Culture & Education | Sunday 10 March, 2019 1:24 pm |

One of many aiding-hands offered by Zayed University, thousands of undergraduates, took on the occasion to explore future jobs offered by 140 participating companies in the biggest yet Careers Spotlight Fair.

 

Organized recently across both campuses in Abu Dhabi and Dubai by the Alumni and Student Careers Office, under the 'Navigating Skills to Future Success' theme, students went under talents and skills exploration programs to sign on spot agreements for future openings.

 

In his speech at the opening ceremony, Prof. Reyadh Al Mehaideb, Vice-President of Zayed University, said the fair highly achieves one of the most significant objectives, “It links Zayed University graduates to the UAE labour market. Through the Career Fair, companies offer their job opportunities directly to the student, and they in turn learn about the requirements on spot and chose the disciplines that suit accordingly,” he said.

 

Rashid Al Shamsi, Manager of ZU Alumni and Student Careers Office, said, “Through the Careers Spotlight we managed to gather many big companies such as Abu Dhabi Housing Authority, Emirates Investment Authority, UAE Space Agency, UAE Exchange, ADNEC, different banks and much more. To offer great opportunities and fulfilling careers to our soon to be graduates.”

 

"Our Students are highly considering a career path within the private sector or even venture into the entrepreneurship world," he added.

 

Future Fit UAE

Zayed University was the first government entity to showcase the Future Fit UAE Initiative which was launched at the government summit 2019 by the Education & Human Resources Council.

 

The movement initiated to spark a lifelong learning across the UAE, empowering people to build new skills by connecting passion to purpose.

 

Perfectly aligned and strategically placed, as an entry point to the careers fair, the Future Fit UAE booth, which was a significant Head-turner. It lined up several eager students to help predict future paths, by engaging with a specially tailored mechanism, composed of multiple selections, which digs out future skills.

 

Speaking at the booth, Shama Al Dhaheri, ZU Alumni Career Development Coordinator, further explained, "What will the future hold, that's one question even the most advanced machines can't answer. but with the right future skills, we may be able to find our answers." "Equipped with the right answers together we can build the future and keep our children curious, our students challenged beyond the classroom, our workforce relevant, and our elder engaged." 

 

The Future Fit UAE Initiative has narrowed down lifelong opportunities to 12 different Skills, namely Tech Literacy, Financial Literacy, Problem Solving, Leadership, Adaptability, Growth Mindset, Empathy, Social and Cultural Awareness, Communication, Collaboration, Creativity, and Scientific Literacy.

 

Learn a Mahara

Zayed University Alumni and Student Careers Office has recently launched the ‘Learn a Mahara (Arabic for skill)’ program, which was inspired by quote delivered by Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, at the Exchange Student Forum 2018, he said, “We live in an era when one who fails to learn a least one skill per year is failing oneself and failing one’s country.”

 

The program was offered at the ZU Careers Spotlight Fair. It is driven on a student-to-student learning bases, in which students cast their desired skills-to-learn in one box, and the other contains those who offered a certain skill they mastered. The office then works closely to match and link both ends and monitors the outcomes.