New Beginnings
Once again we face a new slate. If 2009 was an eventful year for you, you may feel sentimental, especially if it brought many “firsts”: first job, first love, first baby, first house. But if it was filled with losses, setbacks, or just plain uneventful, you will be making resolutions: run a marathon, watch less television, adopt a dog, make new friends, and yes, even find a new job.
According to Google (as well as our own experiences) January, February, and March are the busiest months in terms of people searching for a new job. Therefore, anticipating that many new people will be looking at our website, I will summarize the more practical aspects of evaluating and applying for a position in the countries of the Middle East.
Currently, the majority of our positions are in Saudi Arabia and Qatar. In Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia, The King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Center, with 860 beds, is easily the most high-acuity, tertiary-care hospital in the entire Arabian Peninsula. It provides all tertiary-care services, including heart and liver transplants, extensive pediatric cardiac surgery, and operates a freestanding pediatric oncology center. The King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Center also has a hospital site in Jeddah. The Jeddah site currently has 250 beds, offers all tertiary-care services, and is in the process of expanding to more than double its size.
In Qatar, the Sidra Medical and Research Center, a new women’s and children’s hospital, is currently in the planning and construction phase. Over the past two years, we have recruited primarily Project Directors, System Analysts, and Subject Experts for Sidra and in 2010 we expect to have more positions for management and clinical people. The Sidra Medical Center will also house a research center and it has recruited Dr. David Kerr, from Oxford University, to lead the research activities.
If you look at our website you will see pictures of the two King Faisal Specialist Hospitals and of Jeddah and Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and Doha, Qatar. Most of these were taken by the five members of our staff who, in 2009, toured Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the UAE. Yes, the countryside, the cities and the hospitals really do look like the pictures.
If you are visiting our website for the first time and are considering applying for a position in the Middle East, I want to alert you that we will be asking you questions that are absolutely forbidden in the US/Canada during a job interview, but which are allowed for international employment. The questions are personal, and yes, invasive. We will ask if you are married, whether you are taking any medication, how much you weigh, your religion, and so on. Since you have to pass a complete medical examination to obtain an employment visa to any of the Gulf countries, it is best that you, and we, know from the very beginning whether working overseas is an option for you.
You might read my previous letters, which cover exactly what we ask:
- November 2009: Medication
- October 2009: What is your religion?
- September 2009: The Complex Issue of Single-Status
- July/August 2009: Getting Personal
It’s a new year and maybe, for you, this means a new adventure. You’ve found our site, which means you have already made the first step towards a new position in the Middle East.
I wish you a Happy New Year.
Helen Ziegler
