Professional.me has partnered with Hult International Business School to run a 12-week pilot examining the job-search experience of international graduate students in the UAE. The pilot will track how sponsorship requirements, employer response rates, and job-search confidence affect outcomes for early-career talent, with a summary of findings due to be published in April 2026.
The pilot involves 60 graduate student volunteers from Hult’s MiM, MBA and EMBA programmes and uses a pre-test/post-test approach to measure changes in job-search confidence, anxiety levels and application-to-interview outcomes over the 12-week period.
Baseline survey: sponsorship constraints and “no response” barrier
Ahead of the pilot, Professional
me conducted a baseline survey with participating Hult learners. The survey indicates that 67% of participants are on student visas requiring employer sponsorship, and that not receiving responses to job applications was the top challenge cited, even among those applying to 11 to 50+ roles. This is reflective of the current industry average of only 2% of job applicants being invited to interview (according to a 2025 Career Plug analysis of over 10M job postings).
The survey also points to the emotional strain associated with the job-search process. Students reported an average confidence score of 7.2 out of 10 for securing a job within three months, while 75% reported moderate-to-high job-search anxiety.
What the pilot will test
As part of the programme, students will test Pro.me, a jobseeker companion platform developed by Professional.me. The pilot will assess whether clearer role targeting, structured matching, and tailored applications can help reduce high-volume, low-return applications and improve measurable outcomes such as employer responses and interview conversion over time.
“International graduates bring ambition and skills, but transitioning into a new job market can be difficult without clearer signals and expectations,” said Ryan Adams, CEO at Professional.me. “This collaboration with Hult is designed to capture that experience in a structured way and translate it into practical insights for students, universities and employers. Our goal is to contribute to stronger early-career pathways in the UAE through shared learnings,” said Megan Adams, Strategic Partnerships at Professional.me.
“This pilot with Professional.me aligns with Hult’s approach of staying agile in changing market conditions while ensuring the best possible career outcomes for our students,” said Mandeep Sahota, Head of Career Development and Employer Relations at Hult International Business School’s Dubai campus.
“With AI disrupting the recruitment market, insights from Professional.me will help students and graduates talk intelligently about the skills they bring to the highly competitive job market and help employers spot high potential talent more easily, with a more intuitive process than relying solely on the traditional format of CVs and resumes.”
A participating student added: “It’s difficult when potential employers don’t respond or provide feedback on whether you are a good fit for a role. This tool should help with that by making the process more transparent and realistic.”
Professional
me’s wider focus is on making hiring and job search more transparent by moving beyond CV-only screening and capturing skills and experience in a way employers can act on. This pilot with Hult is intended to turn recurring pain points for international graduates, including sponsorship constraints and the lack of application feedback, into measurable insights that can be shared with universities and employers once results are published in April. The company has already raised $4.6 million in funding, including a $3.1 million seed round led by Raha Beach Ventures in 2025, and has been selected for the Cohort 11 of the Mohammed Bin Rashid Innovation Fund’s Innovation Accelerator Program, a Ministry of Finance initiative that provides mentorship and market access to help innovators strengthen and scale their solutions.