Jobseekers get career advice at Dubai fair

Dubai: The last day of the Careers Fair at the Dubai Exhibition Centre saw a low turnout of jobseekers, despite some participants accepting applications and hiring on the spot.

"We did not receive many applicants at this fair, and the number of applications we got is less than 100, although we have interview rooms here at the fair and some applicants are hired on the spot," Lubna Abdullah, HR and finance manager at Abu Dhabi Basic Industries Corporation, said.

Lubna said the corporation was keen to implement Emiratisation, and thus offers many openings for technical and managerial specialists.

"We accept online applications as well as hard copies of CVs, and I go through them myself and do interviews here to make the most out of our investment in this pavilion," she said.

Marwan Mohammad, Dubal's Head of Recruitment, said he was satisfied with the number of applicants, which reached about 1,700, although it was less than in previous years.

"We accept applications online, which can be posted from our computers here at the pavilion, and we interview engineers here as well and offer some of them jobs on the spot, and recruited engineers undergo further assessment after they start work at the company," he said.

Mohammad Al Kawari, human resources officer at National Bank of Abu Dhabi, said the bank was accepting online applications only, but applicants were able to post them at the pavilion.

"We are here not just to receive applications from jobseekers, but also offer career counselling and inform visitors about the student sponsorship programmes we offer such as Afaq, a Master's degree programme," he said.

Ameena Al Sheibani, a business student at the Higher Colleges of Technology, said she applied to many companies and government departments during the fair.

"I applied to most national banks, such as Mashreq, Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank and National Bank of Dhabi, as well government departments including Ministry of Labour, Juvenile Affairs Department and Dubai Land Department," she said.

While companies took Ameena's application at the fair, a few others asked her to post it online and gave her their websites or emails.

Ahmad Saeed Al Ramadani and Azzan Al Gaithi from Oman seized the opportunity to look for jobs in the UAE.

The two accountants applied to many banks and companies, but were disappointed that all government departments and most national banks rejected their applications because the are not UAE citizens.

"It is the first time we visited a career fair in the UAE, and I thought GCC citizens were given equal treatment to Emiratis, according to the law, but many rejected us because we are Omanis, and we are not sure if this law applies in the UAE," Al Gaithi said.

Although the Career Fair is for Emiratis, not all companies turned down non-UAE nationals.

"We accepted applications from all interested visitors, regardless of their nationality," Shama Al Suwaidi, a teller at UAE Exchange, said.

Shama said the company offered applicants an educational programme of between four and eight weeks, and those who completed the course had priority of employment.