Google Adwords Case Study on Akhtaboot as a Success Story: Akhtaboot is Taking on the Online Recruitment Market with all 8 Tentacles!

Google AdWords has recently chosen Akhtaboot as a success story in a recent case study conducted on a selection of online portals utilizing Google AdWords services in the Middle East.



Akhtaboot is a Jordanian-based career network that is committed to providing a user-friendly, effective and efficient way of linking the right person to the right job opportunity. Founded in 2007 in Amman, Akhtaboot currently serves as a career network for the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region with branches set up in Dubai and Riyadh. It has seen exponential growth since its inception, and it is seeing a phenomenal increase in traffic and users with every passing day. In May 2011, Akhtaboot made it to Jordan's Fastest Growing Companies List.



Since the launch of Akhtaboot, it has used Google AdWords as a key tool in growing the business. Yousef Shamoun, Founder and CEO of Akhtaboot, says: "We use most advertising/marketing platforms. We have noticed that we get our best results from our online advertising campaigns, specifically Google AdWords. Our target audience is primarily online, and Google provides us with the necessary tools to effectively and accurately track our ROI." As a result of using a combination of very targeted AdWords campaigns and continuous SEO efforts, Akhtaboot experienced a significant annual growth of 168% in registrations and sign-ups.



Being a purely online business, Akhtaboot today relies on AdWords for 20% of all its traffic. It uses AdWords to grow its database of qualified CVs, to get company clients to use its services, as well as for branding and exposure. It has used both search as well as display ads in its campaigns, experimenting with different messages, and tracking corresponding clickthrough-rate and cost-per-conversion. Performance of the campaigns is also optimized through regular phone calls with the Google AdWords team, which, as Yousef describes it, "have been instrumental in improving our results and were very responsive to our needs". What separated AdWords from its competitors was the return on investment. Having used other online advertising programmes, Yousef commented that "We are very pleased with the ROI achieved from our Google ad campaign even when compared to other online mediums."



Akhtaboot started to use Conversion Tracking to measure its success in February 2011. "Conversion tracking", says Yousef, "is great. It helped us identify the exact number of conversions from both our English and Arabic campaigns. Conversion Tracking helped us identify the bottlenecks in our registration process, and ultimately we were able to tweak our registration process and reduce our cost-per-conversion."



Akhtaboot has recently started experimenting with Conversion Optimizer, an AdWords feature that uses Conversion Tracking data to get more conversions at a lower cost. Preliminary results show that there has been an increase of 14% in conversions and a decrease of 18% in the cost-per-conversion.



Through AdWords, Akhtaboot managed to strengthen its brand equity as well as to extend its services to new geographical countries. Yousef is highly confident that Google AdWords is essential for the success of their business. Akhtaboot plans to expand and open local offices in most of the countries in the MENA region to stay in close contact with job seekers and companies alike and to be able to serve them in the most effective and efficient manner.



Check out more success stories of Google AdWords users.

Read More

Akhtaboot Launches “Career Connect”

Akhtaboot - the career network is proud to announce the launch of its revolutionary new service: Career Connect for your company, powered by the Akhtaboot jobs platform. Career Connect will provide companies with their own fully integrated and branded jobs section, with the ability to post unlimited job postings and receive job applications directly onto their careers section on their own website.

The launch of the Career Connect service follows the recent release of the revamped employer side of Akhtaboot, which includes several new improvements, ranging from new time-saving functionality to easier navigability. Career Connect is now going a step further by giving companies their own branded careers section, with benefits including:

• Customized Design: companies will enjoy a fully integrated job board, branded with the company name, logo and job content, powered by “Akhtaboot”.
• Social Media Integration: companies can link their Twitter and LinkedIn pages to their “Career Connect” platform for maximum exposure of their posted jobs.
• Branded Facebook Application: companies can now link their Career Connect platform to their Facebook Fan Page, allowing fans to search for and apply to the posted jobs from within Facebook.
• CV Email Drop Functionality: allowing companies to gather all CVs received by email into one database, along with the ability to filter all CVs through a revolutionary text search box. CVs can either be soft-copy attachment or hard-copy scans, and the Akhtaboot system is powered by OCR technology to handle any kind of CV.
• Additional Customized Sign-up Fields: for more specific and targeted job applications that meet the requirements of any company.

