Simply defined, wasta is favoritism, which is an attempt to use the influence of relatives or acquaintances to achieve certain objectives. This can include anything from hooking up your house to the water system to getting appointed in a high level government job. Most people feel that getting anything done smoothly and quickly requires some sort of wasta with the people in charge of the particular issue.
Getting a good job in Middle East is getting harder and harder. Don’t get me wrong.. there are a lot of available jobs in the market, but to get a good paying job at a decent workplace… and at a place where you can take advantage of your University training and workexperience, is hard. For only in those circumstances will you really shine through. To get that kind of job you need to know someone. Unfortunately, who you know may be more important than what you know.
I find this an inherently unfair practice, you end up employing people that are lazy and do not work as hard just because they know the boss. I know I am generalizing, there are exceptions. Ultimately, it is the person with the most potential that sits on the sidewalk waiting for a phonecall from a company he applied to work for 6 months ago. Favoritism or as we say “Wasta” is more important than anything on your CV.
by dubaiguru September 30, 2006