How To Find Job In UAE/ Dubai/ Abu Dhabi
How to Find a Job in UAE
Finally, I am able to snatch sometime out to pen down and publish the ever wanted article regarding “how to secure an employment in UAE”. I have been asked close to a thousand professionals, graduates on an employment run and employees who recently have been head-off from their current jobs. All with the same question and interest to work in UAE. To be honest with you all, let me say a fat YES that UAE does provide the job opportunity to the deserve ones. The growing businesses, the widening aspects of industrial sectors and foreign/new projects have made it all a hand full of sweets to offer. As a matter of fact, it should be the right time to get down to UAE and undergo a pursuit of job quest.
Although, it is very hard to nail and trim the multifaceted aspects to a success strategy for an employment, still I shall be happy to share few positive rules of thumb to be considered as a significant way out.
1. Be in UAE - If you are in UAE you will get the job
Be in UAE if you want a job - A myth that I personally never believed in until I ended up here working. Imagine a post go viral on LinkedIn (and other social networks) within days time, and there are queues of exasperated individuals reaching out for a job, do you believe to get employed being in your home country? The answer is very clear NO. What I have observed and analyzed is that employers do prefer the individuals who are already present in UAE. They are less motivated, interested and optimistic to make Skype calls for an interviews, telephone calls and/or emails. No! They simply do not happen in such wind ups. This is the one of the pivotal reason that employers get ready-hand candidates available in UAE, rather they go for scheduling interviews, doing an offshore assessment and make an unconditional decision which still have to serve some purpose thereafter. Being here allows the employer to see you in person, discuss and talk more on your skill sets and what benefits you could possibly bring to the company. UAE is not for everyone! Please do not run after UAE as everybody is doing. Your career is important and so your decision is. You better need to understand the environmental, cultural and social aspects of UAE and how this can facilitate you or Never it will. Decide wisely, a trip to here can give you more considerable and thoughtful insights to prepare your move. Back to the point, Yes being in UAE, sure enough, will enhance your employability.
2. Preparation to Dress & Brush
Now that you have thought to come to UAE, I would suggest a minimum of two months gap prior to your arrival - start registering and profiling yourself to the well-known and well-trusted domains of employment agencies. A few of them I can write here for you
- Bayt
- Work circle
- Edge Executive
- Gulf Talent
- Nadia Gulf
- Naukri Gulf
- BAC Middle East
- Hays
- Kershaw Leonard
- Charter house
- Michael Page
- Jobs scan
- Indeed ae
Go through each of them, read their About Us page and try collecting the information. You will find that few of them and many others agencies are very focused for certain industries. Like Charterhouse give you a bowl full of jobs in hospitality. Your profile on each (which ever channel you choose) should be recent and updated with latest information, titles and grades. Do not be lazy to upload a professional picture of your good-self. Invest sometime in showcasing the information and registering to benefit you afterwards. Do not lie on these platforms with a false hope that someone will get back to you! Many these website will allow you to track your profile views, and applications seen by employers. In two months time you can self identify and make a rough imagination how successful your profile is off-shore and how handy it could become once you are in UAE. Just keep on applying two months earlier to your arrival, to evaluate your position and hits on your profile. In case, an employer wishes to get connected to you; proceed very professionally and show patience. No, you should not display and would not want to throw off your eagerness and frustration to leave your home country for UAE. Play safe, and it's all yours!
3. Effective Resume / Cover Letter
Your resume shall be the first document to interact with employer on your behalf. It is permitting the 1st impression to make and you hold and control this all. Come on, be honest with yourself. It is your property and you would not like to copy others and would never wish others to decide your moves. Making an effective resume is really tricky, and usually this is the breaking point where someone gets the lead and you are left behind in lurch expecting an interview call. Google Europass resume template. It is a free downloadable document and very nicely & professionally designed resume format. At the europass website you will be able to get tremendous amount of information for do's and don'ts of resume making. Understand and read them very carefully and bring them to practice. Display a professional email ID in resume contact section. Email IDs like;
pinky202
armyman777
guitarist4u
khan-d-gr8
princess.sumbal
and more . . .
Just be professional as much as you can to impress your employer.
I know it is a big pain to write a cover letter, but trust me this cover letter can do wonders. The cover letter is actually a communication from your side to the employer when employer has asked (i) How did you hear about us (ii) How significant your experience is to contribute to this job (iii) How well qualified and knowledgeable you are to perform at the job (iv) Are you willing to relocate and what are your salary expectations (v) When earliest / latest can you commence at the job. This little piece of information should constitute your cover letter. It is just a onetime effort to put you at very ease in future. Please remember that you should not use the same cover letter for every job. Be able to customize it according to the needs and requirements of the respective jobs. You should make the employer feel and believe that you are the only best candidate for this job. Read your cover letter and review your CV, and ask yourself "Am I going to hire this candidate?".
4. Tie up with Friends
Please do not feel shy and hesitate to hook up with your friends, even to those you met for a shorter period of time and to those you do not have had good terms. Friends usually support each other. Two weeks prior to your departure, start communicating to them and tell them about your plans. Seek their guidance and opinions for your success. Request them to let you know if there happens to be a possible opening in your desired profession. Friends can also be handy to forward your candidature in their organization and can refer you to in their personalized network. This way, where you were connected to only one, now you are connected to many in numbers.
5. Give Walk-in Interviews
Once you are here you will notice FB groups, LinkedIn posts and social portals are filled with walk-in interviews. Walk-in interviews are quick and fast for recruiting. Do not feel shy holding your resume, standing at traffic signal and walking down the lane to appear for an interview. Time will come and it will reverse. No matter what, but you should display a complete professional attire and seriousness towards the job. Have the guts and gets the glory, be fully prepared and do not leave a single hole for employers to point out any mistake or to chew negative remarks. Always remember that, you have what it takes you to be successful, it is only that we never try and wish to have it without any effort.