Mohamad Haj Hasan, COO and Cofounder of Akhtaboot said:

“Our core business expertise lie in the development of cutting edge recruitment solutions to help our clients pursue their business objectives. With Career Connect, we offer our clients a single point of contact for all of their recruitment needs”.

With the launch of Career Connect, Akhtaboot goes beyond helping companies simply fill their vacancies; it actually provides companies with a recruitment hub that is specifically designed to make the hiring process simple, efficient, and as cost-effective as ever.

Read More

Going Social!

The Best New Tool for Online Job Search If Managed the Right Way!

Remember the old job hunting days when you had to actually call and visit the company offices yourself to fill out an application or drop your CV? Not to say that these days are long gone, but the attention nowadays is shifting towards Social Media – the new player in today’s job market. While finding a job through social media won't replace traditional methods anytime soon, but it certainly has its perks. More and more employers these days are making the most of their social media presence to drive brand awareness and attract job seekers to their businesses. With that in mind, social media networks can be your best friend and your worst enemy. If you don’t manage your social profiles in a smart way, it can actually hinder your efforts in landing a job and even cost you your current job. Akhtaboot is here to the rescue with career-saving tricks to help you effectively manage your online presence.

Take Control of your Online Image

Whether you are currently employed or seeking a job, having a digital presence on the web is a valuable chance to create your personal brand and affect how people who don’t know you think of you. Let’s face it; no matter how professional you really are on the job, you can actually lose a whole lot of respect by how you handle yourself online. When it comes to your social profiles use neutral pictures that do not show detail into your personal life. Be careful what you write about yourself in your status updates, tweets and blog posts. Publishing inappropriate content about yourself or your employer may be detrimental when seen by a potential or current employer.

Be Proactive

Social Media has made it acceptable to connect with companies and professionals you don’t actually know. Conduct periodic searches to identify the top companies you’d like to work for. Follow recruiters on your account and address them directly for a few times before you actually inquire about any potential vacancies. Doing so will help you learn a lot about them and their companies, but make sure that you don’t spam them with too many inquiries. Twitter has become the leading platform to directly connect with companies to communicate with them on specific topics and to find jobs. Follow online recruitment portals on Twitter such as @Akhtaboot and stay up to date with the latest job openings and career-related articles and news.

Produce Content to Attract Industry Attention

An excellent way to use your online presence to your advantage is to post things that will make your network of professionals think highly of you and help you position yourself as the go-to expert in your business landscape. Use your network to share news and information about industry-related topics with great commentaries. Try to be the first to publish relevant news and articles and don’t ignore the importance of speed when it comes to replying to comments and questions. Recognizing the importance of social engagement to the recruitment process, Akhtaboot developed its Facebook application (http://apps.facebook.com/akhtaboot) to include a social recommendations feature to boost your Akhtaboot profile in front of employers. By linking your Akhtaboot account to your Facebook profile, you will now be able to give and receive personal recommendations about your top personal traits within a career context, in addition to searching for and applying to jobs directly from within Facebook.

Integrate your Online and Offline Efforts

No matter how social media savvy you are, there’s still a very strong chance that you will need to complement your online job hunt with some offline measures. Every time you apply for a job, there's a big chance that someone with the power to affect a hiring decision will be seeking you out online. Bearing that in mind, perhaps it's worth taking the time to sort out and tailor exactly what those people can discover about you. A smart way to do so is to add links to your blog, LinkedIn profile and Twitter ID on your CV. Before a job interview, learn about a potential employer by following the company Twitter stream. Google your name before you go in. If anything shady comes up, be ready to address it in the interview.

All job seekers want to stand out from the crowd that is filled with many good candidates who are eyeing similar positions. This is where social media can tip the scales to your advantage. In many industries, a lot of employers are making the most of social media to fill their positions and find potential candidates that have the necessary requirements. With that in mind, what may be okay to share with friends is possibly not employer-friendly in the professional atmosphere. Whenever you share or tweet anything, keep in the back of your mind: "Who is going to see this?"

Read More

Working Smart

Stepping on the fine line between hard work and smart work!

“Working Smart, not Hard” is a popular get-rich-quick concept among workers in today’s business world. Although there is a great difference between working hard and working smart, most of the time employees mistake “smart work” for only doing the bare minimum while getting a fat paycheck at the end of each month. This is not actually the case for nothing can be achieved without hard work. However, there are some strategies that can be employed to help you work smarter by reducing the amount of energy you put on to accomplish each task. Akhtaboot reveals 6 techniques that can help you achieve more with half the time.

