DOHA: Qatar Petroleum reported a total of 594 applicants, a big percentage of which were Qataris, were hired by the company after last year's Qatar Career Fair.
Amna Nasser Al Suwaidi, QP recruitment supervisor, said they received thousands of applications last year and they have picked 594 out of them. This year, QP has received more than 2,000 applications already during the third day of the fair and they are expecting more.
"We have a lot of vacancies at QP and we are encouraging those who are interested to send us their CVs... QP also has different departments and we also forward some of our applicants' CVs there," said Al Suwaidi.
She said QP is also recruiting students for scholarships and trainings.
QP is a state-owned petroleum company here and operates all oil and gas activities in the country, including exploration, production, refining, transport, and storage.
Dr Majid Ibraheem, training coordinator at Seef Limited, said they have received around 242 applications from Qataris last year but only had to hire four as most of the openings they had were for the field of Chemical Engineering, Field Operators, and Laboratory Technicians, among others.
Now, Ibraheem said, they are looking forward to seeing more Qataris join their company. "We have sped up the process and have interviewed our Qatari applicants after they have submitted their CVs... right here (at the fair's venue)."
Seef Limited is a joint venture company with 80 percent shares held by QP and 20 percent by the United Development Company (UDC). The main product is Linear Alkyl Benzene (LAB) at a capacity of 100,000 MT per year. LAB is a major ingredient in the manufacture of domestic detergents and it is environmentally friendly. Also, a 3600-metric-ton per annum of the by-product Heavy Alkyl Benzene (HAB) is produced, which is used as lube oil base stock.
To attract the right applicants, most of the local companies at the fair conducted interviews and some asked the applicants to take a personality test, like Al Jazeera Children's Channel's "TV Personality Quiz," which asks the applicant questions with corresponding numbers, like "Can you do three difficult things at the same time without getting stressed or losing your concentration? Are you patient, strong, coordinated, and have quick reactions?" or "Are you calm and collected and rarely panics? Do people turn to you in a crisis and can do several things at once?"
Whatever number an applicant picks, he or she will be pointed to a more suitable path for him/her with the guidance of the company's Human Resource personnel.
The Qatar Career Fair is an annual event held here from March 14 to 17 at the Qatar International Exhibitions Center under the patronage of H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani.
By Joyce C. Abaño
© The Peninsula 2010
