555 have been employed and the remaining have left for higher studies or started their own businesses.
“We will miss everything from the Rs3 samosa to the Rs10 tea, from the teachers to the events,” remarked Zainab, who was probably spending the last of her student life with her best friend Amna at the convocation. They both were concerned about their job prospects as they felt there was not much scope for women in Bio-Medical Engineering. “Even if we land a very good job, there is the issue of transportation as it’s a field job,” they said. Saturday was a happy and sad day for Chancellor Engr. ZA Nizami. He learnt of his wife’s death in the middle of the convocation, after his speech.
He had just finished talking about how their graduates follow the vision of Sir Syed Ahmed Khan and are accepted by all leading universities of the world. SSUET is accredited with the Pakistan Engineering Council and Higher Education Commission and is a member of the Association of Commonwealth Universities and Unesco. The university has started MS and PhD programs and has developed meaningful interaction with the industry. It has also acquired 200 acres in Education City on the link road.
Imran, a graduate of Electronics Engineering, said that finding a job at this point in time was not easy as universities are producing more graduates than those required in the market because business and industry are suffering from the power crisis and other dilemmas. Faculty member Saira Khatoon also felt that there was not much scope for Electronics and Mechanical Engineering in Pakistan because of low manufacturing capability.
On the other hand, Rizwan Ahmed said that his class has been lucky as so far 48 out of 60 boys have jobs. They face tough competition from FAST, LUMS, NED and Mehran University graduates.
For some, the pay that varies between Rs15,000 and Rs25,000 for graduate engineers is low, making clear for many that an undergraduate degree isn’t enough. Saad, for example, plans to enroll for an MBA while Imran plans to go abroad probably to Germany for higher engineering degrees so that their market worth goes up.
Scarcity of jobs in the market aside, for the boys there was certainly no dearth of one thing: girls. Parents are more than happy to chose engineers as husbands for their daughters. “I can impress any girl’s parents,” boasted one of the graduating students, Omar, with a broad smile matched only in brilliance by his ceremonial blue, white and yellow robes.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 20th, 2011.
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