Dubai Employment Tips

Job Description:

Executive level PAs perform a comprehensive range of support services to support and enhance both the personal and professional lives of middle-top management executives. Department heads such as Sales Directors, Regional Managers and Chief Executives are the common employers of personal/executive assistants. Because of the close working relationship forged with the person holding the office, these types of PAs perform tasks relating to the personal lives of their bosses, in addition to professional and/or business support services.

Duties:

• Preparation and review of official correspondences. Director’s PA would have access to the Director’s mails and email accounts, PDAs, faxes and all other sources and methods of communications. Often, the PA screens these correspondences, filters unwanted mails and prioritizes replies. Director’s PA also often drafts agreements, memos and circulars and other official communications issued by the director’s office. In some cases, the PA picks up or delegates phone calls to and from the director’s office.
• Calendar and Scheduling. The PA takes charge of the director’s daily planner, usually plotting and prioritizing engagements. Executive PAs also make travel arrangements for the executive, from flight schedules and bookings to hotel accommodations and rental cars.
• Documentation and technical assistance. The PA may prepare the director’s presentations; write analyses, summaries and reports for the office. The PA would also be in-charge of updating file systems and reporting consistent with head office requirements.
• Personal support services would vary depending on the needs of the director or executive the PA works for. Tasks may include choosing presents for family members, reminding the director of family engagements, scheduling doctor visits, doing some personal shopping for the boss, etc.

Qualifications:

• Education – A Bachelor’s degree in a field specific to the executive office is a must. Most PAs at this level would either have at least a master’s degree to compensate for a relatively minimal experience or at least a three-year experience without the additional degree. Industry-specific training hours or credit units will also boost your chances to be hired for this position.
• Technical skills – Strong organizational skills and excellent written and oral communication skills is a given. Above average computer skills is normally required. That means being excellent with common MS Office applications, familiarity with special applications like CRMs, sales and forecasting tools, etc. Proficiency with online media and web-based applications is definitely a plus.
• Other Requirements – Flexibility is a basic requirement for PAs at this level. Management executives in Dubai often keep long hours and hectic days. When your boss is working or present, so should you. In many cases, these executive PA speak English and another major language (e.g. French, Italian, Spanish) or Arabic.

Salary Range:

AED 8,000-20,000

Employer’s Description:

Department Chiefs, Directors, Chief Executives in Dubai are no different than their American or European counterparts; they lead hectic professional lives. They need to be able to do more with their 24-hour days. Because these professionals are decision-makers, their professional hours need to be focused on assessing, evaluating and implementing strategic plans to meet organizational objectives. Thus, they need technical and personal support for tasks that need to be done to help them with these processes.

Job Description:

PA jobs in Dubai that are otherwise called office assistant jobs are in-house support positions to an entire office. That means a person holding this position should have a basic knowledge of how an office is run and should learn, within a reasonable amount of time, the tasks and systems specific or unique to the company they work for. Office Assistants directly report to the Office Manager who would most often be their direct supervisor. This position would generally involve administrative and/or clerical support services. Rarely would an office assistant be doing anything related to anyone’s personal affairs as this position does not give anyone in the firm exclusive rights to the office assistant’s professional services or time.

Duties:

• Phone & Fax Management. This function include picking up, screening and fielding phone calls and faxes. This is more than a switchboard operator function as office assistants usually decide whether each incoming phone call or fax deserves further attention from core or non-core staff at the firm. They would take messages for anyone in the firm but are generally the gatekeepers of the phone and fax lines. They would also be placing phone calls or sending out faxes and normally keep a log of nonlocal calls and both incoming and outgoing faxes.
• Calendar & Scheduling. Office assistants manage company calendars and schedule and/or coordinate events. In this role, they would coordinate with managers who plan business events and affairs. In most cases, scheduling tasks would relate to assisting with travel arrangements for managers and staff, along with internal or external meetings or conferences held within the office.
• Professional support. Office assistants help in preparing presentations, spreadsheets, documents and contracts, documentation and filing, quotes requests, supplier relations and a host of other administrative support functions. These may be required by individual firm members (usually the office manager or the managing director), team (logistics for the sales team), or the entire office (such as when requesting replenishment of office supplies or sending out quote requests).
• Auxiliary Tasks. These include photocopying, distributing mails, collating, logging and filing of documents that come in or are sent out via courier services and keeping hard copies of important emails. Office assistants also manage company contact lists for internal contact information, supplier contacts and client contact information.

Qualifications:

• Education – Office Assistants in Dubai must have a bachelor’s degree. Depending on the industry or the specific type of business the company you’re after is in, your particular degree may be an advantage or not. However, those with a business or management degree are attractive prospects for office assistant jobs in virtually any industry or business.
• Technical skills – Proficiency in the three basic MS Office applications – Word, Excel and Powerpoint- is a common requirement. Excellent oral and written communication skills is another common qualification for office assistants.
• Other Skills. Reasonable typing speed is an implied requirement for this position. You’d also be presumed to be familiar with business correspondences – fax, memo, email, contracts, etc.

