LAHORE – The Career Fair 2011 at the Government College University (GCU), Lahore received an incredible response from university graduates and final year students who turned up by the hundreds on Tuesday to explore employment opportunities in reputed international and national organisations and seek information about foreign scholarships. Some twenty two noted organisations such as Pakistan International Airlines, Worldwide Fund for Nature Pakistan, Allied Bank, United Bank Limited, McDonald’s, KFC, Nestle and Descon Chemicals set up their stalls at the Career Fair organised by the GCU Career Guidance and Placement Centre and provided students information about positions available in their organisations. The companies’ executives also conducted written tests and on-campus interviews to shortlist the candidates.
Various media houses also set up their stalls and interviewed students for the posts of copy-editors, anchors and reporters. However, the stalls of United States Education Foundation in Pakistan (USEFP), British Council and US Consulate Lahore remained the centre of attention at the fair, where students were briefed about various foreign scholarships including the prestigious Fulbright Scholarship, and were also given guidance about the procedures, requirements and eligibility criteria. “Above 1,200 GCU students reported to our stall and received relevant information from the foundation representatives,” said USEFP Education Adviser Rukhsana Monnoo.
The students said it was every university’s responsibility to help and guide its students about their professional career. However, they lamented that very few colleges and universities held career fairs for their outgoing students. Mariya Qanita, a GCU Management Studies student, demanded the government to hold career fairs at national level where foreign companies should be invited to employ the talented Pakistani youth. Hassan Maqsood, another GCU student, said the career fair was highly informative.
He, however, said that the companies should also offer part-time jobs to the students, where they could work during studying. Ahmed Sahi, a BA (Hons) student, showed resentment on most of the companies which did not inform the applicants about salary packages and avoided the same query by using the term “negotiable”. GCU Placement Officer Waqar Rahanja said the fair was organized every year to build a strong foundation for professional career of students so that they could excel in the market. He hoped more than hundred students would get jobs through the career fair this year. He said that the activity would be fruitful even if only one student embraced a good job opportunity from it.
Later, GCU Arts and Social Sciences Dean Dr Khalid Pervaiz gave away shields to various companies’ representatives and appreciated the active participation of students and multinational companies in the fair.
