In the 1986 comedy The Money Pit, Tom Hanks’ character goes to the bank for a mortgage, only to be told he first needs a house to offer as collateral. A similar paradox sometimes applies to the job market, where getting experience often requires already having it.

“While working on my undergraduate research, I tried to look for another job in the field. I kept applying, but it was always rejected, rejected, rejected because of lack of experience,” recalls Amal. “Because you’re supposed to work to get experience. But it was a little bit difficult for us to get the job without it.”

This interview touches on many themes, but ultimately centers on something crucial: having someone who gives you a chance and the opportunity to learn, no matter how long you have been in the industry—or whether you are a man or a woman.

Much more than chemistry

Though she initially hesitated between becoming a doctor or an engineer—or even an architect, since she was good at drawing—Amal ultimately chose chemical engineering and studied at Qatar University. “I thought that since I’m very good at chemistry, I would read about the majors that involve that. And I thought about chemical engineering.”

What started as a decision based on her talent for formulas in high school soon revealed something more. “After I went to university, I realised that chemical engineering is much more than just chemistry. It’s mathematics. It’s physics. It’s process. It’s thermodynamics. It’s a lot of things.”

Amal Khalid - trabajadora ACCIONA -instalaciones

“In my third year in chemical engineering I fell in love with process design and control.”

When she reached the middle of her degree, Amal made another discovery. “In the third year, when I took the process control and process design course, that’s when I realised I really, really love what I’m doing—and I love the subject I chose to study. Because in the first year, it was all general courses. You could say I fell in love with process design.”

Three lessons

Before graduating, Amal did an internship at a petrochemical company in the petroleum additives sector. So you were working for the enemy, we joke. “Yes, you could say it was the enemy,” she replies with a laugh. “As chemical engineers, we study the process design behind oil and gas plants, so naturally, we hope that once we graduate, we’ll be hired to work as chemical engineers in the oil field.”

“We did our internship at a local company, and that was the year I had a sort of shock about chemical engineering. When I went there, it was my first experience in a male-dominated environment. With no girls. It was just the four of us doing the internship there; it helped me understand both the cultural dynamics and the professional challenges women face in technical fields.” She had come from a university where there was “a huge number of girls, even though it was not a mixed university.” That was her first lesson.

“We wanted to go see the equipment and the plant. But we were told it wasn’t appropriate or safe.’”

She stayed at the company for “three months.” And then came the second lesson. “We were limited in what we could do. We wanted to go out and see the equipment and the plant, but we were told it wasn’t appropriate or safe. Instead, we were asked to stay in the meeting room, review documents, and study. We understood it was for our protection, but at the time, we really wanted hands-on experience.”

Amal Khalid - trabajadora ACCIONA con casco

She explains that the overprotection wasn’t just in the workplace: “It comes from home too—it’s part of the culture and it’s not a bad thing. I don’t hate it. It comes from a place of care, this idea that we need to be protected and not placed in situations where we might struggle.”

After finishing her internship and completing her thesis on Development of a piezoelectric nanogenerator—“that converts mechanical energy into electricity, which can be used in devices such as the chips that monitor vital signs”—she began looking for her first job. That turned into a rude awakening.

“And then I talked to my father. I said, ‘Baba, I want to work.’ And he said, ‘Don’t worry, I will try to find something.’ Because you don’t just go around printing the CV and handing it out like that.” She explains that finding work often depends on knowing the right people or having the right connections. “But it was always, ‘We want men in the oil and gas industry,’ or ‘We want experience.’” That was her third lesson.

Amal Khalid hablando con un compañero en las instalaciones

Are you willing to learn?

Amal made a decision: “I will just do anything, and it’s OK—even if it’s a bit painful.”

She took jobs in data entry, admin, and even worked as a hospital receptionist. But the engineer inside her wanted out. One day, she saw a job advert for a data entry role at a company called ACCIONA. Maybe this could be her way in.

