Like many women who relocated to Saudi Arabia under their husbands' sponsorship, Princila Murrell is one of those who sought to make a living by doing jobs out of her field of expertise. As you may already know, most female university graduates who come under the sponsorship of their husbands start off by looking for a teaching job, in most cases at an international school, before transitioning to a job that matches their education. Unfortunately, not everyone is so lucky and some women end up in jobs below their qualification level.
Murrell believes that every expat woman should explore their skills and get the best out of it. She has, for example, been working as a freelance writer for several researchers in the Kingdom since 2009 and made the leap to indie author this year when she wrote her debut novel Girl of the Book. While the book has not yet been published, she has garnered some positive reviews from book bloggers and reviewers, some of which are presented below:
Editorial review on Amazon.com
Girl of the Book by Princila Murrell is a book about a young teenager, Courtney Parker. Her father has decided to accept a two-year contract in Saudi Arabia, which means uprooting the family from their hometown in South Africa. Courtney hates everything about her new environment. Everything feels foreign to her and she longs for her friends and school back home. Courtney's new school is full of cultural divides. She meets Lana and they forge a shaky friendship, but it's soon shattered when Courtney befriends a Muslim boy in her building, Nizar. All three find themselves faced with challenges of their heritage. Can they overcome their differences?
Murrell tells a very heartwarming story about the journey of fitting into a new life. Girl of the Book is a perfect way to start the conversation rolling about these difficult topics.--Readers' Favorite
Girl of the Book by Princila Murrell is an interesting and engaging story about a South African family that moves to Saudi Arabia for the father’s two-year work assignment. I was concerned that this would be a preachy book for kids about how all Muslims are wonderful and all Christians are intolerant and arrogant, but I was pleasantly surprised by a balanced story line with realistic characters that struggle with real life situations.
The new-girl-in-school problems found in many tween and teen books are magnified in this book. Despite her parents’ careful instructions, Courtney still manages to violate cultural rules regularly, even though she tries not to cause trouble. Many of her classmates at school don’t help--and even work to get her into more trouble. Two young people, a girl and a boy, are the only ones kind to her. Unfortunately, their kindness to Courtney causes them problems with some family members and classmates, too.
This was a wonderful book that respected both religious traditions while showing how difficult it can be for the two cultures to understand one another. There are no objectionable elements, so parents can confidently hand this excellent story to young readers, even very young children who read well above grade level.--Kimberly, Hog on Ice
Her book has also been featured on other blogs:
A couple of months ago, I was asked to help our company in recruiting 2 individuals for two positions at a government hospital in Jeddah. On the day that I posted the ad online, I got about a hundred applications. I was stunned, but I had to get to work since the company needed to fill those vacancies urgently.
Most of the applicants (95%) sent their emails without cover letters. Is this the general tendency in Saudi Arabia only or is this what usually happens in the Middle East and Asian countries? I ask this question because all of the applicants who sent in these wonderful CVs or résumés came from this part of the world. I come from a country where it is mandatory to send a cover letter along with your CV when applying for a job, even though everyone knows that the letter might end up in someone's trash or serve as paper to wrap doughnuts or peanuts at lunch. Nevertheless, people still write cover letters whenever they are applying for a job.
In Saudi Arabia, it is common knowledge that employers never glance at cover letters, so the general opinion is, "what is the need of writing them anyway?" When I just came to Saudi, I didn't know that this was the general tendency, so every time I applied for a job, I always included a cover letter. After living in this country for 3 years, I also got into the habit of not writing a cover letter when applying for a job. This always irritated my husband, who after living here for 5 years, still felt it was necessary to write one even if it would not be read by a potential employer.
Another surprising thing which I saw was what applicants wrote on their CVs. My! Is this another tendency in Saudi Arabia or what? Over half of them gave too much of their personal details like, the name of their father, their father's experience, the number of siblings in their families etc. Some even went as far as saying that their father had Saudi nationality and that they were under the sponsorship of their father! Has anyone out there carried out a study to find out how information of this type would help job seekers in Saudi Arabia land a job? Please send the results of this research to my email address. Thank you!
So what happens if you can't write your CV correctly? Consult someone whom you judge has the experience in doing so. Many CV writing services such as ResumeWriters.com, PrimeRESUME.com or Resume Lines can be gotten online for a reasonable fee. If you do not have the possibility of paying online, look for a CV writer locally. As far as I am concerned, I have come across a few CV writers here in Jeddah who charge only 50SAR (13.3$) per CV. My husband for one has experience in writing CVs, and he has the habit of writing them for friends and relatives, for free of course. If you really want a job and want to have your application considered, then you would not mind going that extra distance to get someone, friend or acquaintance, to write you a professional CV.
