Recruitment Companies

Although most hospitals post their vacancies online, if you are applying for a position in a foreign country, there are many obvious advantages to working with a recruiter.

• First of all, not all vacancies are advertised. Recruiters are often told about confidential searches or upcoming vacancies that are not posted on the employer's website.

• Recruitment companies are a one-stop shop for positions, i.e., they will have vacancies in several different hospitals, and even in several different countries. You can learn about openings at hospitals in one or more countries in one convenient place.

• We have direct access to recruitment and professional staff at our client hospitals, which someone without such a relationship cannot match. We can get answers much faster than you can.

• There is an overwhelming amount of information online about working in the Middle East. Some accurate, some not. Because we recruit a high number of staff and have nearly daily contact with our client hospitals, our information tends to be the most current (unlike your brother's friend's cousin who worked in Saudi Arabia 25 years ago in a different city in a different profession …).

• Some agencies, such as HZA, have staff members who have lived in, worked in, and visited the countries for which they recruit staff. They can provide more detailed and practical information.

• We are familiar with the work environment in the United States, Canada and Europe, as well as with the environment in the Middle East, so we can prepare you for the differences you will encounter in working with colleagues who have not worked in a Western environment.

• As we all know, emails go missing. We are in regular phone and email contact with the hospitals, and will follow-up for you.

• "Timing is everything" — for example, if you live in the Pacific time zone of North America, you are 10 to 11 hours behind Saudi Arabia, and 11 to 12 hours behind the UAE, and will have trouble arranging a time to talk with hospital representatives. (And did you know that the weekend in Saudi Arabia and the UAE is Friday and Saturday?)

• Getting a work visa is a very complicated process. A recruiter not only guides you, but does much of the work for you.

• While not all recruiters do this, we reimburse the major part of your visa/medical expenses.

• If after you have relocated, you should run into unexpected difficulties (depending on what those difficulties are), we act as an advocate for you.

So when assessing a recruiter, don't be afraid to ask questions: How long have you been in business? With which hospitals do you work? Have any of your staff members have visited the hospital? How many people have you recruited?

And just as important: Does the recruiter answer your questions? If they don't have an answer now, do they offer to find the information for you? Do they promise you things that are too good to be true? Can they put you in contact with people who are currently working at the hospital? Do they return your telephone calls?

To end on a personal note, all of us in our office love our jobs. Although our job is unusual and even difficult, we believe we are offering an experience of a lifetime.

Helen Ziegler