# Job Reassurance



## Brav0 (Feb 11, 2013)

Hi all, I hope I am posting this in the right place.

I know there is a sticky dedicated to jobs however I am just after some reassurance.

I mover here 5 weeks ago with my other half who was transferred with her company, she now has all the relevant documentation Visa etc so we have an apartment, mobile, DEWA etc 

I have been applying for roles in IT Project Management arena. Using the usual sites, LinkedIn, Laimoon.com, Bayt.com, Gulftalent.com etc etc 

But so far I have not had one positive response, even had knock backs from jobs below my skill level.

I am also on Meetme and Internations.

Does anyone have any advice before I lose the will to live, its Ramadan soon so the recruitment process is only going to get slower

Any advice

Thanks All


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## HarryUK (Oct 14, 2012)

jthissen said:


> Hi all, I hope I am posting this in the right place.
> 
> I know there is a sticky dedicated to jobs however I am just after some reassurance.
> 
> ...


Are you prince2 qualified or pmp / agile etc... ?

Also remember the IT industry here attracts a lot of applicants from the Indian sub continent who are highly skilled and prepared to earn a salary considerably less than western expats. 

You will get a job but will have to wait more than 5 weeks, 12 weeks is more realistic for finding the right role. Also I'd channel your energy into building relationships with other professionals in addition to applying as out here it does tend to be 'who you know'

There are a few agencies that are good, tons that are rubbish. PM me if you want my referrals. 

Good luck


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## Roxtec Blue (Jan 14, 2013)

HarryUK said:


> Are you prince2 qualified or pmp / agile etc... ?
> 
> Also remember the IT industry here attracts a lot of applicants from the Indian sub continent who are highly skilled and prepared to earn a salary considerably less than western expats.
> 
> ...


Sensible advice HarryUK. Unfortunately it's a numbers game in Dubai as anywhere nowadays and quite often supply exceeds demand. The advantage you do have is that you are already in the UAE. Network for as much as you can and something will sure turn up. Some of the best positions are never advertised. :fingerscrossed:


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## TallyHo (Aug 21, 2011)

Make your profile in LinkedIn as impressive as possible, including a good photograph. Recruiters hit me up almost weekly via LinkedIn with job possibilities that aren't being publicly advertised. 

The internet age has made it so easy for hundreds of even thousands of people to apply to a single job (practically every advertised role in Dubai attracts hundreds of completely unqualified applicants, especially from South Asia). To avoid being overwhelmed with applicants, many companies are using recruiters to find mid-senior roles and these recruiters (and even the company's HR) usually look for suitable profiles via LinkedIn and contacting them rather than openly advertising the role.


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## Brav0 (Feb 11, 2013)

Thanks All thats sound advice and has given me some hope. 

Just hard as I had a good job in the UK and moved over here to support my partner and although my friends back home think its a nice holiday for me its becoming frustrating!

Harry - yes I am prince qualified, I will drop you a message

Tallyho - my profile is on LinkedIn, Jonathan Thissen feel free to have a look and critique


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## stamboy (Apr 1, 2013)

Good luck in your search.


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## TallyHo (Aug 21, 2011)

Took a quick look at your profile.

First - get a good professional photograph of yourself and add it to the profile. Business attire. The photograph really must look professional, not a snapshot of you on the beach.

Second - somewhere on there make it clear you are now based in the UAE, not just someone looking for a job in the UAE. It's fine to write: 'Now based in the UAE I am looking for....etc' 

Third - the organising of information is fine. I like the heading paragraph followed with a bulleted list. If I'd change it I would streamline the bullets into proper bullets rather than bulleted mini-paragraphs. That makes it easier to read through the profile to look for certain information. When the recruiter reads through your cv he/she will be looking at not just the overall experience but also for certain expertise that the client is looking for. 

Forth - emphasize your qualifications and how they were used to improve your roles. Don't just list them. I noticed you didn't list an university degree so what qualifications you have will need to be emphasized throughout the CV.

