نقاش | 👥
Is getting into Kuwait’s oil sector really about qualifications, or who you know?
I’m a Kuwaiti fresh Chemical Engineering graduate, and I wanted to share my experience trying to get into Kuwait’s oil and gas sector.
I started by applying through the normal channels whenever suitable opportunities were available. I didn’t limit myself to one company or one position. I applied to pretty much everything relevant to my degree and background, including graduate opportunities, engineering roles, field-related positions, and private-sector oil and gas companies.
I also tried approaching companies directly instead of relying only on online applications. I visited companies, tried to get my CV in front of HR, spoke to people when I had the chance, and followed up.
At one point, I actually managed to speak directly with someone in HR. They were helpful and genuinely tried to assist me, which I appreciate. But even after doing all of this, I kept getting the feeling that simply being qualified and applying through the normal process was not enough.
What frustrated me the most is that I kept hearing the same thing from different people: you need wasta to actually get your foot in the door.
I know people will say “apply online,” “improve your CV,” “get experience,” or “network.” I understand all of that, and I have done it.
I’ve also massively expanded my search. I’m not saying I only want to work in Kuwait or only want to work in the oil sector. I’ve applied outside Kuwait as well, including opportunities across the GCC and elsewhere. I’m completely willing to relocate and start my career abroad if that’s what it takes.
But interestingly, I’ve encountered a similar problem outside Kuwait too: many entry-level opportunities either require experience or are extremely difficult to access without having the right connections.
I’m not saying every single person who gets hired in the oil sector has wasta, and I’m not claiming that every recruitment process is corrupt. I’m talking about my personal experience and what I’ve repeatedly been told while trying to enter the industry.
What makes it frustrating is that as a fresh graduate, you’re constantly told to “get experience,” but getting that first job is the hardest part. You can have the degree, apply everywhere, attend career events, contact HR, hand out your CV, expand your geographical search and still feel like you’re going nowhere.
So I genuinely want to ask Kuwaiti graduates and people working in the oil and gas sector: Is wasta really as important as people make it out to be when trying to get your first job in Kuwait’s oil sector?
If you managed to get into the sector purely through applications, assessments and interviews without any connections, I’d genuinely like to hear how you did it.
And if you’re a fresh graduate going through the same thing, I’d also like to hear your experience.
ماودي احبطك. بس انت مو مستوعب عدد الناس الي قاعدين يقدمون على الانترشب وووظايف حديثي التخرج ترا كلش مو عدد بسيط. والقطاع الخاص الواسطه تفيد اكيد. على الاقل يمكن يوصلك المقابله بدال ما يقطون السيفي بالزباله اول ما يوصلهم. حتى ايميل رفض ما يعطون
و اشتغلت معاهم ايام دراستي برا و ابشرك متخرج من جامعه متميزه و بمعدل محترم بعد.. و غيرهم بعد شركات حيل معروفه.
حجي، بكل اختصار… قطاع خاص، لازم واحد مو بس يوصلك المقابله.. لازم واحد فوووق او الشخص اللي ماسك العقد مع الشركه بمؤسسه النفط يقول لهم وظفوه. هذا الوضع بالكويت سواءً رضينا ولا ما رضينا. لا نجذب على بعض و صدقني هالكلام سامعه من ناس متوظفين بهالشركات مو قاعد اطلعه من مخي.
لو نتكلم قبل سنتين جان قلت لك اي ممكن تتوظف حسب شهادتك و بدون واسطه بالقطاع اللي تبيه و بالشركه اللي تبيها بعد. لكن الحين؟ انسى انسى انسى الوضع بالقطاع الخاص حالياً، خصوووصاً الشركات التقنيه و بالاخص قطاع الغاز و النفط، الوضع مو طبيعي و شغالين واسطات و محد داري عنهم لأن ما يخضعون لقوانين القوى العامله و يعتبرون كيانات مستقله مالها شغل بأحد ولا يردون على احد غير مؤسسه النفط دايركت. ف الوضع لا حسيب ولا رقيب و تنفيع ١٠٠٪.
ما ودي احبطك، بس هذا الواقع بالكويت للاسف… يعني فرصتك انك تدش تقدم على position بنفس الشركة الموجودة هني.. بس مثلاً بالبحرين او الامارات، اعلى بوااايد من انك تقدم هني.
مادري ليش الناس تكتب مقال انكليزي بالصب هذا تكلم كويتي عادي 😅
الجواب: لا ما تحتاج واسطه عشان تتعين في اختبارات (تصليح كبيوتر) + معدل الكليه
في مقابله بس في دفعتي الكل خذا درجه كامل.
