[Izzy]

I have a general question for the forum. I have been trying to apply for a job in Dubai from the UK for the past 7 months. It is getting a bit depressing now.

My other half accepted a job back in March and is now out there, and I'm stuck in the UK. I've applied for quite a few jobs and never hear anything back from companies.

Is it standard practise to take their sweet time to get back to people or just not bother replying if they aren't interested? I know jobs are scarse world wide but this is gettng rediculous!

 

[klaus3974]

It is not like in the UK, if they are not interested, they do not reply. And if they are interested, they may take a few months until they make an offer. From the first interview until my landing in Dubai, it took 13 months.

 

[Izzy]

I had a telephone interview for a job earlier on this year. They decided to call me out of the blue - I was incidently in the beer line at Twickenham! Interview went well. They invited me out to Dubai, paid for the flight and hotel. It was a 3 day interview, kept asking me when I could start and when could i move over. I thought it was in the bag. But when I got home I had to wait another month before anyone came back to me to say

"we're sorry we can't take you on as you don't have any Middle East experience."

That job is still being advertised on the international websites.

Guess I have to keep looking!

 

[Maz25]

It is common practice anywhere in the world not to reply to candidates whose CV you are not interested in. Jobs in Dubai are few and far in between depending on the industry that you're in. Recruitment agents receive an average of 300 CVs a day - replying to every single one of those 300 applicants is a full time job in itself, which is why they do not bother to do it.

Even with employers, you will find that they apply the same principle. I work in construction and our company receives hundreds of CVs a week directly from prospective employees, plus a few more from recruitment agents. Our HR department simply do not have the capacity to deal with all of them and reply to every single applicant, hence we do not get in contact with unsuccessful applicant. If I pass on one of friend's CV, then I can follow up with HR and let them know if their application is rejected but unless you have someone on the inside who can give you that information, companies do not volunteer that information (unless you ask).

This market requires a lot of patience and unless you are very experienced, it will take a long time to find a job. Dubai has not been spared from the global recession - we are also in the same boat here. If you find that you are not getting any responses, you have to make a decision whether you want to call up the employer or recruitment agent and ask for a feedback. Maybe your experience does not match those required for the jobs that they have, maybe your CV is in the wrong format, maybe it doesn't sell your skills properly - could be a number of reasons and might be that there is also nothing wrong with your CV but without getting in contact with employers and recruitment agents, you will never know for sure.

Good luck with your search.

 

[merlin the learned]

I have a general question for the forum. I have been trying to apply for a job in Dubai from the UK for the past 7 months. It is getting a bit depressing now.

My other half accepted a job back in March and is now out there, and I'm stuck in the UK. I've applied for quite a few jobs and never hear anything back from companies.

Is it standard practise to take their sweet time to get back to people or just not bother replying if they aren't interested? I know jobs are scarse world wide but this is gettng rediculous!

To get results anywhere in the ME always follow up your email or fax with a phone call.

Whether its a job application to employer or recruiter, sourcing equipement or confirming arrangements you should call and speak to the decision maker.

Many recruiting offices also use scanning software that looks for key words. No key words the application gets dumped.

 

[iansari]

Also try using other avenues such as Linkedin to search for opportunities. A lot of employers and recruiters are sourcing position using such alternative methods because the myriad of resumes they get through traditional means makes it difficult to pick out qualified individuals.

You stand a better chance of getting a response through that.

To get results anywhere in the ME always follow up your email or fax with a phone call.

Whether its a job application to employer or recruiter, sourcing equipement or confirming arrangements you should call and speak to the decision maker.

Many recruiting offices also use scanning software that looks for key words. No key words the application gets dumped.