The study said that more than half (53%) of UAE’s top executives in leadership positions were reevaluating their priorities. Concerns like mental health and lack of family time may also force these professionals to resign from their jobs and quit leadership positions.

In the past 12 months, over nine out of 10 (94%) of the UAE’s top executives have displayed signs of poor mental health, according to the report.

“One in five people (20%) reported burnout, 24% said they had “low mood feelings of sadness and anxiety,” and 22% said they had no energy. In addition, 20% of people have also battled rage, mood swings, and burnout.

Additionally, executives cope with “daily worries” such as family stress (23%), changes to COVID management practices (22%), and personal financial security (26%).

More than half of the participants surveyed stated that their businesses hadn’t implemented flexible work policies. Nearly 20% of the women who took a leave from their jobs due to a lack of flexibility claimed that this impeded their professional advancement. They are less willing to work for organizations that don’t provide flexibility.

Around 37% of Middle Eastern women claimed that a flexible work routine might significantly enhance their mental health.

The report also saw a similar parallel among the high-net-worth (HNW) individuals in Hong Kong.

While these business leaders are eyeing new opportunities, 38% (including 37% of the company CEOs) of them are planning to make a major career change within 2023.

The study also cited some 13% of CEOs planning to relocate out of the city or migrate to another country or city (some 10% of surveyed professionals are interested in this option).

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• 13% of people said they feared being fired from their position. This is hardly surprising given the recovering state of the job market. With competition for employment fierce it’s no wonder that people are desperate to hang on to their pay cheque.

• Another 13% feared that they would fail. Whether it’s giving a big presentation to your boss or a performance review, we all hate the idea of doing any less than our best. No doubt many people’s fear of failing is coupled with their dread of being fired.

• One in 10 people feared the overwhelming anxiety of dealing with too many tasks. It’s tempting to be a ‘yes’ person in order to impress, especially in a new job, but taking on too much can have its negative impact in the long run.

• 8% feared confrontation. No one wants to be a bother, particularly in the workplace where everyone is busy. But rather than addressing our issues directly, we stick to being ‘nice’ and complain to someone else instead, which of course solves nothing.

• Finally, 6% feared that they wouldn’t fit in with their colleagues. No one likes being rejected or left out, but striking a balance between making friends with the people around you and not turning into someone you’re not can be tricky.

Steve Thompson, managing director of Forward Role, says, “We all have goals and dreams that we want to accomplish in our professional lives, but the fear of failure is often what holds us back from achieving those goals. We are so afraid to push the boundaries and reach for them because what if we don’t? It’s all about your mindset. It won’t happen overnight, but learning to look at your ‘failures’ as a stepping stone towards success rather than a reason to give up will help you far more in the long run.”

Michael Foote, founder of Quote Goat, had an unorthodox yet effective approach to quashing one of his fears. “I, like the majority of people, had a fear of public speaking. I always find the best way to deal with an issue is to confront it head on. My approach to this fear of speaking publicly was to apply to go on national television and speak live on a BBC programme. Speaking to such a large audience on TV helped to put presenting and speaking to smaller audiences into perspective. I no longer worry about speaking in public.”

David Ingram, managing director of Bring Digital, has some words of wisdom on dealing with colleagues. “Working with others is a fundamental part of any career, no matter what industry you are in. But your desire to be liked shouldn’t come above everything else; you’re here to do a job, after all. We’re not saying be aggressive and difficult to work with – that behaviour usually ends up getting you in trouble – but don’t be afraid to be assertive and get the job done. You’ll win more respect that way and progress further.”

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Even though Google has pointed out that the data does not present a true picture considering that only around 1,200 of its 60,000 employees may have participated; it did not take into account location of employees, performance and whether the employees are in tech position, the company is facing intense scrutiny of its HR practices.

