“Get good education and move to a bad neighborhood” was a constant advice I received from my advisor over the last six years that I spent at the Florida Institute of Technology (FIT) as a Fulbright scholar for my MS and PhD programs in Computer Science.
As soon as I realized that I was going to graduate in Fall 2009, I started sending out my resume to prospective employers in Pakistan. I started telling the world, ‘Look, I am young, energetic, full of ideas, and I have a PhD. I would like to improve (almost) everything. Hire me!’ So, with a beard on my face and “all the single ladies” tone on my blackberry, I returned to my homeland with the hope that I would get my dream job in few days, and will live happily ever after. Little did I know that what would follow was a time to make tough decisions and to re-explore the definitions of “higher education” in Pakistan.
I traveled to 13 cities, appeared in 35 interviews, and received 26 job offers. Academia, private companies, government organization, and NGOs — I explored every opportunity that I could. The majority of my interviews were at universities, and this is what I would like to share here.
For me, a university needs three things to survive and progress: teaching, institution-building, and research. I believe that everyone in Pakistan is doing a decent job in teaching. Of course, some are better than others and there is always a room for improvement but thanks to HEC’s syllabus recommendations, at least we know what we are supposed to teach.
There is a gap in institution building. Most universities in Pakistan are dependent on one person; if that person was removed, the whole institute may collapse. For example, what comes to your mind when we say Dr. Javed Leghari, Dr. Arshad Ali, Dr. Wahab, and Dr. Naveed Malik? SZABIST, NUST SEECS, MAJU, and Virtual University. We need to produce clones of these fine individuals – a lot of them – so that the institutions can survive for the next 100 years, and more. But, I don’t find myself educated or experienced enough to play that role as yet. I was just a student a few weeks ago and now, all of a sudden, I am an “expert” on everything? I totally disagree.
For now, I want to do research, and write proposals for funding. Very few people in Pakistan are correctly doing that, and I want to add value in that area. I also wanted to join an institution that gave me ample time to work on my projects. That means having a reasonable teaching load and limited administrative responsibilities.
There are several other interesting problems that one has to face after coming back to Pakistan. For example, during my interview process, the registrar of a well-known university told me that I would have more value if I had graduated from Karachi instead of Khairpur, and if I was born in Karachi instead of Sukkur. In another instance, my interviewer told me that I can only publish in HEC-recognized journals in ‘W’ category (I have no clue what that is), and everything else is useless. I tried my best to explain to him that we have quite a few reputable conferences in computer science, with the acceptance rate as low as 5%, but he wasn’t ready to listen. He told me that if I don’t have an Impact Factor of at least 5 (again, based on HEC recognized journals’ list) I won’t qualify for “HEC-approved PhD Supervisor” and he won’t hire me.
Government organizations have a totally different hiring style. You have to get an application form from a particular officer, fill-it-out with black ink, make 7 copies, attach 9 photographs and 8 CNIC copies duly signed and attested by a first class magistrate in the city court, and submit it via postal service with the demand draft of Rs 200! Well, I do not have patience to do all that, so I gave up after applying to a few places. Another issue with the government organizations is the salary package and the only perk they usually offer is the “permanent” position.
Private universities offer high salaries and good incentives packages; smaller universities pay the highest amount. For example, a fresh PhD can get an excellent salary package and directly become an associate professor (skipping the assistant professor position) or even the Head of Department somewhere in rural Punjab or interior Sind. The salary is between Rs 40, 000 and Rs. 80, 000 for Masters, and Rs. 80, 000 and Rs. 200, 000 for PhDs. Universities with good working and research environment usually pay far less from what you can get at a relatively new setups.
The problem I had with small private institutes is twofold: first of all, they have totally unrealistic expectations. They think that after returning from the U.S, you have a magic stick that can use to turn their institutes into LUMS in no time, and you alone can do all the work. The second problem is one’s personal and professional growth. There is very little hope of doing original research after being bombarded by unprofessional and entirely commercial interests of the management. In one instance, my employer told me, that he is not hiring me to teach, or “do some research that [he] cannot understand” because he had several “low-salary individuals who can do that.”
