Dubai: Salaries of around Dh20,000 per month were on offer to Emirati graduates for joining as trainees, at a job fair exclusively for UAE nationals this week.
One position at the Careers UAE fair in Dubai invited fresh graduates for an Abu Dhabi bank offering Dh22,500 a month. Responsibilities involved gaining "first-hand experience on how the banking industry operates". The opening at the unnamed bank included fully-paid expenses for obtaining a master's degree.
The bank was offering 40 such positions to Emiratis only.
An IT company was offerings Dh20,000 for a "new fresh graduate joiner". After training, the candidate would be given Dh25,500. Requirements mentioned a "max" of six months' experience and English skills. Fresh engineering graduates were routinely offered "Dh23,000-plus", a skim through postings there showed.
Even diploma holders (below bachelor's level), receptionists, and sales and public relations executives without experience were offered Dh15,000-Dh18,000, sometimes with commission.
And Dh12,000 seems to be the going rate for secondary school leavers (grades seven to nine) with just a years experience as office coordinators and sales assistants.
An Emirati headhunter, who did not wish to be named, said Emiratis often ask for more benefits when working for private companies rather than ‘secure' government departments. "We [Emiratis] can't really ask for a ‘home' ticket since we live here, but it's not that uncommon for companies to give a ‘travel allowance' to, say, London. It can be above Dh20,000 per year, for a family of four," he said.
"You work longer hours in private companies, till five or six, so you should get more pay," he said.
Most Emiratis land jobs within the first six months after college, a job placement agency said.
Experience counts
Dh130,000: Executive Director of Finance, with 10 years' experience, for "semi-government sector" in Dubai
Dh100,000: Chief HR Officer, with 10 years' experience, for government department in Abu Dhabi
Dh70,000: Finance Manager, with eight years' experience, for a company in Abu Dhabi
Source: Ershaad recruitment agency
