JEDDAH — Demands by employers for work experience has become one of the biggest obstacles facing fresh graduates looking for jobs. Despite studying at renowned universities and preparing impressive resumes, a lack of work experience in the field generally makes most job vacancies out of reach for young jobseekers after graduation. On a mission to solve this problem, Ammar Yaser Shawoosh co-founded Saudi Kadir, a Saudi company that specializes in part-time recruitment of students to enrich them with work experience while they study. "Through Saudi Kadir, I'm trying to fight unemployment at a root level by working on initiatives to raise awareness about the concept of part-time jobs for both companies and the youth," Shawoosh said. The company's online job portal puts young Saudis at the core of its operations by not just providing job offers in different fields, but also career guidance workshops, skills-based lectures, seminars and other services. "During college days, there was a common perception that Grade Point Average (GPA) doesn't matter when looking for jobs. I thought this was a good excuse probably made by students with a low GPA. However, when we started applying for co-operative education (COOP) training, I received more interview calls than my peers who had scored higher GPAs," he said. After analyzing the situation and going through a couple of interviews, Shawoosh said he realized that his part-time experience during high school and college gave him an added advantage in getting job interviews and meant he was often ranked above those who had much higher GPAs but little to no work experience. The experience helped him realize the importance of part-time jobs and ignited a passion in him to raise awareness among students and companies. "I created Saudi Kadir as a directory for part-time jobs in Saudi Arabia and our ultimate vision is to make all students graduate with some on-hand experience, in any field or industry. What ultimately matters is the work experience, not necessarily the industry or the job," he said. Shawoosh said that almost any job during college or university would teach students core values of work, such as commitment, time-management and many such skills that are not taught in-class. This work experience can help in graduating students that are more employable and see them find full time work in their field sooner. "Unfortunately, the only difference between high school and college graduates is a couple of textbooks, while skills, mindset and attitudes remain the same," he said. The difference between Saudi Kadir and other employment programs is that his online portal tries to match market needs with graduates' capabilities and close that gap. Since its inception in 2011, Saudi Kadir has been extremely successful in helping thousands of students find part-time jobs. Several part-timers continue working with their employers until they graduate and switch to a full time position with the same company.