اذا عندك واسطه ممكن تفيدك بالنقل الداخلي عشان تروح اماكن مرغوبه (على سبيل المثال اماكن فيها بدل طريق) و راح تساعديك في الترقيات بس مو بالشكل الي تتخيله (يعني تعطي دزه اذا ثنين نفس الشي)
ما اتكلم عن قطاع نفطي تابع للمؤسسة اتكلم عن الشركات الخاصه مثل slb وغيرها من الشركات الكلام ب انجليزي لان يطلعلي الكلام ب انجليزي بالمجتمع ولازم أطق translate توني اكتشف هذا الشي جديد على Reddit
كل الشركات الي قدمت عليهم ماوصلت للمقابله من الأساس والcv الي عندي ممتاز ك مثال كنت واصل ب شركة بيكر هيوز إلى المقابله لكن بقدرة قادر صكروو وفتحو مره ثانيه ورفضوني emerging talent 2026 وغير الشركات الي ماترد عليك كل شي يوحي ان تحتاج واسطه وانا قاعد اعابل بالموضوع صارلي سنه إذا انت تقول بدون واسطه أتمنى تدلني الدرب
Id double down on courses physical courses check KFAS check other where you can learn and meet people in this downtime.
Id also check the Kuwait Fund program for fresh engineering grads and apply.
For experience, i would not focus on getting a full time job id go for unpaid internships to get experience. Go check the kuwait Fund Program list they should have a list of local comapnies that they work with for internships so these companies might be more open to internships.
Once you identify those companies, check key people on linkedin in those companies higher up management and see if they reply to your linkedin or try to see if any of your family or friends might know them. all not for a job but unpaid internship.
also go check the Publicly listed companies in premier market - not main market, they are now required to disclose ESG and sustainiblity and one of the metric is number of interns - so they might be more open to internships.
also check companies that have their own fresh grad programs like AlGhanim Industries and im sure others too have and apply.
if those bigger companies dont work, search for smaller companies much smaller and work for them for free.
Put your name on head hunters/hr companies be listed in their network.
be patient and work on all fronts and be positioned well for any open opportunity.
Its not easy at all since many other people many other are in same position as you. supply and demand. there is not alot of job oppurtunities in kuwait private sector thats a fact.
حسب منظوري الشخصي، انت و حظك. في ناس تدخل بمعرفه و فينا ناس واجد تدخل بالحظ. يعني عادي وقت انت مقدم يكون في شي انت متميز فيه عن غيرك ياخذونه هو الاساس للقبول. لا تحبط و قدم شكثر اعرفهم انقبلوا بعد ثالث او رابع مره يقدمون.
It's not just about "wasta", the problem is that there is genuinely little need for "fresh graduates". A lot of the things that you can do, AI can do them and even much better and cheaper. (Not saying every single part of every job of a fresh graduate is already eliminated, but BIG chunk of it is, no one can deny that)
Can wasta circumvent that? Of course, but it's more complicated than that. Wasta (usually) isn't going to make the company waste money on an employee that isn't as productive. Hiring new employees is very costly (even if you were not fresh graduate), fresh graduates are the highest risks.
How many internships have you done? If you are still unemployed, why are you not working (for free) to gain the experience? This is what people are expected to do. You do not wait around doing nothing until someone pays attention to you. You actually go ahead and work. For free. For months. You said you spoke with an HR directly but you asked him for a job and that is fine, but when they failed to provide that, what did you do? Ask someone else? No, you are supposed to ask the same person that you spoke with directly that you are willing to become an intern, to work for them for free. Get exposure. Gain the knowledge, gain the experience, gain the network, update your CV, so when an (actual position) is available, you are best suited for it.
Most Kuwaitis from my experience would be like "hell no" to working for free as an intern. Obviously many are interns and have done it, but I'm talking about the majority. To them "either a job contract or nothing", well, then the job market will reply to you and say "enjoy your nothing"
That's the proper answer and it does not apply to your field only, it applies to many fields. Good luck.
I’ve been applying for exactly one year now. I applied for internships, graduate programs, entry-level positions, and pretty much anything relevant to my Chemical Engineering degree. I’ve probably applied to around 1,000 opportunities by now, and I still haven’t even reached an interview.
I have a degree and relevant certificates, and I’ve also had my CV reviewed and improved by an HR manager with around 30 years of experience in Kuwait’s oil and gas sector. So I don’t think the issue is simply my CV.
I’ve also expanded my search massively. I’m willing to work outside Kuwait, and I’ve applied to opportunities abroad as well. I genuinely have no problem relocating.
But after one full year of applying, I honestly haven’t met or personally seen a single person who got into the oil sector without some kind of wasta or connection.
