"Career choice can shape a person's life" – says Md. Babul Akhtar, an IT professional working in Grameenphone. "I joined Grameenphone in 2016. I am now a Senior Executive working in Business Intelligence. My academic background, however, is Chemistry (Honours) with a professional diploma in computing from the IsDB-BISEW IT Scholarship Programme."

Babul Akhtar studied Chemistry at Govt. Edward College in Pabna. Classes were irregular and the lab facilities were totally inadequate during his stay in the college. Studying chemistry became a laborious task for Babul. Despite the circumstances, he persevered and with the help of private tuition Babul passed his finals and graduated in 2011. Along with his fellow students, Babul felt that compared to graduates of public universities, graduates like him coming from the National University were discriminated against in the job market.

"After graduation, the career options open for Chemistry graduates were either that of Sales Representatives for pharmaceutical companies or working in a lab for which I was not prepared at all." At this stage, Babul felt that he needed to rethink his career pathway. A friend, a few years his senior informed him that he was going to apply for the IsDB-BISEW IT Scholarship. A career as an IT professional appealed to Babul. He also decided to apply for the scholarship. Babul and his friend were overjoyed when both of them were selected for the scholarship in Round-15 of the programme.

The systematic training methodology used in the IT Scholarship Programme impressed Babul. It encouraged him to work hard in acquiring new skills and he completed the one-year long course Database Design & Development without any difficulty in 2012. His first job was in Berger Paints as a project member of their software development team. He served there for three months as this was a project-based job. He had no problem finding a new job with better pay and got employed at Leads Corporation as a Software Engineer. Eventually, Babul was recruited by Grameenphone where he is now serving in a senior position.

"The IT Scholarship Programme has given me a rewarding career. I fortunately, took the correct decision of enrolling in the programme even though the career path I chose had no relationship with my college education. I hope the IT Scholarship Programme continues to provide opportunities to students who are in search of a satisfying professional career."