“Being in heart of the world… Egypt is considered [one of the top] destinations for international companies to start their business[es],” co-founder of Lingua Talent Idris pointed out
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With the growing number of Egyptian companies branching out into different countries, demand for multilingual team members capable of holding complex conversations in other languages outside of Arabic has escalated.
Despite the job market’s demand for highly competent English speakers, and other popular languages, connecting with skilled bilinguists or polyglots (people who speak several languages) continues to be a struggle for many companies in Egypt.
Aiming to close this gap, the Languages Virtual Job Fair, organized by Lingua Talent, was established to link both job seekers and employers, as well as give young undergraduates an opportunity to prepare themselves for the job market.
The language-focused job fair offers a digital environment, held in a virtual reality conference center, that enables polyglots to go through virtual booths of partnered employers, allowing them to set up meetings and apply for open positions thorugh the free event.
Speaking to Business Today Egypt, co-founder of Lingua Talent Ahmed Idris noted that the current market needs to pay more attention on ensuring language competencies, as well as establishing better ways to connect language centers and the business sector.
“Being in heart of the world… Egypt is considered [one of the top] destinations for international companies to start their business[es],” Idris pointed out.
In 2021, Egypt ranked as the only Middle Eastern and African country in Kearney’s Global Services Location Index 2021 in the top 15 spots, marking it as one of the most attractive outsourcing operations hubs, while South African financial services provider Rand Merchant Bank’s (RMB) annual “Where to invest in Africa” placed Egypt as the continent’s top investment destination.
Originally slated to happen at one of their university partners’ campus, Idris and cofounder Mohamed Attwa were suddenly faced with pandemic restrictions as they prepared to launch their first edition in 2020.
As events made their way online, usually in webinar format, Lingua Talent decided to be one of the early examples of using the metaverse, or virtual reality, in which they created a virtual conference center complete with lecture halls.
Idris told Business Today that, by making the event virtual, they provide opportunities to those outside of Egypt’s metropolises, with around 35% of those who attended the first edition from places outside of Greater Cairo.
Idris noted that virtual event options have become a familiar and welcomed solution since the pandemic started, with the co-founder stating “crisis brings opportunity and change” when explaining the choice to make the event online.
The event also includes several discussion panels from international companies and language experts in various industries to introduce different career paths and options to fresh graduates.
To kick off on the 18th and 19th of February, the Languages Virtual Job Fair’s 2nd edition is expected to see over 3500 attendees, compared to its inaugural edition, which received over 2600 attendees over its 2-day period.
Almost all businesses, in Egypt and abroad, recognize English as an official 2nd language, one needed to remain relevant in both local and international markets. The 2nd most spoken language in the world, Chinese Mandarin, is rarer to find but is highly sought after as major corporations expand operations and open branches in Asia.
Lingua Talent is Egypt’s first language and talent management platform, operating a leading global language community based in Cairo and worldwide with the aim of connecting linguists and language jobs seekers with proper employers.
You can register for the free event here