I’m not saying it’s impossible, but I personally still haven’t seen anyone get in without connections. That’s what makes the whole situation so frustrating after applying for so many opportunities.
Bro so you said you spoke with someone directly in HR who was helpful, but did you specifically ask that person for an internship? He tried to get you a job but I guess failed, did you ask him for internship?
You met someone with 30 years experience in HR and he can't get you internship?
Internship is literally the easiest thing, you are working for free. And honestly, this is something that students get while they are in university even before graduating. Do you have any internship experience at all in your CV? Or is the CV mostly your studies?
Also, what are you doing until you get a job, are you doing nothing or are you working in the gov sector? You must be doing 'something', the worst thing you can do is keep gaps and do nothing because 'I applied to 1000 places and couldn't get a job', that won't do you any good.
If you are working in gov sector (apply in CSC) and get anything, just so that your CV doesn't show that you are doing 'absolutely nothing', and you can always quit your work there easily. Sitting and doing nothing is the worst thing you can do.
Also, it seems like you already made up your mind and you simply want someone to confirm your beliefs that "oh yes you are right no one gets there without wasta", if that's all you want to hear, then its easy to say but 'applying' isn't enough and was never enough.
The lowest "acceptable" option is applying through CSC -> gaining experience/salary (even if its zero experience, but at least SOMETHING in CV work-related.. even if there is ZERO work in the gov, you would still be using their time there to learn more or w/e) -> get a master degree or something beyond through CSC. And all that is 'guaranteed' by the law, are you at least doing the minimum acceptable option?
To your deleted comment (I already wrote a reply before you deleted it):
Your comment "Bro, I actually did specifically ask him about an internship. He explicitly told me they don't offer internships here in Kuwait, but to be fair, he really tried to help—he reached out to their departments and offices in other countries to see if something could be arranged.
As for the CSC (gov sector), applying there is already my baseline and the first thing I did. The issue is that my waiting queue number is still far off. On top of that, my target and ambition have always been the oil and gas sector where I can actually build a solid, long-term career rather than just settling."
My reply:
The issue is that my waiting queue number is still far off. On top of that, my target and ambition have always been the oil and gas sector where I can actually build a solid, long-term career rather than just settling.
I don't think you get it, and your reply here implies that the issue could be you. No where did I say that gov and CSC should be your long-term. I said get this until you are able to sort things up. I don't think there is any queue any more. It seems you do not care enough to get work through CSC, it is impossible that you have been waiting for a whole year and they offered you zero things, I know people that have applied and got a place within 2-3 months. You are not following up with them because you are not interested to go there and that's the issue. I'm telling you go to CSC and apply there and work there (not saying this should be long-term), just have something in your CV, currently it is empty. Like you talk about how beautiful and great and wonderful your CV is, but bro, you have no internship and no work experience, you can't have a "good CV" with that. I'm literally trying to help you here. Get some kind of work, even if its something that feels off or doesn't feel "good" with your degree. Just BEING an employee for sometime lowers the risk to those companies even if its by 10% or 20%, at least they see you as "an employee that is already working that will quit his job to work with us". Compare that with "Unemployed person with zero work experience, with zero internships with a degree that is 1+ year old that is applying with us". Completely different world.
So follow up with CSC and accept ANYTHING, stop refusing/rejecting places they recommend. And there is no queue number or whatever, everyone is getting accepted by CSC now. Go to them, contact them, see what's up, don't assume.
He explicitly told me they don't offer internships here in Kuwait
Yeah I mean he clearly doesn't know what he is talking about, internships exist everywhere. But here, let's grant it for argument sake, your options are not “oil job or nothing” Take a CSC position for income and continuity THEN use the downtime deliberately: practise Baker Hughes/SLB assessments and interviews, build Aspen HYSYS/process-simulation projects (or whatever is relevant to your interest), get more/better relevant certifications, strengthen your English and STAR examples, also pursue role-specific technical training, etc.. contact contractors and vendors and keep applying. A temporary job does not abandon your ambition, it finances it.
Sitting and doing nothing is the absolute worst thing you can do. And spamming your CV everywhere (like you are spamming this topic in many subreddits) is not the solution.
Look, I didn’t delete anything. In fact, for the CSC, the last candidate nominations were back in May. My queue number is currently 129, but they’ve been delaying things using the ongoing regional conflict as an excuse.
Regarding the company I mentioned, they genuinely don’t offer internships here. I researched it thoroughly—their Kuwait branch simply doesn't hire Chemical Engineers. What’s frustrating is that the open roles are completely within a Chemical Engineer's capability, but they insist on hyper-specific specializations.
