As you all know I have been looking for a job since we arrived in Doha. In hindsight, I should have pursued it a little harder. I put all my eggs in one basket with a company, which shall remain nameless, and the funding for the position fell through. It was my fault, lesson learned but by the time all this came out we were on our way to the Middle East.
Once here I started submitting my CV (not a resume, but a CV) to a number of different recruiting companies. This was very new to me, but it seemed like that was the way to go. I also tried using the application forms on the websites of some of the other companies that operated here in Qatar. That was frustrating. It was the first time I received a "Dear John" letter about the same job six times. I think one would have sufficed, but I guess they were sending the message home...
After all that, a little sole searching, and some good discussions with Little J happened and then an opportunity popped up through a friend at a recruiting company. This was after I had accepted the position at the Doha Tribecca Film Festival. The timing was a little awkward, but it was a chance to make some money and see what was out there.
So I went for an interview/meeting with G to learn more about the opportunity and what I would potentially be doing. I suppose he also wanted to see if he liked me. By the time the interview was done I was getting ready to work for him part-time until the start of the film festival. We were going to see if this was going to work out. It did so after the film festival was done I worked for the remaining week, still part-time, until we went to Thailand (awkward timing).
Upon arriving back from Thailand it was time to get serious. We now needed to get things moving by way of contract, proper office space, and so on.
I am now the Operations Manager for sterlingwater. I am responsible for Business Development, Procurement, HR, Accounting, and Office Administration. Don't let the title fool you, as of right now there is one person reporting to me and I am doing most of the day-to-day stuff. We are hiring at least 2 more people that I will oversee, but that won't be for a couple months.
If you haven't guessed it already, we are a start-up company that is trying to introduce new technology into the water desalination market. We aren't competing against the big water treatment plants, but looking at the spaces in between that we can fill. Our technology is not brand new, but new to the commercial market and we (and I mean we) feel that it can change the way people from the busiest metropolis' to the smallest village can have pure water for life.
The business is owned by an American Family that is now living in Qatar and we are all trying to make this a GCC business. I am pretty excited for the opportunity and am looking forward to seeing the business grow.
Check us out online at www.sterlingwaterco.com
The Grand Palace itself
