How social media can help or ruin your career?

Tech savvy or not, chances are you have at least one account on one of the major social media networks; namely Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin and Google+. And while these fairly new communication channels have opened doors for young professionals to search for jobs and get noticed; they have likewise made it easier for employers to investigate candidates.

Invisible weapon for disxcrimination

It's not professional for hiring personnel to judge you based on your facebook account for sure, but you can't prevent it from happening. We are humans in the end, and your future boss might not even admit it to him/her self but the way you put yourself out there on social networks might indeed affect their decision when it comes to hiring you.

One particularly interesting study in the US revealed discrimination among a certain type of employers where religion background and sexual orientation as listed on fake social media profiles caused apparent discrimination. For instance, applicants who indicated they are Muslim were not selected as opposed to their Christian counterpart who had the same exact qualifications. Luckily, the entire thing was fake.

While we don't endorse racism, drug use or lying; which are main reasons found for employers not hiring potential candidates, we strongly recommend that you routinely re-visit your privacy settings on facebook, Twitter and Google+ to avoid being misjudged or discriminated by anyone.

But even after you do that, keep in mind that information about you is still out there for friends and acquaintances to read and share with others with or without your permission.

As for Twitter, your tweets are public. Make sure you mean what you say in those 140 characters.

Utilize social media for your benefit

When used smartly; Social Media can help you develop your career and land a great job. Here are a few tips to help you:

1.      Be Engaged

Follow companies in your field on LinkedIn and Twitter to engage in related discussions and be notified about their news and new job openings. “Like” companies you’re interested in but don't stop at that; it's important to participate in conversations about the industry and profession on Facebook. It's a great way to show your expertise and value to potential employers and colleagues.

2. Be the expert

Offer help to others by answering questions, making introductions, and linking to valuable interesting content. You will lose a lot if you're only looking for personal gain. If you regularly answer questions on LinkedIn and provide links to high quality content on Facebook and Twitter, you are building a strong personal brand for yourself.

3.   Search For Jobs

Don't leave a virtual stone unturned looking for the right job. Many Websites like Bayt, Dubizle,, 

Akhtaboot and others. They provide access to thousands of job opportunities for everyone. But don't 

stop at job portals; improve your chances by looking for jobs on company Twitter feeds, on their 

Facebook pages, and Linkedin job search.

4.   Make A Plan

Making sporadic efforts to develop your career or search for a job is not going to help you. It's important to have a real plan; one that is not only in your mind. Make it as realistic and achievable as possible. If you're currently looking for a job, try to focus on that. For example, plan on building your profile on Linkedin one day, joining groups on another and following key accounts on Twitter on a third. You'll waste too time and not accomplish much if you're not organized and disciplined.

Courtesy : Bayt.com

Policy update on new visa after expiry of Exit Re-Entry Visa

A lot of expats are asking about the procedures and updates on new visa expiry of exit re-entry visa, whether they can return to Saudi Arabia on new visa once they leave through exit visa which expires right after that or otherwise. Based on the experiences of blog readers as well as news sources, you shall be enlighten with this query. Basically, it is significant to note that this article centers on emigrants working on the employment visa.

Once the exit re-entry visa of a dependent elapses, the sponsor can then request for the extension of exit re-entry visa. However, if the requirements for extension are not met by the dependent, Iqamas/Muqeems can be cancelled and a new visa should be applied for. As stipulated in Decision No. 825, issued in 1935 (equivalent of Gregorian 1975), emigrants will be fined SR10,000, as well as will be banned for 3 years from re-entering the Kingdom, if they “violate” their contract. Such “violation” refers to expatriates who go to a vacation but don’t return anymore. On the other hand, sorting to other GCC countries on work visa won’t be a problem. Hajj and Umrah Visa are not included if one is banned for any period. Thus, coming back to the Kingdom through them is still possible.

3-Year Ban for Violating Re-entry Visa

Also, if an expatriate departs on exit re-entry visa and does not return to the Kingdom within the visa’s validity, he will be prohibited to enter the country for 3 years. Visa might be processed, but the immigration personnel would not allow him to enter.“Expats who leave Saudi Arabia on re-entry visas and fail to return before their expiry will be banned from re-entering the Kingdom for 3 years, the Passport Department has clarified. Col. Mohammed Al-Saad, director of public relations, said this while responding to queries of employers willing to employ those expats who left the Kingdom on re-entry visas but did not return before their expiry. The ban period will begin from the invalidity of exit re-entry visa.     

The measure was taken to stabilize the labor market. “It’s part of the residency law and is meant to prevent workers from switching jobs using these visas,”If your Kafeel has complained against you to the Ministry of Interior, then only can the fine and ban be imposed. It is just appalling that there is no system to verify if it is reported or not. Your luck will be tried if you intend to enter KSA after exit re-entry visa. You can re-enter KSA on a new visa after your iqama expires if there is no report against you in the said Ministry. However, this is a personal perspective.

Share and let other Saudi expats know about the update on entering KSA after Expiry of Exit Re-Entry Visa.

**Story of Appreciation**

Translated from Chinese.

This is a powerful message in our modern society. We seemed to have lost our bearing & our sense of direction.


**Story of Appreciation**

One young academically excellent person went to apply for a managerial position in a big company.

He passed the first interview, the director did the last interview, made
the last decision.

The director discovered from the CV that the youth's academic
achievements were excellent all the way, from the secondary school until the postgraduate research, never had a year when he did not score.

The director asked, "Did you obtain any scholarships in school?" the
youth answered "none".

