Expat Interviews Dubai Jobs




 

Find Banking Jobs in Dubai

Tips for Working in Dubai's Financial Services Industry

Despite the slowdown in the economy, opportunities for banking jobs in Dubai still exist because the investment and banking sector is one of the major industries in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). There are a substantial number of multinational banks in Dubai because it has successfully positioned itself as an international banking center in the Middle East.

The financial services sector in the city represents about 11 percent of its GDP in 2008 and there has been a boom in the banking and finance industries before the recession set in. Even now that the recession has set in, there are still some opportunities for banking recruitment in Dubai.

The openings in jobs in Dubai's bank industry are usually for junior and senior managers but job fairs have shown a trend towards the localization of such jobs. This means that there is a preference for locals because in the job fairs, the resumes for locals were requested but expatriates were told to submit their curriculum vitae to certain websites.

In fact, there is a possibility that Dubai bank vacancies are limited and that the participation of the financial institutions in job fairs may have been merely to demonstrate their presence instead of recruitment. Nevertheless, this may also be construed in a positive light because it means that the financial sector is striving to get back on track.

To understand the economic situation in this city and in the UAE, it is important to note that the revenues generated from the petroleum industry have shrunk to less than six percent of the UAE's total revenue. This is due to the fact that despite the establishment of its economy on oil and natural gas, the oil reserves have almost reached their limits and are projected to be totally depleted within 20 years. As a result, the biggest contributors to the economy of Dubai and the rest of the UAE are construction, real estate, trade and financial services. The government, in recognition of the near depletion of the oil reserves, has decided to shift its focus towards tourism and the service industries.

The Dubai government has been concentrating its efforts for the improvement of the tourism industry to encourage the inflow of foreign cash into the city. Nevertheless, the good news for those who are looking for banking jobs in Dubai is that it has been one of the top world financial centers, and is number one in the Middle East. Despite the recession, the emirate's prestige as a leading financial center is not likely to be lost within a short time. It may require some patience before one can find a suitable job vacancy in one of the banking and investment companies in Dubai, but this is practically the same situation in other parts of the world.