Bayt.com, the Middle East’s number one job site, recently welcomed19,348 job seekers online at Saudi Arabia’s Virtual Job Fair - a first of its kind event in the country. Hosted on Bayt.com’s website for seven days, the job fair, which was originally planned for five days from22nd-26th November, was extended until November28th due to heavy online traffic and unprecedented interest from job seekers for the opportunity to find job openings across the Kingdom and in the Middle East, in a convenient and hassle-free environment.
The unique career event, which was sponsored by Rawabi Holding alongside media partner OKAZ, welcomed in total7,842 unique visitors to the Bayt.com website, where job seekers could visit animated3D ‘virtual booths’. The virtual booths, same as in physical job fairs, were branded with the exhibitors’ names and logos and provided access to a wide range of information about all participating companies. Job seekers had the opportunity to submit their CVs immediately to the booths of their choice and directly apply to the advertised jobs; while job seekers and employers had the unique option of interacting in real time via online or video chat. In total, the Virtual Job Fair received67,248 views across the week.
As a testimony to the resounding success of the Virtual Job Fair, Mr. Khalid Al Asmari, Recruitment Manager, The General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA) said, “This fair was brilliant, at the inaugural event of such as pioneering initiative we had a total of1,801 visits to our both with over859 job applications posted. The Virtual Job Fair envisaged by Bayt.com is one of a kind that brought together such a great pool of multi-cultural and talented human capital into one place, KSA. We truly hope Bayt.com carries on with their initiative by making this event a yearly event.
Endorsing the event, Mr. Essam Elmadhoun, Business Development Manager, BETCO added “The2008 Virtual Job Fair from Bayt.com was very successful for BETCO. The response was outstanding and we look forward to being a part of the Virtual Job Fair again!”
The Emirates Group, Mobily, Saudi Bin Ladin Group, Petro Rabigh Co., Baud Telecom Company (BTC Networks) and Alamiah Institute for Computer and Technology were among the17 companies that participated in the event offering job seekers a variety of opportunities across all career levels, and more than320 offers of employment were made as a result.
“The internet today is regarded as a unique and innovative way to not only connect people with others and with the world around them, but to facilitate many aspects of their daily lives. Recruitment is no exception to this and at Bayt.com, we are committed to continually improving the process for employers to actively find, interact with, and recruit suitable job seekers; and for job seekers to easily find the newest and most exciting jobs in the Kingdom - from some of the best employers locally and further afield,” commented Bayt.com’s Saudi Arabia Regional Manager, Amer Zureikat.
The job fair also provided a unique range of benefits to job seekers: full-time professionals seeking employment might not have the time to attend job fairs, and so the virtual version is an efficient and convenient method for them to find new openings without taking time off work. The fair also offered complete confidentiality to every candidate, regardless of which company or which jobs she/he applied to; and it removed all the associated costs related to travel or transportation to get to a physical venue.
For employers and professional recruiters, participating in the online job fair has meant minimizing the hassle, time, and resource requirements often associated with event management at a brick and mortar job fair; allowing for cost savings of up to50%, and maximizing organizational HR ROI.
“Saudi Arabia’s first ever Virtual Job Fair followed from highly successful versions in Jordan and the UAE. In each case, they have proven that online job fairs are an ideal forum for really bringing together job seekers and employers in the increasingly technology-savvy business environment. Online recruitment has a fundamental role to play in the way that companies recruit their staff, and by holding an event such as this that received such a high level of interest in the Kingdom, we are demonstrating how this could well define the future of the recruitment side of HR,” concluded Zureikat.