“Gateway to Career Opportunities” was the theme of the first virtual career fair for the new academic year 2020/2021 organised by the Students Career and Alumni Department at Zayed University, ZU, to support Emiratisation, provide employment opportunities for university students and graduates and help them build their career options on practical grounds.
This year the career fair was exceptional, as it was held virtually through an online platform specialising in professional networking between employers looking for exceptional talent and fresh graduates.
The event hosted 35 companies that included a variety of governmental, semi-governmental organizations and private companies covering all the academic disciplines that ZU offers such as administration, IT, business, insurance, retailers and the health sector. The companies presented an array of opportunities such as full-time and part-time vacancies and offered ZU’s graduates direct discussions with job-seekers. The graduates got the chance to conduct interviews on the spot via zoom platform upon meeting the requirements needed for the job that they applied for.
Dr. Hind Alrustamani- Assistant Provost for Student Affairs, “With creating a virtual career fair, the major perk was connecting our students and graduates with esteemed employers from the convenience of their own space along with both parties being able to use the platform’s tool to narrow their search for suitable opportunities.”
She further added, “We managed to bring together more than 840 graduates to attend the event, who has the chance to discover different opportunities offered by the participating companies. Due to the high demand, we are planning to host a similar event by the end of the semester to provide senior ZU students with a special event focused on internship opportunities.”
Fahed AlAreqi, ZU Alumni ’14, while expressing his gratitude towards the university for the virtual event stated, “The platform presented to us an array of government and public entities that offered multiple vacancies at once, the online meeting made it easier to browse through all openings.”
A senior student R.S from the College of Technological Innovation at Zayed University commented on her experience with the virtual career fair saying, “I found it very easy to look for what I want, and I believe it is very helpful for undergraduate and graduate students. I discovered companies that I wish to do my internship with, and hopefully secure a long-term position in the future. I prefer the online career fair as I can easily communicate with various people at the same time, whilst viewing my options all at once.’’ Zayed University hosts two career fairs per academic year on both campuses.
