The UAE Job Market : A DISCLAIMER
Please note, the information shared here is a real-life incident of a woman who was desperately searching for a UAE job in a competitive UAE job market. Now I am pretty sure many of you are searching for a UAE job in the UAE job market. See what suits you from this article, google ‘Loy Machedo UAE Job’ to find more tips, tricks & strategies when hunting for a job in the UAE job market and finally, if nothing else works – well send me an email to loy@loymachedo.com
Regards,
Loy Machedo
Who am I – http://www.whoisloymachedo.com/
My Services – http://thinkpersonalbranding.com/
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80% of all my clients come to me with this request – “I want a better job offer, with a better salary, better position & better company.” And almost everyone has the same challenges that they face with their job search. Either their potential employer doesn’t notice them or they are not getting any job responses. And even if they do get a job response – it is either with the dream company but not the dream package or it has the near perfect package but not the near perfect working conditions.
So yeah – it is very rare that you hear everything being perfect. But for the majority, there is no response from their potential employer or their potential job search.
So what is the solution here?
Let me give you an example from a real life client I had last year. Please note, the names & important details of my clients have been changed to protect her identity. And yes, also because I keep all information of my clients confidential and private.
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$3,472 to $9,529 – Indian Woman gets a 3-fold Salary Increase in the UAE Job Market (contd….)
Sally Fernandes, a resident of Mumbai, India, arrived in the Dubai, UAE with big dreams. She was senior manager in a MNC in India. And given her exceptional track record, her leadership experience & her impeccable list of recommendations – she was pretty sure she would receive job responses.
So armed with the self-confidence, inner belief, friends & well-wishers in Dubai, UAE, a good resume, strong speaking skills and yes, faith in her god – she embarked on a challenge to get the job of her dreams – for her children and her family.
3 months and one visit visa later, she was back in Mumbai, India wondering what did she do wrong. There were no decent job offer, all her friends who promised her the sun, moon and stars were, unfortunately, busy with their own challenges and the so called lucrative market for jobs didn’t seem so responsive. It wasn’t that she didn’t prepare herself.
So what went wrong?
She had done the following to make sure she would succeed in getting a job in Dubai, UAE:
She had registered in all the online recruitment agencies
She had make sure she got her Resume designed & redesigned by the best recruitment agencies to fit the UAE market
She had submitted her Resume to all the decision makers
She had even asked all her senior friends & contacts to review & critique her Resume to ensure it would be perfect
And where communication skills were concerned, she at par with International standards.
So once again – what went wrong?
She asked herself if she was willing to go through another 3 months of this drama only to come back to India back to square one. Was she willing to take such a risk?
Given that her family and her children family were depending on her, given that she was a single woman and given that she was eating into her savings with these risks – she couldn’t afford to take another risk. It was just too much on the line.
And that is where she started searching earnestly online for answers which is where she bumped into this video
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$3,472 to $9,529 – Indian Woman gets a 3-fold Salary Increase in the UAE Job Market (contd….)
After checking that video, she checked the rest of the videos by googling “Loy Machedo UAE” (She told me this later).
However, not very convinced that a guy who looked totally ‘Anti-Corporate’ was giving corporate advice – she started doing background checks. To her surprise, she found a few common contacts in my friend’s list (facebook & LinkedIn) and as what everyone else does – she contacted her friends to know what was I really like.
However, after speaking to a few people she really respected she (Thankfully) got a good opinion about me. In fact, one of her closest friends told her this –
“Even before coming to Dubai, UAE, you should have gotten in touch with Loy Machedo.” (something I am seriously honored and flattered to know!)
However, she was warned about my personality traits:
I wasn’t cheap
was blunt, brutal and belittling
I didn’t mince words where feedback was concerned
I was a hard-taskmaster.
So with that information, and being mentally prepared, she came down to meet me.
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$3,472 to $9,529 – Indian Woman gets a 3-fold Salary Increase in the UAE Job Market (contd….)
As expected, I was tough with her.
