In the survey last year, Muslim students had picked Management Consultancy as their industry of choice, this year they have preferred the BPO and the IT sectors as career choices.

In January 2005, we had conducted a survey to find out the career preference amongst Muslim professionals. After 14 months, Islamic Voice and Trends Research and Analysis Centre (TRAC) conducted another survey in Mumbai.

The demographic profile of the respondents includes lower middle class, middle class and upper middle class graduates. Total sample size was 315. Research design was exploratory and sampling method non-probability/ judgement. Measurement techniques used are summated rating and category scale.

In comparison to last year, there are number of changes as far as career preference is concerned. In the last survey, Muslim students picked management consultancy as their industry of choice, ahead of medicine, engineering, IT, Software, and foreign banks. Many then had considered consulting jobs as unique in their ability to be universally attractive to students, irrespective of their functional specialisations. The second choice was marketing job for its easy entry and fast promotion.

In the current survey, BPO (Business Process Outsourcing) has gained preference over traditional sectors because of its aggressive marketing, and also because it offers good package. As compared to 23%, last year, in the current survey, 27% of the respondents said they prefer to work in the BPO industry, because of the high salary and job security.

In the last survey, the initial package for the fresh graduates in the BPO industry was between 2.3 to 3 lakhs. In the current survey, the minimum package offered is between 3.2 lakhs to 4.4 lakhs.

A.Business Process Outso-urcing- 27% B. Informa-tion Technology- 24% C Communi-cations/Advertising- 9% D. Hotels and Restaurants- 8% E Insurance- 6% F. Teaching- 4% G. Others- 22%- Total 100

Muslim students picked Information Technology as their second choice. What is so unique about Information Technology is that there are no entry barriers. Whether the student is a commerce, arts or science graduate, it does not matter. A student must know the task and must be expert in his given domain in the information Technology.

Out of 315 respondents in the survey, 47 students from the commerce field have chosen Information Technology as their choice. Mansoor Akhter, has just appeared for the final year commerce examination. “ I am interested in Information Technology. Unfortunately, because of lack of guidance, I had not taken Maths in my HSC examination. Hence I was not eligible for admission in the IT graduation course. Now I have nearly completed my Commerce graduation and I have a Diploma in Networking, which I simultaneously did with my graduation. I have two job offers above Rs 18000 per month from IT companies”, said Mansoor.

Even amongst Muslim women, Medicine loses ground to Information Technology, which was ranked as the top industry of choice among female Muslim respondents. Muslim women do not prefer BPO industry because of the changing shift. Only 3 % of the total female respondents said they do not mind working in the BPO industry.

Why will a Muslim girl choose the IT field? 73% of the female respondents who opted for the IT technology opted the field as it gives them the flexibility. “Your personality does not matter in the IT industry. Whether you wear hijab or not, nobody is bothered. Your skill and domain profile is what really counts. Hence I am very comfortable working in the IT industry,” said Husna Amin, 22, who works as a software programmer.

Another area, which is attracting the attention of the Muslim students, is communi-cation and advertisement. Journalism is gaining in popularity, as today’s youth wants to be more pro-active in the social sphere. Basit Baig, a student of final year Mass Media course wants to join mainstream newspaper as a reporter. “ Since long our community is complaining that Muslims do not have proper representation in the media,” he says.

An important reason for the growing preference of the information technology courses is the falling prices of the computer hardware. The reasonable fee as compared to medicine and engineering is the major reason for the growing popularity of IT courses.

Faiz Patel, 23, completed his B. Sc (IT) in 2004. Today he is working with an IT company with a total annual package of 5.8 lakhs. “ My brother preferred to take admission in MBBS. He is one year senior to me. Today he is working in the hospital with total package less then 4 lakhs. He intends to start a dispensary. But capital required is above ten lakhs”, said Faiz.

In comparison to medicine and engineering, the returns are faster in both BPO and IT sector. The starting salary in BPO and IT sector is far higher in comparison to engineering and medicine graduates. Hotels and restaurants has emerged as the fourth option. The reason for its growing popularity is the explosion of the minority institutions offering the customised courses for the Hotels and Restaurants industry.

Ironically, the community for decades focused on the traditional courses. But the opportunity came in the BPO and IT sector, and the Muslims responded by taking to these sectors from the very onset.