It’s incredible that even as we approach 2023, people from all over the world still dream of getting a job in Dubai.
It might have something to do with the promise of year round sun, tax-free earnings, generous salary packages, 7-star hotels and great beaches…maybe.
Whatever the reason, Dubai has the potential to deliver it all and more.
How to get a job in Dubai
A lot of would be expats find their Dubai career dreams frustrated by long, unfruitful job searches, complicated recruitment processes, dead ends and false starts.
Finding yourself in the wrong job in Dubai can be worse than finding no job at all, and wasting time and money on an unsuccessful job search is demoralising.
But it doesn’t have to be that way, hold those thoughts of yacht cruises, beach volleyball and tax-free savings in your mind as I reveal how to get a job in Dubai in 2023.
Coming up
In this article, I’m going to share with you my secrets for getting a job in Dubai, many of these secrets are not revolutionary, however, don’t be deceived by their simplicity.
I moved to Dubai in 2013 and worked as a Dubai recruitment consultant, my journey involved false starts, complications and frustrations.
As a job searcher in Dubai, and as a recruiter working for Dubai recruitment agencies, I accumulated a wealth of knowledge, and a deep insight into what it takes to get hired in Dubai.
I learned that finding a job in Dubai does not need to be complicated, those who are successful do the basics well and stay focused, and that’s what I’m going to help you to do.
All of these steps were born out of my own personal job search mistakes, which saw me take 3 whole months to find a job, plus the mistakes that I saw others make time and time again whilst working for a recruitment agency in Dubai.
1. If you want to get a job in Dubai, don’t apply for too many roles
This will either seem obvious to you, or counterintuitive, either way, it’s a very important point and that’s why we’re starting here.
The prevailing logic goes something like this; the more job applications you make, the more chances you have of landing interviews.
Unfortunately, this is just not the case, applying for too many jobs in Dubai can actually work against you.
The main reason why this is the case, comes down to the simple fact that recruiters in Dubai are tasked with finding very specific talent for very specific roles.
Let me give you an example, if a recruitment agency in Dubai is looking for sales professionals for the automotive industry, they are very unlikely to approach sales professionals from the food industry or luxury goods industry, even though the skill set is arguably the same and the required knowledge very acquirable.
Companies in Dubai prefer to hire people who already possess the knowledge, skillset and experience that they require.
This means that candidates need to be able to demonstrate to recruiters and hiring teams that they can offer all that’s required.
You can’t possibly be a good fit for every role out there, or even a majority of the roles out there, so don’t bother applying for them, you’ll just be wasting your time.
Get specific about what job you want to get in Dubai
If you want to find a job in Dubai you need to adopt a very targeted approach, and this means applying only for the roles that you are at least 80{0034557e89dc124a909339709b73a0ad06298df94a1c24262a56b2a47042c39d} qualified for.
If you can’t demonstrate that you possess the relevant skills and specific experience that’s required, don’t bother applying.
Pay particular attention to language requirements, professional qualifications, educational requirements and specific regional experience.
Don’t apply for a role requiring an Arabic speaker with Middle East experience if you only speak English and have never left the UK!
When you begin to apply for roles for which you are not an obvious fit, you will get frustrated at the lack of positive response, you’ll begin to lose focus and you’ll send the message to recruitment consultants in Dubai that you are also going to waste their time.
Instead, you should decide on exactly which roles and which companies that you’re going to target, these should be the roles and companies for which you are an obvious fit and to which you can bring relevant skills and experience.
This is absolutely where you should begin, everything else such as how to write your CV, how to update your LinkedIn profile and which recruiters to work with, will stem from having a targeted job search plan.
2. Partner with a Dubai recruiter
In my experience, most organisations in Dubai instruct recruitment companies to help fill their roles, it’s why there are so many successful recruitment firms in Dubai.
Recruiters in Dubai are your doorway into some of the best companies in the region, the very best recruiters in Dubai will have spent years cultivating relationships with hiring managers and HR teams, many of which they will have placed into roles!
Start building relationships
If you want to access the best job opportunities in Dubai, you should develop a relationship with one or two great recruiters.
Not only will a good recruiter help you to find your first role in Dubai, they’ll also be there to help you get promotions in the future, provided you maintain a good relationship with them.
It’s worth it, every good Dubai recruiter, including Hannah and I, will have stories of great candidates that we kept in touch with and placed into multiple roles over the years.
