The 2nd day of Counselling Arabia 2010, which is hosted at Dubai Women’s College, featured a variety of sessions on the second based on employment and the Emirati workforce. The sessions discussed bringing together the expectations of the Emirati workforce and the needs of the labour market.
Dr. Georgia Daleure and Dr. Zain Shareef presented a session on Aligning Expectations: UAE National Workforce Expectations vs Needs of the Labor Market where sata from recent studies (HCT and Ministry of Labor) were drawn together showing that the perspectives of UAE nationals are shifting toward being more realistic in realizing the needs of the labor market. Recommendations were given regarding ways that current and future educational programs and experiences can aid UAE nationals in the transition from secondary school through post-secondary education to successful employment.
Speakers May Ibrahim and Chris Jolliffe discussed in their presentation which was addressed in Arabic and English the development and delivery of a new simple career interest guide that assist UAE Nationals in their focus on possible career choices and decisions. The presentation showed the usage of the guide to date with High School pupils, and with Emirati adults who are making vocational and educational decisions. Mention will also be made of the development of the computerized version and the differences in ownership of results achieved between the two versions.
Another session addressed by speaker David Walker tackled the issue of Building an effective UAE Nationals Training Programs.
Topics on Special Needs were also discussed on the second day of the conference including a discussion of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) in young adults and how to use visual strategies with children having special needs.
Dr. Behjat Al Yousuf, DWC Associate Director said “With the aim of promoting excellence and innovation in counselling and career practice, Dubai Women’s College is hosting the Counselling Arabia 2010 conference. The conference will bring together experts in the field to address issues focused on career approach which is currently lacking among students. The conference will also address professional standards and further research in the field of counselling and career development. We expect the outcome of the event to help students make better career choices which will have a positive impact on the community and the country as a whole. “
Hanan Nagi from Transform Coaching, was a keynote speaker based on the topic: What’s keeping you from reaching the top?
Hanan Nagi gave an inspirational presentation encouraging the participants to identify their goals and the barriers to reaching them. Hanan addressed the audience in Arabic and said “The Arab culture and perception of self-worth was my focus and the target audience for my talk was everyone looking for permanent change and anyone looking for personal or professional success. We spoke about limiting inner beliefs that may keep us from reaching success. How can we identify these beliefs and what we can do to turn them into enabling ones.”
DWC evening student, Marwa Safar, Emiratization Manager at Habib Bank AG Zurich expressed her joy while attending the conference and said “Basically I was interested in the seminars offered by the Counselling Arabia conference and thought it’s a great opportunity with huge value that most of us are not aware of. HCT/DWC is doing a great job by bringing the future to us. As an Emiratization Manager I have to refresh my knowledge and know the latest local market best practices as well as the global market.”
The final day of the conference will offer training sessions to all its participants and give them the opportunity to learn new programs and to take a more in depth look at the issues faced in the fields of career counselling, education, academic advising, special needs, social work, human resources, employee development, and career coaching.