The teaching load in most of the universities is another issue. In one instance, I was requested to teach 12 credit hours per semester (4 courses), be an advisor to a batch of 113 students, be the convocation manager, and I was expected to spend 40% of my time on administrative work.
After going through this prolonged exercise, I came to the conclusion that there are very few places where I can work while surviving the reverse cultural-shock; places that offer a good working environment, have professional ethics, and understand the needs of a young researcher. GIK Institute turned out to be a good choice for me. GIKI makes landing very smooth for returning scholars. Pay is good, and teaching load is very reasonable (two courses every semester and summer teaching is optional). Perks include a free 5-room luxury apartment, schooling for kids, medical center, including the cost of diagnostic tests and medicines, internet, campus-wide telephone, and house maintenance (you will know how big a blessing it is when you have to find a plumber in Karachi). The location has its own charm; pollution-free environment and a quiet and secure campus. Furthermore, there is a lot of space for your own research lab. GIKI also gave me a seed funding to start my research center. So, for me, GIKI turned out to be the best choice. For others, especially those who might have their homes in major metropolitan cities and don’t have to pay a hefty monthly rent, other universities may be a good option as well.
While I am learning the ropes of my new job, I would like to leave the readers outside Pakistan with one request: In the end, this is our country, it deserves to be better, it can be better, and we will make it better. Please return to your homeland. We need a lot of you to synergize our efforts for a prosperous Pakistan. Amen!
Dr. Zeeshan-ul-hassan Usmani is an assistant professor in the faculty of Computer Science at the Ghulam Ishaq Khan Institute of Science and Technology. The views expressed in this article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of STEP.
its so good to see that there are people who still think like this for our country…
its ours no matter what…this country…n its just us who can save it from the evils in the world…so we should do whatever there is in our capacity to bring improvement to this place…
Also, being a GIKI alumni myself, it feels really good that good teachers are coming to my university and contributing to make that place even better…I wish every university in Pakistan had an environment and facilities that GIKI has to offer…
Nice to see you zeeshan, welcome back. We have proud to be from Pakistan.
Dear Zeeshan;
Complete your two years of teaching an come back to States to do your Post-Doc.
Atif
HI,
Brother Sir
Aslamualikum hi how r u?
brother i m student of IIUI and doing BS Software Engineering and want ur guaidness plz help us.
we r hopeless in these days.
Dear Noman
ASMK
Let me know how I can be of any help, you can reach me at zusmani@giki.edu.pk
Don’t leave hope, this is the only thing we have in our hands for now.
Zeeshan
Help him in giving him a vision.. a clear POV
splendid article! I would love to read more about Dr. Usmani. I have a request to editors, see if you can also publish the email of the author so if anyone wants they can directly contact the author.
Dr. Usmani, please keep sharing your thoughts, teaching philosophy, local academic problems and your approach to solve them. I believe it will help dozens of other fresh graudates like me. I am currently teaching in one well-known private university in karachi.
one more question if you allow me to ask? what is your vision about an academic institute, what will you do if you have the control for an institute? How we can make the difference
Looking forward reading more from you
GOD Bless You!
Thanks for your comments. I willl try to write a seperate piece on Vision and why we need one.
A great source of inspiration….
I am a student of Masters in Biomedical Engineering in Canada… I also plan to do the same and INSHALLAH our youth will serve our country..Our great Homeland….
Nice Article ………..very simple,easy & full of emotions. I loved to read it all…… I will try to return back to my homeland soon, Insha-Allah.
Dear Dr. Zeeshan,
You know me and I know you well too and would like to tell everyone else out here that how great you are..
We need more people like Zeeshan for sure..
Nice article indeed. Would u mind to tell us about your educational background. How did you manage to come to USA. There might be some interesting insights as well
Thank you STEP for bringing this piece. Sara
I will try to write a seperate piece on my journey from sukkur to Florida. thanks for the suggestions!