Focus on Important Tasks First

Have you ever felt like you spend a lot of time being torn between multiple tasks, but at the end of the day you don’t feel like you’ve really accomplished anything significant? When it comes to working smart you need to focus on completing the most important tasks with the greatest impact on your career and company goals. An excellent way to find out your key tasks is to narrow down your three most important items for the day by asking yourself: “If I could only do three things today, what would I feel the most fulfilled in doing?” Understand your working habits and what tasks take you the longest time to complete and do the most tedious on the times you are most productive.

Shortcuts are Allowed

We all perform dozens of similar actions every day. But what really makes smart employees different is that they always try to optimize work processes to get things done faster and more efficiently every day. Taking shortcuts doesn’t necessarily mean that your work will become less valuable or complete, it means, analyzing the flow needed to accomplish tasks and then understanding if that whole process is necessary. Try to come up with smart ways to complete the same assignments with the same outcome, but in a more resourceful ways.

Dare to Delegate

It goes without saying that we only have 24 hours a day; so our valuable time should be used in places where we can make the most impact. For the lower impact tasks that needs to get done such as administrative work, make sure that it’s delegated to someone else. If you are a business owner, study the aspects of your work such as accounting and design that can be outsourced to others. Smart employees know that there's no need for them to learn and get hands-on on every single thing, especially if it's not related to the core of their job. Being a perfectionist sometimes prevents you from achieving more. Let go of the perfectionist mindset and stop obsessing about the minor details and specifics of the tasks delegated to others.

Keep your Losses to a Minimum

Everyone hates to fail but what most people don’t realize is that failing is an essential part of success. Working smart is all about learning from your bad moves and overcoming them. Don’t invest your time and your resources into a lost cause, there’s no point. Do what you can to salvage the situation and understand what went wrong and why, and then move on. Make sure that you don’t repeat the same mistake twice in the future.

Stay Ahead of the Learning Curve

Working smart is all about your ability to see the big picture. You need to constantly work on your skills and knowledge if you want to position yourself as an indispensible part of the company. Don’t narrow your scope as you need to be able to adapt and evolve with the times. Keep in mind that companies no longer focus on the number of working hours spent on the job but on how flexible and adaptable employees are.

Stop Feeling Guilty About Time-Off

Many employees choose not to take time off due to too many responsibilities or stress at work. While some simply claim that they do not have the time and resources to plan a holiday, smart workers understand that a tired person can’t do meaningful work. Asking for a vacation can be done the smart way too. Plan your holidays during the slowest season is one example of this. Another suggestion is to plan for how your most critical tasks will be covered before you leave with the help of your colleagues.

For some reason people seem to think that they have to be miserable for the first few years of their working lives in order to get anywhere on the professional level. Lots of younger people have this notion that if they work hard, everything will be fine and fall into place for them. This is the wrong way to go about trying to succeed. In this day and age it’s not about the experience you have but your ability to learn and apply what you have learnt that makes you most valuable.

Read More

Akhtaboot Employer Side Undergoes a Major Upgrade

Akhtaboot- the career network (http://www.akhtaboot.com) has undergone a major upgrade on the Employer side of Akhtaboot to include several new improvements, ranging from new time-saving functionality to easier navigability. These new employer features include:

• A revolutionary one-page application, resulting in the most user-friendly recruitment engine in the industry.
• The ability to preview CVs without the need to download them first, which will greatly reduce the time spent in looking for qualified candidates.
• Improved filtration and CV search functionality as well as a more logical display of candidates. This will help companies identify and target the right candidates more efficiently.

Mohamad Haj Hasan, COO and Cofounder of Akhtaboot said:

“The revamped company side marks our team’s one-year of hard work to evolve Akhtaboot's recruitment solutions to the next level. I am proud that these upgrades will improve hiring, reduce employment costs and result in more jobs for the region. I want to thank our dedicated team for all their efforts.”

The new features are based on the feedback received from Akhtaboot users and are in line with Akhtaboot’s constant efforts in making its website the easiest, most user-friendly and efficient jobs platform in the industry.

Read More

Office Politics: The Game Everyone Plays

How to Win in a World Where Hard Work and Talent Aren't Enough!

