“Your Career Advisor” is responding this week to:
(1) "As an ex pharmaceutical sales representative, who recently got her Microsoft certification, where is my next job?"
And;
(2) "I am about to graduate as a civil engineer; however I do not see it as a promising career; how about getting into the IT field? "
And;
(3) "Are my age and name a handicap to finding a fulfilling job? "
And;
(4) "Am I on the right track with regards to IT certification and employment direction? "
And;
(5) "I need urgent help! And you seem to be catering for a special class of people!"

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: I am an ex Pharmaceutical sales professional with a Microsoft certification, where is my next job?

I am a graduate from Ain Shams University's Department of Chemistry and Microbiology in 1996. I started my career as a medical representative in one of the biggest multinational pharmaceutical companies operating Egypt; where I stayed for two years. During that time, I got the best performance award. However, I don't like working in the marketing / sales field. This drove me to leave the company and switch my career towards the IT field. I joined one of the Microsoft certified centers and went through a very serious and advanced course leading to me passing the Microsoft certification exam. I became a Microsoft Certified Professional and site builder. It cost me a lot of money and effort to pass these exams and get the previously mentioned title; which was really difficult.

The problem arose when I tried to find a job, I couldn't find any, not only that I couldn't find any chance of even training to get some practical experience, knowing that my certification title is really valuable, as far as I know. Could you help me by indicating what I should do? That is because when I tried to look for a job in my original field of study as teacher or in Labs...I failed to find anything.

D. K. (Cairo)

Replying:

Dear Miss. K.

You have a number of career advantages on your side: you are not a fresh graduate without any on the job experience, you seemed to have done well in your previous job, you know what you would not like to do (sales, by the way you cannot describe the job as marketing) and you have a recognized IT qualification (the Microsoft certification).

The only thing you did not mention is whether you like and enjoy working in the IT field, and what part of it attracts you more (Technical support, application development, networking, training etc…)?

Your current concern of not easily finding a job, is not specific to you, but applies to thousands of promising professionals. There is a global economic slowdown (the US, Europe, Japan etc…) and Egypt is even more severely impacted (with liquidity problems, and declining tourism due to the uprising in Palestine and the September 11th events).

Therefore, you should keep on looking; however think of your competitive advantage, which is a combination of pharmaceutical and IT knowledge. A company in the pharmaceutical field seeking IT professionals (specially a Microsoft Certified one) should be more interested in you. You should also investigate companies providing IT solutions (eg. packaged software) to the pharmaceutical industry. These are where you competitive advantage lies. It does not mean you should not also pursue more generic positions in IT training or other industries.

Since you also trained in site building, would you also consider approaching pharmaceutical companies and pharmacy chains - as a free lance professional - and offer to develop some useful applications for them (inventory management, sales tracking etc.) or a web site? Sometimes companies reluctant to add a new person on their payroll feel more comfortable contracting a freelancer for a particular job with a pre-determined fixed cost. Since you have a previous experience in sales, you should not find this an extremely difficult task.

We hope the above was of some use to you.

Good Luck.

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Q2: I am about to graduate as a civil engineer; however I do not see it as a promising career; how about getting into the IT field?

I would like to ask you about the best way to switch to the IT field. I'm currently completing the last year in the Faculty of Engineering - Civil Engineering Section. A career in civil engineering does not look very promising; additionally I have always had a passion for computers since I was very young. I thought about getting a certification from Microsoft through one of the certified centers here in Egypt but I' am afraid that it would not be enough to get a job.

A. M. (Egypt)

Replying:

Dear Mr. M.

It is unfortunate you had to go through several years of university studies to discover that you do not see a career in civil engineering as promising. Nothing happened in the last 10 years to change the job market for that profession. What is important now is that you lost interest in it. Engineers - regardless of their specialization - are methodical and usually think in a disciplined way; which is helpful in the IT field. Therefore you are starting with two advantages, being an engineer and more importantly being passionate about computers.