So what do I think?
- Write a cover letter. It doesn't cost anything, right? It might be read, who knows? You might also stand out among other applicants who have the same qualification as you but who applied for the position without attaching a cover letter. Most experts advice job seekers to write one when applying for a job.
- While it is worth mentioning the name of your sponsor, I doubt it is necessary to write it on your CV. I think that should be left out until when you are asked for that information at an interview. What many employers are interested in knowing is whether your iqama or residence permit is transferable or not. Writing this information on your CV is enough.
If you have not yet read what you need to leave out of your CV, you can get some tips from here.
I remember the very first essay that I wrote. I can't even recall how old I was at that time, but I do remember that we were asked to write about a childhood experience. I was so undecided about what to write as I had so many things to talk about. After a long reflection, I finally decided to write about a situation that always made me smile whenever I thought about it. This is how my essay looked like:
An Unforgettable Childhood Experience
Our childhood experiences are unique for every one of us. They are those that can leave a positive or negative mark on us and even affect the way we respond to people in the society in general.
I was the second child of 4; quiet but very mischievous. I used to do the weirdest things and later sit in my corner when I was scolded by my parents. On one Friday morning, I picked up my dad's identity card and for no good reason, I sat behind the sofa and tore it into pieces. To my greatest dismay, my dad caught me in the act and I got the beating of my life. To me, my dad's identity card was just another piece of well-cut paper with his photograph on it. Till this day, I still do not know why I had to hide behind the sofa to do what I did.
I was angry; yes, I was very angry with my parents for punishing me so badly because of that piece of paper. In protest, I refused to eat all day long. It was around 11 p.m when I started feeling that I could take it no more. I was so hungry that I could barely walk to the door of the bedroom. I headed straight for the kitchen and opened the only pot that I saw on the cooker. And lo! What happened? I dropped the lid of the pot and it broke the silence of the calm night. My parents sprang out of their bed and barged into the kitchen, each holding a club. They were relieved to find that it was me, for they thought that a thief had gotten into our home. To my greatest surprise, my parents did not shout at me. My mum served me some food and after I had emptied my plate, we all went to sleep.
Our childhood experiences could make us smile or make tears well up in our eyes. Whatever be the case, we could draw lessons from them. One thing that I learnt from this experience was to never sulk when I was corrected for a wrong deed.
Disseminating research results is important as the outcome of research can lead to development of new techniques and procedures. There are many ways of putting down results on a piece of paper, but what is most important is the way you disseminate it so that readers can depict what you have arrived at.
The dissertation or thesis should follow a presentation format. This usually varies from one institution to another. The presentation format includes:
-the page margin size
-line spacings
-font size
-formats of the title page, content page, tables, figures, appendix, and the references
-the numbering systems
-citation of references
-citation of figures
-equations and tables
-and the tense in which the dissertation or thesis is written
Before you start, inquire about the guidelines set by your institution as concerns the presentation format. Alternatively, you can get a copy of a thesis or dissertation written by a student from your institution. Usually, this can be gotten from the library or from the office in charge of student affairs.
Your thesis is going to be organised into chapters or sections. How this is organised is referred to as the structure of the thesis. This is not dictated by institutions but in general, the structure should consist of the following:
-the title page
-the abstract
-the contents list
-the list of tables and figures
-the nomenclature list
-the acknowledgements
-the main text which is divided into chapters
-the references,
-the appendices
Remember that you would always save time when you plan the structure of your thesis before starting to write. To make your work look neat and organised, always start a new chapter or section on a new page. It is easier if you write the Abstract and the Introduction chapter last. Always refer to the work of a former student as a guide to help you with the formatting and the organisation of the chapters.
Ensure that each chapter is linked to the next so as to maintain consistency. The way you end a chapter can tell the reader what to expect in the next chapter, and the way you start a new chapter can remind the reader of what he/she read in the previous chapter.
Some tips to remember:
1. Choose your words and build your paragraphs wisely so as to maintain flow.
2. Repetition of words or paragraphs kill the flow. You should avoid this as much as possible.
3. Write in a simple and clear way. Avoid the use of "big words" to show how super smart you are in mastering the language.
4. Use the active voice in writing unless you do not have strong evidence to support a statement.
