Take Less First

Each year as students receive their Bachelor's degree diplomas, they embark on a journey to find their dream jobs. They envision themselves in a cool, modern working environment with a high level of social prestige, smooth and flexible working hours (preferably working from home), and of course a lucrative salary with a ton of bonuses and other benefits. Is this what they deserve? Of course they do, but it is important to remember that this image is not an accurate representation of the reality that awaits them as they step outside of the borders of the college and into the job market. The truth is, life can be hard and making money is not always easy. Graduates will find themselves on their own, with no one to guide them through the process.

This article aims to explore the possible options available to a typical graduate in Kuwait, their expectations, and the common mistakes they tend to make. It is important for graduates to have a realistic understanding of the job market and to be prepared for the challenges that lie ahead. Instead of expecting to land their dream job right away, they should be open to different options and be willing to work hard to achieve their goals. They should also be aware that the job market can be competitive and that it may take some time to find the right job.

In this article, we will examine the various career options available to graduates in Kuwait, including the pros and cons of each. We will also take a closer look at the expectations that graduates have, and how these expectations can sometimes lead to disappointment. By understanding the reality of the job market and being prepared for the challenges ahead, graduates can increase their chances of finding a job that will help them achieve their goals.

Types of Work Spaces

For the sake of this discussion, we will divide work spaces into "sales", "productive", and "paperwork". A sales work space, as the name suggests, belongs to a dealer company. A dealer company buys or subscribes or imports products/goods from another productive company and sells them in a target market. I don't have (and I don't think anyone has) statistics but I observe that the absolute majority of work spaces in Kuwait follow this style.

The other is the productive work space, which belongs to a productive company. In some cases a productive work space is nested in a sales company, which we will get to shortly. In general, a productive work space has a target to produce goods/products. If we talk about the tech industry, this is where you design and manufacture hardware or design and implement software. Teams are formed in various shapes to achieve their tasks. How would such a productive space live in a sales company? The examples are abundant. Take any telecommunication company or a bank in Kuwait. These are selling services, which are largely produced by others. However, they do employ small tech teams, which are productive. These productive teams often produce software to be used internally. Thus, the productive team is a luxury, not a core business.

Sales work spaces often consume solutions produced in the productive work spaces. They are somehow the "buy side". They require certain qualities and act as stakeholders.

There are teams that neither work on sales nor produce. These are the "paperwork" spaces. These work spaces are mostly dysfunctional, political, costly, and overstaffed. They constantly create bureaucratic processes, request for budget, and add more processes. They create problems for other teams. They are often the obstacles that the productive and the sales teams should tackle. They have little added value and over time, given enough budget and power, practically become the core business of the organization. The organization would then lose its target, becomes disoriented, and enters a vicious cycle of more processes, staffing, and consumption. Any change or initiative becomes nearly impossible and a liability for the initiator. Good human resources slowly leave or become ineffective and get lost in the sea of unnecessary processes.

Why is this categorization important?

The importance is obvious. As a fresh graduate, you do not want to be in a place where you will be a "paper pusher". That is the third category. A lot of prestigious companies with high salaries are traps. They hire you to fulfill some sort of national duty and then you get trapped in the paperwork cycle. You do not even start to learn anything useful. Your experience will be useless, mainly learning how to push more papers, write letters, hold lengthy political meetings, argue with other teams, advocate for more power or money for your team, and be attacked by other useless peers in your or other teams.

You also do not want to be in a sales team unless you lack technical abilities and you do not plan to develop your skills. Sales teams usually require some good knowledge of technicalities, at a high level, and human skills. You need to be able to pitch and convince others to buy your product, which you may or may not be convinced of buying if you were in their place. Your pay may depend on your sales performance.

When you work in a productive team, right after graduation, you start to struggle and learn. You get exposed to new technologies, to real product development, and also dealing with the customer. You will do a little bit of paperwork (but not too much). So, you get to learn all three but mainly focus on the production side. Your tenure should take a few years but should not be prolonged beyond 10 or 15 years of technical work. You will become experienced, you will have a well-trained brain that works to find solutions and maintains its sharpness, and you will gradually age into a wiser person. At that time, if you are in the right place (and that's a big if), you should move to technical managerial positions.

Why take less first?

In Kuwait, and many similar countries, the paperwork job is primarily a government or a semi-government job. You start fresh, and embark on a journey of walking up the promotion ladder. Your promotion is seldom based on your technical abilities and more depends on your relations, your visibility, and your human skills. You rarely sell or develop anything. You may occasionally work in poor production work spaces within the broader paper pushing industry, but you will not develop enough technical abilities. With some few exceptions, most bureaucratic jobs are like that.

In these environments, bureaucracy is gold and the processes are the ultimate goals. Teams fool themselves about achieving some sort of nonsense objective while the fact is they are achieving virtually nothing. You will be paid well in those first few years, compared to production environments. You will have better prestige, and you will supposedly have job security. All three benefits can be overrun by what you do in a real production environment, but you need to be patient.

What is happening in a production work space?

When you begin your journey in a production work space, you'll be faced with high expectations and daily pressure to deliver. But don't let that discourage you! With the right management, a team of bright minds, and a layer of senior technical people, the gains will far outweigh the initial lower salary.

Many people are intimidated by the difficulty of this kind of work environment and choose to leave prematurely. But if you're up for the challenge, you'll become an invaluable asset to any team. As you gain more experience and knowledge, you'll become a leader in your field. Doors will open to you and you'll have the opportunity to move on to more relaxed job environments while still maintaining your standing in the job market.

Don't be satisfied with just getting by. Take control of your career and demand the salary and position you deserve. With your skills and determination, you'll be able to write your own paycheck and rise to the top of your field.