Looking forward to fly towards UAE to avail better job opportunity?

This comprehensive guide will help

you to plan and manage your job hunting journey in Dubai, UAE. Its based upon my personal experience
and I would love to share it with everyone so that everyone could get benefit out of it. The first thing
you need to do, after landing in UAE is to buy yourself UAE's cellular SIM card. You will need UAE's cell
phone number on your Cover Letter & CV. Employers prefer to reply with a phone call. Job hunting
process in United Arab Emirates (UAE) usually starts with a short tour to UAE which usually lasts from 1 3 months. This period of time is sufficient enough to search for the right job as per your qualification
with good compensation. The best time to visit UAE for job hunt process is end of the current year or
beginning of the new year, in short you can say November - February. Usually companies hire people in
the beginning of New Year. During November - February the weather condition is also pleasant which
eventually helps you in manual job hunting process in UAE.

1. Education / Qualification & Attestation

Documents that you will need to get attested include either your bachelors or masters degree from
three locations namely:
1. Higher Education Commission
2. Ministry of Foreign Affairs
3. UAE Embassy
There is no need to get all degrees attested, only get your highest earned degree attested. For instance
you have earned masters degree, in that case you only need to get masters degree attested, bachelors
degree will not require attestation. These all attestations will cost around $60 (220 AED). They will be
helpful on your degree once you are successfully hired by the company and your company will need to
attach the digital copy of your attested degree with job visa application. Make sure to keep the digital
copies of your Passport, VISA, Attested Degree, Passport size photo with you all the time. Also keep
these documents in your email inbox.
I will try to list down the expenses you will face in UAE during your visit. On a rough note, your cost of
living per month would be around $550 (2000 AED), that includes accommodation, food and travel
expenses.

2. Expenses
a. Visa & Air Tickets Expense
One month tourist / visit visa for UAE costs around $150 (550 AED) (It may vary according to your
region; better have consultation with a travel agent). Its better to get visa for 2 - 3 months in the first
go, since if you will go for visa extension after one month, it will cost you much higher. UAE visa can only
be extended for one month and extension costs around $250 (920 AED) for the period of one additional
month. Airline's ticket price will vary according to your region. Mostly you will find Pakistanis, Indians
and Filipino expats working all around UAE. Emirates Airline will offer you the best travel experience.

b. Accommodation Expense in Dubai, UAE

If you do have your relatives, try to arrange your accommodation with them because it will help you
save significant money. Accommodation is really expensive in UAE, more specifically in Dubai & Abu
Dhabi. In case you plan to manage yourself independently good shared accommodation will cost around
$270 (~1000 AED) per month including internet connectivity. Shared accommodation with 5 - 8 people
will cost you around $135 (~500 AED) per month and that includes the internet connectivity too.

c. Food & Travel Expense in Dubai, UAE

Cost of food depends upon your life style; if you prefer to have fast food all the times, consider a big
chunk of money for it around $270 (~1000 AED). However for an average person who loves to enjoy
normal diet will probably manage the food's cost at around $135 (~500 AED) for a month. Travelling cost
from Metro Train in Dubai will also make around $135 (~500 AED) of expense; this might be less or more
as per your travelling routine. If you are in any other state like Abu Dhabi or Sharjah, you will either have
to use the Bus or Cab service which is most probably higher in cost than metro train in Dubai.

3. Preparation of Excellent CV & Cover Letter

You should have at-least bachelors degree and relevant experience of 2 3 years in your field.
Experience may or may not be related with your degree / qualification. Prepare an excellent cover letter
and Curriculum Vitae (CV) / Resume that must have your career objective, working experience, skills,
achievements, educational background, personal profile and references section. CV(s) with profile
picture and contact details such as an email address / phone number and current location are preferred
by employers. Presentation of CV / Resume counts a lot, it must be organized properly as it will reflect
the organization traits within your personality and will force the employer to call you for an interview.
Cover Letter is basically a courteous application for the job in which you need to convince the employer
why you are the best candidate for specific job position. List down your achievements and work
experience and let the employer know your plans, how you will be able to contribute your part in the
company. (That requires deep knowledge / research of job position and the company itself where you
are applying for the job, reading the companys profile). Make sure to attach your resumes copy with
your cover letter. Most of the companies require Cover Letter & CV / Resume in Word / PDF file format.
Simply create your cover letter and CV in Microsoft Word and then save it as a PDF file.
Now you need to target the correct job industry / category that match with your skills, experience and
qualifications.

