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Article from The Sunday Times, 27 May 2007
Should I pick Cambridge or S’pore university?
I am a 19-year-old female entering university in a few months’ time.
I have a strong interest in science, especially biology, and have applied to do a degree in either bio-engineering or life sciences. What are the career opportunities in these areas?
I am also contemplating studying in Britain as I have received an offer from Cambridge University to study natural science biology, but I have been unsuccessful in obtaining a scholarship.
While my family could pay for my course, it would be an extremely heavy financial burden.
Will there be substantial benefits for my future career if I obtain a degree from Cambridge as opposed to a local university?
Paul’s response
I will take your second question first. The Cambridge investment is likely to bring added value to your career.
Besides being associated with a prestigious institution, you will eventually be part of its alumni and this brings excellent networking opportunities.
I can never understate the importance of networking in the corporate world – it will play a big role in determining your success. I assume you must have already sat down with your family and done the sums thoroughly.
The choice is a tough one. If the common view among your family members is that the “heavy burden” is still humanly possible to shoulder, go for it. I doubt you will regret the decision.
Moving on to the first question, generally speaking, we tend to have a stronger interest in a subject when we perform well in it.
Fortunately, or unfortunately, this heavily influences our decision about higher education.
Be aware that you do not need to take up a career that is related to your field of study and that you may not derive job satisfaction from working in that field.
Differentiate the industry that is bio-engineering, life sciences and so on, from the function in your career.
Hence, you could be doing research work, sales and marketing, manufacturing or other functions in the life sciences industry. What function you eventually choose will, of course, depend on your interests.
And we can even break this down to at least another layer. For example, a successful sales professional in the life sciences industry may be so good at her job that she is constantly winning awards.
However, there is a real possibility that she may not actually enjoy “sales” work per se, but rather, the “meeting people” part of the job.
One’s career interests may also change from time to time.
I have coached qualified medical doctors who started their careers playing doctor and who now have successful sales careers in the life sciences industry.
This may sound impractical, but may I urge you to enjoy your studies and focus on them, and leave the “what career opportunities do I have” question on the back-burner.
As it is, I am sure you will be kept pretty busy with your books and projects.
Perhaps, you can consider having a chat with your varsity’s career counselor mid-way through your studies, and maybe take one of the many “career interests” and “personality type” tests and see your career inclinations then.
And more likely than not, the world would have changed quite a bit by the time you are ready to embark on your working life, and this may certainly have some impact on your career choices.
Paul Heng, Founder, NeXT Career Consulting Group, Asia
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