To switch to the IT field, or rather to start in the IT field - since you have not really been working in any other field - requires a combination of hands on experience and acquired knowledge. Numerous courses and certifications are offered to help on the knowledge front. You may want to refer to some of our previous replies in Your Career Advisor section, such as:

What skills should an ambitious Computer Engineer develop?

Which is the best career in the computer field?

Being Microsoft certified is a good start; it demonstrates you are seriously committed to the IT field. Is it enough to get a new job? No, it is not. Hundreds of Egyptians have IT certifications. Getting a new job depends on your character, how you act and present yourself, how aggressively you pursue possible opportunities, luck and your ability to demonstrate your commitment and technical skills to a potential employer. In summary, you cannot stop yourself from acquiring additional knowledge in the IT field under the excuse of the risk of not finding a job!

We hope the above was of some use.

Good Luck.

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Q3: Are my age and name a handicap to finding a fulfilling job?

I am resident of the UK. I obtained my B. Sc. in Engineering in 1980 (from Somalia), an MBA in 1986 (from the USA) and postgraduate diploma in Islamic banking in 2000 (from the UK). I am a member of the UK's association of MBAs; I am an Associate of Institute of Management Consultancy and a Fellow of Institute of Islamic Banking & Insurance all in UK.

I have 22 years of corporate management experience in Somalia, Kenya, USA and in UK. Despite my constant search for employment, I have not so far succeeded in getting a job. My fields of interest are management consultancy, project management and financial services institutions where, I think, I have enough competencies to contribute much to an employer.

My main worry lies in the fact that I am too old to be employed (age discrimination), that my MBA is obsolete and that of my name which both shows my origin and religion.

My dear, career advisor, I wish your advice on the constraints and which direction should I pursue to overcome the obstacles. I wish to thank you for your future assistance.

M. A. F. (Emirates)

Replying:

Dear Mr. F
You seem to be a well-qualified person, especially with regards to studies and membership in professional associations. You also have an interesting mix of engineering, management, business and banking skills.

From your message we would guess you are of Somali origins, currently in your late forties or early fifties. We cannot formulate an opinion however on other key aspects related to employability, such as the type of jobs you held (the experience) or how well you preformed on them; your relations with others, your communication skills etc… which are all factors that heavily influence the career prospects of a senior professional like your self. However, we will assume there are no serious concern on that front; your interest in educational and professional development over the years indicate you are an intellectual and a person willing to acquire new skills and knowledge.

You mentioned age, ethnic background and religion (you are a Moslem) as possible hurdles in your quest for a new job. Let us explore these in some more details:

An MBA cannot be described as obsolete; it is intended to be obtained by individuals at a relatively early stage of their professional life (the average age of graduates of 2 year MBA programs is around 27). At later stages of life, other factors become more important. Those keen on continuous development go to short executive courses or get professional certifications etc…

Age, as you mentioned, could be an obstacle to enter certain fields, such as investment banking or audit (in the big 5 firms). One cannot decide to shift into such fields from a totally different background, because they are built around attracting young graduates, training them and promoting the best (through an up or out policy) to the most senior positions. On the other hand, there are numerous fields where gray hair, maturity and experience are required. Consulting is one, training / management education is another, working with UN or other international lending / developmental organizations is a third one. These do not include the corporate world; where industry and functional experience are usually more stressed on.

With regards to ethnic background and religion, we must admit that in the west (North America and Europe), and especially after the September 11th 2001 events, they are a factor to be taken into consideration; albeit not in a dramatic way. There are hundreds of senior managers in the western world of Arab / African ethnic origins and of your same religion. However, there is a glass ceiling for senior positions, whereby the advancement of such people must be based on outstanding and not just average credentials. We must also add, that according to the information you provided, you are not a UK citizen, and thus you only have a residency. Therefore, UK businesses must have a compelling reason to hire you.

In summary, none of the above factors should be dramatized, however you should clearly identify where your competitive advantages lie. One could think that you would be more interesting to an organization (business or NGO) dealing with Eastern Africa or the Arab world. If you add to this your studies in Islamic banking, you could more seriously consider funds directed to provide aid to developing nations (the Social Fund in Kuwait, the Islamic Development Bank in Jeddah etc…). The UN and other international organizations, advertise their job vacancies on their sites and they are usually open for applicants from various nationalities. We often present some of these opportunities on skill-link.com.

