This is that wonderfully awful time of the year – the hiring season. For the last two weeks I have been part of a hiring committee at a Saudi information technology company. We've been interviewing dozens of candidates. This year we haven't found a single suitable person to bring onto the engineering team – although we have four positions available, for either men or women. The interviewing process began with over five hundred applicants. Two-thirds had a year or less of experience. The ones with experience are only looking for “jobs easier than what they have,” or “management” or “something with a significant salary increase.” Women show up for their job interviews with their fathers, husbands or brothers as guardians. I've given up insisting that I speak with the candidates alone. The interviews are conducted in a private conference room but even then, the majority of the women keep their faces covered and they do not shake hands in greeting. By the way, I'm a woman so I've had to learn to take their rudeness in stride. We start with a review of their educational qualifications. They are lackadaisical about B's and C's in core subjects of their majors. One told me, “I got the degree so what's the problem?” We move to a short basic technical evaluation. Not a single candidate has been able to instantly answer the question, “What's 2 to the power of 8,” even though it's one of the most important numbers in computing. Simple networking is beyond their capabilities. Asked to write HTML, Java or C language to handle a specific programming task, they claim to be unprepared. Some job candidates graduated from university two or three years ago. When asked what they have been doing since then, more than half of this group mention that they have attended the six month Prince Mohammed Program “Mahara,” which focuses on English language, communication skills and IT skills. Have they considered taking online courses to improve their programming or networking skills? Of course not! According to the job candidates, it's the employer's responsibility to “train” them for the job.
And what job would that be? These young women would like positions as analysts, programmers, web developers or managers. Additionally, they prefer not to work more than a seven hour day, six is preferable – after all, they have obligations. The minimum salary for this starting position should be SR8,000, plus transportation, Class A medical insurance and thirty days annual vacation. Using a smartphone for personal requirements during working hours is also mandatory. Usually by this point in the interview, there's a short pause from my side. Why? Because silently I am praying for patience. When I ask the women what they are planning to do to earn this generous compensation, there is a surprised look in their eyes – Do? Well they will be training hard on the job. Can't I understand that? It might be thought that this attitude is only predominant among the graduates of local educational institutions. But the surprise is that graduates of universities abroad have even higher financial expectations, coupled with a lack of skills. Fatimah, a Computer Science graduate from Indiana State University, came to the job interview with her husband. Fatimah's spoken English was poor and her technical skills were nonexistent. Her husband, who had accompanied her to the USA for her studies, was very vocal in the interview, interjecting his opinion on what sort of position would suit his wife, of course with the proper employer provided training. The company hiring the engineers has no problem with providing educational opportunities. Last year they spent over half a million Saudi Riyals on education for their staff. However, work must be a priority, or the company won't survive. As for all the training that's being demanded by the job applicants, it came to my mind during one interview that circuses offer training. If anyone knows of a circus that's hiring IT graduates, please let me know.
