Business
Our guests today are Abdul Rahman Risilia and Muhamman Aly from Simply Digital, a Dubai-based recruitment agency specializing in hiring for the digital and tech spaces. Simply Digital is a subsidiary of the well-known Mackenzie Jones. Topics Covered What is the state of the digital and tech job market in 2017? What are the main differences with regards to hiring in this region as opposed to more mature markets? What are the main challenges faced by employers and candidates? How do local candidates compare to international? Who do you look for when hiring for digital and tech? Shady recruiting agencies and deceptive practicies Which industries are doing the most hiring in this region for digital and tech jobs? Hot roles in the digital and tech spaces in 2017 The unrealistic expectations of employers Why employers need to look at recruiting agencies as partners and trusted advisors How to get a recruiter's attention when applying for jobs The role of recruitment agencies in educating the market on trends in the digital and tech landscape The importance of building community in the digital and tech spaces Time Stamped Show Notes [00:30] Our guests today are Abdul Rahman Risilia and Muhammad Aly from Simply Digital, a recruitment agency in the UAE specializing in the digital marketing space. [00:40] Our topic today is the UAE job market for digital and tech related jobs. [01:00] Abdul Rahman's been in recruitment for over 15 years over multiple industries and agency types. [01:21] Simply Digital is a subsidiary of Mackenzie Jones Recruiting. [01:30] Last year they worked as part of Mackenzie Jones but realized it was difficult to break away from the perception that it is a corporate HR & Finance recruiting specialist. [01:50] To solve this, Abdul Rahman and Muhammad pitched creating a separate entity positioned as a digital marketing recruitment specialist. [02:15] Muhammad's been in recruiting for around 6 years and specializes in the digital space. [03:00] There are two main differences in recruiting for digital and tech in this region vs. internationally. [03:15] The digital and tech spaces are in their infancy in this region, so not many people know how it should be implemented. [03:40] The timelines, sales cycles and decision-making in this region are much slower. [04:00] Some segments of the digital and tech spaces, and some industries, are progressing faster than others so there's no uniform growth. [04:30] Over the next year or so things will become easier for recruiters and candidates as more people will digital skillsets enter the market. [05:00] On the client side of recruiting employers have a general idea of what they need in digital roles but don't fully grasp the job requirements, what skillsets are required, where they go in the organization etc. [06:00] Simply Digital does a lot of work to educate clients about their needs and what would work best for them. [06:14] They try to develop trust with the clients as advisors and not just recruiters. [06:34] It's the same problem faced by agencies, when they create and promote campaigns for clients. [07:00] Some employers in this region only want to hire people with industry experience and that limits their options. [08:00] Ubrik's own employees don't have a digital background because the skillsets can be learned and the digital landscape is evolving constantly. [08:30] Ubrik focuses on hiring for the right attitude and a general grasp of digital concepts. [09:20] Candidates coming from a more mature international market (North America, Europe, Australia) face special challenges [09:30] Sometimes told that they are too senior for a role. [09:40] Rejections because they don't have industry experience. [09:55] Some settle into a job but then find out the responsibilities are not what they were initially hired for. [11:10] Some employers want their hires to fit into their idea of the role rather than letting them use their skills to do more advanced work. [11:50] These employees will feel that there won't be career growth in such roles and end up leaving. [11:56] It's challenging to find local talent because prospective international hires have been operating in a more mature market for longer. [12:20] International hires can add a lot of value to this region. [12:55] A digital marketing manager from the U.S./U.S. will be better equipped than a digital marketing manager from this region is the latter only has experience working in this region. [13:05] Not every client can afford to relocate an international hire, so that's where local talent becomes much more appealing. [13:20] Shady recruiting agencies engage in deceptive practices when advertising for jobs. [14:00] Abdul Rahman says this is a common problem with recruiting all over the World - it's his job to do things better. [14:40] Some recruiting agencies set up shop without any experience or knowledge of the industry they operate in. [15:20] 10-15 years ago you would have needed 10-15 years of experience recruiting before you started your own agency. [15:50] Now, with 2-3 years experience recruiters think, "I can do this myself instead of working for someone else." [16:00] It's not difficult to start an agency but most of them go bust in 2-3 years. [17:10] When hiring for digital there are few recruiters who know the space well enough to have credibility. [17:24] Many of Simply Digital's clients end up offering Muhammad a job because he's one of the few recruiters that do have a deep understanding of the digital landscape. [17:48] A HR, Oil & Gas or Finance recruiter can't recruit for digital because they don't know the space well enough. [18:50] Hot digital roles right now - UI/UX designers, product designers, front-end developers, digital marketing managers and social media specialists (junior roles.) [20:20] Clients want unicorns - Arabic speakers with perfect English from specific universities and special certifications. [21:20] A lot of marketing agencies are looking for Account Managers. [21:45] There is big demand for content marketers. [22:30] In most mature markets the banking sector is the biggest hiring machine for digital, but in this region the banking sector has a lot of catching up to do. [23:10] Simply Digital does a lot of work for retail FMCG and agencies. [24:00] Some agencies and clients do understand UI/UX design but in general there is a lot of education required. [25:00] There is not much hiring going on in the startup space but there is potential. [25:30] In Austrialia, Abdul Rahman says around 85% of clients are startups. Over here, less than 10% of Simply Digital's business is from startups. [25:55] Abdul Rahman thinks the UAE is around 5 years behind mature markets in the digital and tech spaces. [26:25] When a recruiter sees you've applied for several roles with hugely different skillsets, it's a turn-off and they are less likely to contact you. [27:15] Apply for one role, and follow up with an email and phone call. [27:35] Make sure your portfolio is clearly provided via URL or attachment. [27:50] For digital hiring don't care about your resume, we care about what you can do. [28:35] If you're applying for a content marketing job you better a content creator and have an active social media presence. [28:55] Show us results, show us a report from one of your campaigns. [29:30] Digital marketing is highly measurable so there's no excuse for not having numbers to back up your resume. [29:50] Employers have totally unrealistic expectations with job requirements for digital hires [30:30] Serial appliers - applying for digital marketing roles, sales roles, finance roles etc. [31:00] On the client side the important thing is creating a partnership with recruiting agencies [31:10] Do the research internally, then talk to the agencies - test them. [31:20] Are they credible? Then trust their advice. [31:40] Agencies want to find you the best possible hires over the long term. [31:50] They want to commit to you and they want you to commit to them. [32:30] If more clients viewed the recruiting agencies as advisors and partners, the agencies would take their jobs much more seriously and dedicate more resources to a client. [33:40] Recruiting in 2017 has been busy so far but it has been slow at times. [34:00] The second half of 2017 should pick up, moving towards a very exciting 2018 for digital and tech in the UAE. [34:20] The key is education - Simply Digital is partnering with Astrolabs and Glass Qube to offer thought leadership workshops [34:40] They want to educate employers and prospects about the development of different verticals in the digital landscape. [35:00] The UAE and the region in general have huge potential for developing the digital and tech spaces. [36:00] More opportunities for networking and learning need to be created to foster a sense of community in the digital and tech spaces. [37:00] As the market matures and employers become more knowledgeable, more of the right roles will start to appear. [38:00] Check out Simply Digital's website - simplydigital.ae - where you can look for jobs and sign up for their newsletter to receive announcements on new jobs and events. Thanks for listening Please subscribe and leave us a rating and review on iTunes. Click here to do that.