Salary Range (monthly):

AED 2,000-4,500. Average going rate: AED 3,250

Employers Description:

The position office assistant is usually used by relatively larger firms with offices in various locations. Often, these are foreign-based firms with Middle East operations or local UAE businesses with at least a national operation. Their Dubai offices hire office assistants to support their operations. The small and medium-sized enterprises’ counterpart position is normally called an office secretary or receptionist.

There is an important fact that is frequently overlooked by job seekers. The ignorance of this fact is the reason most job seekers tend to face difficulties in their job search. Here’s the simple fact:

Job seekers are sellers. Employers are buyers.

What does this mean? And how should it effect your job search and your outlook towards employment?

You may, as a job seeker, send out 10s, if not 100s, of cover letters and resumes to employers only to be disappointed with the lack of response. Then you will rationalize this disappointment in your head. You may think to yourself:

• Maybe the company is not hiring now
• Maybe the person who reviews applications is on a vacation
• Maybe there was a system failure that prevented my application from being received
• Maybe it is something that really is out of my control
• Maybe, etc…

But the truth is, these causes are seldom the reason for lack of response. Employers always have money to spend and hire new people; ALWAYS. The reason they didn’t respond to your efforts is because your offer to them is not compelling enough. You did not convince them that you are worth buying.

What are businesses, companies, and employers interested in? One thing: money.

To convince employers of buying your service, the first thing you need to do is to refine yourself and specialize in one field and then show them that your specialty can bring them money.

You need to:

• first, examine your specialty and your capabilities
• second, market your specialty by targeting your job application
• third, sell your specialty by showing employers the benefits of having you

Examine Your Specialty

In order to examine if you have a specialized skill, ask yourself the following question: can you utilize your skills to earn a living independently and without the help of an employer, for example as a freelance consultant, designer or writer?

If not, then is it because you lack the platform that the employer provides or is it because you are not sure of the value of your skills in the open market?

If you’re not sure of the value of what you do, then Dubai may not be for you, yet. As I have said in our other employment guides, Dubai companies offer minimal training and expect employees to hit the ground running. Dubai employers are not out there to discover your hidden qualities and talents. They want you to teach them what you do and do it for them.

Furthermore, if you answered “no,” perhaps you should take some time off, think about your future, and discover exactly what you enjoy and what you would like to do with your time.

If you answered “yes” then you are more than ready. Now it’s time to put on the salesman and marketer hat.

Targeting Your Job Application

In marketing it is known that targeted messages receive the highest response.

However, due to the difficulty that is associated with creating a quality targeted job application, you may opt for quantity. In other words, instead of tailoring your applications to a few companies and hiring managers, you may create a “template” message that you broadcast to 100s of employers. In reality, when it comes to sales and marketing, quality is much more important than quantity. Think about yourself: are you more likely to respond to a spam email that goes out to 1000s of people, or are you more likely to respond to an email that addresses you by name and discusses issues that are relevant to your life at the moment? Exactly. That’s what you should do.

For example, you may see a job posted on XYZJobs.com. Write down the company name and the department of the company that posted the job. Then find the contact information of the company. Then call them up and ask to speak to the manager of the department that posted the job. When you are asked by the phone operator for the reason of your call, say that you have important questions about the posted job description, and you need clarifications. Speak with confidence and authority. When you are connected to the manager (be polite, but don’t let him/her intimidate you; he/she is not your manager, yet. It’s just someone on the phone who may be the stupidest person in the world), ask the questions that you have. Ask him what he really wants in the person who he’ll hire. Ask what traits he likes, etc. Also, take this opportunity to introduce yourself and learn the name and, if possible, the email and direct phone number of the manager. This information will help you target your message to this manager directly.

Tell me: how many job seekers do you suppose will go to this length in order to secure a job? Very few. If you follow this procedure, you will have instantly put yourself ahead of all job seekers. Additionally, with the information that you will have acquired through this procedure, you will be able to tailor your application to the specific requirements of this manager and his department. It will be very hard for them to not consider you for the job.

Selling Your Job Application

Now that we have talked about the importance of of targeted messages, we should now address the importance of the content of your targeted message. What exactly should you say in your job application in order to sell it?

There are two important principles of selling that you should keep in mind when you send out your application

• Make it very clear exactly what you do. Don’t let them get confused in trying to understand where to place you in their organization.
• In your profile whenever you mention one of your strengths, follow with with a sentence that describes how this strength can be a benefit to their business.

For example, if you have 12-years of experience in marketing, in your profile, don’t just say “A dynamic professional with 12-years experience in marketing.” Instead, emphasize how they can benefit from your 12-years of experience by saying something like, “With my 12-years of marketing experience, I’m capable of creating and executing marketing campaigns that are guaranteed to enhance the brand and perception of [insert company name] to increase long term profitability.”

Whenever you mention one of your strengths, make it clear to the reader how this strength will contribute to their profitability and make them a better company. Don’t make the reader have to think in order to figure out how you could help them.

If you follow the outlined procedure in this article, you will never be unemployed again because you will no longer need employment. Instead, employment will need YOU.

