State-owned firms most popular among Qatari jobseekers; QP, QF and Qatar Airways most sought after

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Qatar’s leading state-owned firms have dominated a list of most sought after employers among Qatari students, a talent survey by international employment research company Universum has revealed.

Hundreds of university students participated in the survey and majority listed Qatar Airways, Qatar Petroleum and Qatar Foundation as their ideal employers.

The findings show that Qatar’s domestic employers remain widely favoured by its emerging talent pool. In contrast, in other Middle East countries, students saw international firms and overseas postings as highly desirable.

Qatar was one of six countries surveyed as part of the Middle East Talent Survey 2016. Conducted over six months, the research uncovers university students’ attitudes about employers and what drives their career decisionmaking.

Claudia Tattanelli, Chairman, Strategic Advisory Board, Universum, said: “The findings are very positive for the Qatari government’s aim to retain the best talent domestically.

While many Middle Eastern countries face fierce competition from multinationals that can offer the opportunity for overseas travel and postings, our findings suggest that Qatari firms will have first choice of the country’s emerging talent pool,” Tattanelli added.

Its Qatar survey gathered responses from 401 male and female students in five universities throughout the country. Majority of the respondents were studying banking, commerce, engineering or IT.

Asked what they looked for most in their future careers, majority of respondents across degree subjects said they sought a job that provides professional training and development.

High future earnings was the top preference among male respondents, specifically, while an innovative employer was a leading preference among engineering and IT students.

When selecting their favoured career industries, more than 40 percent of business and commerce students chose the banking sector.

Professional services was the next most sought after career path, while media and advertising tumbled from 30 percent in 2015 to 14 percent in this year’s survey.

Qatar Airways was the employer of choice among business and commerce students, followed by Qatar Foundation, Google and Qatar Petroleum.

Turning to the career goals of engineering and IT students, the aim to have work/life balance retained its top spot from the previous year’s survey.

The need for job security and international travel also ranked in this year’s top three, while the goal to manage a team fell from second in 2015 to sixth most important in 2016.

Qatar Petroleum remained in the top spot as respondents’ ideal employer, while Google climbed four places from last year’s survey to take second place, ahead of Qatar Foundation and Qatar Airways. (Source)