7 Tips to help you get a job Easily in Dubai

1. Get the right visa

If you’re planning to work in Dubai, you’ll need a work visa. The good news is, if you’re employed by a Dubai company, they’re pretty easy to obtain.

Because a work visa is required, it’s easiest to head to Dubai after you’ve been offered a position. That being said, it’s possible to enter the emirate on a visitor or tourist visa for your job search and then transfer your visa status once you’ve found employment.

Is a visa needed to go Abu Dhabi?

2. Know your job market

While the emirate’s overall financial health becoming stable, not all job markets are ready to bounce back. That being said, there are some areas that are expecting to blossom in preparation for Dubai’s hosting duties at expo 2020. Some markets where job-seekers might find success include:

• Legal
• Finance
• Marketing
• Procurement
• IT
• Hospitality
• Telecomm
• Tourism

Many of the above sectors are performing so well that salaries are expected to continue to rise. LinkedIn’s MENA Recruiting Trends 2017 report goes into further detail, noting that job-seekers looking to take on the following roles within those sectors have the best chances of finding employment in Dubai :

• Operations
• Sales
• Engineering
• Business Development
• Marketing

3. Check out the big companies

There are some companies that are well known in Dubai for their rigorous hiring and excellent standing as places to work. The top 10 of those businesses include retail chains THE One, Splash, Estee Lauder and Hilti Emirates, media giant Omnicom, IT specialists EMC², Hilton Worldwide, Weber Shandwick Professional services and FedEx.

4. Apply online

To get a better idea of what companies are hiring in Dubai, bayt.com, a favorite among Dubai job-seekers, is a good place to start.

Some other good sites for finding jobs and internships include:

• Dubai Task
• Khaleej Times Jobs
• Dubizzle
• Naukrigulf
• Indeed
• Laimoon
• LinkedIn
• Gulftalent
• Efinancial Careers

Some great sites that are specific to finding internships include:

• Dubai Minds (High school student placement)
• Internsme
• GoAbroad.com

5. Consider a recruiter

Many Dubai businesses hire through headhunters. Working with an agency is very common, and is still the best way to procure a job within the emirate. Some of the best reviewed agencies include:

• Jivaro Partners (marketing & communications jobs)
• ESP International (conferences, events, hospitality)
• MCG & Associates (PR, publishing, marketing & communications jobs)
• Robbert Murray (development, construction, engineering & public sector jobs)
• BAC Middle East (engineering, marketing & management jobs)

If decide to work through an agency, look for companies that take commission on the employer’s end, not yours. Be wary of recruiters that collect high fees from job-seekers: these tend to be scams.

6. Work on your CV

The single most important tool in your job search will be your CV.

Dubai’s job market is extremely competitive, and on average a recruiter will only spend six seconds checking out your resume. It’s important to avoid major CV pitfalls, like using buzzwords. “I’d rather see applicants present themselves in a more unique way, supported with facts such as targets realised, projects worked on, among others,” said Annalinde Nickisch of The Thought Factory in a recent interview with The Gulf News. Monster offers a great resource for CV tips and advice for those looking for a little more help.

7. Network

Dubai is known for hiring internally and among employee-referenced candidates. If you know someone inside the company, you’re up to 6.6% more likely to land the job. If you can’t get to Dubai for networking events, you can still network. Not only are there plenty of online communities and social media networks, you can also find specific “online job fairs” to help with the “who-you-know.”

Other Tips for Job Seekers

• Craft your online persona. If a recruiter Googles you and only finds your old MySpace pictures, you’re unlikely to find a job. Not only should your social media networks be professionally tailored or made private, but you should also boost your SEO by creating an online resume, filling out job seeker profiles on websites like LinkedIn and Bayt, and publishing and sharing material relevant to the industry in which you’re seeking a job. The more experienced you seem in a google search, the more likely you are to stand out from the pack.
• Don’t apply for jobs you’re not qualified for. Just because you’re excited about a company doesn’t mean you should apply to jobs that aren’t a good fit for your skills. Not only do these applications not typically result in a “way in,” hiring managers tend to see scattered applications as a sign of a candidate who doesn’t know what they want and lacks direction.
• Be patient. It takes time to find a job anywhere in the world, but Dubai’s job market is particularly competitive. On top of the talent saturation, job in Dubai tends to be seasonal, meaning most recruitment takes place from January to March and almost completely stalls during the holy month of Ramadan and the hottest months of the summer. It’s not uncommon for your job search to take six months to a year-- so hang in there!
Good luck!