IMPROVE YOUR CHANCES OF GETTING A JOB IN THE EMIRATES?

HOW TO IMPROVE YOUR CHANCES OF GETTING A JOB IN THE EMIRATES?

Being in the HR field Internationally as a recruiter I hope these tips will help you land your dream job and increase the chances of you getting an interview call & further!

A well written CV does not guarantee you a job in the Emirates however it can increase your chances of getting an interview call.  In my experience if you are honest and the recruiter finds that what is written on paper is what is in front of them in an interview then your chances will definitely increase!

TIPS ON WRITING YOUR CV 

1. Make a Brief to the point CV for each company you are applying to – yes make some effort and research the company and if your skill set matches their requirements by even 60% then make a CV unique for that company!
2. In the UAE the HR heads get an overwhelming volume of people looking for jobs – so be to the point and make sure you can fit it all in on one page – nobody cares about your religion or what your marital status is so please ensure you give information that will be relevant to the employer to you!
3. Ensure you take a professional photo and embed that in your CV like you do for a passport – looks matter
4. Make sure you highlight the main points in your covering email that are in your CV – your email should not be more than 6 – 7 sentences as time is the most precious commodity here not you demonstrating your ability to manipulate the English Language
5. Ensure you put down the correct information and mention the best times to call you – do not give multiple numbers only one which is on all the time and you can answer immediately – this way if an employer likes what they read they can impulsively call you so make it easy for them
6. Make sure you are in the Emirates and not outside fishing for an opportunity as people normally do – these will be pushed down the pile of emails
7. Do not ramble on about what you have done at your last job and having a professionally written to the point LinkedIn Profile that matches your CV will help you
8. Clean up your life on social media – Social media will always hurt you and your past will come back to haunt you if you have posted compromising pictures about your personal life online.  If the company in the UAE is a conservative bank then pictures of you at a casino will definitely weaken your chances once the recruiters research you.

WHAT YOU SHOULD NOT DO – TO IMPROVE YOUR CHANCES OF LANDING AN INTERVIEW - DO NOT GET A PROFESSIONAL WRITER TO WRITE THIS FOR YOU AS ONLY YOU CAN BEST SELL YOUR SELF

Once you get called for an interview here are a few do’s and don’ts you should consider

1. Time will be your best friend to avoid stressful situations so respecting time should be your utmost priority be there early and compose your self mentally and emotionally
2. Keep it professionally personal and stick to what you can do for the company – be focused as the recruiters have heavy schedules and are normally hiring for 3^rd parties just the fact you are called mean they found something interesting and you should focus on that alone as to them you are only a number as a candidate in a massive pool of applicant
3. Trying to befriend a recruiter and trying to win them over on emotions will not work – they are not the end client and working for money like you want to do so be to the point and warm yet avoid the fuzzy you and save that for your life partner
4. Interviewers like to see how you can handle situations so if they throw a curveball at you like why you are leaving your job it is futile to blame other people for what failures you are having – personally I always dismiss a candidate who just goes on about the fact how their colleagues are the reason they have had to leave the job.  I respect those who tell me what progress they have made and how that learning will help them in the new job – so focus on being positive and being a solution for them not someone who carries a briefcase of past problems they want to abandon

After your interview is over before you exit you have every right to ask

1. if the job is direct or a third party hire
2. about the compensation structure – this is not to haggle about it as no offer has been made but to give you an idea of what your market worth will be – whatever is stated is a generic rate for your tier of hiring so quietly accept that and walk out as no offer has been made
3. about the benefits involved – again just listen don’t start bargaining
4. about the visa structure and insurance coverage for you and your family
5. by when should you expect to hear back from the recruiter

DO NOT

1. sound desperate by saying you have to exit the country and need to know immediately as that is always taken negatively
2. try to make after interview plans with the recruiter – some recruiters will try to do that with you only to check your levels of desperation but from all my years of HR experience job offers are only made in the offices during office timings and not at a restaurant or a bar where you are paying the bill – be professional at all times

PERSONALLY SPEAKING

1. Nobody helped me ever get a job despite any relationship value with or to them or my family's standing - i did what i had to on my own with more enemies within my friends than i ever needed - in fact my oldest friends tried to benefit from getting me a job
2. It did not matter what i was in my home country here i was nothing as the horizon is so huge you are a tiny fish in a big ocean of sharks 
3. In the Emirates people can not and will not help you land a job despite the years you have known them
4. If they do help you land a job in their company (which nobody helped me ever) then try to think 6 months ahead what the cost will be emotionally and financially
5. If you want a job then the best listings are found not online but at networking events which you can find on the Emirati Business groups and also on social media – these events are all about networking and one gets to know about good opportunities that are happening NOW – here in the Emirates news gets old within the blink of an eye so you need to work smart as well as hard – these networking events cost anywhere from AED 50/- to AED 150/- to attend and the money is worth the investment
6. Even with my connections and a budget of AED 20,000/-  for 3 months I never landed an interview but was able to build enough contacts to start my own company with zero capital – so the money you will spend is a risk but the risk factor becomes significantly lower if you network smart

In short if you are to the point can prove your professional principles and come across as a pragmatic and sensible human being with the ability to manage time then you would have proven your self as a professional and definitely increase your chances of getting a job in the Emirates

If you still want me to help you get a job – then please note that despite what I charge you I cannot help you at all in fact nobody can because you will not land a job as in life depending upon people - you must do things on your own and have confidence in yourself!

Good Luck!

Amyn

If what I wrote made sense then please do share it and leave a comment as well! 

