Friday 26 / April / 2024
Muscat: To be a woman in the real-estate sector, a largely male dominated industry can be challenging. However, Salwa Saif Al Shahaibi has managed to deal with such challenges successfully.
Only last year, Al Shahaibi won the “Women in Real Estate Professional” award at the maiden Oman Real Estate Awards, which recognises and honours all aspects of real-estate investment, development, among others.
Soon after, Al Shahaibi was also promoted to the position of Leasing Manager in the Hamptons International- Oman office. She has been working in the same job for a decade now, and feels that Hamptons International is like her own company because of her responsibilities and the work environment.
“I studied tourism and hospitality management when I was studying and I was in the first group of students at the Oman Tourism College (OTC) among 150 other students. I completed my Higher Diploma in Tourism and Hospitality Management, and when I finished, I had the ambition to grow in my career, and so I went to the United Kingdom to complete a Bachelors degree in Hospitality management with a specialisation in communications, and I pursued my degree for four years and learnt new things about the industry,” Al Shahaibi said.
When she returned, there was a boom in the real-estate sector in Oman with some international projects opening up, and there were several opportunities in the sector, so Al Shahaibi decided to give the sector a try.
“While I was studying, I also had the opportunity to train at hotels, and I realised that was not the career I was looking for, so something that really clicked with me was real estate, because although it is not exactly about tourism, it is still part of it and I love it now.”
This was how Al Shahaibi joined Hamptons International, but then again, the real-estate sector is not an easy one to be in. However with continuous efforts, Al Shahaibi has managed to stand a cut above the rest in the industry. “Initially people had their doubts on me, as an Omani lady working in the real-estate sector, I was required to be outdoors in meeting, and handle projects, but then I challenged myself and tried to prove myself.”
Now with almost 10 years of experience in the real-estate sector, Al Shahaibi is a specialist in her field with some exceptional knowledge about the concepts, practices, and procedures of the Omani leasing market.
In her new position, Al Shahaibi is responsible for overseeing her leasing team, marketing and negotiating lease transactions and agreements for property in Muscat, apart from managing completion of all necessary paperwork and ensuring high levels of customer service.
About winning the “Women in Real Estate Professional” award, Al Shahaibi said, “I didn’t expect to win the award, so when they called me and talked to me about the event, I didn’t know I would win the award, I only thought it would be a networking opportunity and then they announced that the winner of the ‘Women in Real Estate Professional’ 2015 was me, so I was shocked. However this award has given me huge encouragement and I will strive to be better than before in the field.
“Thank God I have a really big clientele, and I am happy that people ask me to assist them with their search for corporate or retails spaces for their businesses.”
Al Shahaibi likes to keep her family life and work life separate, “I know home time is for home and work for work, which is why it is easy to balance except if there is an emergency, I do make exceptions.”
In the future, Al Shahaibi wants to contribute to her current job and try to do what she is doing in the best way possible. “I am enjoying my work and I think Hamptons International has offered me a brilliant platform to exercise my potential, so I would like to go on with this career and open new doorways of opportunity for the real-estate sector in the country.”
