Saff_Parker

Hello board fellows,

After lifting tips off this lovely site and from a couple of private messages from helpful posters, I've been conducting my job search via the following and just wondered if there is anything I am missing?

Any glaringly obvious websites that just give out jobs to Brits willy-nilly that I have not yet found? Cheers

1) Gulftalent, bayt, dubizzle, naukri, monstergulf, expatwoman
2) Linkedin networking (aka stalking)
3) Speculative CVs to a few companies I dream of working for
4) Speculative CVs to recruitment agencies (in some cases I managed to get the contact email of actual employees, which I hold my hands up to, may be annoying for them). I haven't followed any of my speculative CVs to recruiters up with phone calls - is this worth it?

Cheers guys

Saff

EastWest

Yes, you are missing "WASTA" which is the fast way to get a job anywhere in the Gulf.

Saff_Parker

Mate, after all this, I plan on being my own wasta!

Saff

EastWest

Good on you. I am afraid this plan wont work in Gulf countries. My advice is don't ever expect a reply to your application if the employer is Arab. They don't bother replying. I told you in a previous thread I made more than 50 applications in ~6 months and got reply only from non-Arab prospective employers!

Saff_Parker

Quite sour you are!

Bahtatboy

Not merely worth it, absolutely necessary. In my experience few recruiters are reliable in being able to understand what a candidate's particular strengths are, and--as with all of us--we tend to follow up those things we're chased on. Moreover, follow up every single CV you submit--HR departments are generally useless, and you need to chase every application you make. And despite what agents will tell you, sending your CV out to every agent in sight does not diminish your worth or standing in the marketplace, it gets you maximum coverage which is exactly what you want.

lullabelle

In the last company I worked for they didn't take recruitment seriously - or in the way that I would consider seriously.

My colleague advertised for a Western standard 3d video artist with network experience, expecting the applications to come to him. The receptionist had other ideas. Despite being told to give them to the head of creative she gave them to...

...one of the junior computer guys to sift through...

He sat quite near me and I could tell that someone wasn't right when I heard him questioning some people over the phone. It was like a comedy sketch. We found loads of really great CV's in the bin - he'd been binning anything without a picture on it. He had lined up interviews with people who were nowhere near qualified for the job, because he had no idea what the job was.

I suddenly realised why the english scriptwriter I had couldn't write (in any language) and why numerous other employees were an odd fit for their jobs. Employment was such a hit and miss affair. After they sacked all of us westerners they then made the office manager Head of Creative, before realising that "liking art" wasn't a decent qualification for the job and begged the sacked westerners to come back.

I'd follow up on every damn CV you send and do that with the actual person you would be reporting to should you get the job. As it could be an effort in itself (getting past receptionists can be ... Challenging), I'd award you bonus points for successfully tracking them down.

Oh man, sometimes I miss that madness. And then I remember I wanted to kill people every single day.

Oyibopeppeh

If it's Oil & Gas you're interested in, also register & upload your CV at:

RigZone.com

Oilandgasjobsearch.com

I registered on both and within a couple of hours had a call from one recruiter who saw my profile on O&G and actually seemed to know what he was talking about.

Saff_Parker

Cheers Bahtatboy. I'm probably not aggressive enough with chasing things up - I shall whip out my fangs and be Queen Pesterer from now on!

Thanks for the tips

Saff x

Saff_Parker

Crikey!

I had to chuckle at the "liking art" bit hah. Shame about the binning CVs without photos though! My British CV is photo-less but I've been attaching one for Gulf jobs although quite begrudgingly!

One recruiter took it upon himself to email me from his personal account to compliment my picture and send some bog-standard flirtation my way and asked if he could call me to "chat"! As flattering as it was (for 2 seconds) I was annoyed that any quality in my CV had been ignored (there's me assuming I have some lol) for a photograph

Thanks for the stories though, makes me realise how important it is to relentlessly chase up!

Saff x

Saff_Parker

Thanks! I hadn't found that one yet

Saff x

Southlondoner

Hello Saff_Parker

I was working in Saudi Arabia on a project between 2010 and 2011.
You are doing all the right things. Jobs boards like gulftalent and bayt. Using linkedin and directly calling recruiters.

Don't get disheartened. Ramadan starts on July 20th and everything will shut down for a month. August is slow at the best of times. Unlikely that anything will move before September.

If you would consider roles in Saudi Arabia - Leap29 (based Manchester) and Oil Recruitment (in Chester) are both excellent and responsive.

Bahtatboy

You're welcome

ps You could email your photo if you wanted to...

Saff_Parker

To you? Like fangs do ya? Haha

Saff

Saff_Parker

Thank you for the encouragement! I'll check out Leap29 and Oil Recruitment

Saff