“I graduated last year from the University of London with a bachelor’s degree in law. Ever since I came back I stared hunting for a job in more than one company,” said Mohsen Radwan.

“When one of them hired me they made me a very lousy offer. Even though I interned at a superior legal office in London, that did not give me the boost to earn more money here in the Kingdom.”

Obtaining a master’s degree did not help Wafaa Nomani land a job at a university.

“I studied phonology in Canada and graduated with an excellent GPA. I applied at more than one university thinking that with a master’s degree in such a rare major, colleges would fight over me,” she said.

“I guess I was wrong because I did not get any reply from four colleges and now I’m working in a private school teaching general English.”

According to Ahmed Jan, a finance graduate from the United States, his colleague, who graduated from a university in Jeddah and has the same job in the same financial company, makes more money than him.

“I thought being a graduate from America would net me at least a better offer than SR8,700 a month,” he said.

“A guy at work who sits next to me and does exactly what I do has a better salary than mine. I’m guessing it’s because he has more experience since he worked as a teller at one of the local banks when he was a student.”

Being proficient in both English and computers is the key in landing a decent job in this economy according to Mona Asaad, a marketing graduate from Malaysia.

“Whenever I go to a job interview they look at my CV and ask me about my English and if I know my way around a computer,” she said.

“I was never asked about my PR skills even though I’m applying for marketing positions and all I do is interact with clients. So I think anyone who wants a job should work on his English and computer skills because employers don’t look a lot into your CV.” The competition is rising among graduates who have studied abroad and companies are not able to hire all applicants, forcing them to make a decision according to their skills and experience.

“A certificate can have a lot of weight but we still have to interview the candidate. If the interview went well, then the applicant is hired according to the qualifications he holds,” said Tamer Shaker, a senior human resources consultant.

“The CV is the key to attract the employer and the interview is the master scene. Based on the interview, we evaluate the skills and experience that the candidate has acquired and after that we decide on whether the applicant is hired on not.”

Employers look beyond the college certificate, looking at what the candidate can offer the company and help them raise their profits.

“If the job requires understanding Saudi norms and being well connected to Saudi society, then I prefer a marketing graduate from a Saudi university for instance. This is because whoever studies abroad may lack the necessary local networking skills and will gain experience not related to Saudi culture,” said Kholoud Attar, founder of Design Magazine.

“But if the job did not require any of that, then I will prefer the applicant who studied abroad because his education will have more strategic relevance.”

According to Mohammed Jalal, director of the Saudi employment department at the Labor Office in Jeddah, the reason why graduates claim they cannot find jobs or are receiving a lousy salary is because they did not visit the Labor Office.

“Graduates should run their papers by our office before applying anywhere because our job is to find work for Saudis in Jeddah,” he said.

“We give the priority to graduates from outside the Kingdom because they are better candidates and they have better skills and good English and it’s easier to find them jobs.

“We always face problems with those graduates because they always ask for high salaries while they don’t have work experience and employers usually train them for jobs before signing a contract. Our office is always open to graduates with any degrees and we are responsible for matching their qualifications with appropriate jobs and salaries,” he said.