Dubai: After banks and insurers, fintechs in the UAE are starting on their own Emiratisation programmes. Network International, the payments processing company, is launching ‘Al Mostaqbal Al Emirati’ targeted at recent graduates who are open to a career within financial services.
But Network International’s CEO says it needn’t all be for roles in pure fintech. “We’re not just looking for people who come in with education related to the fintech industry, for example, mathematics majors or computer science majors, said Nandan Mer.
“We’re looking to hire people that come from all walks of life, because even though we are at the service of banks and merchants, we serve a very wide customer base, from grocery companies, airlines, hotel chains, home-grown entities and the government as well. Therefore, we need people who understand the fundamentals of business and that too of all kinds of businesses.
“Through this programme, we welcome people from all backgrounds because the remit of the company is so wide and we seek to provide them with a suitable work environment.”
Currently, there are multiple programmes being run to fast-track the entry of UAE nationals into roles within the private sector. The government-backed Nafis programme is fitting out more candidates with the required credentials, especially in financial services, accounting, manufacturing, etc.
The Network International programme is for two years, where the selected trainees will be split into four rotational stints. They will be provided perspectives of the payment company’s business groups as well as ‘structured training’ in areas such as products, decision-making, critical thinking, problem-solving and developing technical skills.
Selecting the first batch
“The process is like any other company would go through,” said Mer.
“In the context of the Al Mostaqbal Al Emirati, experience is not the highest factor in determining who should be part of it. The main tenets we look for are desire and passion to do the right thing in the right way and serve customers with a collaborative mindset, because nothing gets done in any company alone.”
We look at their educational background and their experience, but most importantly, we assess their mindset and ensure they will fit the culture of the company.
Mentoring
For the duration of the programme, a mentor, from within Network International’s senior leadership team, will be assigned to coach and monitor the overall progress of a trainee’s stint. On a ‘successful’ completion of the programme, the participants could secure permanent employment with the company.
More job creation programmes
The ‘Al Mostaqbal Al Emirati’ programme will take in the first batch of trainees in the coming weeks and put them through the 24-month phase.
“We are looking to introduce many other editions for the programme, but very soon we’ll be following this programme with an initiative dedicated to postgraduate Emirati students,” said Nandan Mer. “This will be structured slightly differently in terms of the roles that they will play once they graduate from the programme.”
