CAREER ADVISOR

“Your Career Advisor” is responding this week to the following :
“

Q: I am a fresh graduate interested in the field of feasibility studies; what should I do to gain the necessary experience?

I graduated this year (2001) from the faculty of Economics & Political Science, Cairo University. I am currently enrolled in English language courses at the American University in Cairo in addition to preparing a diploma in feasibility studies. I do not know which career suits me best, knowing that I majored in economics and minored in statistics. I would also like to know how I can feasibility studies my career ?

S.N. (Egypt)

Replying
Dear Mr. or Ms. N,

You did well be working on improving your English language skills upon graduation, as you mentioned. Good English (written and spoken) is essential to almost any job.
Your education offers you a wide range of options for your career, however since you seem interested in the field of feasibility studies, you may be the analytical type that prefers more intellectual / research driven work than say the business development/sales or administrative oriented roles.
It is worth mentioning that ‘feasibility studies’ cannot be described as a profession or a career. Feasibility studies are more of a tool to support objective decision making usually related to investments or commercial initiatives. Same as ‘medical diagnostic’ is not a profession, but doctors use it to be able to better perform their jobs and cure illness. Feasibility studies are important, they can be performed internally by companies or alternatively consultants could be hired to undertake this job. It is also common in Egypt for companies to retain a reputable audit firm to develop such studies.
As you know feasibility studies have many components, market/commercial ; technical, legal, financial etc… therefore a well prepared study would usually involve a team of experts in these various field. It requires good experience to develop a comprehensive feasibility study.

As a fresh graduate you could be involved in such projects, helping gather information, analyze findings and produce the resulting reports. As you get more experience you should be playing a more important role in the process. Now, how do you start being involved in such activities; your main target should be consulting firms, large audit firms (eg. KPMG Hazem Hassan, PriceWaterhouseCoopers, Shawki & Co. etc…). An activity not far from feasibility studies is capital market research, preparing an in depth research on the stock of a company listed on the Stock Exchange requires tools and knowledge that are not that different from those required for feasibility studies. Therefore working in the research department of a brokerage firm or an investment company could be an option. The credit function in commercial banks is another way to learn how to assess companies, their business, develop financial projections and understand the risks they face. Credit officers in banks - the good ones - are reasonably well equipped to get involved in feasibility studies.
So in summary, while feasibility studies cannot be your one and only job, you can get involved in that field in a variety of roles in the banking, capital market or consulting fields.

Good Luck.

Note from the editor: 
Employer names and inquiry sender names were withheld for confidentiality

Top