What you must do today to land a job in UAE

Managing one’s online presence and creating a powerful personal brand is more important than ever, with nine out of 10 respondents turning to the internet to search for people they’ve just met or are about to meet, says a new survey by job portal Bayt.com.

The survey entitled Personal Branding in the Middle East and North Africa, shows that 70.5 per cent of polled professionals say they have changed their mind about a candidate based on their online presence.

More than half of the poll’s respondents (54.3 per cent) say they are aware of the concept of personal branding, with 81.9 per cent claiming to search for themselves online on search engines like Google (with 46.5 per cent stating they ‘always’ look themselves up on the internet, while 46.2 per cent ‘always’ turn to online search engines to find out more about those they have met, or are about to meet.

At the same time, 41.5 per cent of responding companies ‘always’ research new hires online before hiring, with a fifth maintaining they (19.8 per cent) ‘sometimes’ do so.

“The large number of companies that research candidates  makes it more essential than ever for a candidate to have a professional and appealing online presence on a leading professional careers platform with significant regional inroads in order to secure a job,” said Suhail Masri, VP of Sales, Bayt.com. “.

In fact, even something as simple as a photograph could influence decision-makers, with eight in 10 (79.6 per cent) respondents of the belief that their online photo effects how they are perceived.”

The majority of respondents (68.9 per cent) feel that current social networks allow them to convey their key strengths at a professional level, though three quarters (74.6 per cent) are concerned that sharing information online poses a threat to their privacy.

The majority of respondents (37.6 per cent) also claim that privacy is one of the biggest issues when it comes to managing their personal brand, followed by the challenge of not knowing where to start with formulating a professional personal brand (21.1 per cent).

Despite this, the overwhelming majority (92 per cent) of respondents think that personal online branding increases their career opportunities, with the most important benefits being the ability to showcase their abilities (23.2 per cent), and connect to their target audience (21.1 per cent).

Being able to distinguish themselves from others in their field (14.7 per cent) and becoming an expert or thought leader (13.2 per cent) are also important.

When asked whether they would like to showcase their key skills and expertise in a more creative way, 97 per cent of respondents answered in the affirmative.

More than half (51.1 per cent) believe that their own CEO’s personal branding skills are ‘excellent’, with a further 20.2 per cent stating that they are ‘above average’, suggesting that those higher up the corporate ladder have already established the best ways to promote their image and are already reaping the results and benefits of professional online branding.

“The time has never been more apt for people in the Mena region to start shaping and monitoring their online presence,” continues Masri. “Developing a strong online personal brand as the poll shows, is essential not only for jobeekers, but also for ambitious professionals at all career levels and in all industries looking to move up the corporate ranks and connect with peers, employers and clients.

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