Credential inflation: The decreasing worth of a bachelors degree
Ali and Shahid are unemployed graduates from LUMS and IBA, respectively, who cannot find jobs at companies they want to work for as these companies have increasingly started employing MBA students from a relatively new stream of private schools.
They are not alone. Their story is eerily familiar to many other bachelor degree holders as there are a dime a dozen in the Pakistani job market now. Mimicking the international credential inflation trend, the worth of the bachelors degree in Pakistan has dwindled to very little and at least a minimum masters degree is required for a decent job.
This is happening because bachelor degree holders turn to further studies when they cannot find work, and when they graduate, they are available in the market for the same amount as their undergraduate brethren, said Naveed Khan who heads the headhunting department of one of the largest human resource consultancy firms in Pakistan namely People.
“It’s a cost effective deal for companies who are getting a masters degree employee for the price of an undergraduate,” Khan said. He said that companies have now gotten used to graduate students doing jobs that would be optimal for an undergraduate.
We are a third world country and our education system leaves much to be desired, said Career Resourcing CEO Kamran Mustafa.
Pakistani scholar Kashif Mehmood, who has more degrees than you can shake a stick at, has a slightly different opinion on the situation and says that it is partly because jobs in the country used to be generalised. Employers are looking for more and more specialised fields when hiring which is why jobs are becoming more and more specialised instead of generic, said Mehmood who did a PhD in Business Administration and another in computer sciences from France and is currently teaching at Iqra University.
Even the popularity of brand name universities that offer bachelors degrees are waning. Their bachelors degrees usually got the students something but the situation has changed. According to CEO of Outsource Consultants, Zohaib Aslam says that, the three universities, CBM, IBA and Szabist are equal in terms of resources. “We get the best quality resources from the young pool at CBM with good extra curricular activity backgrounds. Most job placements are for CBM, Szabist and then Karachi University.
He added that the average starting pay for a bachelors student is 15,000 to 25,000 and for a masters student is 25,000 to 35,000.
Talking about the predicament where masters students are stuck doing jobs which are much lower than their qualifications, Aslam said, “In my point of view, having a further qualification like masters degree will always help a person grow which is eventually a key to further promotion in the similar field.
The worst part is that most HR experts are predicting an even bleaker future. “Employers will definitely encourage professionals and students to have a PhD degree in the near future,” said Aslam according to whom learning has no limits.
Published in The Express Tribune, August 3rd, 2011.
COMMENTS (35)
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Overall, an extremely flawed article.
The real worth of an MBA has been deteriorated.. All donkeys, asses and horses are put in the same balance in this article.. Pakistan lacks Intellectual capital as this article proves that we don't go for excellence in education rather feel good to talk about the right and wrong - best or worst.. I have spent 4 year at CBM I know the sort of passion and intellectual capital CBM students have.. Plus After my bachelors I prefer to do an MBA from IBA.... Just to improve on my skills and experience I have acquired at CBM.. Some of my friends also did the same and now they are employed with excellent packages in MNCs.. These Institution still a long way to go to build corporate relationship like IBA or LUMS...
and I agree to the author that an MBA of CBM and SZABIST are priced equally or even lower than a Bachelor grade of IBA..
BTW The security guard of IBM Pakistan is also an MBA degree holder.. and the Country Head is also an MBA... (Yeh haal hai humaray mulk ka :p)
This is one of worst pieces of writing I have come across. The writer obviously has done no homework on his part and the experts he is referring to are living in fool's paradise. LUMS & IBA still continue to rule the Pakistani market and as mentioned in the article Ali & Shahid are unemployed cause they choose to be so. They are simply waiting for better offers. The average going salary for LUMS & IBA undergrad students are in excess of Rs 40,000 and their MBA counterparts get Rs 60,000 onwards.
This article has its merits and flaws. Firstly, the job market is real bad because our economy is in a seriously bad shape. The second point is that the worth of universities can not be based on what jobs and salaries they can fetch rather it is based on the number of entrepreneurs, researchers and new inventions it can foster.
The mindset has to go that IBA or LUMS is good and the rest are bad. The US has Yale, Harvard, Stanford, MIT and many others. I would be more than happy to see CBM, Szabist, IQ and the others to improve their rankings and standards. The point is there can be 5, 10 or 15 top class schools in a country.
We need more educated people, every society does; to improve standards of living, create new businesses and bring about innovation surely AKUH, LUMS, IBA or NUST aren't enough.
@ Mariyam: Networking is extremely important; you must talk to your seniors. Trust me there are companies that are still hiring.
Well regardless you are from which university,now a days the companies are searching only those students who have taken part in extra curricular activities this is the only reason is to why universities cash their names if you are a good student and you have got that stand out quality then you'll surely be through and hence your university name will be taken,you guys can take an idea that am a student of kasbit(khadim ali shah bukhari institute of technology) many of you might did not heard the name but what am talking about is if a student of kasbit have taken part in extra curricular activity and have acquired a good gpa then its not difficult for him to find a job but still if anyone thinks that things are not going like this then all i want to say is this is my perception and also what i heard from some students as well.
Nonsense! .... Degree, degree hoti hai. - CM Baluchistan 20th June, 2010
IBA is the most over-rated university in the country and it looks like employers have finally realized that. Their graduates would work at lower salaries than their LUMS counterparts, that's the only distinction. One of the posters has said correctly that nowadays employers value skill sets, rather then a piece of paper from university x, y, or z.
