Emiratis tread the virtual career path

Traditional career fairs happen only a handful of times a year and missing them means missing out.

But now one company has made looking for a new vocation easier by setting up an online portal to match candidates with companies.

Virtualcareerfair.ae, a recruitment site solely for UAE Nationals has already got in excess of 2,000 registered applicants waiting to be snapped up by employers, in a move aimed at boosting Emiratisation.

Director of Virtual Career Fair (VCF), Julian Panter says: "We are giving UAE Nationals exposure to a range of organisations and jobs and in turn giving companies exposure to a searchable database of screened candidates.

"Companies need to fill quotas and some don't always have the tools to do it so find they recruit to fill numbers rather than getting the best person for the job. But because we do all initial interviews they know who is qualified and suitable for vacant positions and certain organisations."

Launched in Dubai in May, the site has already placed 20 candidates, who register free of charge, in jobs in both the public and private sector. Job seekers apply by uploading their CV online before undergoing an interview. These notes are then published online for companies to view before conducting their own interview.

Ahmed, a computer science graduate, signed up two months ago and has found the portal invaluable when searching for a job. "As a UAE National I found the site helpful and was amazed to see how many opportunities there were for me. I have had a number of interviews and found that I can now choose which organisations I can join to follow my dream career in computer programming," he says.

Virtual Career Fair is also partnering with a number of universities to increase registrations as they strive to register 1,000 people each month. Candidates can receive career advice and network with peers and mentors.

Panter and his team are able to filter candidates based on experience or requirements, thus someone wants to work for a specific job they can put them in touch, or likewise only send CVs of IT graduates, for example.

Emirates NBD has recruited four people since it joined recently.

"Two months ago I contacted VCF with an urgent requirement to assist with a UAE National Graduate programme. They found us a number of fantastic candidates who met our requirements and we hope to continue the partnership to achieve our nationalisation goals," says Teashhur Atkins, Senior Manager of IT applications and enterprise management.

But despite it only being open to locals, Panter insists it is not discriminatory. "We have come up with an idea to help Emiratisation and it is proving an effective recruitment tool for organisations that are serious about improving their nationalisation efforts. This is simply serving a specific sector," he adds.

Companies pay a quarterly fee for access to all candidates rather than individual commission as is normally the case in the recruitment industry. They also have a virtual stand in which job seekers can find out more about the company just like a physical fair.

"The stands contain most of the information available on individual websites but saves visitors to the website the hassle of visiting each one, making it a win-win situation," adds Panter.

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