Saudi women want to work during university study

SAUDI ARABIA: Saudi female students want to work during their time at university, a recent study revealed.
The study, conducted by Glowork, a human capital company dedicated to women, and partners DAF Advisory Services and Alwane, revealed that 87% of Saudi women are looking to work part time if the opportunity was given.

“They want to work not for financial reasons, but purely for experience” said Khalid Alkhudair the Founder and CEO of Glowork & Ashoka fellow.

He continues by saying “I am sure if this survey was conducted for males, the outcome would be different and that’s because in the Kingdom, our sons and daughters are financially dependent on their parents and until that changes, the need to work is limited”.

The study was conducted on Glowork’s belief that the gap between the education sector and employment sector can be bridged through implementing a part time law which enables women to become an active member of the society and understands what lies ahead for them when they graduate. “Countries in the west have their whole retail industry built on part time students. We believe there should be a mechanism in which the Ministry of Labor looks at adapting a salary / per hour scheme which could dramatically increase the Saudization percentages in the retail industry” said Alkhudair.

Other parts of the study which were conducted at 10 universities across the Kingdom state that 40% of female jobseekers use online recruitment websites when it comes to applying for opportunities. 31% of respondents believe that sending an email directly to the organization would be the best option.

Another issue highlighted was that 64% of Saudi females seek assistance when it comes to writing a CV and resume, with the majority of which stressed that they were willing to pay for such assistance. Glowork sees that is due to the lack of career counseling centers in universities that assist students in writing their CV and conducting their interviews prior to their graduation.

“Universities should strive to teach their students how to professionally network and emphasize to the latter the difference between professional networking
and “Wasta”, lest they feel shame in practicing it” said Fares Bugshan the CEO of DAF Consulting. “Universities’ administrators may help their students understand how and when to network by connecting them with recent alumni who work in industries of interest to the students”

The complete study is available on Glowork’s website through http://glowork.net/en/?page=emagazine