There is always a first time!
This is what was going in my mind in September 2006. I was working as a development consultant in Delhi, conceptualizing and executing social development projects within India. I started looking for jobs but soon I realized that my 8 years of consulting experience was not relevant in an oil rich economy.
The biggest advantage I had was that all organizations in Qatar used English as their official language. What helped me next was my weird education background, my Bachelors (Chemistry) followed by an MBA (Finance) gave me powers of analytical thinking, negotiation & presentation skills along with number crunching. Hence, I realized that it was a fantastic combination. Manpower planning and resourcing, some skills I learnt while working in India came to my use.
I started applying to various advertisements and recruitment agencies in Qatar. Then came the turning point and to my surprise, the first recruitment agency I approached hired me directly after seeing my can-do attitude and professional approach.
Little did I know at that time, that I will be able to follow my passion and dream of pursuing a career in HR with some of the biggest real estate and project management organization in the new country I was residing in. I started working as a talent acquisition specialist. Not only did I performed well at my job I even went on to be the Head of HR and Talent acquisition in the organizations I worked for. The boom in construction industry worked in my favor.
Life did not stop there, I took my interest to next level and completed my formal studies in HR through certification under Professional in Human Resources (PHR) from HRCI USA in June 2011.
I was really intrigued in field of HR and did another certification. This time from UK, the Prestigious Chartered Member Qualifications from Chartered Institute of Personnel Development (MCIPD). For this qualification my job experience helped me a lot instead of going through the long study route. I took the Experience assessment route and Voila! With lot of enthusiasm, project work assignment, case studies and a 4 hour long Skype Interview, I was able to get my qualifications within a time frame of 9 months.
The buck did not stop there, I was hooked on to being a qualified professional in year 2015,
I gained yet another HR qualification again from USA this time Certified professional from Society of Human Resources Management(SHRM) USA.
My career had its ups and down due to the world wide recession and many other economic factors. As Qatar has its goal to complete and be on track for the FIFA 2022 world cup, things are still very positive.
My journey of Learning and unlearning continues. Now, I am a Leadership and life Coach on the path to become an ICF Certified Coach by March 2021.
So all my fella expat spouses! I am talking to you all, do not feel lost in this city of Dreams!
You TOO can find your dream Job or carve a new path for yourself.
If you need help comment below as I can help YOU rediscover and reinvent.
With focus and dedication, you can achieve what you want!