Believe it or not, almost every workplace is a political environment. While many say that they don't engage in such games, there’s actually little truth to that. Even though we probably might not realize it, we are all engaged in office politics to a certain extent. While the word politics implies doing absolutely anything to get ahead, office politics is really all about building relationships to get things moving at work. As an employer your take on office politics may differ significantly from those whom you supervise. While managing office politics can be a difficult thing to do in diverse companies, trying to maintain a healthy, productive political environment is crucial for success in today’s complex workplace.

Being an office politician might come naturally to some but to others it can develop over time out of necessity. With that being said, one fact remains the same: top performers are those who master the art of winning in office politics. Akhtaboot unveils 5 smart tactics to help you win the political game, the “Ethical” way!

Master the Fine Art of Tactful Bragging

Most employees think they have only two choices when it comes to self-promotion; remaining under the table or sounding arrogant, but neither works! Good self-promoters know this: They’re always planting seeds for the future. They understand that doing a good job doesn’t mean that others will actually realize it. In order to become a top office politician, develop a personal track record as someone who gets results and don’t dwell on your mistakes or others will, too. Celebrate your successes gracefully and tastefully. You never know; it might actually rub off on your coworkers!

Don’t Stick with One Group

By sticking with the same people at work, you are more likely to miss out on the important information or the factual news in your company. Mingling with your coworkers during lunchtime or coffee break is the best way to keep up-to-date with all that is happening in the different departments. Office politicians don't cling too tightly to one crowd; they master the art of making good conversations with both peers and bosses. With that being said, make sure that you don’t become the office “social butterfly” to the extent that you aren’t getting your work done!

Profile Power Figures

Let’s face it; some people have more power than others either through their position or personality. Understanding the informal and formal network is key to becoming a successful office politician. Find out who's who in the organization and identify where the power and influence lay; who are the real influencers? Who is highly respected by everyone? Who has the last word in discussions? Once you profile power figures at your company, build relationships that are based on trust and respect with those who have the informal and formal power while avoiding empty flattery. Pay attention to the way they speak, network and work, and develop your strengths in a way that emulates their behavior.

Be Real to Yourself and Others

Standing up for the right things, being known as a person who is honest, dependable and fair are indispensible qualities of a true office politician. Practice what you preach; do what you say you will do. Whenever you hear something, take some time to evaluate how much credibility it has. Rise above personal conflicts and never rely on confidentiality. Assume things will be disclosed and so decide what you should reveal accordingly. Doing so, you might not be liked by everyone but you will be respected by most for sure.

Have your Say

You know that weekly 30-minute meeting that you all hate because it seems to drag on forever? These meetings might seem irrelevant and very common but they are one of the most important aspects to give attention to when it comes to office politics. Not only this is your chance to be with the people who have the most influence over your promotion, but your are being evaluated by both your peers and boss. Office politics demand that you come prepared for these meetings. Even if you don’t have much to say, be prepared to say something. If you miss your shot, rest assured that your competition will be waiting to pick up the ball.

Office politicking happens whether we admit it or not. Some people try to be noble and refuse to play the political game; they try to focus their efforts on their tasks and hard work hoping that they will be noticed and rewarded. But in fact, there is no such thing as not being part of it. Business is all about competition; from time with important colleagues, prestige, recognition, bigger salaries, to - of course - power. Don't hate the game of politics; step out of your comfort zone and play it to win!

Read More

Akhtaboot Parterns with KFUPM's for the 28th Career Day - Dhahran, KSA

Dhahran, May 23, 2011: For the 3rd time in a row, Akhtaboot – the career network partners with King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals 28th Career Day, attracting thousands Saudi students seeking to enroll and advance in the different fields of work Akhtaboot offers.

Akhtaboot’s participation comes as part of Akhtaboot Cares Initiative efforts in securing employment opportunities for Saudi citizens and graduates while providing training and guidance on how to successfully approach the Saudi job market with Akhtaboot career lectures and CV evaluation services. Thousands of students visited Akhtaboot booths to learn about the company's recruitment solutions as well as interact with the Recruitment Consultants on the different employment opportunities at Akhtaboot.

From the very beginning, Akhtaboot has made a significant contribution to the development of the country's job market while supporting the careers of young Saudis through targeted professional recruitment and training programs.

Read More