Active Employers in the UAE, covering both Government and private sectors, have been highlighted offering potential opportunities during Zayed University Careers Spotlight event, which was held recently at both their Abu Dhabi and Dubai campuses. To further support students and graduates to build their experience and search for employment, a new format has been introduced allowing employers to interview and recruit on the spot.
The bi- annual event was organized by Student Careers and Alumni department, to ensure that students and graduates are aware of employers actively searching graduate employees as well as having an awareness zone to support junior students thinking about their majors and looking for work experience opportunities to add to their CV.
Closely working with those employers, Rashid Al Shamsi, Acting Director of the Students Careers and Alumni Affairs, said, “We are linked with 560 Government Sector entities, 529 Private Sector companies, and 123 Semi-Government establishments. The top five hiring stations of our alumni, are Zayed University, then followed by Etihad Airways, the Department of Culture and Tourism, ADNOC group, and First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB).”
He also mentioned that the University is driving, over the past five years, graduates to join the private sector. “Meeting leadership aspirations, and based on our latest ZU Graduation Destinations Report 2017-2018 which indicates an 8 percent increase in private sector employment from 15 percent in 2015 to around 23 percent in 2018. Employment in Federal and Local Government sectors, dropped he added.
Jane Tatterton, Advisor, Student Careers and Alumni department, indicated they work with many employers across the UAE through a number of channels. “We invite them to participate in employment days and career fairs, organize employer engagement meetings to deliver desired calibers.” Adding, “The way we gauge which employers our students and graduates are working for is through follow-up surveys with all Alumni members, we find out which industries and sectors they are working at.”
She also pointed out that the University has recently held an Employer Think Tank, a special event held to strengthen collaboration with various partners, “Though ETT we formed new strategies and suggested initiatives that built stronger strategic relationships with various employers. All for the core reason of boosting employment opportunities via connecting ZU Alumni with our fresh-graduates,” she said.
The Career Spotlight event has been held at ZU since 2014 and has seen a notable change in the type of organizations attending in parallel to the change in the Job Market, more private sector entities are represented as they look to increase their Emiratization rate. Following the success of the Government Accelerator project in Dubai to get more graduates employed in the private sector, changes in the event format has taken place to include ‘On the Spot’ interviews on the day to speed up the process of recruitment, Industry Sector Highlights where ZU Academic Colleges profile their Majors and Student’s work to employers and finally more emphasis on Further Study and Entrepreneurship as an alternative to full-time employment.
Any employers looking to connect with ZU can do by so very easily by contacting the Alumni and Student Careers Department through the ZU website.
