XPRESS Deputy Editor poses as a job applicant to expose what could well be the country's biggest recruitment racket
Dubai: I am a dim-witted moron - a good-for-nothing lousy fellow with a horrendous track record, suggests my CV in big, bold letters. And yet I am flooded with job offers. There are so many companies wanting to solicit my services that I am spoilt for choice.
On September 18, I registered different versions of my inglorious CV with two UAE-based placement agencies - Dubai Gate and Al Aidy Al Mahirah. And voilà, 24 hours later, I was hired.
My employer, who has offered me a Dh18,000 basic salary plus accommodation, Dubai Free Zone visa and a slew of benefits for a sales position in Jebel Ali, doesn't baulk at my credentials. My CV, "forwarded" to him by Dubai Gate, states: "I bring about a steady erosion of values and company ethics... and have hastened the doom of many companies in the past." But he has no qualms. Similarly, the fact that I make "perilous graphics and inconsistent logos" hasn't put off a British company from taking me on board as graphic designer with an equally attractive pay package. "They [the client] are very happy with your CV. Actually we forwarded them seven candidates but out of seven they shortlisted your CV," [sic] I was told by an Al Aidy Al Mahirah staff.
The conversation is on tape with XPRESS.
King Cons
Welcome to the world of job scams where employment agencies are duping unsuspecting job seekers in the UAE by the minute and, by a conservative estimate, making up to Dh25,000 per day.
Last fortnight, I randomly approached two placement agencies as a job aspirant after responding to situations vacant advertisements in a newspaper's classified section. As part of the sting operation, I made sure I had the worst CV in the city.
My first stop was Dubai Gate Management Consultancy & Employment Services, operating from apartment No 210 in Sharjah's Al Mawarid Tower Offices which also houses a popular supermarket.
