Muscat: Noora Al Amri is a typical young Omani woman who refused to stay down when the going was getting tough while she was trying to build a career right after graduation.
Armed with an Airport Management Degree, Noora was delighted to do an internship at Muscat Airport in Ground Handling with Transom. However, with the onslaught of the pandemic, things changed for her. Her internship contract was not renewed and she was left out in the cold.
But Noora did not give up. She knocked a few doors and her effort was rewarded. She got a temporary contract with E-Mushrif, a company responsible to screen arriving passengers in Muscat Airport for COVID-19 infections. That was not exactly part of her degree major but she accepted just to keep herself busy and updated her CV.
“My first fear was that I would deal with passengers arriving in Oman who are infected. I told myself that I could easily catch the virus and get infected. However, after a careful consideration, I accepted the job as a challenge. It was either that or stay at home doing nothing and that would do no good to my CV,” Noora explained.
It was that good attitude that warmed the hearts of her bosses at E-Mushrif. She conducted her duties at her best ability without complaining despite the health danger involved of a real possibility of catching coronavirus.
She also considered the job as part of her duty to serve the country. “I was one of those people who made sure that Oman is a safer place by making sure that passengers do not get out of the airport infected. We put them in quarantine as soon as they tested negative,” Noora added.
When her contract expired, she was left with a situation to stay at home and waited for a job that suited her major or move on to another challenge. When she saw a job opening with Talabaat, she applied and did well at the interview.
“I would not have got the job if my CV was empty. The experience I had with Transom and E-Mushrif convinced Talabaat that I was the right for the job,” Noora explained. She is now employed as a Complain Officer with Talabaat and she is thoroughly enjoying it because it also comes with a good pay package.
What is her message to unemployed graduates? “Get the first chance you get because no employment is good or bad. If you get training without payment, accept it to get experience. When you stick long enough in various unpaid or low paid trainings, your CV will look good. It will definitely lead to a good job you have been looking for,” Noora concluded.
