Online job sites emerged as the most common resource used for recruiting candidates for managerial positions in organisations in the UAE, according to a recent study.
The report titled ‘Middle East and North Africa Hiring Practices,’ which was administered by Bayt.com and YouGov, found that 75 percent of recruiters in the UAE agree that online recruitment has facilitated the hiring process at their companies.
The study noted growing trends in online resource usage for recruiters in the UAE. According to the survey, respondents consider online job sites (47 percent) to be the most effective source of recruitment for managerial roles across the UAE, followed by recruitment agencies (44 percent) and their company’s internal network (33 percent).
For non-managerial roles, online job sites (27 percent) remain the most popular, while employee referrals (22 percent) emerge as the next most effective source of recruitment. In addition to that, applicant tracking systems are used by 42 percent of employers for managerial positions and 28 percent for non-managerial positions.
It also showed that more than four in five (86 percent) respondents agree that online recruitment has facilitated the hiring process for managerial employees, including nearly half (47 percent) who believe it has ‘greatly’ facilitated the hiring process. The same can be said for non-managerial employees (75 percent), with two in five (31 percent) respondents claiming it has ‘greatly’ facilitated the hiring process.
“With over 10,000 jobs available on Bayt.com on any given day, it comes as no surprise that the top method for recruiting candidates in the UAE is job sites,” said Suhail Masri, Vice President Employer Solutions, Bayt.com. “At Bayt.com, we have been working with organizations in the UAE large and small for almost 20 years, helping them recruit top talent. We have been listening to client feedback and improving our offering to improve recruitment efficiency. For example, many employers complement their Bayt.com CV Search tool with employment tests that verify the candidates’ skills. Likewise, online job sites have evidently helped prepare jobseekers to better execute the job hunt. In line with this, we at Bayt.com work with over 32,000,000 job seekers and 40,000 companies using advanced hiring technology to make the process smoother, less time consuming, and much more rewarding.”
Furthermore, the survey also gauged insights on the hiring process from the jobseeker perspective. It found that currently employed professionals were keen on using digital tools to find employment, as nearly two thirds (66 percent) of respondents created online CVs/public profiles on top job sites during their most recent job hunt, 46 percent used a cover letter and 27 percent used a professional CV writing service.
As for the journey from recruitment to hiring, 67 percent of respondents had up to three different interviews before finding their current job and 42 percent had more than three interviews.
More than half (55 percent) of respondents found their current job within three months, including a quarter (20 percent) who found their job in less than one month. 44 percent found their current job after more than three months of searching.
“The hiring practices survey is an important depiction of the region’s current techniques and tools that are used to facilitate hiring,” said, Nehal Jibouri, Head of Custom Research MENA, YouGov. “With a comprehensive overview of the hiring process, companies can better understand what works and how the process can be improved. Likewise, job seekers can gain a comprehension of what their job hunt journey could look like and what tools are available for them.”
Data for the 2018 Middle East and North Africa Hiring Practices survey was collected online from 14 March 2018 to 26 April 2018. Results are based on a sample of 2,491 respondents from the following countries: UAE, KSA, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Bahrain, Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq, Palestine, Syria, Egypt, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Sudan, and Pakistan.
