A new beginning

A new beginning

For the past 2 years I’ve been searching for work in Saudi Arabia, you would think that it would be a brainer to score a decent job as an American even if you don’t have a degree but that’s far from the case. Things are changing here the demands in hiring more Saudis is in the rise so decreasing the demand of foreign workers which isn’t a bad thing at all its good I just wish that Saudis would get the same benefits as foreign workers especially the ones who bust their asses going to other countries to study for their hard earned major, it’s not impossible to find a job here if your foreign but some places  if you don’t have a degree or a certain amount of experience the hunt can be challenging along with finding a decent salary to live in the community if you choose to not live in a compound let alone paying for a driver if the company you work for does not provide you with one…  

Many people would think that for me being American it would easy to find a job I’m a native English speaker but here is where it gets harder for me it may have been easier a few years ago but with the demands of hiring natives here it’s not as easy and when many companies think “American” they think “High salary, paid tickets to go back home, Compound living etc” so it’s a struggle. Being married to a Saudi has made things a little easier at the same time has also made things a bit shady as well, Why you say?  Once employers know that you’re married to a Saudi if it’s not a big known company like Alshaya they’ll treat you as a Saudi because you’re married to a Saudi which means you don’t get your benefits as a “foreign employee”.

 I’ve applied for several positions and since everyone has insisted I try teaching I looked at some schools I had one school I went to they said they didn’t go by any particular curriculum and whatever I had in mind they would help me set it up, and said since you’re married to a Saudi we are offering a salary of 2,000sr that’s around “600 American dollars” and no iqama transfer to them. I’ve been trying to get into Alshaya for a long time since their contracted with a lot of companies like Victoria’s secret (which is the one I’m trying to get into) I’ve applied for so many positions and they finally called me I was ecstatic but they wanted me in Kuwait and offered promising benefits and other things which was very tempting but my family are all in Saudi and told her I’d have to decline since it was in Kuwait she mentioned that they were opening a store in Riyadh she seemed to be impressed with my experience and sent my papers to Riyadh and I waited for them to call unfortunately they never called back.

So it was back to the drawing board of job searching I had scored an interview with one company which I will not mention to prevent any problems, I had went to the interview and it was for an Administration assistant position I had no experience but he was very kind and willing to pay for my training or anything that I needed I was a little shy for the fact when I came in for the interview he reached to shake my hand and for me and as all Muslims you’re not supposed to shake the hands or touch someone who is not your guardian so I held my hand down to my side and slightly bowed to him kind of like a Japanese greeting, and he felt a little shocked and said you scare me lol but after talking to him he seemed fine I would had accepted the offer but for the fact he had offered me a “private dinner in Bahrain” I declined his offer and felt my dignity was more important than the job offer and decided to keep on looking for the right job.

The last promising offer I had was as a store manager for “Lush Cosmetics” they were ready to sign a contract with me than they had asked me are you a Saudi citizen? I said no but I am a resident and I am married to a Saudi, the politely apologized and said unfortunately we are looking for Saudi lady for this position but we’ll keep your information on file for future opportunities I was seriously crushed because I know I can do it I have the ability to manage the store and to take care of customers and my employees it was honestly a very depressing moment because I thought I’m not going to find anything and I only have two certificates one for public safety and one for Law enforcement two certificates that have no benefit here unless I decided to become a certified EMT but the classes for that where hard to find.

I’ve spent so much time searching Linkedin.com also bayt.com which are really good places to search for jobs if anyone is looking because I had uploaded my cv’s my experience and had some other calls and offers some where just not meeting up to my expectations and to them I wasn’t fitting as they expected since “I’m not a Saudi”  I just felt like giving up to be honest with all the searching and the interviews and the low salaries I’m like I’m going to be stuck where I’m at but Alhumdullilah finally I found work… does it offer the best salary? Not really but it’s for starter only and I’ve signed a temporarily contract for a few months so I can learn from them and to see if it’s the job I want to stay with and also for them to see if they like my performance and if we both like how things are I will sign a permanent contract.

 I felt finally someone is going to give me a chance and insha’allah I’ll be working as a marketer for (www.goodlivelihood.net) the manager he is very kind and very open minded and the boss I’ll be working with she’s amazing and like a sister and insha’allah I’ll get to travel to different countries for my work such as Thailand, Philippines, Japan hopefully if I can influence them I hope they’ll contract with South Korea but I’m really excited and hope to learn from them and help build their company and hope to build my future to be a better one insha’allah.

For all of those who have helped me in finding work and listening to me vent about my struggles wallah I am beyond grateful to you all I could have not made it this far without the support and encouragement from those who have helped me and who have stood by my side during all of my struggles this is dedicated to all those who have helped me and I hope and pray to Allah that he grants you all the best in this life can give you....