Today, in our Whatsapp group “AshrafChaudhry-UAEGroup”, one of my Dubai based friends, Khubaib Saqib, initiated a discussion by citing an example of a job seeker in Dubai. A job seeker approached him to help him find a job and he said: “Suppose I have a job for you, so please apply and here’s my email id. And I received email, starting with words, Dear Haring Manger.”
Who on earth will call you for interview for a managerial post if you are so careless in your communication? And who will refer to you to his contacts if your written communication is so lousy?
This Whatsapp communication prompted me to write this article to help a large number of people seeking jobs in UAE. If you are planning to go to Dubai for job search, follow this checklist.
- Get visa of UAE for at least 3 months. One month visa will be insufficient to get acclimatized and find job
- Do your all spadework before leaving for Dubai. Your spadework includes writing your immaculate CV, cover letter, LinkedIn profile, paid accounts at job sites, making a list of prospective employers and headhunters, formal dresses etc. If you do all these things after landing in UAE, your job hunting adventure will be expensive. Dubai is costly city.
- If you have friends and relatives in Dubai, request them to arrange a local SIM for you before you land there. Put this number at your CV and LinkedIn profiles. Get at least 500 hard copies of your CV along with you. Photo copy in UAE is many times expensive than in Pakistan
- Try to rent out your staying place near metro stations. Download map of Dubai from internet and read it thoroughly and get acquainted with routes. Taxi is very expensive in Dubai
- Start following headhunters’ Facebook pages, Twitter and LinkedIn accounts. Set Google alerts on key words like ‘Jobs in Dubai, Career Opportunities in UAE etc.’ so that you get job alerts in real time
- Join UAE Groups at Facebook and LinkedIn and try to network with people before landing in UAE
- Best months to hunt job in any economy are January, April, July, October (start of quarters). Ramadan and December are dull in UAE. So avoid visiting Dubai in these months
- Start visiting the following sites and maintain meticulous profile there. Getting paid account and putting an ad will be your investment.
- Recruiters’ first stop is LinkedIn. Make a killer profile, leaving your your email ID and cell numbers and be an open networker. Spend most of your time at LinkedIn, as recruiters and headhunters post jobs there.
- Search jobs at Twitter by searching hashtags like #Jobs #Dubai #UAE
Three years back, I wrote an e-book Guerrilla Job Hunting Tactics for Dubai. It has helped hundreds of people. You may order the book at [email protected] or cell/Whatsapp (+92 302 8356228). The package includes list of headhunters and around 5000 companies’ names and addresses. 50 pages e-book equips you with lethal job hunting tactics that are known to only highly effective job seekers.
You might be interested to read the following article.
The 5 Reasons Why You Need a Guerrilla CV
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