Seeking employment

Zayed University career fair allows students the opportunity to find the right offer

Employers and students met for a unique career fair at Zayed University's Abu Dhabi campus last month.

Twenty seven employers from the private and the government sectors attended the event that had students present their work, rather than having graduates seek them out.

After a presentation by employers and assistant deans, everybody headed towards a hall where graduates and future graduates showcased their academic work, their resumes and extra curricular activities.

Careers Resource Centre officer and organiser of the event Lisa Andrews said it took about a month of preparation and planning to host the fair.

"The idea of a reverse career fair gives us the chance to educate the employers about our graduates." Andrews said.

One of the student participants was Hanan Al Madfaey, a business graduate with a major in marketing, thought the fair had been a good way for her to promote herself. It was a very good way to get a job," she said.

"A few employers interviewed me with lots of questions," she said.

College of Arts and Sciences student Rym Al Falasi, who majors in political science, was disappointed that the employers who showed up did not express much interest in her work.

Rym said that it was helpful for the students to explain to employers what they do.

"I wish that we had a wider variety of companies," she said.

"Different interests gives, students from different majors the chance to show what jobs they can do," she said.
Reema Nasser, a communications and media student graduated with a major in public relations and advertising is looking for work.

She said that the university was trying its best to help its graduates to find jobs, but some employers were not very co-operative.

Human Resources Training Officer Wafa Ataya of the Centre for Documentation and Research was one of the employers at the fair.

Ataya said that CDR was looking for new people who were interested in and willing to contribute to the organisation.

She said that CDR attended the career fair because it had many vacancies and they were looking to implement nationalisation in their organisation.

Tammy Myatt who is head of career services at Abu Dhabi University congratulated Zayed University on the effort it had put into the fair.

Myatt was impressed by ZU's Career Resource Centre and congratulated the students on their displays of work. "ADU has not reached a stage where we can have such a showcase for our students," she said.

"I'm very impressed by ZU," she said.

The Career Resources Centre has organised a number of innovative activities to help ZU students find out about employment opportunities.

Among those activities was a recent event in which working graduates returned to campus to talk to students about their experiences and advise them about entering the work force.

The Career Resource Centre also provides graduates and potential graduates with a wide variety of skills through workshops, job finding clubs, getting different speakers from work sectors, counselling and guidance.

The writer is a student of communications and media sciences at Zayed University