News
Battle to hire and keep talent is not just limited to Dubai or region
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There is a worldwide talent crunch and it is not just limited to Dubai or the region, says Ihab Hashwa, Regional Operations Manager for CareerJunction Middle East. This rapidly increasing demand for talent is here to stay and the hunt for the right talent is and will be an ongoing battle everywhere in the world. "It is those companies that can offer the best all round working experience with the right career pathing for candidates that will take the lead in this race," Hashwa told Emirates Business in an exclusive interview.
How did you pitch CareerJunction to clients in the Middle East?
CareerJunction Middle East is a technology that is designed to run recruitment. Our clients are recruitment agencies and employers that are looking for talent.
Effectively there are two parts to this technology. The first part involves operating a job board through which our clients' job ads receive both local and international exposure to an audience of online job seekers. The second part of our service is that clients can use our technology to manage their entire recruitment process: from job competency profiling to candidate filtering and online screening all the way to placement tracking and reporting.
What is the potential of online recruitment in the Middle East?
One of the key benefits of using the Internet as a recruitment media is the fact that the internet knows no traditional geographic boundaries. In an area where there is such a high demand for talent, recruiters can use the Internet to extend the global reach of their search far more effectively. The Internet has therefore become a fundamental tool in the search and attraction of global talent. As a result of this we see that Middle East online recruitment market is growing significantly over the next few years. Our decision to open offices here is a direct result of the potential that we see in this market.
Online recruitment sites mark the beginning of the end of vacancies advertised in the print media. Please comment.
The year 2006 was the first year in which the United States saw the spend in online recruitment advertising exceeding the spend on traditional print advertising. Print advertising is, however, here for a while and will for the foreseeable future continue to operate in parallel to online job advertising.
We see the role of print changing to become more an employer branding media than a job advertising media. Let's not forget that even today when a job is advertised in print, it usually serves to direct career seekers to log on to the internet to apply for an opportunity.
Apart from offering the reach of the Internet, a key advantage of online is that it has the ability to provide technology behind the advertising to mange the applicant response handling process.
In print advertising, unless you are directing applicants to an online application process, advertisers face the administrative burden of having to review each and every application that is made. In an age where we want to work smarter not harder, the smart money is going towards recruitment technology.
Our experience is that technology can save up to 80 per cent of recruitment time and produce more accurate candidate matches. As the internet becomes ubiquitous, we will see an ever increasing move towards the use of technology.
How is Dubai's employment market evolving? Are companies getting more innovative with their salaries and packages? Are they getting more flexible?
Dubai's employment market remains a transient market and is one that is facing ever increasing employment challenges. The main challenges are experienced as a result of the increase in the cost of living and the fact that other regions in the world are starting to offer equally enticing packages. As a result, companies need to be more innovative and offer more flexibility when negotiating packages. This is a worldwide trend too and not just one prevalent in Dubai. There is a global shortage of talent and companies need to be innovative and flexible if they want to win the battle for international talent.
Have candidates become more demanding and choosy as cost of living witnesses huge increases in the Gulf?
Yes, but this is not just happening in the Gulf. Moreover, due to the shortage of skills on global scale, salaries and benefits are increasing everywhere.
Which sectors are seeing the maximum demand for professionals?
We constantly track the supply and demand of talent. The most sought after skills on our website at the moment are in the financial, building and construction, media, engineering and IT sectors.
Which economies in the region are witnessing more demand?
There is a rapidly increasing demand for talent all over the region and I don't think that anyone here or anywhere else in the world can actually say that they are satisfying this demand. The hunt for the right talent will be an ongoing battle everywhere in the world. It is those companies that can offer the best all round working experience with the right career pathing for candidates that will take the lead in this race.
Are women playing an increasingly larger role in the employment market?
Although our service caters to the larger Middle East, our main focus since our launch in January has been on the UAE. Women in the UAE are definitely playing an increasingly larger role in the workplace. I can't comment on the rest of the region yet.
What differentiates CareerJunction from large recruitment portals?
Our technology has the functionality to build competency requirements from a database driven system that can return over 127,000 variations of different competency profiles. Once a client has the understanding of the required competency profile, they use our technology to screen candidates online and take them into an online interview stage. The key differences between what we offer in this space and what our competitors are offering is that our technology assists in the building of these competencies and requires the completion of the screening process prior to a career seeker being able to submit an application.
Another key differentiator is that of our career seekers' confidentiality. This service serves the cause of both job seekers and recruitment agencies.
Firms may certainly advertise their vacancies via our service and indeed are encouraged to do so. We provide them with the technology to build and manage their own searchable talent pool databases.
We have just embarked on what we believe to be a first in terms of online recruitment advertising initiatives in this region, perhaps even in the world. We have been advertising key vacancies from our clients in print for some time now but, from last month onwards we have started advertising client vacancies on radio too and have a committed budget for these initiatives.
PROFILE: Ihab Hashwa, Regional Operations Manager, CareerJunction Middle East
Ihab Hashwa graduated from University of Toronto, Canada and has more than 16 years experience in the IT and online applications sectors. Before joining CareerJunction Middle East, Ihab's experience in the region included roles such as Director of Consulting at Tejari, Regional Sales Manager at The Hiring Solutions Company, CEO at eKOM Technologies, and as Presales Manager at Ariba Technologies Mena region. Ihab has also worked in North America with MNCs like Computer Associates, PricewaterhouseCoopers and Ariba.