We hope the above was of some use.

Good Luck.

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Q4: Am I on the right track with regards to IT certification and employment direction?

I am a 19-year-old male and wish to stay alive till the age of 60 (God willing). I was born in Cairo and lived in Aswan and Alexandria until I finally relocated to Luxor.

I completed my studies at an Optics Institute. I then worked for about six months as a journalist in the computers & technology editorial section of a weekly newspaper. I have a good command of English and adequate computer skills.

I want to plan my career in IT field and take the necessary courses for such a career. I thought that the beginning would be with CIW certifications; since I could work - after gaining one of CIW certifications - in the field I love most: the web. Being CIW certified would make it easy to work for any Dotcom company all over the world (full-time or part-time, onshore or offshore). Once I am certified, I could work from my home earning money to finance my plan to pursue other IT certifications such as: MCSE, MCSD, OCP DBA, CIW complete tracks, UNIX Administration, Data Mining, XML, JAVA, m-Commerce etc…

I need your advice to know if my assumptions are on the right track? If I am right what skills should I have? And what certifications you advise me to begin with. These should enable me to work from home or part-time for a dotcom company and in the same time work for my own small business company to create and manage high quality web sites and E-commerce systems (or applications) for both individuals and companies.

M. M. (Luxor, Egypt)

Replying:

Dear Mr. M

You are a very ambitious person; trying to achieve in a few years what others aspire to achieve in decades J

You are young and very motivated; build on this to start your career on the right foot. Of course you could start working part time while studying. However we believe at this stage of your life, you need to obtain one credible certification and then find a full time job. This will get you better prepared for further steps. You will even benefit more from subsequent studies or certifications after two or three years of full time employment in the IT field. Thus we do not advise you to work part time now, unless you are unable to find a full time position.

With regards to offshore work, we are unaware of sound opportunities in that field for free lancing individuals. Offshore software contracts are usually assigned to companies, since the client wants to deal with an established entity. India, the Philippines and Egypt have a reputation in offshore development.

As per your message, you are an avid reader; keep it up, since it is a good source of information to stay current with various developments in the IT industry. Reading of course applies to printed publications in addition to the numerous available online resources on the internet.

Finally, the various certifications you mentioned are all useful, choose the one you can afford the most or you are more interested in.

You may also want to refer to some of our previous replies in Your Career Advisor section, such as:

What skills should an ambitious Computer Engineer develop?

Which is the best career in the computer field?

We hope the above was of some use; and please update us next year on your latest progress.

Good Luck.

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Q5: I need urgent help! And you seem to be catering for a special class of people.

Why do I think that you are not realistic, all the topics in "Your Career Advisor" and the advertised jobs on skill-link.com are for some people of a special class and economic status?

The problem I suffer from and many people are suffering from is unemployment. I'm unemployed; this is the PROBLEM. What can I do?

I have searched for a job all over Alexandria. I am a 35-year-old male, my previous job was working as a data-entry person and a secretary. Where shall I find a job at this age? I'm having this difficulty. Please read my resume. You could give me a hand, and I think that this site was created for achieving this goal.

Please help! Find me a job.

A. K. (Alexandria)

Replying:

Dear Mr. K.

You are right; a large number of the jobs we have and of the questions we receive address university graduates who speak a foreign language and can use computers... these are a small percentage of all Egyptians.... however you seem to be one of those we address: you can express yourself in English, you can use email and studied in university ... by the way in your CV, you did not mention a graduation date, does this mean you did not graduate yet? Or is this a data entry mistake?

You are also correct that many people suffer from unemployment; Egypt is going through a very tough time... it did not witness in the last 10 years... in those 10 years our population increased by 12 million Egyptian and around 2.5 million Egyptian graduated from university. However, companies are still hiring... do not lose hope.

We would like to help, the problem is we do not create jobs, what we do is help companies find suitable employees... definitely if a job comes up in Alexandria in which you could fit we will let you know immediately.

We wish you the best of luck.

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