After landing their dream jobs, graduates get their degrees
Students concerned about increasing competition in the job market.
KARACHI:
Fizza managed to bag one of her dream jobs right after graduation. She says it was possible only with what she had learnt at the Institute of Business Administration (IBA).
She was one of the 484 BBA and MBA students who received their graduation degrees in majors of marketing, finance, management information system and tax management at their convocation on Tuesday.
Fizza says the diverse courses and concentration on presentation and communication skills make students at IBA more versatile.
Faisal Danish is also among those lucky students. Right after his graduation, he landed a job at Standard Chartered Bank, but he says securing one was not an easy task as the increased competition has led to fewer jobs in the market.
Their teachers seem to agree as well. Rustom Cowasjee, the chairman of the accounting and law department, said the time is now even more challenging for all graduates as the economic climate is harsh in the country and the market is not growing in leaps and bounds to absorb all the people. “IBA graduates, however, have an edge as they are linked with the corporate industry and socio-economic activities,” he says proudly.
Cowasjee holds high expectations from his students. “Given that I am an IBA graduate myself, the newer batches will prove to be more competitive than their predecessors in light of the increased and advanced facilities available to them.”
Another graduate, Maria Iftikhar, has concerns regarding the tapering options for BBA graduates. “A lot of the good firms and multinational companies are not accepting BBAs. But I’m happy that IBA graduates are at major positions in leading companies and they would not turn down a competent IBA student.”
As students snapped pictures with their parents and their friends at one of the most defining moments of their academic life, happy faces gleamed of parents and students both.
Sofia and Subuktageen, parents of Bilal Ahmed, a 2009 graduate, recall how their son struck the balance between his studies, a job and married life. “It feels as if we are being credited for all the hard work we have done for our kids,” says Subuktageen, describing his sentiments after the degree-conferring ceremony. Ahmed’s mother talks about the times when her husband would buy books for his son from Urdu Bazaar and immediately deliver them to his office.
Kishwer Allahwala, whose daughter Ayesha graduated this year, was too overwhelmed for words. “It feels so good to see such a nice ceremony in her honour. It makes me so proud,” she said.
Addressing the convocation ceremony, IBA director Dr Ishrat Husain shared his vision of raising the stature of the university to match the top business schools in the region and across the globe.
He also announced the introduction of the Dean’s list, a practice prevalent in leading universities around the world. He said various projects were under way to expand IBA physically and academically. Husain said IBA has over the past three years brought in e-learning facilities and 500 latest personal computers to facilitate research. “We have added new academic fully-equipped blocks as well,” he added.
He stressed the importance of critical thinking and intelligence in problem solving and expressed faith that his graduates will exhibit the highest values of integrity, merit, discipline and humility in their practical lives.
Outstanding performers of IBA:
Kanza Shahnawaz received the Overall Best Student, Graduate gold medal
Maimoona Tariq received the Overall Best Student, Undergraduate gold medal
M Ali Asad Khan was awarded the MBA Tax Programme gold medal
Madeeha Saeed Sheikh was given the Overall Marketing gold medal
Mahrukh Shakil received the Overall Finance gold medal
Taimoor Zubair and Sohaib Masood won the Best BS/MIS Project gold medal
Published in The Express Tribune, December 1st, 2010.
Fizza managed to bag one of her dream jobs right after graduation. She says it was possible only with what she had learnt at the Institute of Business Administration (IBA).
She was one of the 484 BBA and MBA students who received their graduation degrees in majors of marketing, finance, management information system and tax management at their convocation on Tuesday.
Fizza says the diverse courses and concentration on presentation and communication skills make students at IBA more versatile.
Faisal Danish is also among those lucky students. Right after his graduation, he landed a job at Standard Chartered Bank, but he says securing one was not an easy task as the increased competition has led to fewer jobs in the market.
Their teachers seem to agree as well. Rustom Cowasjee, the chairman of the accounting and law department, said the time is now even more challenging for all graduates as the economic climate is harsh in the country and the market is not growing in leaps and bounds to absorb all the people. “IBA graduates, however, have an edge as they are linked with the corporate industry and socio-economic activities,” he says proudly.
Cowasjee holds high expectations from his students. “Given that I am an IBA graduate myself, the newer batches will prove to be more competitive than their predecessors in light of the increased and advanced facilities available to them.”
Another graduate, Maria Iftikhar, has concerns regarding the tapering options for BBA graduates. “A lot of the good firms and multinational companies are not accepting BBAs. But I’m happy that IBA graduates are at major positions in leading companies and they would not turn down a competent IBA student.”
As students snapped pictures with their parents and their friends at one of the most defining moments of their academic life, happy faces gleamed of parents and students both.
Sofia and Subuktageen, parents of Bilal Ahmed, a 2009 graduate, recall how their son struck the balance between his studies, a job and married life. “It feels as if we are being credited for all the hard work we have done for our kids,” says Subuktageen, describing his sentiments after the degree-conferring ceremony. Ahmed’s mother talks about the times when her husband would buy books for his son from Urdu Bazaar and immediately deliver them to his office.
Kishwer Allahwala, whose daughter Ayesha graduated this year, was too overwhelmed for words. “It feels so good to see such a nice ceremony in her honour. It makes me so proud,” she said.
Addressing the convocation ceremony, IBA director Dr Ishrat Husain shared his vision of raising the stature of the university to match the top business schools in the region and across the globe.
He also announced the introduction of the Dean’s list, a practice prevalent in leading universities around the world. He said various projects were under way to expand IBA physically and academically. Husain said IBA has over the past three years brought in e-learning facilities and 500 latest personal computers to facilitate research. “We have added new academic fully-equipped blocks as well,” he added.
He stressed the importance of critical thinking and intelligence in problem solving and expressed faith that his graduates will exhibit the highest values of integrity, merit, discipline and humility in their practical lives.
Outstanding performers of IBA:
Kanza Shahnawaz received the Overall Best Student, Graduate gold medal
Maimoona Tariq received the Overall Best Student, Undergraduate gold medal
M Ali Asad Khan was awarded the MBA Tax Programme gold medal
Madeeha Saeed Sheikh was given the Overall Marketing gold medal
Mahrukh Shakil received the Overall Finance gold medal
Taimoor Zubair and Sohaib Masood won the Best BS/MIS Project gold medal
Published in The Express Tribune, December 1st, 2010.