Good job brother, we are really proud of you.
Fahad Abdul Aziz
Jazak Allah
We are proud of you.
Reading your article on seeking the job on your return was the first positive piece I had read since sometime . I would like to thank you and encourage others out there to pull us out off this ignorance,show the young people the light of day.A terrible despondancy has descended on Pakistan,and we need people with hope and energy and a will to change the way we have come to think and act.
God be with you.
Thank you sir for your comments. With the help of other young scholars, we will inshah ALLAH bring the change to our country it deserves.
Ameen!
Dear Dr Zeeshan
Hope you are doing well.
Good Work May Allah Bless you and give you success in your Mission.
Muhammad Ajmal
I know Dr. Usmani from a long time and truelly inspired from his efforts and the milestone he achieved in his life time. I have just one suggesting to give Dr. Usmani that there is no doubt about that in Pakistan we have such talented graduate and students who are delivering there best but unfortunately due to lack of information and resource their skills are demolishing in the robust industries. Could you kindly create a platform where these graduate can get right path to follow from your experience?
I proud of you!
I am available on a personal level to give whatever advise I can. but, we need alot of you to create a platform for the masses.
ASSALAM-U-ALAIKUM.
DEAR Sir,
i am a student of uet peshawar, doing bachelors in computer science…at start when i enrolled in the university i was full of energy and hope of learning alot…n excelling…jst like u i am very patriotic 2wrd my country…but sir after spending 2 years iv lost all da hope,iv become dull and all i want is to finish my bachelors ….all we do here is ratafication i.e copy ..paste formula,,no grounds for practicals are provided…i really want to achieve something,,get started with something bt i just cant find where and how to start all the students here curse this univ n the faculty n everybody is hopeless and just want 2 finish dere studies here n go abroad..plx sir help us and guide us,,,il b anxiously waiting for ur reply.
ur biggest fan.
Dear Student
You can contact me at zusmani@giki.edu.pk for whatever help you need for your academics. or you can plan a trip and come with your other classmates to GIKI for an hour or so, and I will try to guide you as much as i can.
do keep in touch
Wassalam
ASSALAM O ALIKUM
its gr8 to see ur reply thank you so much sir…i have added you on my gmail account…n sure sir im in dier need of guidence thx alot sir…i sure wuld try to visit you.
Dr. Usmani your endeavours to bring educational reforms are commendable. Your first hand account of job hunting in academia in Pakistan is truly insightful. Your encounters with ethinicity inlfuenced individuals during job your search is not surpirising although very painful. My two pence will be that you start making alliances with like minded people in your field of interest to realise your vision. I will be more than happy to keep in touch with you.
fasihkhalili@gmail.com
I felt sorry for that mentality holder who still believes in institutions name (Brand name) not the talent of individuals. God send them to hell for the betterment of our educational system.
i think those are unneccesory laod on earth. Good luck Dear
ASMK!
May Allah Bless you!!
Ameen
I can experience that US is not the US now specially after this economic crisis. Best of luck in Pakistan.May God give you courage to stay in Pakistan and to make it a better place (atleast on education side).
Ameen.
P.S I got your message but I have hard time remembering that we ever meet. Do I know you?
Salam
Mixed feeling after reading, Zeeshan! First of all you cannot compare Pakistan (that developing country whose Education minister can be an Army man or feudal) with USA.
I am also doing Fulbright Postdoctoral Fellowship and Insha’Allah will be back homeland (Pakistan) in the mid of this year. And people here in USA amaze when listen that I would revert.
In my country Research and Education is trade while in USA it is passion, in my country all policy maker want to increase Higher Education standard without giving notice to basic education or our Research Needs, a country (Pakistan) who cannot purchase or synthesize deuterated compounds or even Acetic anhydride, how this country can do Nanotechnology or supra-molecular research. So the most urgent need is to realize our potency and necessities, our researchers who want to go overseas for Research, they may select that area which would be practical for our country when they would turn back.
Zeeshan! Your comments and experiences are reality and sharing with us, is appreciated…
Kya kahain baat tu sach hai magar….