The director asked, " Was it your father who paid for your school fees?" The youth answered, "My father passed away when I was one year old, it was my mother who paid for my school fees.

The director asked, " Where did your mother work?" The youth answered, "My mother worked as clothes cleaner. The director requested the youth to show his hands. The youth showed a pair of hands that were smooth and perfect.

The director asked, " Have you ever helped your mother wash the clothes
before?" The youth answered, "Never, my mother always wanted me to study and read more books. Furthermore, my mother can wash clothes faster than me.

The director said, "I have a request. When you go back today, go and
clean your mother's hands, and then see me tomorrow morning.*

The youth felt that his chance of landing the job was high. When he went back, he happily requested his mother to let him clean her hands. His
mother felt strange, happy but with mixed feelings, she showed her hands to the kid.

The youth cleaned his mother's hands slowly. His tear fell as he did
that. It was the first time he noticed that his mother's hands were so wrinkled, and there were so many bruises in her hands. Some bruises were so painful that his mother
shivered when they were cleaned with water.

This was the first time the youth realized that it was this pair of hands that washed the clothes everyday to enable him to pay the school fee. The bruises in the mother's hands were the price that the mother had to pay for his
graduation, academic excellence and his future.

After finishing the cleaning of his mother hands, the youth quietly washed all the remaining clothes for his mother.

That night, mother and son talked for a very long time.

Next morning, the youth went to the director's office.

The Director noticed the tears in the youth's eyes, asked: " Can you tell me
what have you done and learned yesterday in your house?"

The youth answered, " I cleaned my mother's hand, and also finished
cleaning all the remaining clothes'

The Director asked, " please tell me your feelings."

The youth said, Number 1, I know now what is appreciation. Without my mother, there would not the successful me today. Number 2, by working together and helping
my mother, only I now realize how difficult and tough it is to get something done. Number 3, I have come to appreciate the importance and value of family relationship.

The director said, " This is what I am looking for to be my manager.
I want to recruit a person who can appreciate the help of others, a person who knows the sufferings of
others to get things done, and a person who would not put money as his only goal in life. You are hired.

Later on, this young person worked very hard, and received the respect of his subordinates. Every employee worked diligently and as a team. The company's performance improved tremendously.

A child, who has been protected and habitually given whatever he wanted, would develop "entitlement mentality" and would always put himself first. He would be ignorant of his parent's efforts. When he starts work, he assumes that every person must listen to him, and when he becomes a manager, he would never know the sufferings of his employees and would always blame others. For this kind of people, who may be good academically, may be successful for a while, but eventually would not feel sense of achievement. He will grumble and be full of hatred and fight for more. If we are this kind of protective parents, are we really showing love or are we destroying the kid instead?*

You can let your kid live in a big house, eat a good meal, learn piano, watch a big screen TV. But when you are cutting grass, please let them experience it. After a meal, let them wash their plates and bowls together with their brothers and sisters. It is not because you do not have money to hire a maid, but it is because you want to love them in a right way. You want them to understand, no matter how rich their parents are, one day their hair will grow gray, same as the mother of that young person. The most important thing is your kid learns how to appreciate the effort and experience the difficulty and learns the ability to work with others to get things done.

You would have forwarded many mails to many and many of them would have back mailed you too...but try and forward this story to as many as possible...this may change somebody's fate...

End of Service Benefit in Saudi Arabia

The best thing for expatriates working in Saudi Arabia, apart from a tax-free salary, is the provision of End of Service Benefits (ESB) in the Saudi Labor Law :) I have been getting frequent requests for clarifications on this, and hence decided to write an exclusive post on the same.

Nothing more can cause a bigger worry for an expatriate who has decided to leave for good, than the thought of financial insecurity, atleast in the short run. Unless people have a job ready for them as soon as they leave the kingdom, the prospect of being unemployed is truly frightening, particularly in this age of global recession. For those expatriates who have worked in Saudi Arabia for quite a long time, the biggest question before them is: What Next? End of Service Benefits offers some kind of comfort to expatriates, once they have completed their term in the kingdom.

Article 84 of the Labor Law has explicitly stated the benefits to be paid for the expatriates. It is proportional to the number of years he or she has stayed with a particular sponsor. So, for the first five years of service, an expatriate is entitled to receive half a month's pay for each year of service, and one month's pay for each subsequent year of service. Note that this is in case of completion of the contract by the expatriate. Calculation of ESB is based on the last wage a person has earned and includes all allowances. However, these allowances do not include wage components such as sales commissions, sales percentages, etc., because they cannot be accurately determined :-B

There are certain exceptions, though. If an expatriate has resigned within the first two years of service, he is not entitled to any ESB. If he has resigned between two to five years of continuous service, he is entitled to one third of the salary. If he has resigned between five years upto ten years of continuous service, he is entitled to two thirds of the salary and to a full salary, beyond 10 years of continuous service. Again, the definition of "salary" here includes basic pay plus all the allowances, excluding of course, certain exceptions such as sales commissions, etc., as mentioned earlier. In all cases, the last salary drawn is the basis for calculations.

In case the expatriate has to leave due to Force Majeure conditions, he is entitled to a full salary. Force Majeure has been well-defined and in short, it relates to uncontrollable situations such as War, Earthquake, etc.

In case of female workers, Article 87 of the labor law has given some additional benefits. If a female worker leaves the job within six months after her marriage or within three months after she gives birth to a child, she is entitled for full salary benefits.

Hope you found the above information useful. Ignorance isn't bliss, sometimes it could be dangerous not to know your entitlements :)

Happy Retirement……..