What it does: Generates and distributes energy to over 2.5 million customers across Karachi, with capacity over 2,200 MW.
Best known for: Being the only vertically-integrated power company in Pakistan.
Financials: Recently earned Rs 217 billion in revenue, roughly a 25% improvement on several previous years. While Rs 12 billion in profit after taxes is respectable, it’s a far cry from the Rs 31-32 billion seen from 2014-2016.
The good: Solid learning environment. Good graduate programs.
The not so good: Inherited bad traits from time as a government-run company.
Hiring grads with degrees in: business and management; marketing; accounting and finance; electrical engineering.
The company began in 1913 as the Karachi Electric Supply Corporation. Back then, Karachi was merely a small town, so the company only had to meet limited energy demands. By the time of the partition decades later, it needed to rapidly expand to meet the explosion of migration from the east, so the government seized control.
Between 1953 and 1980, six new power plants were established to keep up, followed by the government handing over ownership to the army in 1981. It took another two decades before the company was once again privatised, with a majority stake being purchased by the Abraaj Group, paving the way for over one-hundred and fifty billion rupees in foreign investment. This facilitated an explosion in infrastructure and output capacity.
Today, the government owns just 24% of the company, with foreign investment and infrastructure developments never ceasing. The company seeks to not only power homes, but empower the people of Karachi through sports programs, community outreach and sustainability.
K-Electric promotes its ‘Emerging and Aspiring Talent Programme’ for two types of graduates: technical and business. Usually, the technical side is an electrical engineering traineeship, with the management program being broadly applicable to marketing, business, finance or accounting degree holders. Both feature mentoring from senior technical and managerial staff and offer rotations throughout the business. It’s seen by previous graduates as a solid stepping stone and chance to learn workplace skills and habits.
About 17% of Karachi relies on K-Electric, so it’s a recognisable name to have on your resume. The projects will challenge you, regardless of stream, but long hours are a consistent complaint. As a former government company, you may also notice lingering traces of corruption, such as nepotistic promotions, over-hiring and a generally slow pace of career growth.
Once you make it through the graduate program, ask your supervisor about the progression path and how often people get promoted. If they can’t give you a straight answer, think about moving on quickly. If they give you a clear career trajectory, feel free to stay. But we, unfortunately, can’t give you a blanket answer; it all depends on the volatile quality of lower-level management. But even if you don’t see a future here, the skill-building and mentorship are a great starting point for aspiring electrical engineers, marketers and managers alike.
To get into the electrical engineering traineeship, start by applying through your university. You may then be asked to perform a competency test, right there on campus. This tends to have three sections, consisting of forty questions total to be completed across roughly two hours:
Get through that and you’ll move onto a technical interview, where they’ll ask you a combination of basic HR questions, like where you see yourself in five years, as well as job-relevant questions, like how can you adequately protect a transformer. Successful applicants are then grouped together to solve a problem, with their interpersonal and communication skills being assessed. Progressing through this leads to a final interview with upper management, which, if successful, will qualify you for the graduate program!
The management trainee recruitment process is similar. Applicants progress first through either an on-campus or online competency test, followed by an HR interview and assessment centre test. The nature of this test is slightly different for aspiring management trainees; they’ll be asked to give an impromptu speech on a random topic, as well as complete a business case study with other shortlisted peers. Successful applicants are then funnelled to an interview with the department head, who will ask applicants about their ambitions. Make it through all that and you’re in.
The following are some common starting annual salary expectations at K-Electric:
K-Electric has five values designed to facilitate meeting stakeholder needs more effectively.