“Invest in your employees’ development,” says Hussain Abu Hilal of Saudi Diesel Equipment Company

Hussain Abu Hilal is a well-established HR professional with more than 12 years of work experience and a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration. Hussein started his career in 2004, in Amman. A year later, Hussain left Jordan to start a new life in the UAE, where he found his passion for the HR profession. He started his career in Dubai as a Training Coordinator in one of the city’s most prominent training centers, and there is where his career path in HR kicked off.

Duties of Hussain’s first job included dealing directly with trainers and facilitators of all backgrounds. Hussain’s friendly attitude enabled him to establish good relations with his colleagues, specifically the HR trainers, who in turn taught him a great deal about HR management and other HR specialties.

Within a few years, Hussain’s passion for HR became apparent to him and was solidified the moment he held the position of Recruitment & Resources Planning Manager in Saudi Diesel Equipment Company; one of the leading construction and power equipment companies in Saudi Arabia. Today, Hussain still continues to fulfill his passion for HR by exploring new topics and methodologies in HR whenever possible.

1. What’s the best part about working at your company?

The freedom to create, improvise and be entrepreneurial. I also enjoy the challenges I face! My work challenges me every day in different ways. And I can’t forget the people I work with; they are practically my family.

2. How is recruiting in Saudi Arabia different from other countries?

I don’t think that there are any differences between Saudi Arabia and other countries when it comes to recruitment procedures. However, in Saudi Arabia, we may face some difficulties when hiring high-caliber candidates and candidates for senior-level positions. The top three challenges we face at Saudi Diesel Equipment Company when looking to hire new employees are:1. The scarcity of skilled local manpower2. The complicated immigration rules3. The unique culture

3. What are the top 3 skills you look for in new hires for your company?

Candidates who wish to apply and land a job in Saudi Diesel Equipment Company must, at the very least, have:

1. Good communication skills
2. Good time management skills
3. Good interpersonal skills

4. What are the top mistakes candidates who are looking for a job in Saudi Arabia make on their CV?

Main mistakes can be summarized as follows:

1. Mentioning unnecessary details
2. Grammatical or spelling mistakes
3. No keywords
4. Lack of necessary information (such as start and end dates of their work)
   
   

5. What’s the biggest challenge you face when recruiting new employees?

Meeting deadlines and juggling various tasks can be very hard sometimes, especially when I have lots of hiring requests from different departments at the same time!

6. What do you like most about using Bayt.com? Why?

Bayt.com offers so many useful tools. However, I find the CV Search engine with its filtration feature the most useful. With CV Search, I can now hunt for candidates without having to inform anyone that we have an open position at the company.

7. Any advice for employers who want to retain their top talent?

My advice to employers, both in Saudi Arabia and across the region is this: Involve and Invest!

Involvement: Involve your top talent in the decision making process. When you do that they will feel that their job is valuable and important, and you will get a new perspective on things.

Investment: Invest in your employees’ development. Whenever developing talents comes to mind, I always remember this short conversation between a CFO and a CEO:

CFO asks CEO: What happens if we invest in developing our people and they leave us? CEO replies: What happens if we do not and they stay?