Far too many people are sticking with the job that they currently have because they are worried that there are not going to be any vacancies which are available through other employers. Although we certainly are living in times that are difficult to find employment, that doesn’t necessarily mean that you should always stay in one particular place. As a matter of fact, it often pays to be on the lookout for other employment, even if you’re not totally unhappy with the job that you have.

A good example of this is if you live in the city of Dubai and have been holding the same job for many years. Often, we become stale in the company because we have been there so long that it is difficult for them to move us in any direction except laterally. If you were to find employment with another company, however, you might be able to move up a few more steps and to better yourself and your families situation in the process.

There are several different ways for you to find other employment. Some people look for it themselves, going out and filling out applications on a regular basis. Other people, however, hire the use of a recruitment agency or perhaps even look for a headhunter that is trying to fill slots at a company that are currently open. If you are highly specialized in your field, you might find that one of these is the perfect way for you to find a new job.

Here are some resources that you will find of high value to your job search:

Resources for Searching for Vacancies in Dubai:

• Dubai Job Sites Directory: on this directory you will find a list of employers, recruitment agencies, and job listings and portals in Dubai.
• Salaries in Dubai: here you can find information on how to predict your Dubai salary
• Dubai CV and Resume: a resume in Dubai is different from what you would write for another job market. Be sure to properly format your resume for Dubai

You have been hearing a lot about Dubai and you wonder how it is going to be like to work in Dubai. Perhaps you have visited Dubai or perhaps you have only seen it in pictures. Regardless, you want to explore employment opportunities in this exotic place. But you have tens of unanswered questions!

Very well.

We’ll try to address the most important questions that Dubai employment seekers face, and we will try to outline an effective strategy for Dubai employment seekers. Let’s begin!

First: nothing about your job search should be generic. Be specific in every aspect of your job search. Being specific will help you focus your job search effort and energy. Being too broad will scatter your efforts all over and will make you ineffective. So:

Define Yourself

Make sure that you define yourself very clearly and precisely. Don’t just be an “aircraft engineer.” Define the exact types of aircraft that you specialize in and know what makes you different. You got to be different to win in your job search. Then…

Define Your Industry

Say you are a Web programmer. You may think that you can work for any company that requires any help with the Web (and that maybe true), but if you approach your job search with this mindset, you’ll hardly get any where. Here is what you should do instead: define yourself further as a “Web Programmer for Hospitality and Hotels Websites” Now, when one of the thousands hotels and tourism agencies in Dubai is looking for a Web programmer/developer, do you think they will consider the guy who put down “.NET Web Programmer with 3-yrs Experience” or you?

Make a List of Dubai Companies

Once you have defined yourself and your industry, it’s time that you delve in deeper. Make a list of the companies that you would like to work for in Dubai.

Visit our guide on companies in Dubai to learn how you can find the contact information of companies in Dubai.

Once you have identified the companies that you want to work for, call them, introduce yourself, and get to know the person who will be your introductory point of contact in the company.

Utilize Recruitment Agencies

Speak to recruitment agents, describe to them your specific expertise and specific industry, and ask them to contact companies on your behalf.

Next:

What you have done so far should have given you an idea of the nature of the job search in Dubai. Now it is time for the next inevitable step for the serious job seeker, which is coming over to Dubai.

You Have 30 Days in Dubai

Frankly speaking, the candidates pools for most employment sectors in Dubai are overflowing. That doesn’t necessarily mean that the quality of these candidates is high; it just means that there is a lot of distracting noise. Because of that, there is little incentive for companies to incur the extra cost of hiring people from outside.That’s why, if you are serious about working in Dubai, it is highly recommended that you come over here. If you are here, companies will be much more likely to invite you for an interview.

(Note: read our recruitment process guide to learn more on whether you really have to come here on your own.)

You can apply for a Dubai visit visa that would allow you to stay in Dubai for 30 days. For certain nationalities the visa can be obtained in Dubai’s International Airport (DXB), which is very convenient. Of course, before you come here, you should have also tried to arrange for a few interviews from your current place.

The strategies that we have outlined in the beginning of your job search are still relevant in this stage. Continue to contact companies by phone when you are in Dubai. But this time, persist in asking for an immediate interview. Make them know that they will miss out on you if they are unable to invite you over now.

In conclusion, focus your effort and know exactly where you want to work in Dubai. Once you have done that, start to warm up your job search in Dubai by making phone calls and establishing contacts while you are still outside of Dubai. Once you have done that and still have the serious intention of working in Dubai, come over to Dubai and continue to pursue the job opportunities that you have uncovered and the ones that you are uncovering while you are here.

There are funny similarities between commerce in Dubai and on the Internet. Both attract service providers from all over the globe.

These service providers or workers aren’t afraid to chop their asking price in half in order to have the job or project awarded to them. This is especially true for the IT job market in Dubai where you have IT professionals from all over Europe, the Middle East, South Asia (India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka) and East Asia.

With their aggressive pricing and willingness to work for a low wage, these professionals have made the IT job market extremely competitive and, some would say, even undesirable.

But, there is hope if you are willing to overcome the limitation of your geek nature…

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