Your reasons could be anything from fierce ambition to just loathing your boss, but many of you will have resolved to find yourself a new job this year. It can be a daunting task, from seeking out the perfect position, to actually persuading employers that you’re their dream candidate. Luckily for you, help is at hand.
Not only is a major recruitment fair taking place next week in Abu Dhabi, but we’ve got the inside info on what jobs will be available there and how to get them. So use our handy guide to impressing the employers and nailing down your dream job.
Step by step guide
Where to look
There a numerous ways to go about finding a job, but they broadly fall into four approaches. You can use an online search portal to whizz through hundreds of opportunities or you can contact a recruitment agency and ask them to find you a job. If you’re feeling really dedicated, or know exactly what you’re looking for, you can go directly to the companies you’re interested in with speculative applications. Finally (and more on this later) you can attend a recruitment fair.
Online Search Engines
Great for those who are unsure, or open to new ideas about what job to go for. These sites enable you to cast an eye over a huge range of positions and get a sense of what kind of jobs are out there. Also helpful for seeing which companies are in the middle of recruitment drives. The downside is that these sites are hugely popular, and so you’ll often find yourself up against hundreds of candidates all going for the same job.
Bayt.com
One of the most popular job sites in the Middle East, Bayt boasts of almost 17,000 vacancies right now. If you’re one of those eager souls that logs on every morning in hopes of spotting your dream position, you’ll like Bayt.com, as they post a stream of new jobs throughout the day. A sweeping majority of their jobs are UAE-based. Our favourite feature is their Salary Search which allows you to see roughly how much you should expect to be paid for various positions. Careful though – you might not like what you find!
Gulftalent.com
This recruitment portal lists an impressive 4,000 companies who use their services to find new talent, and there are some big hitters there, including Daman, ADCB and Etisalat. Gulf Talent offers jobs right across the Gulf region, but are based in Dubai, and the array of positions available reflects that – a large proportion of them are in the UAE.
My.monstergulf.com
The Gulf branch of an international recruitment company, Monster is very user-friendly. Jobs are available in sectors from construction and banking to real estate, and it’s possible to search through function, region or industry. The site also allows you to upload your CV and offers plenty of job seekers tips and advice.
Recruitment Agencies
Charterhouse
This agency operates in Abu Dhabi and Dubai, and recruits for a diverse range of industries, having operated in the UAE since 2004. They have positions available for people looking for their first or second jobs, but many of their roles are for more experienced professionals. They also specialize in executive recruitment for niche roles and senior jobs.
Jobscan
Jobscan were originally established in Abu Dhabi over a decade ago (they’ve since expanded to Dubai), and so have an emphasis on jobs available in the capital. Naturally, they’re big on the industries that are most important to Abu Dhabi – so if oil and gas, construction, engineering, banking, IT or retail is your thing, try this agency.
Morgan McKinley
Not sure if you even want to work in the UAE anymore? This might be the agency for you then, as they have offices all across the world, including Japan, Ireland and Australia and can put you in for a range of positions from entry to board level. If you’re keen to stay in the UAE, it’s best to focus on their local specialities, which include financial services, middle management roles in sales and marketing, and technical positions in the transport, manufacturing and construction industries.
To prepare for your new job, click here.
For recruitment fairs, click here.
What is Emiratisation? click here.
The Process: Nail It
1 The CV
After you’ve found the job you want, you then have to grab the attention of your potential future boss with a killer CV. General wisdom says to keep it to one A4 page. It might be tempting to go over, especially if you’re very experienced, but it’s worth the effort to keep it brief because many HR departments will want to print out CVs to leaf through them. If you’re having problem squeezing everything into limited space, be strict with yourself. Got work experience on there that was a few years ago? Axe it. If you’ve repeated a skill set you’ve used in two jobs, reword it or delete the earlier one. There’s no need to say you’re a good team player twice! Keep the layout clean, and format as much of the info into bullet points as you can manage. Don’t forget to give it a really careful read for spelling and grammar when you’ve finished, or even get an eagle-eyed buddy to do that for you. You’d be amazed how many typos get through and these will give off a sloppy, unprofessional impression. Finally, make sure you include a line or two about your hobbies and interests to give potential employers a sense of the kind of personality you have.
2 The cover letter
The best advice we’ve heard about turning out a good cover letter is to simply spend a lot of time on it. That might sound obvious, but HR departments can spot a one size fits all letter immediately. So tailor it carefully to the job you’re going for, making specific reference to the requirements of the job advert. Take care to address any oddities in your CV (applying from abroad? Have an unexplained gap between jobs?) and highlight the parts of it that are most relevant to the job. It’s important to watch the tone of your letter. You’ll almost always need to keep it formal (unless you’re applying for a very creative job) but that doesn’t mean it needs to sound unnatural, or unlike yourself. You’re trying to present yourself in your best light, so avoid using jargon or business clichés that don’t reflect how you work (and that the recruiter will have read a million times before).
3 The interview
It’s crunch time. Sometimes it seems as though no matter how hard you prepare for an interview, or how much research you do, you’ll be asked something that will catch you off guard. Many an interviewee has crashed and burned over a simple question they weren’t expecting and answered with a long and painful ‘Ummmmmm.’ The solution? All you can do is make yourself as relaxed as possible before you go in so you’ll be able to deal with unexpected questions naturally, as you would in everyday life. Otherwise, keep your body language positive and open, make sure you have plenty of positive things ready to say about your skills and experience, and above all, be yourself.
To find your new job, click here.
For recruitment fairs, click here.
What is Emiratisation? click here.
