Job Fair Connects Students of 2 Iraqi Universities to Potential Jobs

May 16, 2022

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Job Fair Connects Students of 2 Iraqi Universities to Potential Jobs — The job fair was held at the University of Mosul in cooperation with the University of Nineveh and Expertise France, the French international technical cooperation agency.

Some 45 local and foreign companies participated in a recent job fair held by two Iraqi universities to help their graduates find suitable employment.

The 2022 Youth Job Fair was held at the University of Mosul, in cooperation with the University of Nineveh and Expertise France. Both universities are in northern Iraq’s Nineveh Province, where the unemployment rate is about 40 percent, according to news reports.

The job fair came at the conclusion of the “Yanhad” Project (Arabic for “to recover”), an initiative supported by Expertise France, the European Union, and the French Development Agency.

Attended by the project’s graduates and other young graduates of the two universities, the job fair’s opening ceremony took place in the recently-restored great theater of the University of Mosul.

The fair was then held in the gardens of the College of Education for Pure Sciences at the University of Mosul, where students had opportunities to connect with potential employers.

Enhancing Skills for the Labour Market

The University of Mosul said that the events, held through the university’s Career Development Center, included discussion panels and training workshops for students, on more than one campus simultaneously.

The workshops sought to enhance and develop students’ skills for a better career future, and better prepare them for the labour market.

“The university is also working to enhance students’ experiences, especially their digital skills, as they represent the future of jobs.”

Wissam Khazaal Director of the Career Development Center at the University of Mosul

In addition to soft skills (such as communication, negotiation, and problem-solving skills), students got training on how to improve their language, computer, and entrepreneurship skills, said Wissam Khazaal, director of the Career Development Center.

The University of Mosul is working on several other activities to help students integrate into the labour market, Khazaal told Al-Fanar Media. These include building partnerships with private-sector companies to secure internships for students.

The requirements of the labour market are changing, Khazaal said, and the university is keen to provide its graduates with the best skills for adapting to those needs.

“The university is also working to enhance students’ experiences, especially their digital skills, as they represent the future of jobs,” he added.

Yanhad Project

On its website, the Yanhad Project says it aims to support students of the Universities of Mosul and Nineveh by improving their access to career guidance services and encouraging opportunities for professional work experience and civic engagement.

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It is also expanding a partnership between Mosul and Nineveh Universities and a major institution for adult education, the Conservatoire National des Arts et Métiers (CNAM).

The project also supports these universities’ ability to promote knowledge sharing, intercommunity dialogue, social cohesion, and tolerance.