Young Emiratis explore career prospects at Jumeirah Group

UAE nationals attended an Emiratisation recruitment open day at Madinat Jumeirah to find out about working at Jumeirah Group.
The ability to gain a broader range of experience and to interact with multiple departments across a business were some of the reasons cited by potential candidates for considering work in the private sector.

With 30 positions on offer across Jumeirah Group, the open day witnessed a strong turnout of young Emiratis who spoke about hospitality as an attractive choice within the private sector for building a career. To these individuals, hospitality is an avenue where they can strengthen and diversify their skillset by facing challenges head on and learning to overcome them.

Nabil M. Ramadhan, Group Chief Human Capital Officer, Jumeirah Group, said: The feedback from young Emiratis is very positive and helps us better understand the priorities of job-seekers. With the hospitality sector growing rapidly within the UAE economy, it is vital that we welcome more nationals into the industry and help them fast-track their careers. As a leading hotel group in the region with an active Emiratisation programme that has run for over a decade, Jumeirah Group is at the forefront of this drive.

For Khalifa Sultan, who has 10 years experience in banking and attended the open day in search of a career change, the future lies in the hospitality industry. Locals are getting more into this sector because preconceptions about working in hospitality are changing. Now, we are more aware of the importance of this industry. After Dubai won the right to host EXPO 2020, employment opportunities will increase dramatically in this sector over the coming years."

This shift in perspective on the hospitality sector reflects fresh attitudes towards the private sector in general and the hospitality industry in particular among locals. Alongside challenging oneself and focusing on new skills, the opportunity for promotion is another important factor. The recognition of career development within private companies is also growing among the Emirati population.
Saleh Mohammed is one of the supporters of this idea. "I think that career development in the private sector is faster than in the public sector, with a wider range of opportunities later on, he said at the Jumeirah Group open day.

"Ive been working in the public sector for two and a half years. In spite of the job security and good working environment, I believe there is greater potential for skill development in the private sector thanks to the big challenges that employees have to face and the solutions each employee has to find for these issues," he added.

As part of the programme to attract more locals into the organisation across its properties and corporate departments, Jumeirah Group has created three different training programmes - the Jumeirah National Youth Programme, the Jumeirah National Graduate Management Programme and the Jumeirah National Future Leaders Programme. Each suits different types of job seekers, from those with experience to graduates without experience, high school graduates, or even for part-time job seekers.

During the open day, representatives from hotels and tourist destinations of the Jumeirah Group were present, including Madinat Jumeirah, Jumeirah Beach Hotel, Jumeirah Creekside Hotel, Burj Al Arab Jumeirah, Jumeirah Emirates Towers, Wild Wadi Waterpark, Jumeirah Zabeel Saray and Jumeirah at Etihad Towers, in addition to representatives from the Jumeirah Group Emiratisation programme.