January 10th, 2017: Students at Canadian University Dubai (CUD) have been taking advantage of a comprehensive package of guidance and support services from leading names in the career development arena, as they prepare to pursue their professional development goals for 2017.
Facilitated by Orsi Urban, Work Placement and Careers Coordinator at CUD, students have benefitted from a series of skills development and profile-building workshops, delivered by representatives from the University’s strategic careers partner, Bayt.com; the UAE’s biggest internship jobs site, InternsME; and the World’s largest professional network, LinkedIn.
Taking an innovative and interactive approach to engaging students in career networking, John Fawls of LinkedIn UAE hosted a profile picture photo shoot, to help students create a professional image that they could use when setting up their own LinkedIn account. He also encouraged students to take full advantage of LinkedIn while still at university, to build professional networks that could be helpful in their future careers.
Meanwhile, InternsME representative, Noor Irfan, conducted an informal workshop to introduce students to different ways of engaging with prospective employers, demonstrating how a video CV could help candidates to stand out from the crowd, and providing tips on how to achieve a high-ranking professional profile.
Representing CUD’s strategic careers partner, Bayt.com, Hatem Hannoun provided students with an insight into the art of CV writing. Through interactive case studies he demonstrated to students how best to represent themselves in the context of the UAE jobs market.
Hatem said, “At Bayt.com, we encourage students to begin creating their CVs during their university years, because a CV acts as an individual’s timeline. Rather than face the daunting task of having to look back upon graduation and think of the courses, projects, and internships they did during their time as a student, they can start building a CV on an easy-to-use career site like Bayt.com, adding their experiences while the information is still fresh in their head.
“Moreover, a CV can act as a career guide, helping to make the next decision while maintaining an overview perspective of one’s career development, and to assess whether their next course, project or potential internship experience aligns with their career goals.”
Speaking about the workshop, student Elvira Aggoune said, “It provided very useful information and tips on how people look for the right candidate and how you can be that candidate, by building a customized CV that highlights relevant skills and shows an understanding of the job description. The workshop was very beneficial to us as undergraduate students as we don’t yet have much experience of reaching out to employers, so it helped us to focus on what companies are looking for and how best to present ourselves.”
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