While the Covid-19 crisis still has most of the world under strict lockdowns, the YES alumni decided to use this time as an opportunity to enhance their professional development. So, the YES alumni are attending the webinar series, “Building One’s Employability Skills,” with the first two workshops held in late April. The goal of the webinar series is to help the YES alumni stand out in the job market, and to demonstrate that they used this time in lockdown to work on their careers.  

The webinar series is a collaboration among the YES alumni from  Gaza, Jordan, and the West Bank. The first webinar was held on April 22, and covered CV writing skills. Rania Kudsi led the webinar and shared her extensive background in training, HR, recruitment, and career development. Rania covered key topics including the importance of having a CV, how to tailor one’s CV to a specific role, how to properly format a CV, and what to include in the cover letter. 

The second webinar was later held on April 30, and focused on interview skills. Elizabeth Ghanim led this webinar due to her more than 16 years of experience in talent management, talent acquisition, and HR business partnering. Elizabeth gave advice on what to do before an interview like properly researching the employer and their company. She also gave tips on what to do during the interview including what to wear, what the candidate should bring to an interview, and how to reply to interview questions in a professional tone.

Over 30 YES alumni attended the webinars and their feedback was extremely positive. The YES alumni enjoyed how interactive the sessions were and they benefited from these tips for their professional development. 

Rasheed Alqobbaj (YES 2018-2019, West Bank, hosted by YFU in Spaulding, IL)