I am not a IT person so I can't comment on how your experiences are relayed and how impressive they may be (or not). It does look like you have solid experiences. People do take months to find a role in Dubai, and now that the summer is approaching the pacing of recruitment will slow down substantially till September or thereabouts. I know of people who were made redundant and it took them 6-8 months to land a new role, largely because this included the summer.


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## Stevesolar (Dec 21, 2012)

jthissen said:


> Thanks All thats sound advice and has given me some hope.
> 
> Just hard as I had a good job in the UK and moved over here to support my partner and although my friends back home think its a nice holiday for me its becoming frustrating!
> 
> ...


Another suggestion is to start to find the names of the companies that you might be interested in working for.

Then look at the careers section of their websites for open vacancies.

A lot of companies don't like hiring through agencies and simply recruit for themselves over their own websites.

Make sure you have a really professional CV (I got mine professionally prepared through a specialist CV company) - as this made a huge difference with my job hunting success.

Both the above tips have helped me to find my last three jobs - each time I had been looking through agencies, without success - did my own research and direct approach and got the jobs!!!

Happy Hunting!

Cheers

Steve


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## norampin (Dec 8, 2012)

Im in the same boat- albeit im moving to Abu Dhabi at the end of the month.

Not a single dickie bird from numerous applications....
Ive heard its easier once there.

I am finding all the agency's i have used so far completely incompetent which is a disappointment.


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## HarryUK (Oct 14, 2012)

norampin said:


> Im in the same boat- albeit im moving to Abu Dhabi at the end of the month.
> 
> Not a single dickie bird from numerous applications....
> Ive heard its easier once there.
> ...


Add me too, you can find me on LinkedIn Harry Kumra As you can see from my profile I know a little bit about hiring in the UAE


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## Stevesolar (Dec 21, 2012)

norampin said:


> Im in the same boat- albeit im moving to Abu Dhabi at the end of the month.
> 
> Not a single dickie bird from numerous applications....
> Ive heard its easier once there.
> ...


Agreed, I gave up with agencies very early in my job hunting here!!

Research plus direct approach is my best advice!!

Cheers

Steve


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## norampin (Dec 8, 2012)

HarryUK said:


> Add me too, you can find me on LinkedIn Harry Kumra As you can see from my profile I know a little bit about hiring in the UAE


haha, so that you can blacklist me in the UAE after my comments .....

 :boxing:

Seems like you use Yahoo as your search engine


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## BedouGirl (Sep 15, 2011)

Not going to give you advice on job hunting per se but suggest you may want to consider tightening up the privacy on your Facebook account. Sorry, don't want you to think I am stalking you but recruiters here will check it out when they are researching you and I am not an expert but I am pretty sure I managed to find you on FB quite easily just by googling your name when I was going to have a look at your profile on Linked-in and, as with all of us I am sure, there are things we don't necessarily want the 'world' to see or know. Good luck with the job hunt.


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## Brav0 (Feb 11, 2013)

BedouGirl said:


> Not going to give you advice on job hunting per se but suggest you may want to consider tightening up the privacy on your Facebook account. Sorry, don't want you to think I am stalking you but recruiters here will check it out when they are researching you and I am not an expert but I am pretty sure I managed to find you on FB quite easily just by googling your name when I was going to have a look at your profile on Linked-in and, as with all of us I am sure, there are things we don't necessarily want the 'world' to see or know. Good luck with the job hunt.


Thanks for the feedback, what could you see on my FB profile.

I thought it was locked down? apart from my picture and name etc, could you see my albums, wall posts etc.

Its hard to check what can be seen on your own Facebook? 

Cheers for the help


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## Brav0 (Feb 11, 2013)

TallyHo said:


> Took a quick look at your profile.
> 
> First - get a good professional photograph of yourself and add it to the profile. Business attire. The photograph really must look professional, not a snapshot of you on the beach.
> 
> ...


