Recently, a medical student – Dr Hafiz Waleed Malik – made waves across the internet for winning 29 gold medals in various subjects.
However, despite his achievement, he is still unemployed like the millions of youngsters of Pakistan.
During an Instagram Q&A session, Dr Hafiz Waleed Malik revealed that he is still looking for a job.
The talented medical student added that he had applied to more than 20 hospitals but didn’t get a positive response, blaming the ‘sifarish’ culture for his woes.
“Situation of jobs is 99% sifarish and 1% merit. I might be wrong but that’s what I observed. Only the merit should prevail but this system is beyond repair,” Malik wrote in response to the question.
BBC reached out to him after his Instagram story went viral. He told the media outlet that he completed his MBBS from Amiruddin Medical College in Lahore last year.
After doing a house job at the Lahore General Hospital, he applied to numerous private hospitals as the government hospitals hadn’t started recruitments yet.
Hafiz Waleed Malik told BBC, “Usually job positions are not vacant in private hospitals, and even if they are available, medical graduates are hired on the recommendation of professors.”
Furthermore, he stated that both a normal student and a topper have to deal with the same “sifarish culture” in this country. Malik emphasised on having neutrality in public and private institutions.