2009 Middle East Salary Survey Released
The much-anticipated annual Bayt.com YouGov Middle East Salary Survey has now been released and is available online on Bayt.com. What difference does a year make? Quite a bit of difference when the year is 2008 as the Salary Survey results show. The Survey highlights trends in Middle East salaries and cost of living and sheds light on key behavioral issues and perceptions related to current economic conditions.
Interview with David Mason from CH2M HILL
Q1. How has CH2M HILL been affected by, and reacted to, the global financial crisis?
CH2M HILL has a diverse portfolio with a global reach that is strategically designed to help us weather economic downturns. We have also aggressively assessed and reduced our overhead costs to put us in the strongest financial position possible during this tough business climate. Reductions in overhead costs were achieved by moving overhead people to client-billable project work and lowering funding levels, travel expenses, and capital expenditures.
Even though we have some clients in some of our business sectors that are cutting back on their work, others are staying the course and still others are expanding the scope of the work they need us to do so we still need to actively recruit despite the current economic situation.
Because our services cross several industries, in addition to hiring new talent, we are often able to aggressively redeploy our existing employees to new projects in other industry segments if the work in the industry segment they’re supporting has finished or has been put on hold or cancelled. This is especially true of employees with critical skills like engineering and project management.
In some cases where work has gone away and competencies are not compatible with current hiring needs or there’s been a change in the scope of an overhead team’s focus, some jobs have been eliminated. In 2008, less than 2% of CH2M HILL’s employee population was impacted in this way.
Q2. Why is this a good time to be actively recruiting?
For CH2M HILL this is a good time to be actively recruiting because we have some very exciting projects, both big and small, that require the ongoing hiring of top-tier talent. These projects include the development of the world’s first carbon-neutral, “green” community in Masdar City, a two-square-mile area in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
Helping Dubai’s Unemployed Find Jobs in Dubai - One Person At A Time
A few days ago we announced that we would be providing free CV consulting and lunch for unemployed job seekers on the common area outside our head office in Dubai Internet City.
You read stories from news sources that cover the globe. You hear the numbers but you rarely meet the people. Dubai has been no stranger to these stories about Jobs in Dubai, though the actual numbers are a little more difficult to come by. A few weeks back we decided that we can just read the numbers, or we can help the people affected. We chose to help the job seekers who have been the life-blood of Bayt.com for almost 9 years now.
We have done 2 sessions so far, with 8 more to go, and we have already come face-to-face with over 140 job seekers. I personally met 10 job seekers today for one-on-one CV consultation sessions. While I respected the challenges of the situation that many found themselves in - whether they were entry-level, senior managers, or all levels in between - I was also deeply impressed by the quality of people who are now looking for Jobs in Dubai. For companies currently growing headcount and/or looking to engage in a drive for quality, there is a wealth of talent in the market right now looking for Jobs in Dubai.
Building a Personal Brand
To paraphrase Charles Dickens, in both the best of times and in the worst of times, the job market is never easy. Just showing up and being there is never enough. You need to distinguish yourself for the value and benefit that you will bring to a company. You need to communicate you value in a clear Personal Brand Statement. Just like companies and products need a clear positioning statement, so do you.
Personal Branding is the process whereby people and their careers are marked [and marketed] as brands. A Personal Brand Statement is a succinct statement of the strong core statement of the aptitudes, abilities and experiences that differentiates you from others and helps you gain a competitive advantage in your current and future jobs.
If you cannot communicate what makes you different (and better) from others with similar education and work experience then you are either not clear on your unique value - or you don’t have significant unique value.
You’re not clear? Write down the quantifiable achievements that set you apart. How have you impacted the bottom line of companies where you have worked. List the points that set you apart from others: things you have done, things you can do, topics you have studied, awards, achievements, etc. What are great at?
Bayt.com launches free CV consultation-clinic for the region’s unemployed, in unique unemployment support program initiative
Program is launched in response to growing unemployment rates in the region, following effects of global economic downturn
Bayt.com, the region’s number one jobsite, has reiterated its commitment to improving the employment situation in the Middle East and addressing the challenge of growing unemployment in the region, by offering unemployed professionals a free walk-in CV consultation and advice session.
Between February 15th and February 26th, a team of five Bayt.com professionals including senior executive managers, will be available during the lunchtime period of 12 to 2pm; for unemployed professionals to bring a copy of their CV for an intensive free 15-minute consultation on its merits and shortcomings.
The sessions are co-sponsored by Dubai Internet City where the sessions will be conducted and in addition, a free lunch for the attendees will be provided by Biryani Express.
Rabea Ataya, CEO of bayt.com explained the reasons behind the community outreach endeavor. He said; “We all have an obligation to the communities we live in and I see no more valuable CSR program than one that capitalizes on what we do best; with a free and simple service that will be useful for these jobseekers well into the future.”