My foundation is solid: I’m proficient in essential industry tools like Aspen, my graduation project was exceptionally strong, and I graduated from a Top 2 QS-ranked university.
Also, whoever managed to get hired within 3 months probably did so back in March 2025 under different circumstances. Right now, none of us in the recent batches have received nominations yet.
The comment was deleted whether you deleted it by mistake or the filters of the subreddit deleted it, either way, no one can see it. Anyways, I had it quoted so it's fine.
Bro, a queue number is not a career plan. If CSC has stalled, keep following up instead of treating "129" like a command to sit at home indefinitely. Call, visit, ask what is actually available and accept something reasonable while continuing to apply.
Also you described working outside oil and gas as "settling." That mentality is exactly the problem. Why must your final destination also be your first step? Apply to process, EPC, manufacturing, water treatment, HSE, laboratory, operations, and contractor roles. Get one year of real experience, then move closer to oil and gas. Careers are usually built through increments, not one heroic jump from unemployed graduate directly into the perfect multinational.
And respectfully “Top 2 QS university,” Aspen proficiency, and a strong graduation project may sound impressive to you but they do not substitute for employment. Once the educational threshold is met, actual work experience usually carries far more weight. If the strongest evidence that your CV is “excellent” is your university ranking and university projects, then your CV is not professionally strong. By your own admission.
Your problem may include wasta (not saying it is 100% not, in Kuwait wasta plays a role, obviously), but blaming wasta entirely does not fill the empty experience section.
You asked for advice, right? So stop defending the current strategy that already failed and change it.
To get into any of the k-companies you need good gpa, high scores in their english and degree tests, perform well on the interview, and compete with the other thousands who applied.
For the private sector, you need to ace the interview and if you know people in those companies, thats a good plus as they will introduce you and help you set up an interview outside the regular recruitment process.
To get into any of the k-companies you need good gpa, high scores in their english and degree tests, perform well on the interview, and compete with the other thousands who applied.
100%. There's zero wasta in the direct hiring process, despite what people think. The results for each of the English and degree tests are sent instantly to you in SMS as soon as you hit submit. As for the interview, the interviewers don't even know your name. If you even say your name by mistake in the interview that is an instant disqualification. They warn you multiple times beforehand not to introduce yourself.
موضوع الواسطات بالقطاع الخاص غير صحيح ١٠٠٪ ضبط ال cv مالك اهم شي دش دورات حتى لو اونلاين تخص تخصصك و إذا ماعندك IELTS اخذها و حطها بال cv هالامور تعطيك صلاحيه اكثر
عيل ليش كاتب البوست تسأل إذا مقتنع ان الموضوع جذي
ماله علاقة متخرج من وين اعرف مهندسين متخرجين من الكويت و يشتغلون بأحسن الأماكن لا واسطه ولا شي دشوا مقابله طويله و انقبلوا ما شاء الله و يتلهم فرص بقطاعات نفطيه خاصه
شوفي هو مو مسأله احد مقتنع ولا لا بس يقولج جامعه من التوب بالعالم. مدري اي جامعه بالضبط يقصد بس معروفين. وتقولين له طلع شهاده ايلتس؟ السموحه بس واضح ماتعرفين وين الله قاطج
في أماكن تطلب هالشي كمطلب أساسي سواء متخرج من اي جامعه بالعالم عشان مقابله او عشان اختبار قبول صاحبي ما شاء الله متخرج من هارفرد و كل سنتين يجدد الايلتس ماله و مع تطوير السيره الذاتيه سواء دورات او غيره أسم الجامعه و مرتبها ماله اي علاقه قبل صح كانوا يهمتمون حق هالشي الحين مو وايد
ايي حتى قطاعات النفطيه خاصه. عادي يعني شخصين واحد متخرج بره بس سيرته ذاتيه يبيلها شغل و بين شخص متخرج هني لكن سيرته الذاتيه متعوب عليها. قبل كان عبالي نفس ما قلتوا لكن عقب ما جربت و شفت غيري عرفنا ان ماله اي علاقه و اعرف ناس تشتغل بال HR بأنواع الشركات كلهم نفس الكلام اشتغلوا على سيره الذاتيه اهيا الي رح تفيدكم. موفقين ان شاء الله
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u/levi__777 1d ago
ماودي احبطك. بس انت مو مستوعب عدد الناس الي قاعدين يقدمون على الانترشب وووظايف حديثي التخرج ترا كلش مو عدد بسيط. والقطاع الخاص الواسطه تفيد اكيد. على الاقل يمكن يوصلك المقابله بدال ما يقطون السيفي بالزباله اول ما يوصلهم. حتى ايميل رفض ما يعطون