Raised by a single mother as the fourth of seven siblings, Nabeela Al Qaseer’s story is that of high motivation and self-made accomplishment. She started working at the age of 19 in a secretarial post at BBK.
“I worked until 2 in the afternoon and then took professional courses until 7pm at what was then Bahrain Polytechnic College.
It was hard work, but I had to polish up my skills and training to move ahead professionally,” says Nabeela, now head of recruitment at BMI.
She later joined ABN AMRO Bank, where, with her career still in doldrums, she decided to change track and switch to a banking clerk’s position before moving onto financial control, operations and client relationship management. Not entirely satisfied with her role, Nabeela sought a lateral transfer again in early 2002, this time into human resources management and this is where she found her true calling. In fact, so diligent was she in her role that she managed the entire HR funcation wih a single subordinate HR assistant during the bank’s rapid expansion in Bahrain.
The full-time working mother of four has continued her professional development with a number of part-time courses. She’s now working towards the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) qualification, where she aims to complete Level 5 before June this year.
Nabeela’s experience is remarkable, not only on account of the professional risk taking, but in terms of the balance she has struck between her personal goals and her goals for her family.
“Every time I sought a transfer, I was never afraid to start from scratch. Positions are not important to me; I care more for my contribution in the organisation as well as professional respect and team work,” she feels.
When it comes to her children, Nabeela and her husband are determined to provide them the best of education. Her elder son and daughter hold professional qualifications from the UK, while her third daughter is pursuing her undergraduate degree there.
“There was nobody to guide me, so I did the best I could. But we’ve established clear goals for our children and want them to achieve their full potential,” she notes.
Nabeela’s role model remains her enterprising and open-minded mother, who raised seven children on her own as a young widow in Bahrain. “She had to take up tailoring to support us, but she never let us feel any sense of deprivation in our childhood. She took care of my children while my husband and I were busy establishing our respective careers. I can safely say that without her support, I would neither have achieved my personal goals nor the targets I set for my family,” she avers.
