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Finding a job online in Dubai

Using the internet to find a job in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, UAE

Finding a job in Dubai on the internet is appealing for many reasons. All you have to do type in your name and a few other details, upload your CV, and click a few buttons, then wait for all the job offers to come rolling in. Easy, right? There are a few problems with this approach though.

1. The easy way of doing things attracts far more people than the hard way, so you'll have a great deal of competition.
2. Lots of people wanting to do the same thing becomes an opportunity for other people to take advantage of them. It is relatively easy to set up a website, collect fees, and provide nothing in return. That results in a large number of unscrupulous websites ready to take money from the naive and innocent amongst us.
3. Put yourself in the position of a recruiter. What are you going to do with a large pile of CVs submitted by an online CV collection agency or job hunting website (and you can be sure that employers get very large collections of job applications and CVs)? You want to get home before the sun sets so you will process them as efficiently as possible. That means it's easier to dispose of most of them than to read through them all with a fine tooth comb.

That's not to say that applying for a job online is a waste of time. People can and do find jobs online successfully, just keep in mind that it's a shotgun rather than a targeted approach. Be very wary of any website that asks for money (we'd prefer to say stay away altogether but we'll leave room for the possibility that there are legitimate and ethical fees that could be charged - we just haven't thought of any yet), and try to determine with confidence that it is a real organisation that finds jobs and not a front for phishing scams.

Job search help consultants are a different animal altogether and it is normal, and reasonable, for them to charge consulting fees - they are helping you to go and find a job yourself, they are not finding a job for you, and a genuinely reputable consultant will make that clear to you.

So how do I find a job in Dubai then if the internet is rubbish?

The internet isn't rubbish, if it was then people wouldn't use it. It should be seen as just one way to find a job. The process of finding a good job is hard work. You need to spend time on your CV and application letter, finding places to employ you, and the internet is just one tool of many that you can use.

Tips for finding a job in Dubai on the internet

1. Don't submit your information to any website without being confident they are legitimate, secure, will protect your privacy, and do not charge you any sort of fees for finding a job.
2. Be wary of any website that wants a fee for related services, for example a "registration fee" to submit your resume or CV - it might be a clever way to get around the UAE law that says recruitment agencies are not allowed to charge fees for job hunters. Proper recruitment agencies in Dubai (and anywhere), whether online or out of an office, make their money by charging fees to the employers, not the employees.
3. When you visit a Dubai job website, look for the following information (and if you can't find it, leave and move on to the next one - there are plenty of websites out there)
• Search the internet for comments about the organisation. Try typing in the name and the word "scam" or "fees" for example. Note that a few scam accusations is not in itself the end of the world - a common trick that internet job scammers do is to post accusations or questions about good organisations being a scam (because they know many job hunters search the internet just as we've suggested).
• Read forum comments about the organisation - giveaways about questionable Dubai job websites are comments made by members with a low number of posts, whether good or bad. A common trick is for a job scam website to register for a forum or blog, post a question or something negative just to get the website link there, and perhaps re-register under a different name with a follow-up comment that is positive.
• There should be a landline telephone number i.e. starting with 02 for Abu Dhabi, 03 for Al Ain, 04 for Dubai, 06 for Sharjah, Ajman, Umm Al Quwain, 07 for Ras Al Khaimah, or 09 for Fujairah. Country code for UAE is +971 which may appear before the number.
• Phone the recruitment company to make sure the number is correct and they exist. Ask them if there are any fees you need to pay.
• Mobile numbers start with +971 (for the UAE) then 050, 055, 056 (maybe similar in future as the network expands). If that's all you can find, be wary or don't bother.
• Look for a physical address in Dubai. If you live in Dubai, visit them. If not, try phoning the building or zone in which they claim to be based and asking if they exist. You'd be surprised at the number of scam operations that claim to be at a physical address but are not. If you think this is too much trouble or cost, then you are exactly the sort of person that scammers thrive on.
• Look for whois information (skip this bit if you don't understand) and see who owns the domain name, when they bought it, when they claim to be established, the date of any testimonials.
• Treat testimonials from previous customers posted on the online jobs website with a pinch of salt - if someone has questionable enough ethics that they're operating such a website in the first place, it seems quite reasonable to expect they'd write their own testimonials also.
• If you do get to a point where you are about to submit your credit card number and personal information anyway, at least make sure the page is secure (has https:// with an 's' at the start of the URL, not just http://, and there's a padlock icon at the bottom of your browser (or top for some browsers). But seriously, do you really want to give that information to an unknown organisation that just asks you for it? There are many websites that will try to scam you and/or steal your credit card and other details with a variety of clever looking schemes and promises.

Last update Saturday 31-Oct-2009

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