"Meet a real pilot": How Ru'ya is turning career dreams into conversations

Dubai: As young Emiratis walked into the halls of Dubai World Trade Centre for Ru'ya 2026, the mood was cheerful, aspirational and one with much hope. Students and young professionals were rushing to booths of organizations they would perhaps come to represent in years from now. Recruiters were busy trading stories with students, and employers were as interested in listening to what the young national talent had to say as much as to hire.

The three-day career fair runs from 28 to 30 September and has more than 150 employers across 23-plus sectors. There were guidance counselors from various universities, over 30+ government organizations and entities as well as industry partners.  This year's theme is "Ready for What's Next? The Future of Work". But organisers want visitors to explore and not simply apply for roles. Booths had people giving out career advice, guidance through leadership, entrepreneurship, innovation and STEM are all part of the mix. This gave visitors a chance to explore what their talents and goals could become. 

For Mohamed Al Marzooqi, CEO of HSBC Bank Middle East in the UAE, Ru'ya has become a regular on the calendar for the bank. He says attracting Emirati talent is not the hard part. Developing people once they join is. His advice to fresh graduates is to treat the CV as a living document and add a new skill every quarter. “Continue to be hungry and curious,” he says is what got him to his position after joining the bank through its fresh graduate programme and having worked there as a call centre employee himself. HSBC expects to have about 900 Emiratis by year-end, with 70 roles on offer at the fair, mainly in wealth management, risk and compliance.

The Emirates Group took a more hands-on approach. Yousuf Bin Lahej, VP for Emiratisation and government partnership, said the airline brought pilots, engineers and other professionals to its stand in uniform. “When a student says they want to fly, I will direct them to a real pilot so that they can understand first-hand what they need to focus on to get that job.” 

His advice to young professionals is to look at the nature of the job rather than the title, and to ask whether it fits who you are. He pressed upon the need for deepening the pool of national talent, looking at the growth of Dubai's aviation infrastructure. “We are building the largest airport, Emirates wants to double down in every aspect and that requires a lot of talent. A career fair like this helps us really to connect with people, and help us align their aspirations with our vision”, he added.

Manal Matar, Head of Talent Acquisition and People Experience at Du said that emiratis already represent 40% of Du’s current workforce but their focus is to invest in future-ready capabilities by training talent in generative AI, Big data programming and critical thinking. “AI, networking and digital skills are in demand across every role, we are trying to support this by partnerships with Huawei, Cisco and Nokia. These are the kind of skills that aren’t restricted to what we do but can be used worldwide”, she added. Du has openings for graduate trainees and experienced hires, plus programmes for undergraduates that they are showcasing at Ru’ya 2026.

Al Marzooqi at HSBC is “very excited about what AI can do.” He views it as a value add to their day-to-day business. “Critical roles will need human intervention, so people need to familiarize themselves with AI to maximize their output. We want to see what all we can provide and what skills we can impart to those coming to our organization.”

DAMAC group is participating in Ru’ya for the first time and its head of Emiratization, Tajana Hrapic, was candid about what brought them here. The developer wants to gauge what young Emiratis want to study and do, and to build its own pipeline. Her pitch was beyond property to data centres and hospitality, looking for fresh graduates and young professionals to join across sales, projects, finance and other business functions. On AI, she said the goal is to "get along with it and get ahead of it." She said they would rather attract people the company can keep for the long term than chase a headcount.

Why Emiratization matters

Emiratization, the drive to bring more UAE nationals into private-sector careers, is now one of the country's defining workforce goals. The push gathered pace in 2021 with the launch of the Nafis programme, which aims for Emiratis to hold 10 per cent of private-sector jobs by 2026. In 2022, companies with 50 or more workers were told to raise Emirati representation by 2 per cent a year. The results show, with more than 190,000 Emiratis working in the private sector by the end of the first half of 2026.

By the end of day one at Ru’ya 2026, both sides seemed to be getting what they came for. Job seekers getting honest answers from the people who make hiring decisions, while employers getting to show their culture and career paths in person.