If you need any advice then contact me on - amyn@ghulamalis.ae 

OR connect with me on LinkedIn Here - https://www.linkedin.com/in/amynaghulamali/

GRAVE THOUGHTS

GRAVE THOUGHTS

Everyone at some point in their life has at some point thought out how they would die.  All human beings except for an exceptional few get a cold shiver running down their spine when they think of “death” and almost everyone forgets about all their religious beliefs.  Most of my pious friends keep proclaiming that they want to end up in heaven or paradise yet none of them are willing to die for it!

To me personally as a Muslim I fear my own Aakhirat (The Day of Reckoning) & not death its self.  If you look at a bitter harsh reality, then from the minute you are conceived in the womb you start a process that will eventually end up in the grave any ways.  People spend their entire lives trying to accumulate material possessions yet always unhappy and in the end their bodies are just buried, cremated or treated the way their religion wants them to be treated.

With us Muslims when we hear about a death we all say “Inna lillahi wa inna ilayhi raji'un” (Arabic: إِنَّا للهِ وَإِنَّـا إِلَيْهِ رَاجِعونَ‎‎) which is a part of a verse from the Holy Qur'an which translates to "We surely belong to Allah and to Him we shall return."  However, if you belong to the Christian, Hindu or whatever faith then you surely must have your own rituals & prayers.

“In order to appreciate life, you need to understand death!”  It’s the same as when someone tells you that you cannot appreciate love until you have had your heart broken!  People are too busy trying to exist and not live.  Living & existing are two different things which people often confuse.  Death does not scare me and honestly neither does the thought of what will happen after I die.  I guess it’s because I have come to terms with life and what it has thrown at me.

I guess I am sick and tired actually exhausted of trying to keep everyone happy…  Maybe it’s the fact that I was an only problem child with no friends, maybe it’s the fact that the world has expectations and I cannot live up to them… No matter what you do sometimes you get that feeling that life just does not cut you any slack.  It’s exhausting being in a situation where you are never good enough.  Seriously no matter what you do will truly never be appreciated because everyone will have their own interest at heart as long as they benefit then the approach of “what is good for the goose is good for the gander” is what is to be socially accepted as a norm.

People are so wrapped up in their own lives and their own interests and their own little bubbles that they forget to be sensitive to others.  Everyone is quick to judge others yet nobody takes a moment to listen with the intent of understanding.  On a completely different note the same people want the world to not only forgive them but forget their own past sins.

The minute you stop adding any form or value to anyone’s life just watch them cower and run from you – the day a person feels that they have a better option elsewhere they stop acknowledging you!  However, the minute you can add any value to their own lives from you then like parasites they shamelessly come knocking at your door ready to bleed you dry yet once again…

The world has lost its values that existed in the 80’s when music was real and people actually had conversations rather than stare at a screen and pass opinions via text messages.  The moral break down of society has led to a dysfunction where everyone is desperately “trying” to outdo one another!  All friendships today are a matter of convenience and loyalty has a heavy price.  If you actually wind up advising a friend today on how to do something or refer a friend to someone for work or you even, try to help then insecurities kick in and surely lead a person to think “where’s the catch to all this?”

It is so terribly sad that in order to be forgiven today for anything one has to die.   Just consider this that in a country like Pakistan the Late Benazir Bhutto who was its prime minister had a lot of things said about her until she died.  After her demise a consolidation prize of forgiveness what bestowed upon her “Shaheed” which means Martyr looking at the globe elsewhere the same can be said for Idi Amin.

As per my statements above I refer to the Holy Quran (Surat al-Ma’ida, 48) “We have appointed a law and a practice for every one of you. Had God willed, He would have made you a single community, but He wanted to test you regarding what has come to you. So compete with each other in doing good. Every one of you will return to God and He will inform you regarding the things about which you differed.”

Us humans in trying to simplify “life” its self we have complicated it painfully beyond relief. When was the last time that we as humans appreciated any cause truly.  The last time I watched the world come together was when the entire world raised funds for Ethiopia in the form of Live Aid in the early 80’s .  After that all we get to see are horrific pictures by people who use social media to impress people for likes and do not use it in the correct way to impact people positively.

The sheer greatness of a being is when they do something good for and to someone who cannot give anything back in return and they just do it because it’s the right thing to do. (everyone just wants to get a benefit, even out of charity)  I was in a horrible place emotionally, mentally, physically, financially due to the enemies within my friends and nobody wanted to help me.  I was broken beyond belief and the struggle and the strife I went through along with all the tension and drama in my life made me think about just giving up and I lost hope on a lot of fronts but then Allah himself has told us through the Holy Quran 14:7 And [remember] when your Lord proclaimed, 'If you are grateful, I will surely increase you [in favor]; but if you deny, indeed, My punishment is severe.' "  One acquaintance whom I had no social interaction with but was a friend on Facebook out of the blue came to my rescue and helped me in ways unimaginable!

“So which of the favors of your lord would you deny?” – The Holy Quran -Surah ar-Rehman’s verse kept on ringing in my head when this person just stood by my side.  My own friends abandoned me, years of laughter joy happy moments were forgotten and I was all alone but then “He” (Allah) sent someone and then I was not alone.   What tears a man apart is “loneliness” not daily stress what values does society have today that it perpetually creates people who are selfish and unimaginably cruel.

No matter what you do stop being scared about death and start living in whatever way you can!  Also, start appreciating those who think you are something and value you in whatever way they can!  It does not matter how much money you have in your wallet if you don’t have a soul!

A lot of you must have thought that this is perhaps a suicide note!  Well think what you want but if you’re on that negative emotional tangent then please note that I refer to “Allah does not burden a soul beyond that it can bear – The Holy Quran, Surah Baqarah – V 286” 

If you would like to contact me for a free consultation, please directly email me at - amyn@ghulamalis.com