The Career Services Offices in Beirut and Byblos have been trying to identify ways to overcome the unemployment challenge that the country has been facing over the last few months. In this regard, we initiated a partnership with JobTeaser, an international placement platform that allows our students and alumni to apply for job and internship opportunities worldwide.

Since its launch, more than 2,300 LAU students and alumni have started benefiting from the services it offers, from placement opportunities to career events, workshops, and diverse resources. We also partnered with JobsforLebanon, a Lebanese global recruiting platform where the Lebanese diaspora post freelance and full-time opportunities for local talent.

Generation Z is a digitally native generation, so students feel more comfortable attending professional development workshops virtually. Prior to the COVID-19 lockdown, virtual professional development workshops for students were being increasingly used for a number of reasons. First, to reach more viewers from around the world, learn from experienced international speakers at a close-to-zero cost, and to allow students to view the recording, if they had missed it. Therefore, we decided to partner with Localized, an international career guidance platform where students and alumni can attend virtual career fairs and webinars, learn from international experts across industries, and apply for jobs in multinational companies worldwide. Today, we have more than 1,900 students and alumni subscribed to Localized.

The lockdown, coupled with unprecedented health and economic crises, have compelled us to explore new ways of doing things, from meetings to classes and including career advising sessions and professional development events. As we continue to motivate students to invest in their future careers, we feel that they, too, are increasingly aware that this has become a crucial component of their learning process: to face up to a globalized, dynamic and fast-moving world.