Farman
Dear Dr. Ferman
Thanks for your comments, please do visit us at GIKI when you come back
Wassalaam
Hello Sir :
I Want To get Admission In BSCS. In Karachi Which University is best for Computer Science. Is Karachi Universty Suitable For Computer Science ??
Assalam Alaikum Sir,
It’s good to hear from you as I know you always try your level best to do something good for home land I still remember you when I ask you once sir if you get a chance to go abroad then will you settle your life there and your answer was no you said I will be back to my country and spread and share my knowledge here and here you are back with great knowledge to share with us .
Regards
Tehseen Sagar
ASMK
Good job Chachu, we are really proud of you.
Dear Sir, Its me Yasir your student in Preston University. First of all i am glad regarding your thoughts about pakistan. You are absolutely correct i have some friends they completed their PHD in abroad and doing job there they did not think about PAKISTAN.
Sir i need to do masters in computer science and u know HEC standards. If i go to Zabist i cant afford its fees and other universities like lums. Kindly help me out and give me idea what to do.
excellent job .. and May ALLAH give you success …
Really a nice and helpful article! Thanks for sharing your experiences with us.
I am about to complete my Master’s in Management of Information Systems from KTH, Sweden and have been exploring different options in Pakistan. You didn’t discuss or mention regarding defense sector jobs like NESCOM, AWC and the like. I think they are a good option as well.
Can you please share your thoughts/experience regarding jobs in defense sector?
Dear Kaleem
Thanks for your comments. Dealing with defense organizations is a whole different story. May be I will write something on it in future.
Wassalam
As salaam alaikum,
Well Guru that’s fine Join Zaid Hamid Brastek.
Why everytime people make micky of us.Good to know you came back home.Try to establish some platform so atleast our engineers, masters could get out from walmarts , Tesco and sainsbury.
Welcome back home, Soon I will join you isnha’Allah after my completion of master in IS Audit.
Noble Prize?
Regards,
Dear Sir Zeeshan
you are always been respectful personality for me. As i have studied and finished my project on robotics in PIMSAT under your supervision. i am now happy to see your unfinished journey.
I thank to Almighty Allah that you are remain one of my good Teachers in my whole life. May Allah Bless you and keep lightning the name of Greater Pakistan.
Mehmood Alvi
System Engineer
NIB BANK LTD.
Asslam-o-Alekaum
its great to read yor articals
when you will start your research project.. i m with you. InshaAllah
Du’a
Best of Luck Zeeshan, keep it up, you are doing great job.
Assalamalikm W.WB.
Alhamdullilah, your doctorate is finished. I am with you too :)
I hope I would perform much better this time. As a matter of fact, HCI is not my domain, that is why it didn’t worked out before. Let the dead past buried and lets start a new journey.
Any assignment? :)
Regards,
Adeel
~ my message to the nation: what we need is solidarity, what we lack is seriousness!
I always tried to prove that BCS from Petroman is not less worthfull but pplz does;nt agreed, specially GIKIs, here in my company…
But now you proved that someone can teach in GIKI who started CS from a very low value institute Petroman Sukkur.
God bless you all and your dream.
Shahzad
Engro-IT
Dear All
I am a graduate from NUST i did computer engineering and now doing internship in motorola pakistan from last six months can anyone help me in getting some job related to my field or guide me i am trying from last couple of months but i am not getting so i request if sombody can guide me.
Profound Regards
Qasim
Dear Zeeshan,
You need to take out some time and write your story. The base.
Topic : “I am from sukkur which is a small town. Since I am from a small town to a large town, my only intention is to do something. Since my intentions are more than those already born in the large town, I am likely to accomplish more.”
Basic idea : If you think of yourself as small and have more room for improvement, you are likely to achieve more.
Those in the larger cities are complacent.
com·pla·cent
/kəmˈpleɪsənt/ Show Spelled[kuhm-pley-suhnt]
–adjective
1. pleased, esp. with oneself or one’s merits, advantages, situation, etc., often without awareness of some potential danger or defect; self-satisfied: The voters are too complacent to change the government.
