CAREER ADVISOR

All reasonable questions related to careers, skill development or employment related issues – sent to advisor@skill-link.com - would be addressed in this section every week.

Q1: What further studies could be useful to an electrical engineer?
I am a 30-year-old male electrical engineer with a total of five years experience; two of them were in sales, technical support and tenders (a Joker engineer in a small company). The remaining three years in manufacturing; as a technical office engineer for the design, production and maintenance of the electrical department in a factory.
Now I'm looking forward to improving my skills, I would like to take the step of obtaining a diploma or other education degree that enhances my opportunities / value in any new job. Is it in "Project Management Diploma?", an "MBA?"... Or what?
Please do tell me what types of degrees could be available in Egypt; they should have a good reputation and not too expensive!

T. E. B. (Egypt)

Replying:

Dear Mr. B.

Having the ambition to further enhance your skill through learning is a very positive thing. There is plenty to choose from, the question is what would you like to do in the near to medium term future? Is it more technical knowledge or a broader business / management role? Your background is diversified enough to allow you to seek either routes.

You should also be aware that your field is a hands environment, where the practical technical expertise, the ability to deal with people and business sense are more valued (by employers) than certificates and degrees. This is not to say they have no value, but they are not as important as being in research, teaching or consulting type of roles.

The two main education lines you have to choose from, first, would be technical or business/management. The next step will be what type of certification you should seek.

If you are more interested in developing your technical skills, we would not suggest a university degree (such as a masters or diploma), but a professional certification. This could be in electrical engineering or in a related (also useful discipline) such as quality (which is required in many manufacturing & service environments).

Among the organizations you could explore, would be: the IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers); which helps advance the engineering process of creating, developing, integrating, sharing, and applying knowledge about electrical and information technologies and sciences. The IEEE is a non-profit organization that has more than 330,000 individual members in 150 countries. Egypt is part of Region 8 of the IEEE. For more information, please check: http://www.ieee.org/ 

There is also the IEE (the Institution of Electrical Engineers - UK); founded in 1871, the IEE is the largest professional engineering society in Europe and has a worldwide membership of just fewer than 140,000. Its members range from students to the most distinguished and highly qualified members of the profession. For more information, please check: http://www.iee.org 

With regards to quality, you may check the American Society for Quality (ASQ). It has been the leading quality improvement organization in the United States for more than 50 years. Its members have initiated most of the quality methods used throughout the world, including statistical process control, quality cost measurement and control, total quality management, failure analysis, and zero defects. ASQ has more than 117,000 individual and 1,100 corporate sustaining members worldwide. ASQ also has 22 industry-and topic-specific divisions. For more information, please check: http://www.asq.org/ 

On the other hand; if it is the management/business skills you wish to improve - and by the way these are not mutually exclusive with also working on your technical skills - the options you have in Egypt are: an MBA or short management courses.

In our opinion you will find a good MBA degree very time consuming and expensive; you are better off considering shorter courses in a variety of topics, where you will end up paying less and better able to manage your own time. These courses are offered by a number of entities; such as: The American University in Cairo's Continuous Education Division, FORMAT (at the German Arab Chamber of Commerce); the European Management Center etc.. (Check the Skill Development section of skill-link.com's Interest Zone).

On top of all the above, staying abreast with what is happening and reading (in various subjects: management, business, human resources, quality etc.) is the best professional development tool in your hand.

We hope the above was of some use to you.
Good Luck.

Q2: I am a hardware specialist, how do I move to application development?

I am a computer-engineering graduate and I am now working as a technical staff in a hardware company. I found out that my passion is in software development or programming. What is the easiest way to shift because I do not have experience in programming. During college I used to develop programs, now it seems I lost this skill. Do I enroll again in a programming degree or just a short-term course? What I must do?

R. A. F. (country: unknown)

Replying:

Dear Mr. F.

The market does not currently use the terms: programming and programmer; this was in the 1970s and 1980s. It is now referred to as application developing. While it is more or less the same function, you ought to use the right terminology in your CV or job applications.

From your message, it could be more rewarding for your career on the long run to shift to application development. This area could allow you to assume growing responsibilities and in many cases build knowledge in particular industries (eg. Banking, hospitality etc…) or fields (financial applications, HR applications etc…); which is usually not the case in hardware support. Therefore if you are good at it, you should expect more challenging tasks and higher income.

Now; to move to application development you obviously need a good skill base; where to get it from? There are numerous courses and education centers that offer such courses. You may want to select one of the popular development tools, such as ORACLE or get into web development (Java, HTML…).

On the side you could train on simpler applications, using a manual (without the need to attend formal courses), just to master the key concepts. We would recommend: "Access" and "Visual Basic".

