DOHA: As the curtain came down on the Qatar Career Fair 2009, a rush of last-minute applicants and job aspirants was seen at the Doha International Exhibition Center yesterday. The last day of the event also saw its largest number of visitors since the opening of the fair on April 12.
More than 15,000 applicants registered at the pavilions of various companies and organizations at the fair.
Some of the exhibitors at the fair said they were now preparing for the next step of screening the applicants.
“We received more than 1,500 job applications the past few days, and we gave on-the-spot interviews to some, but to those candidates we were interested in, we gave them intent letters. We will be giving intensive interviews and a thorough screening right after the fair,” said Hamad Ali Al Khater, recruitment supervisor, Human Resources Department, Qatar Petroleum (QP).
Al Khater said QP was looking for people to fill the positions of their oil and gas operations. The required disciplines are in petroleum and gas engineering, mechanical engineering, chemical engineering, chemistry, instrumentation engineering, civil engineering, electrical engineering, electronic and communication engineering, industrial engineering, geosciences, maritime, environmental science, environmental engineering, fire and safety management, quantity surveying, security and risk management, business administration, computer engineering, computer science, and finance and accounting.
Khaled Helaly, recruitment manager of the Human Resources Department at Qatar Foundation, said from the thousands of job applicants at the fair, only around 200 will be offered positions.
“We have different categories; we are looking for trainees and people to fill our full-time positions. For our trainees’ posts, we get them on board, train and develop them, or if they want more training, we sponsor their training. But this is only offered to Qataris. The full-time positions are offered to all applicants,” said Helaly.
Helaly said some applicants will be contacted for interviews, which is part of their screening process. After everything is settled, those who are picked will be joining Qatar Foundation in a month’s time.
“We got some applications from housewives who used to work but stopped for three to four years to take care of their children and families. Now they want to get back to work. We have part-time positions which will be good for them.”
ictQatar said it had around 50 vacancies for non-Qatari applicants, but “there are no limits for Qataris”.
Mohamed Al Yahri said applicants will have to wait two weeks before the screening process starts.
Organised by Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development, Qatar Petroleum, Qatar University and the Ministry of Labour, the fair was aimed at spurring Qatar’s nationalisation drive.
Some 115 exhibitors from the private and government sectors, from the fields of energy, communications, tourism, education, banking, sports and media, took part in the fair.
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A large number of people visited Qatar Career Fair 2009 on the last day of the event, at the Doha International Exhibition Center. |
