RIYADH: King Saud University (KSU) closed the booths of five companies which participated in the recently concluded five-day Career Week because of lack of interest in employing applicants.

Career Week, held under the auspices of Custodian of Two Holy Mosques King Salman, featured a jobs fair with 70 companies participating.

The number was almost twice that of last year, which was 46.

Abdullah Saqabi, supreme committee secretary for Career Week activities, said that the staff of the five companies were not present from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. during the five-day job fair.

“The monitoring committee staff went around during the five-day fair but the staff of the five companies were nowhere around,” he said.

But despite the lack of interest by some companies to employ applicants, the jobs fair was able to employ 2,600 by the fourth day of the event.

“We learned about this directly from the companies involved in the hiring, and the university will continue to ensure its graduates’ access to jobs in local firms,” he said.

He added that other activities were also held during the five-day event such as a blood donation drive, and cardio-pulmonary resuscitation and suffocation treatment demonstrations by students from the Prince Sultan Emergency Medical Services.

“There were also more than 36 specialized training courses in the preparation of curriculum vitae (CV) and another 50 courses in recruitment and interviewing which benefited more than 2,500 individuals,” he said.

He added that “there was also a corner allocated for applicants who needed help in the preparation of their CVs and many availed of the service.” He added that all visitors to the exhibition hall were received and they expressed their wish that such an event could be held regularly.