Recuitment Fairs
Job seekers will be thrilled to hear that a massive recruitment fair, Tawdheef Recruitment Show Abu Dhabi, is taking place next week and this year is being run by new organizers. Running from January 31 to February 2, the fair’s first two days are dedicated solely to jobs for UAE Nationals, while the final day of the exhibition will be focused on jobs for all nationalities. We caught up with Hayete Jemai, Exhibition Director for Tawdheef, to hear more about what you can get out of the show.
Can you give us an overview of the fair?
So this year it’s the first time we’re asking exhibitors to have jobs available already – previously companies could join even if they didn’t have vacancies at the time. Right now, all the exhibitors have jobs as of today. On the website we have the exhibitors and job requirements already online, so the visitors can pick what they want before they come – it just makes things easier for them. And for the different major sectors, for example banking or health, we have listed them already to make it easier for the visitor when they arrive on site.
There are many strong sectors in Abu Dhabi at the moment, which are going to be represented at the show?
Mainly it is going to be defiantly the banking industry, also health and insurance, oil and gas. There will also be a lot of recruitment agencies there. So even smaller jobs, for example openings for secretarial work will also be available.
Would you say that this month is a particularly a good time to be looking for a job?
You know, it is often said that the beginning of the year is best because the company knows just exactly how many jobs they have and their budgets. I’d agree with that!
How would you recommend people get the most out of the fair?
We’ve arranged things so that the first two days are for Emiratis only, so it will not be so crowded which means they can get round to apply to all the companies they want to. The last day is for all the other nationalities and we have extended the timings to give everyone a chance to visit. We have put it from 9.30am to 7pm.
What proportion of the jobs at the fair are going to be available for non-UAE Nationals?
We don’t have those numbers yet, but you can take a look at the website to see what specifications the companies have posted for their jobs so far. There will be something for everyone though.
Could you give me a few tips on how you think people looking for a job can get the most out of the fair?
Try to do things smartly. Focus on where you want work and what you want to apply for before the show, so you don’t just go directly to the exhibitors without knowing what they’re offering. Just give yourself 10-15 minutes preparation time before going to the show too, to check out the requirements of the recruiters that you plan to approach. This is all listed on our website to save time.
Finally, can you tell us a bit about the seminars that will be taking place over the course of the recruitment show?
There are actually going to be some exhibitors who will present and explain more about the specific jobs they have, but we also have some general speakers who will give CV tips, motivation, and practical information to guide people.
Tawdheef Recruitment Show Abu Dhabi is taking place at Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre January 31, 11am-7pm (UAE Nationals only), February 1, 11am-7pm (UAE Nationals only) (11am – 2pm Ladies only) and February 2, 9.30am-7pm (open to all nationalities). Register at www.tawdheef.ae
Tawdheef Recruitment Show Abu Dhabi – The Highlights
• Receive advice on tailoring your CV and interview skills from recruitment specialists
• Visit Ershaad’s interview room to explore employment opportunities (UAE Nationals only)
• Attend free seminar sessions on job hunting tips by HR managers from local companies
• Find out what positions are available before visiting the show at www.tawheed.ae
• Already online are positions vacant at Mubadala (Treasurer, Risk Manager – Insurance, Supervisor – Spares Accounting, Contracts Coordinator, Supervisor
– Expediting, Liaison Customs, Software Specialist – Sharepoint, Asst. Manager – Sales, HR Specialist, Performance Management Specialist), National Health Insurance Company, Daman (Doctor & Paramedics, Receptionist, Call Center Agents, Junior Accountant, Admin. Assistant, Internal Auditor, Sales Executive, Cashier, Retail Sales Rep, Executive Secretary, Production Assistant, Logistic Assistant, System Administrator, IT Administrator), Sawaaed Employment LLC (Managers Secretaries, Admin Assistants, HR Assistants, Civil Engineers, Accountants, Site Engineers, Site Supervisors)
To find your new job, click here.
To prepare for your new job, click here.
What is Emiratisation? click here.
Explaining Emiratisation
What’s it all about?
If there’s one topic in employment that everyone, expats and nationals alike, has an opinion on in the UAE, it’s Emiratisation. There are currently 330,000 Emiratis in the UAE workforce, and by 2020 the aim is to have raised that figure to 450,000. To that end, the Tawdheef recruitment show includes a major summit on Emiratisation, which will give everyone the chance to learn more about and debate the project. To understand more about the goals of Emiratisation, we asked Essa Al Hulla executive director at the Emirates National Development Programme (ENDP) for his perspective.
Tell us a bit about how the ENDP works.
One of our main messages is that there are a lot of excellent job opportunities in different sectors for Emiratis, especially the private sector. We are not pushing for quotas, but instead we are working with companies on a long term partnership. The issue of recruiting nationals because of an obligation or from a legal point of view? No. What we are saying is that Emiratis will remain an asset to any organization they are going to join. So by building a long term relationship, we will manage to change any bad perceptions or misunderstandings that are coming from the private sector towards the emiratisation project. We want to implement the process of recruiting UAE nationals in the right way, and we want to make different people understand that we are always there to help, not to impose quotas. We are here to support anyone who would like to work on these areas.
What measures have you taken so far?
Our approach is more of a soft approach. We don’t wait for companies to come to us, we go to their offices so they know we are here to help and support. All managers and heads at ENDP are from private sector backgrounds so they really know how the private sector works, what are the issues, the problems, the good and bad parts. That makes our program unique. Their private sector perspective means when they go talk to companies they are able to explain exactly how the Emiratis are willing to join the private sector.
Which industries are you focusing on?
We are focusing on banking, retail, trade, and tourism is very important for us, and also the national conglomerate companies overall. It’s a win-win situation. The will is there from both sides so it will be easy to remove obstacles. We are aiming to bring 1000 UAE nationals into the workforce this year.
To find your new job, click here.
To prepare for your new job, click here.
For recruitment fairs, click here.
