Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Recruiters in Kuwait STILL SUCK

I have my resume all over Kuwait. If you're in HR - you've seen it by now. I have been here longtime and I've dealt with loooooots of headhunters. Used to be that Kuwait had only 2 of them; one was the guy at ProLinks; who, in my humble opinion, leaves a whole lot to be desired. None of the recruiters is very good at follow-up – on any level of the organizations. If you are a recruiter – you are making money off ME; you should be responsive.

Ok, so one guy recently contacted me for a job providing Westerner support. I thought I would be great at that –since I basically do that anyways. My salary was within their range and all was good. I sent RecruiterDude bullet points on my capabilities and offered to do a Powerpoint presentation if they needed more.

No response for a week. Typically – the employer will contact the recruiter (or vice versa) immediately with feedback.

I follow-up with RecruiterDude. He response that the client is looking for a male. Oh reeeeeeeeeeally… that’s interesting. In my experience, if you want to hire someone to assist Westerners, a friendly female Western face is usually the optimum solution. It is a no-brainer easy sale. What RecruiterDude shoulda said was that they found someone else to fill the position; have decided not to hire right now, whatever. I sent him back a note with FREE consulting advice to pass along to his client. How frickin’ archaic!

If the company I worked for now would just pay me, maybe I could collect all the shit in my apartment and just get on United 981 out of here. I am so sick of all the combined BULLSHIT at the moment that I wouldn’t even look back.

Friends – where are they?
Job – it sucks. Potential jobs – what potential?
Love life – what the F is that? I can’t remember.

All I ever do anymore is work, eat and sleep. I'm just a Beltway bandit relocate.

I could be sitting around the table right now with my sister and my mother laughing my ass off in Virginia while here, I rarely crack a smile anymore.

Calgon – take me away. I don’t know how much more I can deal with.

17 comments:

Purgatory said...

"friendly female Western face"

I do not need to comment on that do I :p?

Anonymous said...

Desert girl

You are going through rough time

Anonymous said...

Just stick it out for a little DG... Just another speed bump.. Would hate to see you go... You are more interesting than any other reality show.. -- Caliboy

Anonymous said...

talking about recruitment.. does anyone know of the local labour laws here regarding the retirement age for the private sector?
where i work i am told, there isn't a retirement age! and if i need to get my full end of term benefits, i need to be terminated!
if i resign, i only get 50% of my service ending benefits!!!!

jordanian in the gulf said...

Wow...so pesimist!!!

There is an arabic saying "eshtadi azmatu tanfareji" which means the harder the problem gets, the sooner it will be resolved..or something like it.
wish u luck inshallah.

Anonymous said...

What field do you have experience in?

Would you be interested in a job in PR?

What is your expected salary?

Anonymous said...

HEY DG,
what kind og a job you lookin out for? i may have two headhunters i could refer you to..im not sure if they r great but its worth a try! lemme know

NBZ

Anonymous said...

WOW, is it that bad to find a job?!! I thought girls get hired very fast in here :)

Anonymous said...

Gosh... It is fustrating! but you have to think about all these years and all your effort! Everything you did in Kuwait you did it yourself! I've been reading your blogs for the past 2 months and I have to say that I really enjoy them. (btw sorry for posting my comment on the previous one sooo many times! ) I am new with this :) ...Well like I was saying, you are a very smart person and I know you will find something. It pissed me off when you said that you didn't get that one job because you are a female!!! oh my god I really hate that!! you were perfect for that position!!! but you know what?sometimes is better that they let us know that before hand than getting the job and put up with all the craziness just because you are a female. I did something similar here in the states and once I was in there they always put me down because I was a female! I regret doing what I did but my effort was what kept my chin up everyday!!!...So don't worry desert girl the grass isn't greener over here! hang in there, always try 100% so when you look back you can say that you tried hard and move on :)

Marysky

Anonymous said...

Keep your chin up. I know it isn't easy, especially with this crappy weather today! WTF. Something will turn up, and if it's going back to the "motherland" and dropping everything here then so be it. Something will come up, it always does.

Anonymous said...

Yeah, I totally feel you on the "work, eat, sleep" part. It kinda sucks the life out of you.

And I can't believe you aren't getting paid in this day and age. I thought only the cleaning companies were pulling this shit on their Bengali employees. And if you're looking for a job, better to try get one yourself. With the exception of relatives, no one here helps you get those - no matter how close they are/appear to be to you.

Anonymous said...

DG,

I know it is not something which you can easily digest, particularly being an expat, being unpaid, GOD, shouldn't happen to any one.
But try and take it easy. If you take a look around yourselves, too many things are indeed going wrong.
Desert Dawg puking blood
Salary unpaid
Friends breaking up
etc....
May be, due to the overall situation of the world, there is so much of negativity going around.
Please remain positive & optimistic about your best friend, about your life, about work etc...
If she cannot forgive, please teach her forgiveness by practising it. Do it umpteen times if required. But never give up.
Just remain positive. Try to smile during times of trouble.
Yes, it is tough going, but you will see this phase through & you have the power to do it.
This too shall pass. Life will blossom & your happiness will be back. Just relax & take things easy. May be, its not your fault either. Be in the present, live in the present.
All will be well.

Anonymous said...

Good luck with the job search desert girl - after 3 weeks of dealing with people pushing me aside "Out of my way, I'm Kuwaiti!" I'm glad to be back in cold Boston. Schlummy boy

Anonymous said...

Desert Girl! You made my day, you're a sweet girl, and you deserve to be treated much better, I do not really blame you.

Myself, I am Canadian, but was born in Kuwait, currently living in the gulf, but regreting coming here, and can't wait to go back to Canada. Wish you all the luck.

ostrich said...

aaaw dg iam really very sorry to hear about kuwaiti headhunters.
please stay in states which is land of opportunities for everyone wether local or foreign small big.black or white able and disabled. you are very talented.keep your head up and look forward.
if mr. obama could become president why not you next first female president of state.Please dont mention anywhere kuwait otherwise no chance

Possumdawg said...

Wish I had ready this several months back. Wasted money and time is what I have done.

Anonymous said...

my friend ... i totally agree with you...but there are ex....ions