Doha: With an increased hiring activity in Qatar’s job market, applicants who are determined to climb the career ladder are warned against the use of fake credentials, as the government intensifies its efforts to prevent fraudulent schemes in the employment sector.
Speaking to The Peninsula yesterday, Regional Business Director (Mena) at Management Solutions International (MSI), Shanawaz Abdul Rehman said Qatar has been enjoying a year-on-year growth in labour force for both white and blue collar workers.
“This has been accelerated post-blockade, as well as due to a number of projects being signed off in preparation for the FIFA World Cup 2022. The employment rate in Qatar has increased from 76.53 percent in 2001 to 83.31 percent in 2020, growing at an average annual rate of 0.46 percent which is also the highest in the Mena region,” he added.
However, with the uptick in the country’s hiring activity comes the proliferation of fake educational certificates, which has long been a problem not just in Qatar, but across the region.
“Unfortunately getting a fake certificate has become very easy, especially with online mode of learning from various institutions. However, the Qatari authorities have stipulated strict action against individuals who even tamper with official documents. The individuals who attain fake certificates fail to realise the greater goal of the system,” Abdul Rehman said.
While it is already common for many businesses here to receive fake degrees from applicants, the healthcare industry is seeing the most number of forged credentials, added Abdul Rehman.
He said: “The healthcare industry is one which has had to go through a lot of fake certificates. A recent report in Qatar stated that Qatar authorities have seized 60 fake medical certificates. The harm that fake certificate causes is different in different industries. A fake certificate within the medical industry would do much more harm than let’s say one within the hospitality sector. However, on a macro level, this practice jeopardises the quality of the work force within the country”.
In Qatar, previous reports have stated that individuals caught faking documents to get a job may face penalty of up to 10-year jail time.
According to a technology expert, businesses can also leverage the use of blockchain technology to detect fraud documents among applicants.
Speaking to The Peninsula, Founder and Managing Partner of Blockchain Research Institute Middle East (BRIME) Aline Daoud said: “The problem of companies with people faking their CVs is you are employing this person who will be a key person in making big decisions. We have met companies who have lost millions because of that. And blockchain has enormous amounts of use cases, which includes certificates. With this, no one can come and fake a certificate. That is also why we (Blockchain Research Institute) have Pfizer as one of our clients. Previously there were discussions in the implementation of vaccine certificates on the blockchain. You cannot fake vaccine certificates”.
According to Abdul Rehman, with the right strategy, applicants no longer need to resort to falsifying their documents to be successful in their job campaigns. His advice to applicants maneuvering through the country’s job market: “A large aspect of job seeking that applicants miss out on is networking. There are several networking opportunities within Qatar. Also a quick tip would be to leverage LinkedIn. Recruiters invest a lot of time there”.
