150 nationals to get student placements at flag carrier

Qatar Airways will offer  150 student placements for Qatari students for graduate and undergraduate programmes  during the academic year 2013-2014,  Qatar Airways chief executive officer Akbar al-Baker announced yesterday at the  sixth annual Qatari Student Career Fair in London, organised by the Qatar’s Embassy in the UK. It is the biggest ever recruitment drive by the carrier for the Qatari students so far. According to al-Baker, the national carrier has also introduced a new ‘Graduate Career Rotation Programme’ with up to 50 new jobs available for graduates. In addition, the carrier is offering 50 internships and 50 scholarships for undergraduates. All three programmes are administered by Qatar Airways’ nationalisation department. Qatar Airways was among nine Qatari organisations present, exhibiting and running onsite interviews during the career fair in London. “As a young country, Qatar has made a significant impact internationally in different fields,” al-Baker said at the event. Al-Baker stressed that the graduate rotation programme allows graduates to get a flavour of the airline business before deciding which career path to follow within the industry.   “At Qatar Airways, we have injected a great amount of energy in developing our scholarship programmes for Qatari students both in our country and overseas, including here in the UK. Beginning this year, we are also introducing the graduate career rotation programme, where students, upon graduation, spend 22 months as employees working on six assignments with different departments across the organisation, including four months in one of our selected international outstations,” he said. Al-Baker said that the nationalisation department has masters degree placements for selected Qatari students at New Zealand’s prestigious Massey University. ”With 23 different disciplines available within the airline group, from airport operations, engineering, revenue management and sales to commercial, marketing and communications, Qatar Airways offers a diverse mix of career fields,” he added. Al-Baker said that the programme helps students enhance their skills working with a competitive airline. “We have a career path that is second to none with a world class airline that has reached the pinnacle of the global airline industry. Students now have a range of exciting programmes aimed at helping them find their ideal position in the Qatar Airways organisation, a company that through its nationalisation department is building a future on the talents of young people from across Qatar.” He went to emphasise that the opportunities offered by Qatar Airways are huge, especially with the imminent opening of the Hamad International Airport.