around 80 Saudi students met up with representatives of leading German companies such as Siemens Ltd., MAN Diesel & Turbo Saudia Arabia LLC, DETASAD and Bauer Spezialtiefbau GmbH in Frankfurt to discuss job and internship opportunities offered by German enterprises in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The direct exchange between Saudi students and German companies was initiated by the German-Saudi Arabian Liaison Office for Economic Affairs (GESALO) and the hosting Frankfurt Chamber of Commerce.
The fellows, supported by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, were offered a very special possibility: in individual interviews with the company’s representatives, the participants got not only the chance to submit their CVs, but also discussed career opportunities and future job prospects. The Saudi students convinced the business representatives especially with their language skills. If German is generally known to be a difficult language, the participants brilliantly managed the presentations and interviews, which were held exclusively in German. “It was deeply impressive to see how enthusiastically the students get along with the challenges in a foreign country with a different educational system and bilingual lectures in German and English,” outlined the event organizer Shaden Altoukhi, Government Relations Officer of GESALO.
Also Oliver Oehms, the Delegate of German Industry & Commerce for Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Yemen, was very enthusiastic: „I was impressed by the level of professionalism and commitment of the young Saudi students and graduates. In my eyes, the Kingdom is very wisely investing in the potential of its citizens. I felt they are all keen to contribute to the achievement of the Saudi Vision 2030. We will definitely intensify our efforts to bridge between the German-trained students and the German business community. This is worth any effort from our end.”
In the presence of representatives of the Embassy of Saudi Arabia to Germany the event was underlined as a great success and an important signal for the future. In this context, GESALO is currently working on the implementation of a job portal of German companies in Saudi Arabia, so called “JobXchange”. Prospective Saudi talents can get information about job and internship opportunities offered by German companies in Saudi Arabia and can publish their CV to present themselves to German enterprises. “JobXchange” is expected to be launched in early October 2017 and will be available on the GESALO website (www.saudiarabien.ahk.de) to strengthen the German-Saudi relations on the labor market and provide young Saudi professionals an oppoturnity to start and their career in reputbale German companies.