How did you pitch CareerJunction to clients in the Middle East?
CareerJunction Middle East is a technology that is designed to run recruitment. Our clients are recruitment agencies and employers that are looking for talent.
Effectively there are two parts to this technology. The first part involves operating a job board through which our clients' job ads receive both local and international exposure to an audience of online job seekers. The second part of our service is that clients can use our technology to manage their entire recruitment process: from job competency profiling to candidate filtering and online screening all the way to placement tracking and reporting.
What is the potential of online recruitment in the Middle East?
One of the key benefits of using the Internet as a recruitment media is the fact that the internet knows no traditional geographic boundaries. In an area where there is such a high demand for talent, recruiters can use the Internet to extend the global reach of their search far more effectively. The Internet has therefore become a fundamental tool in the search and attraction of global talent. As a result of this we see that Middle East online recruitment market is growing significantly over the next few years. Our decision to open offices here is a direct result of the potential that we see in this market.
Online recruitment sites mark the beginning of the end of vacancies advertised in the print media. Please comment.
The year 2006 was the first year in which the United States saw the spend in online recruitment advertising exceeding the spend on traditional print advertising. Print advertising is, however, here for a while and will for the foreseeable future continue to operate in parallel to online job advertising.
We see the role of print changing to become more an employer branding media than a job advertising media. Let's not forget that even today when a job is advertised in print, it usually serves to direct career seekers to log on to the internet to apply for an opportunity.
Apart from offering the reach of the Internet, a key advantage of online is that it has the ability to provide technology behind the advertising to mange the applicant response handling process.
In print advertising, unless you are directing applicants to an online application process, advertisers face the administrative burden of having to review each and every application that is made. In an age where we want to work smarter not harder, the smart money is going towards recruitment technology.
Our experience is that technology can save up to 80 per cent of recruitment time and produce more accurate candidate matches. As the internet becomes ubiquitous, we will see an ever increasing move towards the use of technology.
How is Dubai's employment market evolving? Are companies getting more innovative with their salaries and packages? Are they getting more flexible?
Dubai's employment market remains a transient market and is one that is facing ever increasing employment challenges. The main challenges are experienced as a result of the increase in the cost of living and the fact that other regions in the world are starting to offer equally enticing packages. As a result, companies need to be more innovative and offer more flexibility when negotiating packages. This is a worldwide trend too and not just one prevalent in Dubai. There is a global shortage of talent and companies need to be innovative and flexible if they want to win the battle for international talent.
Have candidates become more demanding and choosy as cost of living witnesses huge increases in the Gulf?
Yes, but this is not just happening in the Gulf. Moreover, due to the shortage of skills on global scale, salaries and benefits are increasing everywhere.
Which sectors are seeing the maximum demand for professionals?
We constantly track the supply and demand of talent. The most sought after skills on our website at the moment are in the financial, building and construction, media, engineering and IT sectors.
Which economies in the region are witnessing more demand?
There is a rapidly increasing demand for talent all over the region and I don't think that anyone here or anywhere else in the world can actually say that they are satisfying this demand. The hunt for the right talent will be an ongoing battle everywhere in the world. It is those companies that can offer the best all round working experience with the right career pathing for candidates that will take the lead in this race.
Are women playing an increasingly larger role in the employment market?
Although our service caters to the larger Middle East, our main focus since our launch in January has been on the UAE. Women in the UAE are definitely playing an increasingly larger role in the workplace. I can't comment on the rest of the region yet.
What differentiates CareerJunction from large recruitment portals?
Our technology has the functionality to build competency requirements from a database driven system that can return over 127,000 variations of different competency profiles. Once a client has the understanding of the required competency profile, they use our technology to screen candidates online and take them into an online interview stage. The key differences between what we offer in this space and what our competitors are offering is that our technology assists in the building of these competencies and requires the completion of the screening process prior to a career seeker being able to submit an application.
Another key differentiator is that of our career seekers' confidentiality. This service serves the cause of both job seekers and recruitment agencies.
Firms may certainly advertise their vacancies via our service and indeed are encouraged to do so. We provide them with the technology to build and manage their own searchable talent pool databases.
We have just embarked on what we believe to be a first in terms of online recruitment advertising initiatives in this region, perhaps even in the world. We have been advertising key vacancies from our clients in print for some time now but, from last month onwards we have started advertising client vacancies on radio too and have a committed budget for these initiatives.
PROFILE: Ihab Hashwa, Regional Operations Manager, CareerJunction Middle East
Ihab Hashwa graduated from University of Toronto, Canada and has more than 16 years experience in the IT and online applications sectors. Before joining CareerJunction Middle East, Ihab's experience in the region included roles such as Director of Consulting at Tejari, Regional Sales Manager at The Hiring Solutions Company, CEO at eKOM Technologies, and as Presales Manager at Ariba Technologies Mena region. Ihab has also worked in North America with MNCs like Computer Associates, PricewaterhouseCoopers and Ariba.