Tips for jobseekers in the UAE

I hope this article will not only be relevant to my finance and tax network but to anyone who is trying to secure a role in the UAE in all sectors

You need to find the job as opposed to the job finding you

Having been in the UAE for over 5 years now I can say with confidence that the job market here is different than anywhere else in the world. I was in London prior to moving to Dubai, where the recruitment market is very mature whilst in the UAE it's the complete opposite end of the scale, which can make trying to secure a role a lot more challenging.

A recent IBN networking event, a room full of people who could help a jobseeker potentially

Networking is key

If you are not visible you are simply invisible

For the most part, the UAE job market has an oversupply of candidates vs jobs. So if you don't stand out from the crowd it will be near on impossible to get an interview for a role.  As you will simply just enter the black hole of 1000's of applicants for roles that are advertised on LinkedIn.

It's all about getting out there and making new connections as you never know where they may lead to. There are plenty of networking events happening in the UAE, you just need to try and work out what is the best one for you.

I would really suggest jobseekers to see if there are relevant business councils in the UAE. For example there is the Irish Business Network (IBN) and British Business Group (BBG) which I think are key to explore for any Irish or British national looking to get a role in the UAE. I would imagine there must be an equivalent for Indian, Pakistan & Lebanese nationals.

Further to this, if you are a finance professional look at your accounting body to see what events they do. ACCA, CPA, ACA & IMA all have a strong presence in the region and regularly host networking events. These events would have a room filled of finance professionals who may also be hiring managers.

You miss 100% of shots you don't take

So just try going to a networking event. I know it can sometimes seem daunting walking into a room full of strangers but you must remember everybody is in the same boat so just walk up a group of people, introduce yourself and away you go.

At Alchemy Search, we regularly host networking events so please take a look at our community page on our website to see if any look of interest to you.

https://www.alchemysearch.ae/about-us/community/

If you are a HR/TA professional we will be hosting a networking event later in May so if interested feel free to email me cmchugh@alchemysearch.ae for more details.

https://www.irishbusinessnetwork.org/

https://www.bbgdubai.org/

On the back of a Linkedin post last week it reached over 10k views. Even if interested or not, viewers will have seen Rutika is a specialist tax recruiter.

Build a personal brand on LinkedIn

Make LinkedIn your friend not your enemy

If you are jobseeker there are so many good things you can do on LinkedIn that may increase your chance of securing a role.

For example, during covid there was a senior finance professional who lost his job and things were looking pretty bleak as there wasn't much happening at the senior end of the market.

He took to LinkedIn and starting posting content that gained a lot of traction and built his brand in the market. I remember speaking to him and he was shocked initially by the following he was getting.

A few weeks later, we were chatting and he informed me that on the back of one of his posts he had 3 separate approaches from companies to see if he would be interested interviewing with them for a finance role in their respective companies.

Fortunately for him, he then secured a role and remains in this region. He would admit himself that he solely got back into employment by building a personal brand on LinkedIn.

Even if it's commenting/liking somebody's LinkedIn post or just simply engaging with another professional within your space. What's the worst that could happen!

As a company may not be hiring today but could be tomorrow. LinkedIn is effectively a candidates personal shop window. So make sure potential hiring managers see your shop window on a weekly basis as then when they want to hire they may remember you!

For any golfer in my network who fancies a round at Dubai Hills please connect with Jeff as he is the Alchemy golf pro.

Interview as much as possible

If you have relocated to the UAE and are immediately available i.e. have time on your hands then go to as many interviews as you can.

Reasons why:

1. For the most part, an interview is just you and another person sitting in a room for an hour having a chat to decide if you can do a job without actually showing the other person you can do the job. A crazy concept when you think about it. The more interview practice you have the more confident (not cocky) you should become, the more confident you are the better you will come across to the interviewer which in turn will increase your chances of securing the role.
2. I would say 75% of our clients in the UAE I had never heard of before moving here. So you have no clue which ones are good or bad. The big point I feel people sometimes miss here is to get fixated on a joining a big company when they should really be fixated on joining a team with a manager who is going to develop them in their career. What's the point in joining a big global brand when your boss doesn't want to develop you or treats your poorly (not to say this is the case in all big companies!) as opposed to joining a business which you never heard of but when you met the hiring manager things just clicked and you left the interview a lot more interested in the role. Whilst, if you had just said no to the interview nothing would have happened. Especially for junior to mid level professionals I actually think the biggest factor in joining the company should be weighted on who is going to be your boss.
3. Finally, the more interviews you have on the go will mean you may receive more offers which means you will not be at the mercy of a company "lowballing" you when it comes to the offer stage. As this culture of companies lowballing candidates is unfortunately very common in the UAE. So be selfish and think about number 1 only, as given how fragile labor law is here companies will always look out for their best interests, so do your best to safeguard your best interests and not theirs. If I have a candidate at offer stage and he/she has nothing else on the go vs a candidate who is at offer stage and has two other offers in hands I can bet my house that if the client really wants to secure the candidate, the one with a few offers in hand will get the best offer from the client. If you have more than one option it will result in getting what's best for you as opposed to taking a role because you have no other option.