6. Best Time to Arrive
I will not write more on this but few suggestions only. Do not plan May - August (Or Mid September) due to warm weather and this will drain your energy and motivation. Do not plan your trip in Ramadan, and also check the calendar how many public holidays are coming in your month of traveling because you would not like to waste your days here. Do not also plan your trip at the yearend as mostly companies are closing their accounts and super busy in it January mid to April and Sept mid to December start can potentially be the highest in hiring (Good Luck).
7.STOP COPYING AND PASTING
Come on, stop copying and pasting the text to HR professionals at LinkedIn saying these sentences; if you have any vacancy matching my profile please let me know sir please review my profile as I have everything you required
Dear Sir/Madam, i am available for the position you have just posted please view my profile and i am ready to relocate do you have any opening in "......" field. If yes then consider me please give me your email so i forward you my resume and more . . . Trust me on this, we as an HR professionals do not have time to go through this craps. Sadly but truly we would appreciate a decent communication start, ending up in mutual Skype interview or telephonic interview and take things professionally further for your job quest > success.
8. Join Meet Ups
If you are here, please do not cage yourself to a single room. Go out in your leisure time to socialize with friends (and friends of friends). On FB (and google can help) you can find many meet-up platforms where communities get together and share and learn from their experiences, of course enjoyment is inherited in such platforms. You never know, your potential boss could be the one you are just jogging with! Think.
9. Take More Pain to APPLY
If you can take a little more pain, please search for jobs on LinkedIn in your relevant profession and apply directly at company's website. The process is dry, the process is repetitive and the process is tedious but the reward is ultimate. So do not get away with it. You would want to stand out in the crowd, then why not to take some efforts and present yourself in a more professional and serious and determined way.
10. Win it
Success comes with a great commitment. Always fight for your interest, dreams and goals because it’s only you who own them. Take it as a debt on your life which has to be paid off. People would lower your morale to continue, society would place nails to puncture your motivation and your inner-self would keep suggesting linger-on. Never get dismayed and knocked down in pursuit of your life goals. Remain committed and focused. You are born to win.
11. NEVER APPLY
For GOD sake do not and never apply for opposite gender vacancies. If asked for FEMALES, do not apply if you are male, and vice versa. It never helps. Save your precious time to search for another job and find the right one to apply.
COST BREAKDOWN FOR ONE MONTH TRIP
As a matter of fact that everyone plans the job quest trip to UAE for about a month, their prime concern is to lock the budget. Below you will find a rough draft that will help you in summarizing your finances for your job search trip to UAE.
Please note that this is a rough estimate, based on observations and personal experiences of others. Below is the breakdown of one month for one person:
Accommodation (Bed space = 600AED or Partition = 1500 AED)
Food (600AED minimum, unless you manage to prepare and arrange at home, if so then the cost may be estimated as 300AED)
Traveling (Dubai Metro/Buss monthly card 350AED unlimited traveling inside Dubai. For Abu Dhabi traveling inside is comparatively inexpensive. That means one can estimate a budget of 150AED in Abu Dhabi)
Mobile (50AED for one month 3G including whatsapp, twitter, facebook and LinkedIn only. Apart from 50AED one can estimate a budget of 100AED etc to make calls to friends/family and for interviews, and in emergencies. This sums up to mobile expense for a month = 150AED)
Dubai to Sharjah by Bus = 10AED, Dubai to Abu Dhabi = 25AED, and same when you are returning
Entertainment/Fun, as per individual interest (the expense may vary, and thus has been skipped here)
Safe Keeping Money! Please keep an extra 500AED for emergency.
SHOULD I STAY IN DUBAI OR ABU DHABI
This is again a very common question and an undecided myth that where to stay while you are planning here for your job quest. In my personal opinion, it really does not matter (the traveling stretch between Dubai <-----> Abu Dhabi is anyway around 02 hours by Bus). For instance you plan to stay in Dubai for one month and later you encounter that your maximum interviews are getting scheduled for Abu Dhabi. You might in that period will think for a while, 'oh, I should have opted for Abu Dhabi'. And imagine you plan to stay in Abu Dhabi but your interviews are scheduled in Dubai every week 03 times for example. This can turn out to be panic but it's the luck where you get maximum interview hits, unless you decide very solidly that you have to remain in a certain region for your interview and therefore employment as well. So, just relax yourself and even if you have to pay 150-200 AED extra for traveling to & fro, this should be fine as long as you are dedicated to ensure yourself for an employment in the UAE.
PRIOR TO ARRIVAL
Before arriving, kindly make sure the following things are clear and ready. Your place to stay is available with wifi (internet connection) and ensures how much you have to pay extra or the price is included in the rent ensure the condition and usage of kitchen. I would certainly recommend to bring your minimal utensils including one plate, one small bowl, two spoons, one fork and a glass to drink water/juice. You might would not like to share your personal belongings and also do not wish to use the used utensils. So rather than ending up here paying 40 to 50 AED for this stuff, bring from home and make your life easier. Do your flat has a washing machine inside or the laundry has to be done outside (which is expensive) please ensure if the flat has apparatuses for ironing clothes make sure you bring with you at minimum 50 prints of your resume. Because printing from the shop is really expensive. SO BRING!
We wish all job seekers a great future ahead and prosperity in your work assignments. Please write below your comments / suggestion which I, am sure, have presumably missed out.
Thank you!
Much Love
Asad Nawaz
