Hiring right candidate means cutting through the CV clutter

In today's hiring landscape, one thing is clear: the traditional CV no longer tells the full story. This is especially true for students and early-career professionals entering the workforce in the UAE.

- BY DMITRY ZAYTSEV

For many younger jobseekers, the biggest challenge isn't a lack of skills or ambition — it's being seen. A one-page résumé often fails to capture their real strengths, especially soft skills like leadership, creativity, problem-solving, or adaptability. These are the qualities employers say they value most — yet they remain the hardest to evaluate with conventional tools.

From my experience working with universities and observing early pilot programmes in the region, I've seen this gap firsthand. Students who perform exceptionally well in collaborative tasks or simulated problem-solving scenarios are often overlooked during traditional hiring processes — simply because they don't have the 'right' titles or experience to list on a CV.

At the same time, companies across industries are struggling to find and retain talent. Many HR teams are overwhelmed by the volume of applications — a single job post can attract more than 1,000 CVs — and rely heavily on AI-based filters or keyword-matching systems.