Women's college holds career day

Abu Dhabi Women's College yesterday hosted its first career awareness day with the theme 'Consider a Career in Banking'.

Representatives from five banks made presentations to students outlining career opportunities, training and sponsorship. Around 400 final year students from the business, information technology and communication technology programmes attended the presentations.

The initiative was aimed at enabling students to better focus on career choice. The banks taking part in the programme were National Bank of Abu Dhabi, Mashreqbank, Commercial Bank of Dubai, First Gulf Bank and Standard Chartered Bank.

Following the presentations, students met bank representatives to gain more information. While the focus of the day was meant to be educational, they also had a chance to forward their CVs to any of the banks.

The college has seen a significant increase in the number of graduates who have chosen careers in banking, but the number is relatively low compared to the public sector.

As the profile of employment opportunities change, the college aims to educate and expose students to various other sectors. For example, banks offer many interesting career options, including positions in marketing, communications, human resources, information technology and corporate and retail accounts.

The event was also attended by an Australian delegation, headed by Geoff Gallop, premier of Western Australia, and accompanied by Noel Campbell, Austr-alian Ambassador to the UAE. The delegation is meeting senior UAE officials in the fields of education, industry and commerce.

Future career events at the college will target private sector companies, health services, IT and telecommunications, oil companies and public sector. By the time the students graduate from the college, they will be well informed about the labour market.