A Beginner’s Guide to Finding a Job in Lebanon

After bumming you out with yesterday’s Six Reasons You Can’t Find a Job in Lebanon, we bring you a solution!

Are you a fresh graduate? A bored company executive looking for a new professional challenge? Or just a chronic complainer about the lack of job opportunities in the country? This one’s for you.

Stop complaining.

I know it’s hard to quench your perpetual urge to complain about the Lebanese job market when you’ve lived your whole life around an entire population of chronic whiners. But if you really want to step up your game, you’ve got to give up such futile habits.

Set up a neat LinkedIn Profile.

Make sure the information on your LinkedIn profile is well-ordered and not excessively wordy. Novel-length job descriptions are a definite no, so are recurrent typos. Needless to say, if you’re not on LinkedIn yet, then please do sign up at this very moment.

Update your CV regularly.

It is always good to have someone (a professional, preferably) go over your CV before you start sending it out to potential employers. Avoid over-the-top designs and meaningless clichés like ‘synergy’ and ‘worked on various projects’. Instead, be specific, concise and straightforward. And most importantly, make sure to update your résumé according to the nature of the job you’re applying for.

Sign up for a job portal (or several of them).

Uploading your CV to professional websites like Bayt.com and HireLebanese.com among others never hurts. You’ll always find job opportunities you will probably never come across elsewhere on the internet.

NETWORK.

Networking is the key to a successful career in just any field. Make the most put of events, conferences and workshops in terms of building new connections and growing your professional network.

Expand your skills through professional workshops.

Always be on the lookout for interesting workshops/trainings, even ones that do not necessarily fall in your area of expertise. You’ll always learn something.

Avoid over-promoting yourself.

Bragging about your past achievements like a laboring cow won’t get you places. Yes, you need to market yourself but you also don’t want to build a ‘certified Lebanese poser’ reputation. Stay humble.

Use your connections.

No, I am not promoting ‘wasta’ here. Maintaining good relationships with well-connected professionals (and humans in general) can only do you good, especially in a country where word-of-mouth recommendations are still very popular among employers.

Seek freelance opportunities.

Remember that full-time jobs are not your only option. Freelance opportunities are more abundant than ever and even if you don’t want to go full-on freelance, you can always make some money on the side.

Always remember not to settle for a mediocre job as a result of hopelessness. Good luck!