A degree whether it is bachelors, masters or PhD will not guarantee you a job. Networking plays an essential role in getting hired and not to forget whether or not you have done any kind of volunteer work. In many cases preference is given to family members, rich kids (whose parents have some sort of power) and not to forget the bribing system that dominates Pakistan's corrupt society. It will be too simple to say that a bachelor is not worth anything anymore. You can get a job with bachelors if you have the factors that I have mentioned above. It also depends on what kind of bachelors degree you have and what kind of job you are applying to. Please don't make it black and white. It is way more complicated then what is stated.
I love the statement "Learning has no limits", by Mr. Zohaib Aslam. It gives us positive energy to learn and grow.
the author has portrayed a truly correct picture of the job market today. The decreasing value of a bachelor degree is exactly in proportionate to decreasing number of jobs in the market. the job market is almost on a standstill and many companies just refuse to hire new people. In these circumstances, students find it more prudent to go for a master degree in order to secure a job. But potential question is "Will a master degree be enough to get us a job in near future?"
@ Akram To be placed at higher strategy position you need a ample of experience preferably in the same industry but here the problem is to step in the corporate world. See the example of mariyam, even a rickshaw driver earns more than 20k per month, isn't that frustrating for an MBA holder who has given his/her 4 to 6 years studying business courses and don't get chance to enter in his/her desired field of interest.
Saif, I agree with you. can you justify what a PHD does for our reader's knowledge. secondly and why PHD is not required in organization? does working in organization is only at a low level. can't be PHD placed at higher strategy making positions?
“Employers will definitely encourage professionals and students to have a PhD degree in the near future" <--- Ridiculous. A Ph.D. is not meant to be used in the corporate world doing random tasks... A Ph.D.'s skill set is not even appropriate. Bachelors to Masters you hone a skill set, which is not true for the jump to Ph.D.... Outsource Consultants needs a new CEO! If I owned the company I would fire the guy for saying something like this... cause clearly he has no idea how to appropriately place people!
Your forgetting the University Mafia that exists across Various Companies, they make hiring of non alumni of their university very difficult. The IBA mafia in particular is Very notoriously Famous for blocking recruitments of non IBA graduates.
I am an IBA grad year 2010, I am still jobless. All i'm offered are sales jobs and the salary offered is not more than 18k. IBA has its reputation and alot of my friends from IBA are facing the same issue.
First thing is that the employers need to know that a current BBA graduate for any private institution invests 4 years of his life and money to become a Masters-equivalent person. A. 2-yr B.Comm followed 2-yr MBA has a lesser quality as 4-yr BBA grads are more prepared than the B.Comm+MBA lot.
The new MBA lot is equivalent to M.Phil. Therefore, you cannot measure talent with the same yardstick.
Many Many engineers, Doctors and other students are wandering here and there but a few of them hardly get jobs. Now Degree is just become a piece of Paper which can be transacted at the cost of 10000 form any university of any field.... The rulers are themselves illiterate and handling the literates.... Great
We are a third world country and our education system leaves much to be desired, said Career Resourcing CEO Kamran Mustafa.
We are a "third class country" and our double standards in education system needs rectification
Islam say seek knowledge from the Cradle to the Grave - so in real terms a degree is just a start my friends, a lot more follows after that. We have a stereotyped approach when it come to education. Irony is that so called branded institutions are minting money in the name of MBA's and BBA's but in real terms their contribution is minimal. In foreign countries practical experience, training, skills, general knowledge is what counts. We need to finish disparity and rise above these things and then only we will have super achievers. Not half boiled eggs with high qualifications and lowly paid salary packages.
@Amna
I am SZABIST student currently in my last year of MBA and doing job with the MBA holders of IBA. University's name contribute very little in job search nowadays. All that employers seek is a person with required expertise. I still wonder at why people underestimate SZABIST or CBM although they produce same resources equally competent like IBA does.
'Ali and Shahid are unemployed graduates from LUMS and IBA, respectively, who cannot find jobs at companies they want to work for '
Hello welcome tor eality... It takes more than a degree to get a job.
This is pretty much a well known phenomenon. The writer in my opinion did not bring to our attention anything new.
This is purely about administration or general level degrees, however, if you've some technical skill then the story is different.
The only degree you require is a Pawwa / Reference. The bigger the pawwa / reference the better job you are likely to land. All hail the power of the Pawwa.
I think multi is living in a fool's paradise!!
Indeed there's little research in the making of this document.
its so true...i have experience it myself.......But LUMS AND IBA Students get really high pays~!
This writer is so ill informed, the salary ranges should be updated for IBA and LUMS. and putting IBA in the same category with CBM and SZABIST is clearly unfortunate on his part too.
We should hope for the best...hope sustains life and always have a firm believe in ALLAH...ALLAH is the greatest of all...!!!
It takes more than a degree to get a job. If it wasn't the case there won't be so many Masters and PHDs without jobs.
Ali and Shahid are unemployed graduates from LUMS and IBA, respectively, who cannot find jobs at companies they want to work for
Just a piece of advice if its your first job you cannot expect to be hired at the COMPANY YOU WANT just take any good opportunity that comes your way. Heck I want to work for Google too...
Didn't get what the writer here is trying to say.
A degree does not provide an education.