95% of Middle East professionals think that networking and maintaining relationships has been important to their career success

Career success consists of a number of different components and insights from MENA professionals illustrate how closely connected these factors may be. But a few key elements prevail, as shown by a recent poll entitled “The Bayt.com Secrets of Career Success in the MENA” poll, conducted by Bayt.com, the Middle East’s leading career site. The vast majority (95%) of the respondents from the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) believe that networking and maintaining relationships has been important in their career success. More than half (50.2%) of MENA respondents have a career mentor.

Almost nine out of ten (88.8%) MENA professionals think that taking risks has been important in their career success; while, nearly one-third (29.1%) of respondents owe their career success mostly to hard work while far fewer chalk it up to intelligence (5.6%) or luck (3.6%). When asked about the biggest career mistake that a professional can make, nearly one-fifth (17.9%) of respondents said that poor ethics and integrity are most detrimental to one’s career. Other responses included neglecting to network (11.9%), hiring poor performers (7.4%), and not maintaining relationships (5.3%). 

“It’s great to see that the overwhelming majority of people (95%!) said that networking and building relationships both have been important to their career success,” said Suhail Masri, VP Employer Solutions, Bayt.com. “Over the past 16 years, we’ve been designing new ways to help professionals in the region forge valuable relationships and meet each other, and urging our members to make the best of their existing networks. This all started in the year 2000, when Bayt.com was created to connect between job seekers and employers, but evolved to include connecting together everyone on the career spectrum. Today, millions of people use Bayt.com Specialties to connect with industry peers, and millions of people have public profiles on Bayt.com People that could be used for online networking.”

Aside from important career habits and skills, other elements of career success for MENA professionals have to do with their personal lives. The overwhelming majority (95.6%) of respondents say that their family has been important to their career success and nearly the same proportion (93.6%) say that exercise and physical fitness have also been important.

Education and learning, both prior to beginning a career as well as on the path to success, also seem to be important components. Nearly 9 in 10 (89.1%) of MENA respondents think that their college education has been important to their career success and more than half continue to read books related to their career on either a daily basis (33.2%) or on a weekly basis (20.3%).

When asked about the best source of learning for career growth, responses were generally comparable. Poll results cited the following sources in order of importance: university courses or professional programs (16.3%), online courses (10%), books (9.6%), career-specific internet sites (7.5%), internet forums and discussion groups (7.1%), industry conferences and forums (4.3%), and business magazines and journals (2.7%). Not surprisingly, the largest proportion of respondents (34.9%) said that all of these sources are equally important in learning for career growth.

Masri adds: “It is interesting to note that nearly half of MENA professionals are driven at work by inspiration over desperation. People are willing to invest in themselves and their knowledge in a myriad of ways, and employers should take advantage of this fact by inspiring their employees through learning and training programs. At Bayt.com, as part of our steadfast commitment to building a strong, diversified workforce here in the region and meeting the talent demands of the future, we have, over the years, worked hand-in-hand with HR departments to help them devise an effective talent development strategy. Companies and professionals across the various industry and career spectrums work with Bayt.com’s career development products like Tests and Courses. They also partake in specialist discussions online on Bayt.com Specialties, greatly expanding their knowledge and the knowledge of others by sharing what they know.”

In terms of their end goals, more than one third (34.5%) of MENA respondents say that their ultimate vision of success is being a true innovator, creator, or pioneer. More than one quarter (26%) feel that working in a career they absolutely love is their ultimate vision of success, and only 5.6% say that accumulating a large net worth or a high degree of wealth is the ultimate goal.

Data for the 2016 Bayt.com ‘Secrets of Career Success in the MENA’ poll was collected online from April 20 2016 to May 17 2016. Results are based on a sample of 7,018 respondents. Countries that participated are the UAE, Bahrain, Algeria, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Oman, Tunisia, Qatar, KSA, Yemen, and Others.