We hope the above was of some use.
Good Luck

Q3: Public vs. Private sector, which one to choose for my career?

I was wondering in terms of benefits and salary, which is a better place to work in? In the Public Sector, such as in ministries and other government agencies or in the private sector such as private banks or other businesses? Could you list for me the advantages and disadvantages of each?

A. K. (Bahrain)

Replying:

Dear Mr. K

The accurate definition of public sector relates to companies and for profit organizations that are majority owned by the government (eg. A telecom. company, an electricity company or an airline). Ministries and other governmental bodies (such as the Central Bank) are referred to as civil service.

Therefore, we will consider you question about civil service vs. private sector.

A career in civil service could be described as secure, steady, slow paced, usually predictable, with a moderate secure income and good benefits. To shield government organizations from political influence, promotions are usually based on seniority and length of service (as opposed to merit). If you are the most brilliant person and the hardest one working in a ministry, you will not get promoted 3 times in say 3 to 4 years. In private sector, this could easily happen to promising employees. Similarly compensation is rarely tied to performance and achievement of objectives in civil service… in private sector, company profits, department achievement and individual contribution could yield significant variable income (bonus, profit sharing etc…) on top of the fixed salary. Job security is another issue, unless the whole country collapses - which is highly unlikely - you will keep your job and get paid on time… even if you are a below average achiever… you get by without grave negligence or extremely poor attitude. In the private sector, employers expect you to excel, if you are a below average performer your job is at risk. If you are a star, your job may be at risk if the whole company goes into very difficult times (Enron, Swiss Air are good examples); however with good skills and a strong personal achievement track record finding another job should not be difficult.

So in summary if job security, good benefits (insurance, retirement and health care), fixed working hours and higher than average holidays are your key priorities; then go for civil service.

On the other hand; if you thrive to get into an exciting career with unlimited opportunities for income and advancement and facing day-to-day business challenges (and risks) then you should be in a private sector company.

It should be noted, that all civil service is not the same, a few areas give you a good exposure and provide you with challenges similar to those in private sector, these could be found in the Central bank, diplomatic service, the media (TV), tourism and investment promotion boards etc..

We hope the above was of some use.
Good Luck

Q4: I am a Green Card holder, what master’s degree should I go for?

I am Egyptian currently living in the United States and hold a Green Card (residence permit). I graduated from Cairo University's Faculty of Commerce and have also obtained a diploma in Computer Science from the US. I am considering enrolling for a master's degree; thus I need your advice so on which field to obtain my masters in so I can work in Egypt easily and with a descent income. I do not intend to stay here in the US. Some people here advised me to go for an MBA. What do you think, especially that you are well acquainted with job opportunities in Egypt?

A. E. S. (USA)

Replying:

Dear Mr. E. S

What your message did not clarify was what jobs - if any - did you work in? Never the less, pursuing graduate studies should be - to most people - of professional value. The fields you ought to consider are not that many, since you are seeking a degree of direct relevance to subsequent career opportunities. We believe the two broad areas you should be looking at are: business/management and Information Technology.

With regards to business / management; it could be as you mentioned an MBA or a Masters degree (M. Sc.). The M. Sc. is usually in a more specific field such as finance, human resources, accounting, taxation etc… we would not recommend the last two specializations for an M. Sc.; since an accounting certification is more useful and less expensive. In general MBA programs tend to be longer in duration and more expensive. Depending on your financial situation and/or ability to obtain a scholarship, you should choose a well-known reputable business school. Investing time and money in a little known Business School (not in the top 25 in the USA) is not recommended. Especially for you, since your undergraduate degree is in a related field and not engineering or arts for instance.

The other area, which could add value to you - IF IT INTERESTS YOU - would be information technology. It encompasses a broad spectrum of specialization, the newest of which would be in e business and e commerce. This particular field address both technology and business issues, thus could be of interest to you. An example for such degrees would be: the Master of Science in Electronic Commerce (MSEC) offered by the Carnegie Mellon University. Egypt does not have an adequate supply of professionals qualified in this field. Otherwise, you may consider a degree, not necessarily a master's in software development or information systems. As we started by mentioning, IT should be an area of interest to you to consider such options.

A final word; working for two years with a reputable company (a well known name) that has a good in house training and career development program; will have a more positive impact on your future career prospects than enrolling in a graduate program (unless of course we are talking about an Ivy League University; such as Harvard, Stanford, MIT etc.). Employers will appreciate the corporate culture, work ethics and hands on experience you would have acquired; more than the school education.

We hope the above was of some use.
Good Luck.

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

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