InternsME.Com Rebrands To Oliv.Com To Cater To All Entry-Level Opportunities The UAE-based intern recruitment portal has rebranded itself, and has new features to introduce too.

As part of its mission to reduce MENA youth unemployment by facilitating career support for the youth, InternsME, the UAE-based youth unemployment and career portal, has rebranded to Oliv. Since launching in 2012, the platform has grown from an intern recruitment portal to to supporting early careers- from internships, to volunteering, part-time jobs and graduate jobs. The startup has also used tech projects to enable UAE youth to match their skills with company needs, built internship programs for businesses to help them get the most out of talent pipelines, produced video employability courses, and more. With these factors, it has prompted the rebranding of the platform, with CEO Jean-Michel Gauthier commenting, "It was about time our brand evolved with the work we were doing and will be doing."

So what's Oliv's new value-add features? Gauthier asserts it's one of the "fastest career experience in the world, built with the youth in mind." The platform has an application tracking tool for candidates to track their programs for each step of the process, while employers are built a comprehensive applicant tracking system to manage various applications, set up interviews and hire, all in one screen. The startup is also introducing Oliv Academy, which consists of free video courses to nurture youth talent and assist with improving their applications. It also has a built-in messaging feature to manage communications and make launching careers more personal.

The startup's new name and tech was announced on its rebranding launch on April 4, at the Youth Hub in Jumeirah Emirates Towers, with UAE students and graduates in attendance, along with hiring managers from entities such as Maersk, Al Nabooda Automobiles, PwC, Beehive, RAK Bank, Dubai SME, Dubai Angel Investors, Danzas and APCO. It also held demonstrations of the new online platform and CV workshops.

The startup has come a long way since its early days- it has had more than 150,000 screened university students and recent graduates, more than 1,000 employees hiring on the platform and facilitates over 1,000 interviews every month. And it's gained interest too- in 2017, it became the first recipient of funding disbursed by the Mohammed bin Rashid Innovation Fund, a AED 2 billion (US$549) million fund sponsored by the UAE government, with Oliv receiving AED 2 million ($540,000) in the disbursement.

Besides its rebranding, Gauthier notes that the fund will be used for shipping new features to assist its users. "We now have a world-class foundation to build on top of, and we've aligned our road map to our mission- to make launching careers simple, personal and rewarding." He adds, "This means using data to work on a more personal and relevant career experience, working with partners to expand integrations, building on new platforms, creating assistive technology using AI and lots more." Looking to Oliv's ultimate goal, Gauthier asserts it's expanding Oliv to "support every function that contributes to more young people joining the workforce."

Related: Alia Al Mazrouei And Khalid Al Fahim Headline Dubai Startup Hub's Latest Youth Business Voice Event