As the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s (KSA) top university students graduate from Jeel Tamooh and prepare to pursue their chosen career paths, Boston Consulting Group (BCG), the global management consulting firm that leads the prestigious program, concluded this year’s third edition with a two-day Virtual Career Fair on 15-16 September. Inspired by BCG’s vision to provide career opportunities to program members and pave the way for professional ascension, the Virtual Career Fair enabled this year’s class to connect with top prospective employers as leading Saudi companies became familiar with the latest generation of emerging talent, representing a hugely beneficial occasion for all involved parties. The event took place virtually over its two-day duration with Bayt.com and LinkedIn attending in a guest capacity and Harvard Business Review (HBR) Arabia supporting as Arabic media partner.
“In today’s turbulent talent market, employers are having difficulty finding people with the specific skills and experience they need. Reducing the exacerbating mismatch between the skills a workforce possesses and the tasks it need to perform is essential, and the Jeel Tamooh Virtual Career Fair provided a sizeable boost to this ongoing effort,” said Phillipe Cornette de Saint Cyr, Head of BCG Riyadh. “This year’s class are equipped with the competencies and skillsets required to succeed in a diverse range of roles across industries, and our objective was to present as many professional avenues as possible for students to consider and explore. With support from national organizations, the Kingdom’s most promising talent have embarked on the next stage of their respective careers through the event. We believe their experiences and learnings with us will prove invaluable in the months and years ahead, and we are pleased that graduates utilized this opportunistic platform to engage with employers and take the next leap towards making valuable business and economic contributions.”
As per BCG’s ‘Alleviating the Heavy Toll of the Global Skills Mismatch’ report, addressing the skills mismatch will enable more than 1.3% additional GDP growth per year. The Virtual Career Fair will likely make a valuable contribution in this direction, having enabled participants to showcase their recent progression and provide prospective employers with exclusive insights into their personalities, capabilities, aspirations, and possible contributions to teams, projects, and organizations.
In return, leading Saudi companies engaged with a trained and vetted pool of high caliber talent and identified the personnel best suited to current vacancies and future roles. These Saudi-based employers include Banque Saudi Fransi (BSF), Capital Market Authority (CMA), Ma’aden, Riyad Bank, and Seera Group.
“For Ma’aden, being involved in the Jeel Tamooh Virtual Career was appealing and advantageous in equal measure. In addition to becoming familiar with an influx of capable talent from leading higher education institutions, the event also enabled us to become a bigger part of such a prestigious program and help shape further formative learning experiences for those sure to lead our industries and sectors in the decades ahead,” said Fouzi A. Bubshait, Senior Advisor, Human Capital, Ma’aden. “Whether professionals are starting out on their career journey or have been enjoying successful tenures for years, business success ultimately stems from extensive support networks and inputs from everyone connected. The latest Jeel Tamooh members provided the first of many inputs that will help shape groundbreaking projects of tomorrow during the Virtual Career Fair.”
A customized learning management system (LMS) and insightful program partner workshops have also helped Saudi Arabia’s top university students prepare for full-time professional positions during this year’s third edition of Jeel Tamooh. The program’s first-ever customized LMS was introduced to ensure seamless access to self-study materials, drive enhanced engagement, and help them develop career-readiness skills to thrive both as a students and as a young professional. Through this new addition, participants became acquainted with several popular topics, including ‘Personal Development’, ‘Consulting at BCG’, and ‘BCG Thought Leadership – Accelerate Digital’.
Jeel Tamooh also paired new concepts with program mainstays, including partner workshops, which supported their respective career ascensions. Delivered on Zoom, these workshops prepared students for professional environments and practices, emphasizing the vitality of key competencies when overcoming varied and sizeable challenges. Riyad Bank held a one-hour workshop titled ‘Top competencies employers look for and how to get prepared,’ while Banque Saudi Fransi led the ‘Core technology transformation in driving digitalization of banks and opportunities for Saudi talent’ workshop.
“In today’s evolving digital-first world, robust education and development initiatives must empower talent through interaction and customization,” added Phillipe Cornette de Saint Cyr. “Going above and beyond to ensure engagement and enrich experiences is an approach instrumental for fostering students productively, which is why Jeel Tamooh’s third edition witnessed the inclusion of new systems and in-depth workshops.”
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