2. pleasant; complaisant.
Regards,
Khawar
Dear Zeeshan
Its a wonderful feeling, reading your article and having you back in Pakistan. Lovely to see your photo, and hope to see you live very soon.
Best Regards and Prayers
Zahid Ahmed Qazi
Excellent Motivation
As salaamu alaikum Dr. Usmani.
Glad to hear you acheived what you were planning during the last phase of your phd. although you got so many job offers in florida but you choose to serve your homecountry dats really a symbol of honesty. May allah make all of our muslims brothers to be honest and sincere in their work.
May allah make it easy for you. surely i will be in touch with you sir. :)
Nice job by Dr Usmani.
Apart from it,i just notice that some readers have been so inspired that they are planning to go even after completing there MS and leaving PhD in between. So, general advice to all such individuals is don’t be too zealous, first complete your studies then go to serve, lest, i am afraid that you may get bad experience.
Dear Zeeshan -
Thank you for including me in your e-mail and sending me your article. I am very impressed! It was a pleasure meeting you and working with you. Please be sure to keep sending me links to your articles. Also, please keep me up to date with your family. I miss your wife and kids!!
Good luck and stay well.
Jackie
buhat aala analysis kia hay aap nay with a positive spirit and this is important …… and I can understand the feelings because I am also a PhD student and I can realize what a person can expect after completing his education and if he really needs to see a change in the system of his own country….. It hurts a lot to see other nations progressing and we r still wasting time in these issues……………anyway good to see the spirit and a positive hope still out there…….good luck
AOA sir,
I am Faisal From Topi,
i owned a website .useless for me, rightnow i want you to run it or just post articles nit or help the other students on it..
Dear Sir,
we all are proud of u. keep it up
Muhammad Ismail
GIKI
Dear Sir,
we proud of u but there is a lot of work to do.u have to train us for our better future. this is ur duty now and i hope u will do it.
student
GIKI pakistan
Enjoyed reading your experience! Is there any way we could know how many scholars return to Pakistan after completing their studies and what has been an impact of fullbright scholars in Pakistan since the fulbright scholarship programme established? I wonder if this kind of study has ever been done.
Dear Jalal Sahib
Thanks for your comments. I don’t have the exact numbers. I guess USEFP should have the complete database. Fulbright is in Pakistan for last 60 years (this is the 60th year in fact). There are almost 3500 alumni in Pakistan, I believe 17 serving Vice Chancellors are Fulbrighters. Former state bank governor was a Fulbrighter too.
I know quite a few Fulbrighters who came back and serving in Pakistan.
Regards
Its a wonderful feeling, reading your article and having you back in Pakistan. Excellent Motivation for all Pakistani!!!
Im a GIKI graduate, batch of 2009. I love GIKI and will always miss it. Ive noticed ur now in the faculty of CS. Well I regret that all good changes are happening there when I have already got the punishment for taking initiative for the first time in my life about something big. To cut a long story short, a semester full of FYP-related torture culminated in a grade change AFTER graduation. The CS faculty was notorious for being unreasonable, unknowledgable and resentful of students who knew better. It doesnt lessen my love for my alma mater but I hope you can help in changing the environment of CS faculty in particular, where chauvinism is veiled in mild nonchalance and a bad sense of humour. This isnt relevant to your article but Im interested in anything that is likely to make my beloved university even better than it is; and ofcourse in beauty it is already unparalleled :)
A Rejoinder.
The article started with the advise received by Dr. Usmani from his teacher, ” Get good education and move to a bad neighborhood” but hardly it seems that he has ended up in a bad neighborhood. As in the end of the article he extolled GIKI’s location at Topi, “the location has its own charm; pollution-free environment and a quiet and secure campus.” I am not surprised at his choice, he was not looking for a bad neighborhood, how could he, after acquiring good education he wanted the best return on it. I have no qualms against his desire to cash on his education but why to portray oneself as the hero who has landed in Pakistan to serve the nation when one is only looking for getting the best deal. This is what he said himself while describing the criteria of his final selection out of 26 job offers.
