Bayt.com, the Middle East’s number one job site, welcomed more than10,000 unique visitors to its first Virtual Job Fair (VJF) in Egypt, which ran on the Bayt.com website between July12th and16th for employers and job seekers in the country to interact in a convenient, hassle- and stress- free forum. The online job fair, which aimed to address the country’s unemployment - especially as a result of the recession -recorded almost81,000 total views, and received almost20,000 registrations.
The VJF Egypt, sponsored by the leading Middle East industrial group Nuqul Group, alongside media partner Wazayef Masr, was the first online job fair organized and run by Bayt.com in the country. In total,15 companies participated in the event, including local and regional heavyweights.
Over the past two years, Bayt.com has hosted five similar innovative events, which have welcomed more than137,000 job seeking participants from across the Middle East region. For the fair, Bayt.com constructed animated3D “virtual booths” on the website for the different participating companies. The virtual booths, like physical job fairs, were branded with the exhibitor’s name and logo and provided visitors access to a range of information about that particular company.
Job seekers had the opportunity to submit their CVs directly to their booths of choice and apply immediately for new and existing jobs; while potential employees and employers had the unique option of interacting in real time via online or video chat. More than250 jobs were available during the fair.
“The fact that we have now hosted six VJFs across the region is testament to the initiative’s success for bringing a variety of significant advantages to job seekers and employers alike - all from one central location,” stated Fady Darwiche, Regional Manager, Bayt.com. “The VJF saves the time off work as well as the travel and logistical costs associated with visiting physical job fairs, while providing professionals complete confidentiality and the convenience of participating in the fair from the comfort of their home or office.”
Bayt.com’s series of virtual job fairs have been popular with many employers at the forefront of the recruitment industry, who can see the benefits and importance of state-of-the-art branding activities and are prepared to harness the power of the web to interact with top talent on a real-time basis and subsequently hire the region’s best; something especially important during the current economic downturn.
Mohamed Tahoun, Managing Director of Wazayef Masr, the event’s media partner said: “The Bayt.com Virtual Job Fair has truly lived up to its promise for us at Wazayef Masr and has indeed proved to be one of the most efficient recruitment channels in the Middle East region. We are looking forward to growing our partnership, for serving the employment market for both employers and job seekers.”
“Frankly speaking, it has been great. The number of resumes we have received is just overwhelming: we have collected thousands and I think it’s a sure success. We’re quite amazed and very happy with this great effort that Bayt.com has shown,” stated Nermin Badie, Human Resources Manager at Fine Egypt (part of the Nuqul Group).
“At Olympic Group, we remain committed to sourcing top professional talent on a continuous basis, and the Bayt.com Virtual Job Fair provided an ideal platform to identify the region’s top talent and interact with them in a highly efficient and state-of-the-art medium. Thanks to the Bayt.com Virtual Job Fair, we were able to short-list top professional talent for our Egypt operations and in a timely, efficient and highly convenient manner,” stated Reham Youssry, Corporate Training Manager at Olympic Group.
“As a result of this experience I tried a lower cost electronic job fair alternative. The online job fair was just like a regular job fair, held on a specific day at a specific time for a specific region. The obvious difference was that it was held entirely online. Another big difference, besides the fact I never had to leave my office, was that I could initiate a conversation through the chat room with any job seeker I wanted. This was huge: instead of having to wait for a job seeker to come to me, I went to them. Well done Bayt.com,” stated Elham Negm, Director of Internal Business Management at MSG Holding.
“It was amazing for Elmaaly to share in such a new experience, where we simulated real job fair activities online. We found it convenient and practical for us and for job seekers. Trying something new demonstrates the kind of quality service we give to our clients. Companies that have missed out on this great opportunity need to participate whenever it happens again, we definitely will!” stated Ahmed Mounir, Marketing Manager at Elmaaly for Recruitment.
Fady Darwiche went on to say: “The global financial crisis has cast a dark cloud over labor markets in countries across the globe, which means that organizations like Bayt.com have an even bigger role to play in facilitating recruitment, to get more of the right talent into jobs and therefore strengthen these local economies. Our job fair went a long way in promoting employment, and allowed us to showcase our innovative recruitment methods./p>
“What’s more, growing levels of computer literacy and IT penetration among populations around the region all make a compelling case for greater online recruitment. Judging by the success of events like our VJF and the hugely positive feedback we have received, I believe that online recruitment will soon surpass traditional methods as the recruitment option of choice - by both job seekers and leading organizations,” concluded Darwiche.
For more information about Bayt.com’s Virtual Job Fairs, visit Bayt.com