4. Best Resources for Job Hunt in UAE

a. Online Registration / Job Classifieds Portals
Register yourself on following websites & create your profile along with your relevant details, upload
your cover letter & CV with your profile. Make sure to upload your passport size profile picture on every
website you will register. Your education, experience & skills must also be listed on your profile. During
your stay in UAE, spend 4 - 5 hours on daily basis and apply for relevant jobs in UAE. Do not forget to
mention your VISA expiry date on your CV & Cover letter so that employer could call you for an
interview in a timely manner.
1. www.uae.dubizzle.com/jobs/
2. www.gncareers.com
3. www.naukrigulf.com
4. www.bayt.com
5. buzzon.khaleejtimes.com/ad-category/jobs-vacancies/
6. www.monstergulf.com
7. www.gulftalent.com
8. www.indeed.ae (Jobs Directory)

b. Recruitment Agencies & Newspaper Route

In addition to applying online, also visit some recruitment agencies like Innovations Group UAE
(www.innovationuae.com) that is located in Cluster W, Tiffany Tower, JLT (Dubai Marina Metro Station Exit Jumeirah Lakes Towers). Walk-in interviews are being usually conducted at recruitment agencies.
Before visiting, you must have your documents and latest resume's copy with you. Also keep an eye on
newspaper jobs classifieds, send your cover letter & CV through email. Reach the companies through
telephone if they have mentioned their number in their newspaper job classifieds.

c. Directly Reaching Out Companies

Reaching out companies directly is also an effective method for job hunt, most of the times you will not
be entertained if you will give companies an offline visit. Most probably you will be asked to submit your
job application through proper channel that is company's online recruitment portal. Search for careers /
jobs / recruitment pages on company's official website. If you are unable to find such employment
seeking pages, head towards contact us section, grab the email ids and drop your cover letter / cv on
those email ids.

5. Efforts Required To Get Into Job Interviews

Please do not expect to get the job in UAE, unless you have tried your ever best. If you think you had
applied for 100 job vacancies during your whole job hunting period, you will probably go through a
single interview. So please do not waste your precious time, you will have to put in best efforts, you
must apply for 50 job vacancies on daily basis either through online efforts, recruitment agency route /
newspaper route or by directly reaching companies (online or offline). I will suggest you to go through
dozens of interviews and then you will have the choice in your hand to go for the company of your own
choice. This will only be possible if your resume / CV will reach the prospective employers. I personally
had applied in the similar fashion. I had stayed in UAE for two months and my average ratio of job
applications was 30 35 per day. That makes nearly 2,000 job applications in two months period. I had
aced many interviews and was in the position to choose the job of my own choice. Therefore I would
suggest the same to my readers.

6. When to Expect Job Interview Calls?

You should expect to receive interview calls & emails within a week's time, after you had started
applying for various vacancies & laid your best efforts. Make sure to go through company's profile and
you must have sound knowledge of the post for which you will appear in the interview. Spend few hours
in researching what does the company do and have a thorough study of the job description of the post
you have applied. When you will receive an interview call, you might not know through which source
you had applied, politely ask about the job position for which you have been called and if possible try to
ask them the source through which they had reached you. Since that will help you to go through the job
description again before appearing in the interview.

7. Salary Expectation + Benefits For Employees

A qualified & experienced candidate should at-least expect to have a start with 4000 - 5000 AED per
month. Medical insurance must be there, as medical is quite expensive in UAE. If you are being provided
with company accommodation, food and transportation, in that case starting with 3000 AED isn't bad

either. In case you have some professional qualification such as CA / ACCA and many years of
experience, you must expect to have a start with 8000 - 12000 AED. If you are planning to live with your
family in UAE, you should have minimum of 8000 AED per month salary to meet your family expenses.
Good companies will also provide you with yearly return ticket to your home country, 30 annual paid
leaves and other rules as per UAE labor law are applicable. Make sure to go through UAE's labor law to
know your rights.

8. Job Limitations & Restrictions For Fewer Than 5000 AED Salary
There are two categories of companies which are operating in Dubai, UAE. Free Zone companies and
non free zone companies. In free zone companies you don't have any limitations between switching the
jobs. While if you are being hired by a company that is not operating under free zone license and your
salary is below 5000 AED, they have the right to put a ban on you for the period of six months, if you will
leave the company before completing your company's first visa period. That means you will not be able
to enter UAE for the period of six months after leaving your job. For instance a person is working on a
salary of 4000 AED, and now he is being offered 4500 AED from another job, if he switches and doesn't
have a free zone visa, he will face 6 months ban from UAE. This ban could be removed by paying the ban
removal fee of 5000 AED. Let's take another instance, a person who is having 4500 AED salary gets a job
offer of anything that is equal to or above 5000 AED will not face a ban whether he has a free zone visa
or not.

This 6 months ban is not applicable if:

a. You are working under Free zone visa.
b. You are working under probation period.
c. You have completed first visa period on company's visa.
d. You have 5000+ AED job offer

9. Qualified The Interview And Got The Job Offer?

If you have successfully qualified the interviews and received the job offer from any company, make
sure to review the terms and conditions before signing the job contract. Since signing the job contract
will bound you to follow what's written on that, so review it with an eagle's eye. Most of the times your
salary will be divided into three main portions that is basic salary, accommodation and transportation.
After accepting the job offer, you will probably be required to fly back to your home country; in the
mean time your company will be processing your job visa. As soon as your job visa is being processed,
they will send you its scanned copy through email. Good companies also provide air ticket along with job
visa.
Good luck in your job hunt process! I wish you all the success with endless efforts for job hunting in
United Arab Emirates. Please leave your feedback on my website (www.onlineincomemethods.com) if
this job hunting resource in UAE has helped you out. :)
Source: www.onlineincomemethods.com/2014/07/job-hunting-guide-and-resources-dubai-uae.html

Hasan Shahzad