Pay is good,( Materialistic goal) and teaching load is very reasonable (two courses every semester and summer teaching is optional).(not something that show wow he is giving so much extra) Perks include a free 5-room luxury apartment,( bad neighborhood…hmmm) schooling for kids,( may be better than US) medical center, including the cost of diagnostic tests and medicines, ( good perk) internet, campus-wide telephone, and house maintenance ( wow….a complete package). So what’s so holy about the deal?
In his article he also made a judgment by saying most universities in Pakistan are dependent on one person, excuse me!!! Being a graduate of IBA at a time when Dr. Wahab was the director and was replaced by Dr. Hafeez Pasha (Dr .Wahab became Vice Chancellor of Karachi University (1995) I didn’t see any collapse of the institution rather I had found a refreshing change with the style of leadership that Dr. Pasha brought. At SZABIST, after Dr. Laghari’s departure to join as HEC chairman, 3 new centres of research have been established. At these centres PhDs and Post Docs from prestigious institutes like Cornell and Loughbrough are working without complaining that they have to search for the plumber for house maintenance and yes they are involved in doing research that is going to give Pakistan an edge in advanced technologies. Can we say it a collapse?
Dr. Usmani in his advice on institution building said that we need clones of our educational leaders like Dr. Laghari or Dr. Wahab? Is it what these leaders wanted from the students: to be their clone? Is it what US universities want to produce? Clones not original thinkers? We don’t need clones Dr. Usmani we need our new generation to be the leader of their destiny with the original, fresh and innovative ideas? We need leaders not apes.
Pakistan has no dearth of such leaders. In the interior of Sindh and other places of Pakistan too in small towns and villages individuals without looking for “perks” are striving to uplift the standards of their bad neighborhood through education and heeding to the advice of Dr. Usmani’s teacher.
This article seems to be written as a gratitude to GIKI for giving Dr. Usmani what he wanted (lots of perks) and a critique of those institutions which failed to fulfill the demands of Dr. Usmani.
Masood Ahmed
Masood,
Give Zeeshan a break. Completing a PhD in the US, where the temptation to switch to more lucrative options such as a job is very high indicates he is not after ‘perks’ as you would assume.
Zeeshan is the new kid on the block in GIKI. The notorious marwat-ridden admin will have him scurrying off to places like LUMS/NUST in a few years. Wait and see.
Best,
Kaka Manna
Dear Masood
I respect your opinion. Thanks for sharing it. I don’t want to start a debate here, just want to clarify (for others) that the “best deal” as you described it, wasn’t even half of the “perks” that I got offered from other places. At the end, I picked the place where I think I can do what I want to do.
GOD Bless You!
God bless you
Thanks Dr Usmani for writing this piece about your experiences. I met you at timelenders and heard you talk about your life struggle, along with Suleman Ahmer. I knew it i was witnessing a true success, struggle against all odds, triumph over all obstacles. I am 41 graduate from USA in Computer eng. with over 13 years experience in IT. In my opinion you are a gift of God to Pakistan. Your motivation to stay here and help Pakistan is just another sign of Allha’s will to save us. Clearly Allah puts His best to work when He wants to save someone. I strongly recommend you to take time out and write a short book (this will become your 9th book)on your experiences so far leading into current vision to help your country. Just as you saved yourself, now you must save your country. I will try my best to stay in touch with you and use your energy and work to help mankind. I have no doubt that you can change this world. I strongly recommend you to read Quran everyday and ponder on its words and ideas at least 30min. As far as my reading goes, for last 12 years almost daily, you alone like Muhammad, can start the wave of change. We all can if we want to, if we try to. This is the purpose of creation, Allah wants to see ‘how best can you act’ (Quran). Keep on my dear brother, reach out and grab Gods hands in heaven.
Good article. I hope and pray that u will be able to serve and return back, what this country has given u.
Babar Nazir