And once after she came onward as my client, this is what we did:
- RESUME REBRAND
I ripped her Resume to bits (literally) and we created a Resume from scratch. It took us 1 full month to completely revamp the Resume and make it stand out - ONLINE PROFILE REBRAND
We focused on her online profile, did social media scans and tried to find out ways how we could recreate an online profile presence that was powerful and which stood out - RELEARN INTERVIEW SKILLS
Where her interview skills were concerned, I taught her not to give perfect answers any more. Not to sound good. Not to be the canned, planned and tanned presenter who gave cliche answers - MULTIPLE ATTACK STRATEGY
I made her go through mock interviews, stress interviews, interviews where she had to hustle, sell-on-the-spot, argue, negotiate and deliver presentations under pressure. This made her stronger in whatever she was doing and ready for anything - HUSTLE
I taught her how to go against the system, do what was normal, predictable or expected and stand out – everything from ticking the receptionist to giving you the information you need to meet up with the decision maker at networking events. Because what finally matters in the end – is the result - LEVERAGING ON IGNORANCE
There are a lot of things people do not know – even the decision makers. So learning how to manipulate and take advantage of the loopholes is the secret to succeeding. Not many have this talent or trait in them. But it is a learnable skill. - COMMUNICATION 101
Many people mistake that you can ACE the interview easily or that if you mug up a few answers you can impress the interviewer or that just because you know how to speak – you can impress anyone at the interview. This is what the biggest problem is – assuming that the interview is nothing but a conversation.
It is not.
And by no means is it ‘talking’ anything that comes to your mind. The interview is a strategic point where either you get it or you don’t get offered the job. And more than the Resume – the person has to spend the time, effort and money ensuring they ace the interview. - WHO ARE YOU? (WHO AM I?)
This is by far one of the biggest, most powerful and most misunderstood questions which I make my students, clients and followers ask themselves. Like I always tell people – if you are not aware of who you are and you are not really about – what are you trying to portray or show to the world? The funny thing about this question is that it focuses on bringing out the real side of the person OUT. And even though this is by far the simplest and easiest question to ask anyone – it is by far the most difficult and thought-provoking answers I have to dig out from my clients. - PERSONAL BRANDING
And last if not the least, we worked on taking her brand many notches higher. After all – if she didn’t stand out from the rest of the crowd – how would she survive? Be noticed? Stand out? Be in demand?
So where she had initially planned to come to the UAE haphazardly, like the last time, this time she came to the UAE only and only after getting herself ready.
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$3,472 to $9,529 – Indian Woman gets a 3-fold Salary Increase in the UAE Job Market (contd….)
The first improvement was the interview opportunities which came in pretty easily. Where before she would get 1 to 2 interview opportunities per week, now she was receiving 2 interview opportunities per day. Where before the normal answer was “I’ll get back to you” now the interview response was “What is your ‘take it or leave it’ salary that you would be willing to join in for?” and finally, where before she had to follow up repeatedly with the HR department, now she was getting calls to know if she was available.
But we still faced one major hurdle – the salary offer.
Just as most employers ask a candidate how many days are left on their visa so that they can offer them the package just a few days before they would leave – this was also a very common strategy followed by the employers even now.
So when we tabulated the top 3 job offers she had in hand – it still didn’t look attractive enough. Her ideal salary was $5,000 per month. But the best she had been offered was $3,472.
So she asked me what was the best course of action and contrary to what anyone else would have advised – I told her to not take it.
She listened to me and once again – went back to India. But this time one week after going back to India – she got a call from an MNC company who asked her if she would be interested to join? Following the instructions I had given her, she didn’t sound very excited but asked them to send her the details in writing – which she then forwarded to me.
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$3,472 to $9,529 – Indian Woman gets a 3-fold Salary Increase in the UAE Job Market (contd….)
I guided her once again step by step into how to go about and though they had initially put the pressure stating that she had only 1 week to give them the answer – I ensured they waited for 1 month (Amateurs fall for these kinds of indirect soft threats).
Once she came back again on her 3rd visit visa – we made sure she aced all the interviews and finally came out with the job offer which was 3 times what she had been initially was offered and nearly double of what she assumed would be her ‘perfect’ dream salary.
CONCLUSION
Now, I would love to take 100% credit for the success of this story and for whatever happened. But the truth is – even though the strategy, the mentoring and the creative guidance was mine – the hard-work, the dedication, the discipline, the sacrifice & the commitment was hers. I had never met anyone as dedicated, as disciplined and as determined as this woman. And she truly pushed herself more as I demanded more from her. And because she gave me her best – well she succeeded. Oh yeah, I have to say, it is because she was prepared – that she got so lucky in the end. Had she not been so prepared – she would have been so lucky.
Today, she is no longer in Dubai, UAE. She is still my client. And she has now moved back to India to take on the role as a Vice-President for leading MNC.
And yeah – her salary has once again been increased.
This my friends is called – The Power of Mentoring & The Power Personal Branding.
Loy Machedo
Who am I – http://www.whoisloymachedo.com/
My Services – http://thinkpersonalbranding.com/
