Should Omani graduates accept only jobs of their specialisations?

Muscat: Part of the problem of high unemployment in the country is that some Omani graduates are too picky when it comes to getting a job.

Not all of them are willing to work in the areas outside their specialisations. They would rather wait for years instead of getting any other job to keep them busy. With over 66,000 young Omanis who are still waiting to be employed, they still think it is a waste of their time to work anywhere else.

But senior academics who had long experience in the industry, urge graduates never to sit home idle waiting for their dream job.

“It is wrong to assume that you can only work in the area of your specialisation. It is not a shame to work as an administrator when you have an engineering degree or in marketing when your specialisation is Human Resources. What is important is getting your first work experience and the more you wait the worse it can be for your prospect of getting a decent job,” Dr Khalfan Al-Asmi, Deputy Dean of Modern College of Business and Science, told Times of Oman.

Young graduates like Mohammed Al-Shikeli, is still looking for a job since 2018 after graduating with a chemical engineering degree.

“A month after my graduation, I was offered a sales job but I declined. Three months later I got an opportunity in an insurance company, which I rejected. For me it is not wrong to reject jobs outside my specialisation. I worked hard for four years in the university to earn my degree and I cannot just get any job,” Al-Shikeli, told Times of Oman.

Dr Al-Asmi said competency is not always connected with your specialisation.

“It is attitude and the level of readiness to complete your work is what employers need. Many times your job task is not connected with your final project you did at the university. Your specialisation prepares you to competency when you get a job and that is how you are rated by your office managers. It is time to change this attitude that you should only accept a job connected with your degree,” Al-Asmi added.

But not all Omani graduates follow this belief. Some are working outside the field of their specialisation and it is quite fulfilling for them.

“I am an airport management degree graduate but I work for an insurance company. I know insurance is completely different from my specialisation but I find it very satisfying. What is important is to get a job to help you push your career. You are not good to anyone if you stay at home waiting,” Yahya Al-Shuaili, a 2015 airport management graduate, said.