There is a perception that women are paid less than men in every sector. In the Information Technology sector, the number of women in tech jobs is perceived to be less than men. Recently, Google fired a computer engineer James Damore for ‘perpetuating gender stereotypes’. Damore had written and distributed a document which said the yawning gap in jobs and pay for male and female computer experts is partly due to biological causes such as ‘men’s higher drive for status’ and women being ‘more prone to anxiety’ rather than any biases.

The company was just about picking up the threads when the NYT came out with its article on pay disparity among female and male employees.

With the kind of profile Google enjoys on the global stage, the debate is not likely to die down soon. At the same time, the company is often cited as one of the best places to work. So, what could be the reason for having a fewer number of women in tech jobs.

This is a common trend across the tech sector. Do fewer women opt for tech education?
Some answers could be found in a survey of more than 1,000 university students, conducted by KPMG and independent market research company High Fliers. The findings reveal that young women face a crisis in confidence with regards to their digital skills.

The poll found that only 37% of young women are confident they have the tech skills needed by today’s employers, compared with 57% of young men. This is despite scoring on a par with their male counterparts when assessed on digital skills such as data manipulation and use of social media.

There is evidence that this lack of confidence could be putting many young women off applying for jobs: 73% of female respondents said they have not considered a graduate job in technology.

Here are some findings of the survey:

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• 28 percent of workers say they hate or tolerate their job, primarily stay because of bills, proximity to home, and insurance need
• 38 percent of workers who feel they have just a job, not a career, are likely to change jobs in the back half of 2017
• CareerBuilder CHRO provides five basic tips all job seekers need to know
• Hiring managers have seen it all and share their most unique and over the top things that candidates have done to get noticed

With 6.2 million job openings, and 7 million unemployed1, it’s never been more important for job seekers to stay one step ahead of the competition. More than half of U.S. workers (55 percent) feel they have just a job, not a career, and 38 percent of these workers are likely to change jobs in the back half of 2017, according to CareerBuilder’s latest survey.

Almost three in 10 workers (28 percent) tolerate or hate their job. Of those who tolerate or hate their job, some of the top reasons for staying in a current position are the need to pay the bills (74 percent), its proximity to home (41 percent), needing the insurance (35 percent), it pays well (30 percent), or the job market is too tough (27 percent).

The national survey, which was conducted online by Harris Poll on behalf of CareerBuilder from May 24 to June 16, 2017, included representative samples of 2,369 full-time employers and 3,462 full-time U.S. workers across industries and company sizes in the private sector.

“Unfortunately, more than half of workers feel they have just a job, not a career, and almost three in 10 say they dislike their job,” said Rosemary Haefner, chief human resources officer at CareerBuilder. “When workers don’t enjoy what they are doing, they are more inclined to pursue other options, and there are many routes for them to take as the U.S. continues to add jobs. Arming themselves with what employers are looking for will help job seekers stand out from the competition — ultimately landing a new opportunity that will be more personally rewarding for them.”

Here’s What Employers Are Really Looking For
To get the right attention from a hiring manager, job seekers should stay away from crazy stunts and keep it simple. Haefner shares five tips that every worker needs to remember when hunting for a new gig.

1. Customize your application and resume for the job. Approximately a third of employers review resumes for less than one minute (32 percent), but 49 percent of employers say they would pay more attention to job applications with a resume customized for the open position. Take the time to personalize — it might just get you to the next round.
2. Review your references. Think through your references – pick colleagues who can speak to your strengths. More than half of employers (51 percent) say that a candidate’s reference has not given positive feedback about the candidate, and 54 percent have changed their mind about a candidate after speaking with a reference.
3. Tell the truth. More than half of employers (55 percent) have caught a lie on a resume, and over a third (39 percent) have caught someone providing a fake reference. The truth is always your best bet.
   Provide your profiles. Seventy percent of employers use social media to screen candidates — and 57 percent of employers are less likely to interview a candidate they cannot find online.2 Do their work for them by providing handles to your online portfolio, website and social media handles — just be sure you are presenting a professional image.
4. Prepare for the interview. So you got the interview — congrats, but the work does not stop there. Fifty-nine percent of employers said asking good questions in the interview is important to them when considering a candidate for a job, and 48 percent said it was important to come to an interview prepared with ideas.

