Bayt.com, the region’s number one jobsite, received an overwhelming response to its free, CV consultation clinic held between15th and26th February2009, as part of an outreach initiative to unemployed professionals in the Middle East, and as a proactive measure to address the general problem of growing unemployment across the Arab world.
Across the10 days, well over a100 applicants per day lined up at the Dubai Internet City, often as early as9am for an intensive15-minute review of their CV by a member of a six-strong Bayt.com professional team that included partners and senior executive managers. The unemployed professionals were advised on the merits and shortfalls of their CVs, and given a host of information to help them improve it; in a bid to make their skills and experience outlined on their resume more attractive and marketable to potential employers.
The two-hour daily window allotted for the sessions had to be extended, on account of the overwhelming number of professionals that attended each session.
Speaking about the overwhelming response that the initiative elicited, Amer Zureikat, Regional Manager of Bayt.com said; “In this current period, it is very clear that the global economic crisis is having a detrimental affect on our region, evidenced by the vast numbers of unemployed people – more than one thousand – that we dealt with during this initiative. What’s even more striking is the fact that these figures may reflect just a drop in the ocean in terms of the actual numbers of unemployed, here in the Middle East.”
Zureikat continued; “The work of Bayt.com revolves unequivocally around promoting employment across the region, and as an aside from our online business, this initiative worked on a very tangible, grass roots level, to pass on valuable help and information for those unemployed people that really need it. From the demand that we saw for the service, it demonstrates how important such initiatives are, and we look forward to the positive ramifications that this will have in the future: for getting professionals back into work. We also thank Dubai Internet City for their support”.
The sessions organized by Bayt.com were co-sponsored by Dubai Internet City, with a free lunch provided by Biryani Express.
Bayt.com has taken a number of measures in response to the global economic crisis’ effects on regional employment aside from the CV consultation clinic. Earlier this year, Bayt.com significantly cut the prices for job postings on the site, in a move that enabled employers with tight budgets and companies who previously could not access an efficient and global recruitment marketplace; to recruit top talent in the most optimal and effective manner; from the convenience, comfort and confidentiality of their own offices.
Moreover, Bayt.com recently launched a permanent and pioneering “CV Service for the Unemployed’’, which offers unemployed professionals a detailed CV writing and consultation service, provided by the highly experienced Bayt.com CV Services team. The normal fee for the comprehensive package, which is typically USD$350, is entirely waived for unemployed professionals selected for it. All currently-unemployed professionals from around the region are eligible to apply. To date, over45 unemployed professionals have benefited from the program, which receives an average of10 applications daily from around the Middle East. Details of the service are available at https://www.bayt.com/en/cv-writing/.
“At Bayt.com, we remain committed to stimulating and improving regional employment, by providing a pioneering talent marketplace alongside world-class career support services. In initiating these schemes to aid jobseekers and ultimately employers, we are sending a clear message out to the region that we are a ready and able partner that can help to limit unemployment in the Middle East. We are able to do this by linking jobs to jobseekers and practically eliminating through technology the information, communication and procedural gaps that stalled the recruitment process and hampered the Middle East recruitment marketplace in the past,’’ concluded Zureikat.