“Your Career Advisor” is responding this week to:

• Where can I get a scholarship midway through my MBA? (h)
• How can I apply to Wataneya Telecom? (b)
• Can I work from home? (b)

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: Where can I get a scholarship midway through my MBA?

I am a graduate student pursuing a Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree from the American University in Cairo (AUC). Unfortunately, I can't cover my tuition fees, which cost USD 11,000.

I work as a civil engineer and my salary just covers my family's living standards as I'm married and have a child. So, I'm in a great need for an Award, a grant, or a Scholarship to be able to finish my study as I already completed one course of 16 courses (My current GPA is 4.00), each course costs USD 720. My aim is to help my country, Egypt, in its development and also the Middle East as well.

Do you offer scholarships ? and if not, where should I look ?

Y. E. (Cairo)

Replying:

Dear Mr. E.

We salute your hard work and ambitious character that drove you to juggle family, work and graduate studies. Also a GPA of 4.00 is something to be very proud of.

The problem you are facing is common, specially after the recent devaluation of the Egyptian pound. Dollar priced services are now 50% more expensive.

It is unfortunate we do not offer scholarships, hence you need to approach entities that grant them. The challenge or problem is that you are already enrolled in a program. Most (not all scholarships) are geared towards those about to enroll in a graduate program or are designated for a particular university or a specific field of studies or country. For example the British Council administers the Chevening Scholarship, to study in a variety of fields in Britain. The Orascom Construction Foundation has been offering scholarships for the last two years, sending promising Egyptians at the undergraduate and graduate levels to study in the USA (did you try applying to any of these before enrolling in the AUC) ? Click here for more details.

A few month ago, we reported on skill-link.com on the Ford Foundation scholarships, these could finance your studies even in Egypt. Click here for the details.

There were also other scholarships announced on skill-link.com for Italy, the USA and Germany, each in its own field (eg. Public Administration, Environment Management, Law etc…).

In a nut shell, your case is not straight forward as we previously stated, however our only suggestion would be to try and contact the Orascom Construction Foundation or the Ford Foundation to explain your peculiar situation and see if they could contribute in any form to financing your studies.

Another route you may wish to consider, if you find another scholarship not applicable to the AUC, you could interrupt your studies at the AUC, and transfer the credits / studies you already completed towards the new program covered by that particular scholarship.

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

Q2: How can I apply to Wataneya Telecom?

I am a graduate of Ain Shams University's Faculty of Engineering (Architecture). I started my career working in architecture design firms and later moved to a telecom contracting company. Do you know how I can send my CV to Wataneya Telecom the third GSM mobile operator in Egypt which is supposed to open by the end of the year ?

M. K. (Cairo)

Replying:

Dear Ms. K

It seems you have not been closely following the media lately, including our Interest Zone. It is known that the fate of the third mobile GSM operator in Egypt (Wataneya Telecom), supposedly a subsidiary of Telecom Egypt, is still undecided and very gray. Initial studies revealed it will be a loosing business for a number of years, and it is not clear how it will be financed, specially that Telecom Egypt failed to attract an interested party to co invest and operate the new venture (from among international operators). The latest discussions with Telefonica of Spain reached a dead end. The technical staff already hired by Wataneya are worried about their own employment prospects.

Hence we would suggest it is not the ideal time to approach Wataneya.

The last address we knew for them, was in a Telecom Egypt building next to the satellite station (laselky) in Maadi, behind the Maadi Mall. This information is a few months old, and they may have relocated since then.

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

Q3: Can I work from home?

I am the mother of a young child, in my early thirties. I graduated from Alexandria University's Faculty of Commerce, and am residing in Cairo. Up till mid 2000 I have been working in a number of entities in manufacturing, construction management and electronics. My jobs varied from public relations and purchasing to office management. I had to stop working when I became pregnant.

I would like to know if there are any kind of jobs that can be done from home ? Please inform me if there are any.

N. E. (Nasr City, Cairo)

Replying:

Dear Ms. E.

The concept of working from home or tele working exists, it is more common in the USA then in Egypt or the Arab region in general. There are some jobs that are more suitable for others to be performed from home. Among them you will find translation, graphics design, editing and content writing, small systems' application development etc… A less corporate oriented one is catering, ladies cooking dishes for others who have certain occasions or events to celebrate. As you can see, your employment background and experience do not seem to support any of these venues, hence it is very difficult to recommend for you a particular job to do from home (unless you have extremely good language skills which you can use in providing translation services on a free lance basis, through a translation office).

Your alternative route to working from home, may be part time work. At least you will not have to be away from home for very long hours. Some places may need a part time secretary or an administrative officer on a part time basis.

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

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

Top