FROM FEBRUARY 2014's RECRUITER MAGAZINE

Employers in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) seeking to develop a pipeline of future Emirati leaders who have been educated abroad brought their talent quest to a London careers fair last month.  

Emirati graduates with degrees ranging from business to engineering are in high demand with employers that are UAE-owned as well as multi-national companies with UAE operations, many of whom had stands at the UAE Embassy-hosted event. Exhibitors included BP, Etihad Airways, Serco and Standard Chartered Bank. 

The London event was considered sufficiently important that organisations’ key UAE-based resourcing heads flew to the UK to meet and greet attending students and staff stands. 

One exhibitor told Recruiter that the opportunities on offer would allow Emirati graduates to get in on the ground floor of experiencing, delivering and understanding potentially “iconic” products and services that had previously never even been used in the UAE.   

While degrees are important, even more essential in Emirati graduates was “the ability to understand people from other countries, that international mindset”, said an exhibitor from UAE defence and specialised manufacturing company Tawazun. “If you are not experienced in that, you will be limited.” The exhibitor said he had also recently attended a similar event aimed at Emiratis studying in the US.

The UAE Embassy did not return emails or phone calls from Recruiter for follow-up information on the event. 

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