   Be Remembered for the Right Reasons

   Hiring managers gave the following examples of unusual tactics job seekers used to stand out:

• Candidate gave the hiring manager a baseball that read: “This is my best pitch of why you should hire me.”
• Candidate sent the hiring manager daisies with a note that said “Pick me, pick me.”
• Candidate brought their mother to the interview as an in-person character reference.
• Candidate developed a whole website dedicated to the hiring manager, asking to be hired.
• Candidate hugged the hiring manager when introduced instead of shaking hands.
• Candidate got up from interview and started waiting on customers because the business got busy.
• Hiring manager had a candidate volunteer to work at the business for a month before submitting an application to show that she was able to do the job.
• Candidate presented a thick scrapbook of certificates, awards and letters.
• Candidate sent a Christmas card every year for three years.
• Candidate sent a cake with their resume printed on it.

Stunts can have a negative impact on your chances of getting the job — more than a quarter of employers (26 percent) say unusual attention seeking antics from job seekers would make them less likely to call a candidate in for an interview.

Survey Methodology
This survey was conducted online within the U.S. by Harris Poll on behalf of CareerBuilder among 2,369 hiring and human resource managers ages 18 and over (employed full-time, not self-employed, non-government) and 3,462 employees ages 18 and over (employed full-time, not self-employed, non-government) between May 24 and June 16, 2017 (percentages for some questions are based on a subset, based on their responses to certain questions). With pure probability samples of 2,369 and 3,462, one could say with a 95 percent probability that the overall results have sampling errors of +/- 2.01 and +/- 1.67 percentage points, respectively. Sampling error for data from sub-samples is higher and varies.

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It’s important that fresh graduates pick the right opportunity that will work for them in the long-term. Those career goals can become swiftly eschewed by early missteps.Therefore, choosing the right first job can require some tough decision making.

A first job that enables graduates to work in the sector that they’ve been studying while bringing them various advantages that would otherwise take years to achievewas once a rarity. Now,Request For Proposal (RFP), or proposal writing,does exactly that.

RFP writing gives a 360-degree view of a company’s business, products and services while also allowing those in the role to hone writing and communication skills. This makes it a valuable first job that not only builds skills vital to business success; it also is a rewarding long-term career, especially for finance graduates.

A global viewpoint

Thanks to the nature of the job, in a short time, proposal writers learn more about their organisation and industry than those who spend years in their roles. Proposal team members are responsible for working with subject matter experts (SMEs) across the organisation to gather the most relevant and up-to-date information to include in RFPs and proposals. Thus, they are exposed to the deal making process that is critical to winning new business, allowing them to gain expertise over a shorter amount time than in the majority of other roles.

Consorting with the C-suite

A graduate will quickly gain exposure to senior management. Not only are proposal writers in close touch with SMEs across the organisation, they have direct access to VP and director-level executives who are involved in the RFP process, opening the doors to a number of opportunities.

For example, a junior proposal writer has the unique opportunity to build relationships and prove her worth to the decision makers at her company while her peers at other organisations might be stuck in entry-level jobs without any access to the executive team.

Hero status

As a graduate, your work will have a significant impact on the organisation’s bottom line. It is rare for entry-level position, but proposal team members are knee-deep in creating the documents critical to winning multi-million-dollar deals, which can lead to higher job satisfaction and inspire individuals to consider long careers in this role.

It’s both a career path and a career. Company and industry expertise, senior-level face time, and having a hand in driving revenue all translate into setting up proposal managers to succeed in many different roles with a company. While many will – and should – make a career out of proposal writing, after several years in the job, employees are well qualified for other roles in marketing, sales, consulting, training, content management, and operations, among others.

Whether looking to build a resume or start a lifelong career, proposal writing is a great position
to hold.

Lewis Miller is the CEO of Qvidian

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