AMERICA: JOB PARADISE ?
H-1B Visa: allows you to work for 6 years in the USA
America, has been a pole of attraction for a large pool of graduates from most Arab countries. Permanent emigration is in the rise, so is temporary job related residence. More interestingly for many, is a "temporary" work permit scheme (H-1B visas) allowing hundreds of thousands of qualified professionals the opportunity to work in the USA. Find out more about H-1B visas, where the applicants come from and the occupations that require the highest numbers of H-1B holders.

CANADA: LAND OF OPPORTUNITY?
Special track for skilled professionals immigration
Numerous Arab graduate professionals have at one point or the other considered immigration to Canada as an option. Statistics show that 48,078 migrated to Canada from the Middle East and Africa (MEA) last year, accounting for 19.2 % of the 250,346 immigrants to that large North American country. While Canada may be a dream for some, bear in mind that skill-link.com has hundreds of registered Arab job seekers residing there and eager to move back and work in the Middle East. Find out more about the skilled professionals immigration terms and conditions.

GERMANY'S GREEN CARD PROGRAM
To face shortage in IT professionals
The Interest Zone received numerous inquiries about Germany’s IT professionals Green Card Program. We are therefore presenting more information on that initiative whereby thousands of foreigners (residing outside the European Union) with a university degree and that can demonstrate IT and/or telecom experience could be granted a work permit for a maximum of 5 years. This program aims to address the current shortage Germany is facing in IT and communication professionals.

AUSTRALIA: A CAREER OPTION?
The Skilled Migration Program to Australia
Australia, the country - continent, became the adopted home of tens of thousands of Arabs seeking - in their opinion - better career prospects. The skill stream of Australia's Migration Program was introduced to target immigrants who have skills or professional abilities that will contribute to the Australian economy. Find out more if you would like to explore this option.

INTERESTED TO WORK IN ENGLAND ?
The UK's High Skilled Migration Program
The United Kingdom government launched HSMP (Highly Skilled Migrant Program) as a new initiative to allow individuals, from all over the world, with skills and experience to come to the U.K. to seek and take work or self-employment. On the 28th January 2003 revised scoring criteria were introduced. Find out about the program, its requirements and how to qualify.

e MAILING YOUR RESUME
The 'Do's …. and many 'Don't's !
The email is becoming more and more used as a media to apply for jobs. Surprisingly, a large number of Arab job seekers, specially from Egypt, commit a long list of mistakes when it comes to emailing potential employers. They seem to ignore the proper etiquette and forget some basic rules when sending their job applications by email. Find out what the most frequent 15 mistakes are and what you should and should not do, based on the tens of thousands of emailed resumes we have seen.

JOB HOPPING:
Too much can hurt your career prospects
Job hopping, or frequent changes of employers may hurt your employment prospects when seeking that special job you are after. While not all changes are the same, you should be aware of how "job hopping" is seen by recruiters. Find out more!

COVER LETTERS THAT WORK
Write the letter that gets you an interview!
Numerous professionals in our part of the world ignore what a cover letter is, or do not appreciate its importance. It is unfortunate that 80% of job applicants do not bother with one at all. Find out why it is critical to your job-hunting efforts, how employers view it, and the guidelines for a winning cover letter.

ADVICE FOR PREPARING YOUR CV
It is you first selling tool, so get it right !

Your CV (also referred to as Resume) could make or break your first job hunting step. Since you only get one chance to make a first impression, make sure your CV inspires a potential employer to read it and remember it and ultimately proceed to inviting you to an interview. Find out what employers seek in a CV and what you should and should not do when preparing your CV.

DRESS TO IMPRESS
What to wear for a job interview?
Appearance counts, therefore yours should be working in your favor to leave a positive first impression during a job interview. Whether you like it or not, what you wear and how it looks plays a key role in the interviewer’s mind when determining how you “fit” and how “professional” you are. Find out some advice on men and women’s appearance reflecting the thousands of cases skill-link.com has witnessed.

JOB INTERVIEW READINESS
Part 1 - before the interview

Getting a potential employer to invite you for interview is the most difficult part, it means your job application process was successful. Now they you reached the interview phase, there is still work to be done to ensure that the outcome is an employment offer. In this Part I, the Interest Zone, outlines what you should do before the interview to maximize your chances.

JOB INTERVIEW READINESS
Part 2 - do's and don'ts of the interview

In last week's Interest Zone, we outlined (in Part 1) what a job seeker should do before the interview to maximize his / her chances. This week, Part 2 discusses the do's and don'ts of the interview, questions to anticipate and what you could ask..

WHEN INTERVIEWERS GO WRONG !
Frequent mistakes committed by interviewers
While job seekers are "usually" keen on properly planning and undergoing a job interview with a potential employer, they are sometimes surprised as to how poorly the meeting was handled by the interviewer. These interviewer mistakes vary from lack of courtesy to unprepared-ness. Find out some of the most common interview "disappointments" faced by skill-link.com candidates.

STAND OUT IN THE CROWD
Differentiate yourself; for a successful job hunt

As a job seeker in today's job market and difficult economic environment; if you are relying on luck or on your skills to get noticed, you are either headed for a big disappointment or you have already experienced one. The key to a successful job hunt is for you to stand out of the crowd job seekers competing for the same job(s) you are after...

E-RECRUITMENT GAINING GROUND

Determining Compensations Objectively !