Thanks Tally ill amend my profile and CV inline with your comments


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## BedouGirl (Sep 15, 2011)

jthissen said:


> Thanks for the feedback, what could you see on my FB profile.
> 
> I thought it was locked down? apart from my picture and name etc, could you see my albums, wall posts etc.
> 
> ...


I could see you drinking through a straw from a small bucket. Your changes of profile photos, one with a glass of 'cheer' in your hand with your partner (I guess). The jokey post about not asking how the job hunt is going. Does that help?


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## norampin (Dec 8, 2012)

BedouGirl said:


> I could see you drinking through a straw from a small bucket. Your changes of profile photos, one with a glass of 'cheer' in your hand with your partner (I guess). The jokey post about not asking how the job hunt is going. Does that help?


and look behind you now..Bedou girl is there 

Watch this....TO THE END..


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## Byja (Mar 3, 2013)

TallyHo said:


> Took a quick look at your profile.


So you're the one who's been spamming with free CV reviews...


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## BedouGirl (Sep 15, 2011)

norampin said:


> and look behind you now..Bedou girl is there
> 
> Watch this....TO THE END..
> 
> Video Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F7pYHN9iC9I


Hahaha Stalker Extraordinaire


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## Brav0 (Feb 11, 2013)

BedouGirl said:


> I could see you drinking through a straw from a small bucket. Your changes of profile photos, one with a glass of 'cheer' in your hand with your partner (I guess). The jokey post about not asking how the job hunt is going. Does that help?


Hi Yes it does although that was my Facebook profile pic a few weeks ago I've change it now to me and my best friend at his wedding with his son.

So to confirm you can just see my profile pics and not my actual wall posts etc 

Concerned now will have a double check on how 'locked down it is'


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## BedouGirl (Sep 15, 2011)

jthissen said:


> Hi Yes it does although that was my Facebook profile pic a few weeks ago I've change it now to me and my best friend at his wedding with his son.
> 
> So to confirm you can just see my profile pics and not my actual wall posts etc
> 
> Concerned now will have a double check on how 'locked down it is'


Okay, whatever you've done now has worked. The only photo I can see is the one of you with your friends holding bottles from October last year. The only reason I can see that is because it was a cover photo. I can see the small photo of you from the wedding and your large family group photo and it now says I need to add you as a friend to see more. I could see wall posts before but that's gone too now. My suggestion would be to move the cover photo of you with your friends to an album as it's not one you would necessarily want a potential future employer here to see.

For the future, you may also want to consider maintaining anonymity on forums such as these and choosing a user name that has nothing to do with your name. For example, if I searched on your name, threads such as this would come up somewhere in the search results. I do a lot of research on the Internet and it's amazing what you can find without too much difficulty.


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## Brav0 (Feb 11, 2013)

BedouGirl said:


> Okay, whatever you've done now has worked. The only photo I can see is the one of you with your friends holding bottles from October last year. The only reason I can see that is because it was a cover photo. I can see the small photo of you from the wedding and your large family group photo and it now says I need to add you as a friend to see more. I could see wall posts before but that's gone too now. My suggestion would be to move the cover photo of you with your friends to an album as it's not one you would necessarily want a potential future employer here to see.
> 
> For the future, you may also want to consider maintaining anonymity on forums such as these and choosing a user name that has nothing to do with your name. For example, if I searched on your name, threads such as this would come up somewhere in the search results. I do a lot of research on the Internet and it's amazing what you can find without too much difficulty.


Hi, Thanks for the feedback, do you think its possible to change my username on here to something less obvious 

JT


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## BedouGirl (Sep 15, 2011)

jthissen said:


> Hi, Thanks for the feedback, do you think its possible to change my username on here to something less obvious
> 
> JT


Send a PM to one of the mods to ask. Saraswat is a great bloke - he will guide you. Good luck in your new reincarnation .


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