Dubai: Fresh graduates seeking job opportunities in the MENA region this year are well placed to look for jobs in the marketing, healthcare, and finance sectors, a Dubai-based job search engine has revealed. According to Bayt.com’s ‘2024 Fresh Graduates in the MENA Survey’, many industries are thriving with new career opportunities for fresh graduates, and companies in the advertising/ marketing/ public relations (25 per cent) has emerged as top recruiters.
According to the survey, healthcare and medical services (14 per cent), military/ defence and police (13 per cent), and banking/ finance (13 per cent) have also emerged as the top hiring sectors.
In the region, advertising, marketing and PR (22 per cent) emerged as the most appealing industry to fresh graduates from a career point of view, followed by IT, internet, and e-commerce (19 per cent), and business consultancy (17 per cent).
Bayt.com conducted the survey in partnership with market research agency YouGov to identify which industries most appeal to fresh graduates in the MENA region. Results are based on a sample composed of respondents from the following countries: UAE, KSA, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman, Bahrain, Lebanon, and several other MENA countries.
What are companies looking for?
The survey also said respondents believe some industries hire more fresh graduates than others because of lower salary expectations (42 per cent), while (37 per cent) believe that certain sectors hire more young graduates because they can handle more challenges.
Ola Haddad, General Manager at Bayt.com, said, “Our Fresh Graduates Survey reveals how young job seekers and recent graduates view the job market and identify the most attractive industries from their perspective.”
When asked about the top skills required to excel in the workplace, respondents said computer skills (53 per cent) are the most important, followed by interpersonal/ team skills and communication skills (both at 39 per cent). Respondents across MENA consider their interpersonal/ team playing skills (89 per cent), communication skills (86 per cent), and flexibility/ adaptability to change (85 per cent) to be ‘good’ or ‘very good.’
Issues faced by fresh graduates
Most MENA graduates (43 per cent) feel that the biggest challenge they face when searching for a job is not knowing how to approach the job search effectively. The survey said that not knowing how to find relevant jobs (43 per cent) is also an obstacle. Nearly two-thirds (63 per cent) of graduates said they acquired work experience during or before college.
Being passionate about the job (46 per cent) emerges as the most critical factor for MENA respondents when selecting a job. Nearly three-quarters (74 per cent) of fresh graduates expect to be offered a basic salary for their first job, and 45 per cent expect to get personal medical insurance.