She remembers taking a day off, preparing, and going to the interview. “You’re overqualified for this job, but I will keep your CV. If there is something, I will call you,” they told her. “I was very sad,” she recalls. But there was an upside: “I’m happy because that happened—that was the time I read about the company. I saw their vision. I saw how many plants ACCIONA had in the country. I read about renewable energy, about what they do. I was shocked by their big plans for the country and how they said they contributed roughly 48% of Qatar’s total water production.” So maybe you’d been drinking ACCIONA water unknowingly, we remark. She smiles at the idea.

Then one day the phone rang. “We received your CV and we would like to follow up with you for an interview.” Amal explains that they spoke about the 50/50 gender equality initiative and expressed interest in her profile. The interviewer asked her questions about desalination membranes and reverse osmosis, which she answered confidently. “Then he said, ‘We would like to invite you for an interview in our plant.’ I was beyond happy. I was excited.”

“My interviewer told me that ACCIONA wanted people who don’t have experience but are willing to learn so they could teach them.”

She highlights something we have already mentioned: “When he called me, I was really shocked because every time I applied for a job, they said they required experience. And I would tell them I didn’t have it as an engineer, but I would love to gain it.” This time, the reply was different: “No worries. We want people who don’t have experience but are willing to learn so we can teach them. As long as you’re ready to take in all the knowledge, then no problem.”

 

Amal Khalid viendo unos documentos con un compañero

Soon after, Amal was working as a process controller—her favourite subject at university—at ACCIONA’s Umm Al Houl desalination plant in Qatar.

The leap to sustainability

Amal says that even when she worked in the petrochemical additives sector, she worried about the risks to the atmosphere and the environment. “With ACCIONA it was different. It was new technology. Until ACCIONA arrived, every plant ran on natural gas as fuel. But then they asked ACCIONA to develop a project using renewable energy, thinking that we needed to focus on things that do less harm to our planet. We need to save the planet.”

She pauses and adds: “This isn’t even my word. I was doing a segment for a presentation at an ACCIONA event. They had invited the CEOs of our plant and also the CEO of RAF3. After the presentation, they held a panel, and those experienced men said that ACCIONA had made a big difference in the country.”

Time for field work

And your parents were happy, right? “They were happy… but there was a challenge.” How come? “When I got the job, the interviewer told me there would be no difference between me and a male working in that position.” That meant everything—from working in the plant to doing night shifts. “How can we leave you in the plant alone?” they asked. And she pleaded with them: “I’m a grown woman now. How many years have I been trying to find a job, trying to do this? Let me do it. If there’s any concern, I will leave immediately.”

“One of the things they teach you at ACCIONA is that you have to go out in search of knowledge. Here it is, come. You don’t wait for it to be handed to you like mush. No, you have to ask; and there will always be someone to answer you”

 

So Amal began her first day as an engineer at the plant. Although there were other women in admin and security, she remembers being the only woman in the process control room—the LCR. One of ACCIONA’s senior managers visited the site and addressed the team to announce the hiring policy on gender and the need for mutual respect. “It made me feel safe at the time, and I went home, and I told my parents that ACCIONA weren’t just throwing a female into a male-dominated environment—they care about you, and they educate them.”

“It was difficult at first, but when it came to the actual job, I knew I could do it. I believed in myself—but I also got a lot of support.” She adds: “One thing that ACCIONA teaches you is that you need to go for the knowledge. Here, you just go for it. You don’t wait to be spoon-fed. No—you have to ask, and there will always be people answering.”

Y así Amal comenzó su primer día como ingeniera en la planta de Umm Al Houl. Aunque había otras mujeres en administración y seguridad, recuerda que el primer día era la única mujer en la sala de control de procesos, lo que se conoce como LCR. Uno de los directivos de ACCIONA visitó la empresa y habló con los trabajadores para anunciar la política de contratación de mujeres y la necesidad de mostrar respeto en todo momento. “Esa charla me hizo sentir segura y, al volver a casa, le dije a mis padres que ACCIONA no se limitaba a meter a mujeres en un ambiente masculino, sino que se preocupan por ti y educan a los compañeros de trabajo”. “Al principio me costó, pero en lo que se refiere al trabajo propiamente dicho, yo sabía que podía hacerlo. Yo creía en mí misma, pero también recibí mucho apoyo”. Y añade: “Una de las cosas que te enseñan en ACCIONA es que tienes que salir en busca del conocimiento. Aquí lo tienes, ven. No esperas a que te lo den como si fuera una papilla. No, tienes que preguntar; y siempre habrá alguien que te responda”.

