Experience is the Biggest Holy Grail for Foreigners Seeking Jobs in Dubai

By Sreejith Kamalanayanan

Have you often wondered why your carefully crafted CV is not helping you reach the next level of the interview process in Dubai?

You have impeccable skills, impressive qualifications, and adequate experience but you are always let down by some mysterious force that effectively derails your job hunting in Dubai. Looking for a job in Dubai can be strenuous and weird.

However, let me tell you, experience is the Holy Grail for foreigners seeking jobs in Dubai.

And, to be honest, industry experience works in crazy ways. What you consider ‘relevant experience’ is different from how recruiters in Dubai define the experience. Let me make my point with the following two examples:

Example 1: Qualified for the job with less industry experience

I know a person whom I regard as one of the best content writers in Dubai in 2023. Before becoming one of the top freelancers offering the best content writing services in Dubai, he used to apply for jobs at random companies.

One day, a company called him for a job interview in Dubai for the role of content writer.?

It was a perfume company and they were looking for an SEO content writer in Dubai who can write product descriptions and captivating Instagram captions.

Even though our hero had more than 10 years of experience at that time, he never attempted to write product descriptions.

As he was aware of the consequences of lying about the experience on his resume, he out rightly said he never wrote anything remotely related to product description.

But he was confident of trying out a new niche if the company was willing to support him in the first couple of weeks after joining. However, just like any other company in Dubai, they rightly rejected him despite successfully finishing the writing test.

They said they can’t experiment with a new writer. Alas, they didn’t know a wordsmith with excellent research skills can write authentic articles on any topic.

Writing a product description can be a cakewalk for a leading content writer in Dubai like our hero.

Example 2: Qualified writer with experience in the same industry

By this point, our hero has learnt the trick. He now knows the answer to the question of “How to get a job in Dubai?” “If you have sufficient experience in the industry, you can easily get a job in Dubai,” he thought so.

Another company, another interview. However, he was confident of securing this position as the job description perfectly matched the kind of things he has been doing over the years.

However, here is the twist: He did not land the job despite being the perfect contender for the role.

He still has no clue why he wasn’t selected in spite of having rich stellar experience, relevant qualifications and the necessary qualification.

What we can learn about jobs in Dubai from these examples?

The scenario of job recruitment in Dubai is crazy and unpredictable. You may be rejected for not having relevant experience and companies may still reject you even though you have sufficient experience in the specific industry.

Any reason for this? Well, I have drawn the following conclusions:

????????????? Recruiters in Dubai are just ticking the boxes

????????????? Employers in Dubai do not like to take risks

????????????? Companies in Dubai do not want to experiment

????????????? Recruiters in Dubai can’t think out of the box (even if they are entrusted with hiring candidates with ‘out of the box thinking)