Contrary to popular belief, the annual Qatar Career Fair, which will be held at the Qatar National Convention Center from April 1 to 6, is open to all, not just Qataris, a spokesman has told Doha News.
“It is not up to the Qatar Career Fair to decide whether jobs are for Qataris or non-Qataris,” the spokesman said. It’s up to the companies who are doing the hiring, he added.
For many companies, the career fair, which is now in its sixth year and falls under the auspices of the Heir Apaprent, has served as a venue to find and hire young nationals as per Qatarization requirements.
These requirements appear to be more critical this year, following recent comments by a Labor Ministry official that non-compliant companies will “have to face the music.”
Mixed results
Previously, non-local job hopefuls have reported mixed experiences at the career fair. Last year, complaints of rude treatment surfaced, after the Daily Q reported that some expat students were told to put their resumes on the floor.
Khalifa Saleh Al Haroon, co-founder of ILoveQatar.net, told Doha News that he witnessed the same thing two years ago:
People were asked to leave their resumes on the floor at the entrance. Not even in a box or on the side… I saw scattered CVs everywhere and it was a sad thing to see to be honest… I asked a guy in a thobe why he was doing this, and he told me that this is what he was instructed to do. I told him that it was wrong and that I was going to report this, but he didn’t seem to care…
If the career fair is JUST for Qataris then they should call it the Qatari Career Fair not the Qatar Career Fair. I know companies inside that while they want to hire Qataris they accept resumes from all over.
But also in 2011, the Peninsula quoted one fair-goer as saying:
“I checked with 10-15 booths, they focus on Qataris, but when I asked whether they are looking for expatriates as well, what they said was they look for Qataris mostly for management positions but they do have vacancies for expatriates from other job categories.”
Are you planning to attend the fair this year?
Thoughts?
Credit: Photo by ictQATAR
