Career day event was recently held in London, UK for graduates of the King Abdullah Scholarship Program. Given the prevalence of unemployment in Saudi Arabia today, particularly among the youth, a Career Day event is a first step in an absolutely crucial process.
As every job seeker knows, looking for employment in today’s world is a confusing and challenging enterprise. Whereas in the past, most jobs were obtained through family and other social connections, today those connections are unreliable and often insufficient.
In the past, when one obtained a job, he or she could expect that the position would be there for the rest of their working lives, affiliation with the company being like a second home. Times have changed, and lifelong employment is no longer sure or expected in any culture. However, society can adapt to these changes as part of functioning within a global market — but only if young workers can get a fair start. Many qualified young graduates are having trouble just getting their foot in the door. With most openings going unadvertised and the structures of industries changing rapidly, many young people are at a loss as to how to secure that all-important first position after graduating. The strategies their parents used no longer work, and sometimes it seems like there are simply no good jobs available.
For all of these reasons, in today’s world, a Career Day event is more than just a good idea — it is an absolutely necessary face-to-face link between firms and the new generation of professionals. A Career Day event provides both information about firms, job opportunities, and necessary exposure to contacts. In a world where more and more networking is accomplished virtually, a forum for companies and young graduates to meet face-to-face is more important than ever. Nothing can replace personal contact when the crucial factor is how well an individual might fit into a company’s corporate culture.
While the Career Day event in London was certainly a worthwhile couple of days, there is a need for bigger, more frequent and more accessible events of this nature. The expansion of the post-secondary educational system in Saudi Arabia enables us to offer world-class education to our young men and women. What is missing is a reliable link between the years spent in school and the employment that will sustain them for the rest of their lives. And without this link, much of education itself starts to seem meaningless. The transition between university and professional life is precisely where many young, talented and qualified individuals get lost or discouraged. Career Day events, the vital link to that next crucial step, should be viewed not as ‘frills’ or ‘extras’ but as a necessary component of one’s education. The event in London was a good start — now let’s see if we can implement the model in Saudi Arabia on a larger scale and with greater frequency, to provide that necessary transitional step for our young graduates.