She had landed the role despite her lack of experience. Now it was time to conquer another aspect of the job: getting hands-on with the machines and doing fieldwork. “I went into the field for two months, and I saw everything. I traced the pipelines, identified key components like the pumps, cartridge filters, and RO pressure vessels. I walked through all the buildings—from the intake and pretreatment to the chemical building—constantly asking, ‘Where is this? What does that do?” She sums up ACCIONA’s ethos in a line that sounds almost Confucian: “At ACCIONA, you learn by doing, and you’re never alone—there’s always someone willing to answer.”

“I want to highlight that ACCIONA is one of the first companies to put girls in field jobs in Qatar.”

Gradually, more women began joining. “I was happy every time. Every time a woman would join, I would be so happy. Now there are two field operators, two in maintenance, and two in the LCR. So six in total.” And she adds: “I think it’s also important to highlight that ACCIONA was one of the first companies in Qatar’s water sector to place female engineers in field roles. Seeing how they lead the way in opening opportunities for women in engineering is truly inspiring.”

Inside the brain of a desalination plant

Amal walks us through her day-to-day work. Essentially, desalination involves two stages: the intake and preparation of seawater, followed by the desalination and remineralisation process. “We control everything in the plant from the moment the water is taken from the sea—the way it’s taken, the parameters of the produced water—until it reaches the osmosis membranes and eventually becomes our final product.”

Reverse osmosis is a complex process, she explains. “After the seawater is taken in, it goes through several stages of pretreatment to ensure its quality before reaching the reverse osmosis system. We start with Dissolved Air Flotation (DAF), followed by Disk Filtration (DF), and then Ultra-Filtration (UF), which provides the final polishing step. The UF membranes play a crucial role in removing remaining suspended solids. These membranes require regular cleaning using both water and specific chemicals to maintain their performance and extend their lifespan.”

Amal khalid en las instalaciones con un compañero

“(In my position) you need to be sharp all the time, there’s always action.”

She talks about every valve and sensor like a living organism—one she’s grown to know, thanks in large part to that initial fieldwork. “Predicting the failure of this equipment is a huge responsibility, yes, but it all happens in the LCR because you’re seeing everything. You’re surrounded by screens, but you’re seeing everything. You need to be sharp all the time.” Looks like there’s no time for boredom. “No, no, there’s always action,” she laughs. Fortunately, the plant is also beginning to embrace AI technology for predictive maintenance.

A place where your voice matters (and where you grow)

Before we wrap up, Amal shares one of the things she values most about working at ACCIONA. “There’s always a chance for you to speak your mind and propose improvements, which doesn’t happen in many companies. It’s really nice that I found these things in ACCIONA. It’s not an environment where you just take orders. You discuss solutions and act on them to find the best one. I really appreciate that.”

At the end of our conversation, she shares something meaningful—both professionally and symbolically: “I obtained my engineer certification working here. I passed my UPDA, which is an official certification that allows engineers to be recognized and legally practice as licensed engineers in Qatar.”

“Here, there’s always a chance to develop or learn more. And I want to grow in a way that benefits me—but also benefits the company.”

In addition to that certification, she took part in Acciona’s graduate programme that teaches sustainability, project management, strategy and finance: “In order to grow in your career, you also have to focus on learning business and project management. It was something I hope everyone gets to do—it was really informative.” She concludes: “Here, there’s always a chance to develop or learn more. And I want to grow in a way that benefits me—but also benefits the company.”

Amal’s career had so far been an obstacle course: from overcoming her parents’ concerns, to being rejected for lack of experience, to convincing employers to trust her in the field. Thankfully, she has found a place where she can achieve all that.