Watch: Hundreds of jobs await young Emiratis at Sharjah National Career Exhibition

Sharjah: Hundreds of jobs and paid internships await young Emiratis at the three-day National Career Exhibition (NCE) that kicked off on Tuesday at Expo Centre Sharjah.

A number of government and private entities are also offering training programmes and workshops to support future career and professional development of Emirati fresh graduates and first-time jobseekers.

The 24th edition of the job fair for young Emiratis, which will run until Thursday, October 20, is being held under the patronage of His Highness Dr. Sheikh Sultan bin Muhammad Al Qasimi, Supreme Council Member and Ruler of Sharjah. It is organised by Expo Centre Sharjah with the support of Sharjah Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCI).

Sheikh Khalid bin Essam bin Saqr Al Qasimi, Chairman of Sharjah Department of Civil Aviation, who opened the job fair, said: “NCE is a leading platform for attracting national cadres, providing job opportunities, and allowing young citizens to learn about labour market trends.” He also called on participating government and private entities “to contribute to making suitable job opportunities available for young citizens.”

Job opportunities include engineering, administration, information technology, customer service, banking, finance, investment, communications, as well as oil and gas sector, among others.

‘Training fresh grads’

Among the active recruiters are United Arab Bank (UAB), which is looking to employ 18 young Emiratis in the next month. Hind Al Attar, chief human capital officer at UAB, told Gulf News: “We are targeting fresh graduates, under our ‘Tomouh Programme for UAE nationals’, to train and provide them with a strong foundation in banking. We want to help them build their careers in risk management, credit, human resources, marketing, compliance audit, and other departments in banking.”

She explained Tomouh Programme is a year training aimed at providing fresh graduates career opportunities in the banking sector. The trainees will learn from leaders in the financial industry within to know about consumer banking, private banking, wholesale banking, among others.

Basic skills

As for the basic skills and traits they are looking for candidates, Al Attar said: “Fresh graduates should have the resilience to be able to work under pressure. Effective communication, analytic skills and problem solving are also among the important characteristics we are looking for in a potential employee.”

Ali Almheiri, senior manager for talent acquisition at Beeah Group, said they are looking for the same qualities in a candidate. He added their company, which is recognised as a leading sustainability pioneer in the region, is looking to hire between 40 to 50 employees to fill in various vacancies in their operations across the UAE.

“We are also expanding our operations in Medina, Saudi Arabi and Cairo in Egypt. We are looking to hire chemical engineers who will work on our waste-to-energy projects. We also have our Rise Program, where we recruit 20 fresh graduates and train them for 12 months.”

Career advancement

Sharjah National Oil Company (SNOC) is also looking for 20 electrical and mechanical engineers for the fourth batch of its National Development Programme (NDP). Hamad Al Zarooni, external affairs officer at SNOC, said Emirati undergraduates can apply for the 18-month training that will start in February next year.

NDP is open to all male Emiratis between 20 to 24 years who hold a technical diploma in electrical, instrumental and mechanical technology or related fields. Trainees must complete their military service before applying and those shortlisted must be fluent in English reading, writing and speaking.

“The training programme will be a stepping stone for their career advancement in the company,” Al Zarooni noted.

First-time job hunters

As a first-time jobseeker, Emirati Rashid AlMulla, 22, who is studying Business Information System at University of Sharjah, said he is keen to get hired in any job that will advance his career in business and information technology.

“I’m keen to work in any company — whether it is a government of private entity,” he added.

Another young Emirati, Sultan Almaazmi, 19, who finished high school at Al Arqam School, said he would like to serve the country and he has decided to apply in the UAE military.