Dubai Employment Tips

Dubai has unveiled plans for a £665 million reproduction of the Taj Mahal that will not only be four times bigger than the 17th century original but contain a shopping centre, a 300-room five-star hotel, serviced apartments and bridal wear stores.

The Taj Arabia as it will be called is expected to be completed in two years and will be part of a a bigger project called the Falconcity of Wonders, which will also feature replicas of the Pyramids, the Hanging Gardens, the Eiffel Tower, the Great Wall of China and Leaning Tower of Pisa.

New Employment Prospects? A project of this scale is going to create immediate increased demand for construction and engineering professionals in Dubai. And also, within the next 12 to 18 months, it is likely that the Taj Arabia development will start its hiring campaign for hotels staff. So, hospitality professionals interested in working in this exciting new development should keep an eye on this project.

There are many benefits associated with having a career mentor. A mentor is someone with more experience in their career than you, meaning that they can help you navigate through the politics, the difficulties and the ups and downs of the job. He or she can help you determine what your career goals are, and how you can reach them; help to develop your communication skills; engender more responsibility; and help you get ahead quicker. These all sound pretty good! So how do you go about finding someone to be your career mentor?

The first step is to determine what your short term career goals are. Do you want to improve your skills and knowledge, or do you want to get promoted? Knowing what your goals are will help you to clarify what you want to get out of a mentoring relationship. Do you want your mentor to help you advance in your career or do you want him or her to be a sounding board for your ideas?

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The UAE economy has performed well in the first three quarters of 2012 – and surprisingly much of this has been driven by good growth in Dubai’s non oil sector, according to a recent report released by Standard Chartered Bank. The three industrial areas in Dubai which are doing particularly well are trade, tourism and retail. Figures show that Dubai Airport passengers levels are up 13.7% and Dubai hotel guest levels from the GCC increased by 45%. Demand for services and tourism staff is expected to grow and we will expect to see a continuing influx of international workers into Dubai to start up a new career.

So, for you workers who are looking to take your first step into overseas working and are perhaps looking for an overseas assignment in the UAE, particularly Dubai, what can you expect from the interview process? Well, since you are going overseas outside your native country, recruiters and employees will not just be looking at your job related skills, they will also be considering how well you can adapt to working overseas and in a new social and business culture. In fact, I have even conducted a few of these types of interviews myself.

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Last week his Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, ordered the launch of the Mohammad Bin Rashid Award for Emiratisation.

Both public and private sector companies are eligible and the award is meant to encourage Emirates to work in fields where the emiratisation rate is low, and to encourage a national initiative for emiratising jobs.

To be eligible for the award companies must be developing schemes in strategic emiratisation plans and programmes, emiratisation leadership, training and empowerment of Emirati human resources, and emiratisation community initiatives.

This is great news for Emiratis as these criteria are intended to encourage Emiratis to work in fields where the emiratisation rate is low, and to encourage a national initiative for emiratising jobs.

A recent study reported in the Gulf News by The Boston Consulting Group, found that, while 85 per cent of leading organisations in the middle east view gender diversity as a top priority, only one in five companies have targeted recruiting strategies for female talent. The report highlighted the need for the role of women in the workplace to be more clearly defined in the Middle East to address the lack of women in management positions.

The report concluded that the UAE could play a leading global role in greater integration of women as statistics show that young Emirati women are better educated than their male peers and often demonstrate stronger work ethic.

This report should be good news for female Emirati staff as this report brings gender equality to the table — and so female Emirati staff can hope to see some positive action soon.

The National has reported today that both, Emirates Airlines and Etihad Airways, have reinforced UAE’s partnership with the US. This is being achieved through more flights non-stop flights to Washington DC by both airlines.  While increasing flights directly translates to increasing in-flight crew requirements, what catches the eye is the choice of Strata Manufacturing ( a subsidiary of Mubadala Aerospace) as Boeing’s first Middle East supplier of  aerostructures for its 787 Dreamliner plane till 2020.

The shot in the arm comes from this news for us job seekers out there, “Strata is projected to expand capacity and create up to 10,000 jobs by 2030.” For those of you in the field of aircraft engineering, keep your eyes and ears open as this is expected to raise vacancies for a good many years to come. Don’t forget to brush up your skills and knowledge too.

» Etihad and Emirates to reinforce UAE partnership with US | The National