Job Search Myths

For any new readers, you can check out some of the previous stuff we’ve put out here.

• The Cover Letter is dead. Replace it with this. Click here.
• Do this and let jobs come to you. Click here.
• Why you should go all in on LinkedIn. Click here.
• Nail your next interview with these 5 tips. Click here.
• Make sure these three things are not on your CV. Click here.

Part of the challenge in navigating the Dubai job market is how incredibly diverse it is here. 

In a country with a predominantly expat population (the highest in the world by some distance) it’s a melting pot of ideas and beliefs that make it hard to align thematically on certain things. 

This is particularly relevant during the job search. 

Skills or approaches that might suit a company with a largely expat workforce, probably wouldn’t work with a local Government entity.

On top of this, it’s a constantly evolving market where parameters change on what feels like a quarterly basis. 

When I first moved to Dubai, it was a candidate-led market. If you were a great candidate from overseas looking to relocate you could get ¾ interviews in a short span of time.

As more eyes have turned to the Middle East, it’s become a very oversubscribed market. It’s hard to stand out here where thousands of people with a similar skill set are applying for the same job. 

It’s hard and it feels like everyone has something to say or comment on the way things work out here.  

With that being said, here’s 3 common myths we often see about the Dubai market that don’t hold up in 2024. 

1) You need a Cover Letter. 

It's a dying art and not in attune with the new digital age in which we operate.

Let’s be real, if the average hiring manager spends 7-8 seconds looking at your CV, how long are they going to spend sifting through a Cover Letter? 

Think how much time and effort goes into personalising each one for every application. 

It’s been replaced and your LinkedIn is the new method of introduction - it's what more and more Hiring Manager's are leaning towards when they come to viewing a profile. 

It’s aligned with the digital age in which we now operate, interactive and gives a wider feeling of a candidate’s personality. It paints a wider picture than a Cover Letter can. 

P.S. This is great for you, you can see who's checking you out through the LinkedIn ‘viewed your profile’ feature. 

If a Hiring Manager from a company you have applied for has viewed your profile, you are able to follow up on your application directly. A CV or a Cover Letter would never give you that power.

2) Job Hunting is a passive process. 

We are in a client-led market here in the GCC.

This is the opposite of a candidate-driven market (in which our Asia offices operate) and effectively means the balance of power is with the companies hiring.  

This is because they are inundated with options - especially at that mid-senior level - and they have the luxury of choice.  

One takeaway from 2024 has been that they are going to exercise that right.

You want to make yourself the master of your own destiny and proactively pursue new opportunities through outreach, personal branding and ensuring you are front of mind for when the time comes. 

Your job-search should be two-fold: Tactical (pursuing short-term wins from open roles and live vacancies) but also Strategic (more mid/long term), creating a network you can leverage when the time comes to look for something new.

A combination of these is what’s going to get you feedback - instead of sitting back and waiting for jobs to come to you.

3) Remote-led > Office.

Maybe it's the sectors in which we work but we have more roles that are office-led as opposed to remote. This has been a consistent theme over the last two years.  

The tell-tale signs here are obvious. 

Anyone that's spent any time in Dubai can attest to the rush hour traffic. Post-summer my commute has gone from a reasonable 15 minutes to 45 minutes at the very least now we’re back to full capacity. 

The same can be said for trying to find office-space (it's near impossible) and more and more interview processes are pushing F2F from the very first round.  

It’s something to bear in mind when trying to get a role here. Tying into point two, it’s hard to push this point when companies have so much choice and are able to find people who are OK with a hybrid/in-office model quite readily. 

BEFORE YOU GO: I am now on Instagram and will be posting regularly trying to give an insight into life in the UAE. Drop me a follow here!

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