Attendees at the IAA World Congress in Dubai all heard a common theme being spoken about, discussed and debated. The clients of marketing agencies want a change from traditional means of advertising. They want more than just ads and commercials. What they want is a total communications service instead of an advertising agency.

This is wonderful news for the fledgling Public Relations industry, which is barely ten years old. Public Relations companies have been trying to set themselves apart from the advertising companies, and now is their chance to shine.

The biggest obstacle that Public Relations firms are finding blocking their path to success is a recruiting crisis. The vast majority of Public Relations companies are citing they are inundated with requests for pitches and are accepting as many new jobs as they are able, but lack of staffing prohibits them from keeping up with the growth.

While nearly all other sectors in Dubai have seen slow job growth at best, the push for marketing and public relations has caused growth in these sectors. Companies are looking to the future and repairing damage caused by the recent economic challenges. Establishing a strong reputation and brand recognition seems to be the focus of most executives as they look to 2011.

A common frustration for many executives is attempting to do business with PR firms located on the other side of the globe. These companies want local representation, and the local companies need to hire to keep up with the demand. This provides an excellent outlook for those considering seeking for work in this sector in Dubai.

Many professionals may be tempted to gloss over job listings for executives seeking a Personal Assistant in Dubai. The Americanized ideals of a Personal Assistant being someone that simply picks up dry cleaning and manages the personal affairs of the wealthy is far from the true picture of what a Personal Assistant does in Dubai.

Personal Assistants generally work in a professional setting, offering human resources support, business administration assistance and managing general office duties. When you consider the vast amount of professional executives working in Dubai, the need and demand for quality and professional personal assistants is understandable.

A Personal Assistant position is an excellent opportunity for someone that is looking to break into the Dubai job market. A recent survey conducted by Robert Half International showed that more companies in Dubai are hiring from within the borders instead of looking overseas. The reason for this is due largely to the high cost and risk factors of recruiting from Europe and the United States.

This is grim news for a large number of people that are seeking employment opportunities in many of Dubai’s sectors. However, many of the executives looking for Personal Assistants prefer, and are more than willing, to hire from the foreign countries from which they originated from. The misunderstanding of what a Personal Assistant is responsible for helps keep the competition at a minimum, so works to the favor of those in the know. Instead of seeking a job listed by sector, hunting through the Personal Assistant openings may uncover a hidden position that calls on your sector’s knowledge and skills.

While many sectors are complaining of slumping sales while looking forward to the end of the recession, the medical sector has been spared the brunt of the challenges. David Hadley, CEO of Emirates Healthcare Limited and Medi-Clinic Middle East recently discussed the growth of the two hospitals and five clinics in Dubai he is responsible for. Compared to last year’s numbers, profits are up 37%.

This may be good news for those seeking work in medical and health related fields. Several hospitals were planned for Dubai but progress came to halt when the economy was shaken over the last year. The lack of competition obviously played a big part in Emirates Healthcare Limited’s City Hospital breaking even on its multi-million dollar construction in less than twelve months.

Some experts think that the rapid success of Emirates Healthcare Limited will encourage the construction of the stalled medical facility’s construction to resume. While this may not be great news for David Hadley, who is confident in his lack of competition, if it comes to fruition it will be excellent for employment in the healthcare sector.

The expected projections are that the healthcare market throughout the Gulf will grow five times by 2025. Experts are estimating government spending of $15-$17 billion. One question that some are puzzled by is where will the medical professionals come from? While the hiring is still slow in Dubai for doctors and nurses, it looks very promising that we will see a huge change in job growth over the next few years.

A recent survey of Human Resource executives, headhunters and recruiters that was conducted by Pink Slip Dubai and Insight Discovery showed that over two-thirds of these industry experts believe that the job market is on an upswing. Nearly all noted that sector that will be seeing the most growth is sales and marketing. Some of those surveyed cited growth in hiring numbers of up to 20% compared to 2009.

This is surprising, considering job growth over all sectors has slowed to a crawl in light of recent economic woes.  One possible reason for the continued growth is that companies in Dubai are thinking ahead, and working out plans for post-recession marketing. If this theory holds true, then confidence in the market is returning.

In October, one of the world’s most impressive strategic marketers, Professor Philip Kotler, will be speaking at the “What Next in Marketing 2011?” summit. TECOM Investments’ Media Cluster is sponsoring the convention, which will take place at the Atlantis Hotel in Palm Jumeirah. Professor Kotler will be debuting his new theory, Marketing 3.0, which focuses on marketing after the recession.

It is expected that marketing and sales executives and students from around the world will be attending this once in a lifetime chance to be on the ground floor of Professor Kotler’s theory.  It goes without reason to say that anyone who is hoping to find a position in the Dubai sales and marketing sector will be attending to take advantage of the immense networking opportunities in hopes of securing employment.

The recent calculations of the workforce in Dubai have been released, and it clearly shows the result of the billions of dollars invested in infrastructure to recruit expatriates into the financial, real estate and tourism sectors. Over ninety percent of the workforce is made up of foreigners, with men out numbering women seven to one.

This vast difference between men and women in the Dubai workforce is largely due to the fact that 45% of the workforce is in the construction sector, which naturally attracts male workers. Fortunately for women, the projected sectors with significant growth in the next two quarters are human resources, sales, marketing and public relations. A fair percentage of these positions are of mid-management level or higher.

While continued growth in the non-constructor sectors will help even the male to female worker ratio some, it is unlikely to make it a clear 50/50 due to the number of ongoing construction projects in planning stages throughout Dubai. However, many of the sectors with the high growth are seeking more females for the work force.

The public relations sector in particular is seeing a high rate of recruitment, as PR firms struggle to keep up with client demands for post-recession marketing and reputation management. A large percentage of these firms have management vacancies that they are desperate to fill. This favors well for women who were left out of the last few years frantic hiring of construction workers, as recruiters and headhunters begin their searches to fill these newly created positions.

The information technology sector is about to be in high demand, and Dubai’s leading IT firms are going to need the staff to meet the expectations of clients. It is projected that the big “IT Spend” will reach USD 4.79 billion before the year’s end. The majority of this is being spent on virtualization.

Companies today need high-level efficiency to stay competitive in their market. Many of these companies are looking at virtualization as way to trim costs, speed up processes and streamline operations. The popularity of a virtualized cloud server is due to the cost savings and enhanced security it provides. From small businesses to major financial institutions, it seems like every company is clamoring for the chance to embrace what the IT sector has to offer.

In many areas of the world, including America, information technology jobs are being cut due to the economy. The increase in interest in the UAE provides a fantastic opportunity for IT specialists from abroad to find employment in Dubai. While hiring may be slow at first, as the regions IT firms try to source employees within the UAE, the demand is expected to be higher than what the local market can provide.

Recruiters and headhunters in Dubai have commented on the expected increase in need for IT professionals, and many have hinted that salaries in this sector will also be on the rise, with the combination of business virtualization and support for consumer IT services being the driving force of the hiring demand.