Business & Money | Tuesday 13 February, 2018 1:16 pm |

The job of a ‘Project Manager’ at Yesser - Saudi Arabia’s e-Government Program was the most applied for job in the Kingdom in 2017, with 9,379 professionals submitting their applications. This was revealed as part of new research by LinkedIn, the world’s largest professional network, wherein it analysed which jobs drive the most views and applications. The research was carried out in 10 countries, including the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The e-Government Program - Yesser - demonstrates the Saudi Government's keen interest in implementing the e-government concept. It is part of many initiatives and projects adopted by the government to achieve sustained growth and development in all aspects of life.

 

The second most sought-after job after Yesser was that of a ‘Site Engineer’ at Arabian International Company (AIC) with 8,971 professionals applying for it, followed by a ‘Management Development Program (SMDP)’ job at SABB with 8,551 applications, and ‘IT Technical Support’ and ‘HR Data Analyst’ at Riyadh Airports with 8,425 and 8,335 applications respectively.

 

Saudi Arabia is in the middle of a major economic transformation. The reform is part of the kingdom's long-term economic strategy - Vision 2030, and its national transformation plan which is aimed at diversifying the economy from its oil sector dependence.

 

“As we enter 2018 it’s become clear that the jobs landscape in Saudi Arabia is changing. How people are thinking about their careers and how they define success is changing. The rise of technology across every industry has created a flurry of new jobs and associated skills and these aren’t necessarily all tech roles,” said Rabih Haidar, Head of Saudi Arabia Territory, LinkedIn Talent Solutions. “It is indeed very interesting to see which job types and companies are most sought-after by professionals and the shape the employment sector is starting to take in the kingdom,” added Rabih.

 

In order to help professionals, find their dream job, Rabih offers the following tips. “After all, you spend a considerable chunk of your life in work, so why not do something you love and inspires you?” he asks: 

 

1. Identify what makes you unhappy in your current role

The beginning of the year is a great time to reflect. Spend some time this month and take a look back at the year that’s been and try to decide what makes you dissatisfied in your current job. Is it that you’re not being challenged? Is it that you’re not passionate about the work? Write these down.

At the same time, write down what you do like about the role and what career success means to you. Whether that’s the industry, the people you work with or even the work/life balance, there could be a multitude of reasons and definitions, but it should give you an idea of what you want and more importantly what you don’t want. This will give you a solid foundation to begin your search.

2.           Remove your invisibility cloak

It’s time to make yourself visible to companies and potential recruiters. Get yourself a LinkedIn profile and update it. Include all of your relevant experience, recent jobs, passions, skills and education that demonstrate to businesses that they should hire you. Treat this like a working document, try not to update it just when you’re looking for a role or have recently been promoted, update it throughout your professional career with all of the unique things you’ve done. Use tools such as LinkedIn’s Open Candidates to privately signal recruiters letting them know that you’re interested in new job opportunities.

3.           Network, Network, Network

Take the time to grow your network, as this will help you find a new role. In fact, according to LinkedIn data, 70% of professionals were hired at a company where they had a mutual connection and candidates that were referred by an employee were 8 times more likely to get hired.

Add colleagues, friends, family and companies you want to work for – this will make you visible to your contacts’ connections too.

As well as this, take the time to attend networking events within your industry or the industry you would love to work in. You never know who you’re going to meet.

4.           Find the right jobs

Utilise the ‘Jobs’ tab on your LinkedIn profile to find job listings suitable to you, within your industry or the market that you want to move into. It’s easy to set specific job search parameters so you’re recommended roles at companies that you have a desire to work for.

January brings a big surge in new role postings, so now is a great time to see if there is something that is right for you...

You should now have a rough idea of roles and companies that you want to go for– so take the plunge and start applying!

5.           Be persistent

During your application process, there will, unfortunately, be times that you’ll get rejections.  Remember to stay as positive as possible and that persistence is key!

Apply for different companies and chase your application to make sure it’s in the hands of the right people. As well as using the jobs tab, try to find the direct person to get your CV into the hands of and chase it. Keep checking in to see if they’ve had a look at your application yet. Demonstrating a degree of tenacity at the job search stage will help you once you get through to the interview process.