Qatar is emerging as one of the most exciting locations for those looking for well paying careers in the Gulf region because not only is Qatar a country in which international expatriates can enjoy an excellent standard of living, it’s a country where property ownership rights are softening, where the attitude towards foreign workers is improving and where there are currently many vacancies for good jobs in Qatar.

Employment sectors with vacancies for overseas workers are broad and range from the ubiquitous oil and gas industry requirements for everything from managerial staff to engineers, the medical and education sectors, the finance and banking industries, high tech operations to government run companies.

For non Qatar based individuals finding jobs in Qatar can be quite tricky, there are few decent recruitment agencies based locally in Doha and those that are good tend to focus on a given employment sector such as the banking and finance industry or the oil and gas industry for example.

Most jobs in Qatar are little publicised outside of the nation, however the Gulf Times and Al Watan publications have online duplications of their paper based jobs listings and various government and non-government employers of expatriate staff in Qatar have websites through which speculative applications can be made and where usually there are listings of current vacancies.

Many expats already living and working in Qatar were either headhunted or relocated to take up positions in the nation and those who then wish to change jobs do so through inter-company and social networking which is a highly effective way of finding out about which companies have which vacancies and who the best people are to speak to in a given corporation when it comes to finding a job.

In terms of changing jobs in Qatar it’s a subject worthy of special mention because almost all expats have residency and employment visas sponsored by their employer so it is not as simple as resigning from one job on the Friday to take up another on the Monday – rather visas have to be reapplied for and the whole process can be a little tricky and time consuming.  It is far easier for those wishing to change job to see out their period of employment before seeking another vacancy.

For women who wish to work in Qatar the strict cultural rules prohibiting the participation of females in the work force have greatly eased in recent years as the employment market in the nation has opened up to the West and many Western women have found positions in Qatar.  As a result there is an increasing presence of local women in sectors such as medicine and education, banking and also in service industries such as public relations and working as air stewardesses.

The wives of expatriate men with jobs in Qatar are often prevented from working as a stipulation of their visa and if they wish to become employed they then have to apply for employment and subsequent visa sponsorship in their own right which can be difficult, time consuming and stressful – this is why an ever increasing number of women are working illegally.  This is not deemed a serious crime but if a woman working illegally in Qatar is found out they will lose their job and the company who employs them will face a fine.

In terms of correct business practice and respect of cultural differences in the work place women should never come across as especially friendly or open towards male colleagues as this will always be misconstrued - for men it is far easier to adjust as Western business practices dominate the work place.