3 In 4 Graduates In North Africa Are Considering Entrepreneurship, Study Reveals
A study conducted online between May 26th to June 26th 2014 dubbed ‘Fresh Graduates in the Middle East and North Africa.’ Has revealed that 73% of fresh graduated in Morocco, Egypt, Algeria, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, Bahrain, Oman, Qatar, Kuwait, KSA and UAE, consider entrepreneurship as the best alternative option to looking for employment. Majority of the graduates believe that finding a job is quite a challenge. The research was tabled through a partnership between Bayt.com and market research agency YouGov.
“It’s interesting that most graduates feel that the biggest challenge is that employers are looking for candidates with previous experience, when in fact, our research constantly proves that many employers in the MENA are heavily hiring fresh graduates,” said Suhail Masrie, VP of Sales, Bayt.com.
The graduates also rated ‘good’; the quality of teaching methods used, value for money paid, teaching infrastructure, technology incorporation into teaching, teachers’ qualifications and the curriculum. Despite all that, 81% of graduates claimed that finding a job has proved to be quite hard.
One-fifth of graduates from UAE say, that the most appealing industries to pursue a career in are banking and finance, business management, advertising, marketing, management consulting, and business consultancy. One-third of them said that to ‘a large extent,’ the education they obtained from the university or college prepared them to start careers in industries of their choice.
About 74% of the respondents said that their college or university did not assist them in identifying any job opportunities. While those who got assistance from their colleges, 60% say they got assistance through career fairs and job announcements. The statistics also show that seven in ten of the respondents acquired their working experience before or during their stay at the university, out of which 36% spent about 1 to 6 months on work placement.
70% of the graduates strongly feel that the biggest hurdles they face towards securing a job is that employers want candidates with a working experience. Also, 37% have a challenge of identifying where to find a relevant job.
Masri said, “To feel more comfortable, we advise fresh graduates to work on their transferable skills as well as to take as many relevant courses as possible, mainly on leadership. Adding transferable skills and coursework to their CVs will certainly make an impact with hiring managers.”
