Many young people in Qatar are finding it challenging to secure their first jobs after graduating from university, a new report has found.

While “very satisfied” with the quality of their higher education, about half of Qatar-based respondents recently polled by Bayt.com and YouGov percent said finding employment was “very difficult” or “difficult.”

Despite this, many in Qatar were more optimistic than their regional peers about finding jobs, according to the 2016 Fresh Graduates in the Middle East and North Africa Survey.

Elsewhere in the Gulf, some 68 percent of those surveyed in Bahrain said finding jobs would be very difficult or difficult.

In Kuwait, it was 60 percent; Oman, 62 percent; Saudi Arabia, 58 percent; and the UAE, 55 percent.

Lack of experience

When asked what difficulties they encountered in the job market, 52 percent of Qatar grads cited lack of experience as the biggest issue.

Conversely, respondents said this probably made them more attractive to employers. Those polled said they believed companies like to hire new grads because they:

• Have lower salary expectations (47 percent);
• Are compliant and willing to follow instructions (39 percent);
• Are able to handle more challenges (35 percent); and
• Are more creative (28 percent).

In addition to lack of experience, 34 percent surveyed said difficulties included not being about how to effectively search for jobs, and 28 percent said they didn’t know where to find relevant jobs.

The report comes after online job postings in Qatar took a tumble in the past year, amid a cutback in professional positions due to low oil prices and budget cuts.

Commenting on the findings of the survey, Suhail Masri, VP of employer solutions at Bayt.com, said:

“In today’s economic climate, it is important for both prospective employees and employers to be aware of the solutions to finding and creating jobs.

When it comes to securing their first job, it would be pertinent for those still in university and fresh graduates to take advantage of internships to gain at least some experience before entering the workforce.”

The survey took into account the responses of 4,247 fresh graduates from UAE, KSA, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Bahrain, Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Egypt, Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia. All responses were collected online in May.

Passions

When it came to the hunt itself, fresh graduates in Qatar cited finding “a job I feel passionate about” as the most important factor (39 percent).

This was followed by the brand value of an organization at 16 percent, and competitive salaries at 15 percent.

This was the lowest in the Gulf, with 46 percent of respondents in Kuwait and 40 percent in Saudi, the UAE and Oman saying this was the most important factor.

Fresh graduates in Qatar are also a practical lot, the Bayt.com survey has revealed.

In spite of what many see as a “negative outlook,” 34 percent said they will keep looking until they find a job in their industry of choice.

But 26 percent of the sample said they were willing to look for a job in another industry, and 21 percent said that they will take any job.

Are you having trouble finding somewhere to work? Thoughts?