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When you decide to move to the GCC, the following tips might come in handy: The gulf region has very few opportunities for freshers who are just out of college. You should always have 2-3 years of work experience, anywhere in the industry before you apply for a job. Do your research, both online and ‘in real life.’ When you decide on a place, tell friends, family, co-workers, neighbors – everyone in your network. Chances are they will know someone who knows someone, go beyond the guidebooks. Ask for names of people who are still living in the GCC who might be accessible when you arrive, using email to connect with them

Language skills are very important, regardless of whatever field you are job hunting in. Take Adam, for instance, who has a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration and is presently in an after-sales support role with a growing company. His skills in the usage of Word-processing software, databases, spreadsheets, email, and presentations are top-notch. Furthermore, he can also effectively use statistics to interpret graphs & tables. He went to attend an interview (which he calls his dream job) in the regional head office of an international sporting goods retail group , but only one thing was not right – his present experience was similar but in a different product line. Still he presented a strong , professional positive image which motivated his potential employers to consider him as a serious contender for the job and, in 15 days he had his dream job offer. So relevant field experience is unbeatable but additionally, other factors can’t be neglected either. Be aware of your achievements, abilities, values & weaknesses & also what you want out of life.

We all see those motivational videos and articles about the benefits of waking up early (some even at 4/5am!). But let’s be honest, how many of us can really achieve it and more importantly does this really work? The thought of waking up early might seem like a good idea at the time, but when that alarm does go off, the snooze button always seems like the better option.. So what really are the supposed benefits of waking up earlier? Mental fitness One of the most significant benefits of waking up early is reduced stress level. When you rise early, it eliminates the need to rush in the morning. You can then start your day on an optimistic note and such positivity often stays with you throughout the day. Better sleep quality Early risers often go to bed early. Getting up early is not something that should be followed irregularly but it needs to be established as a routine in your life. This translates into better sleep quality as your body’s internal clock adapts to your new sleep routine. More intelligent A research conducted by Texas University has identified that students who were early risers scored better grades than those who were late to rise. Their GPAs were higher than the latter. One can link it to an enhanced productivity and quality of sleep. More positive Getting up early instils you with positivity. A research has suggested that people who got up early were happier, not just for a short duration but overall in life. Seems good right? The question is though does it ACTUALLY work? I’m more of a “proof is in the pudding” kind of person. So what better way to test this out than to wake up earlier myself. After all, if there’s even a chance that it will make me more successful, I’ll give it a go. It’s Saturday night, it’s a new start to the week tomorrow and the alarm is set for 6am (I can’t say this was a nice feeling). 6am – alarm goes off, I immediately get out of bed (if you have read the Chimps Paradox you will know this is the most important bit, before your inner chimp kicks in and decides the snooze button looks more appealing!) 6.05am – Time for that morning walk (the older I get the more I see everyone is obsessed by their daily number of steps and that infamous post-food walk makes more sense). 6:45am – walk concluded whilst listening to Spotify’s daily “how to be a morning person” podcast – seems apt. Morning steps done and the kettle is boiling. 7am – Sit on the balcony with a cuppa, reading my book (choice at the moment is Steve Guest’s Top Biller, if you’re in recruitment I can recommend this 100%) 7.30am – shower, get ready and into the office for 8:30am. Ready to attack the day. But Mollie, I’m not a morning person. What tips can you give me to wake up? I hear you say… Well don’t worry, I’ve got you covered. Gain a purpose Did you know that by getting up just two hours earlier every single day, you gain 14 more hours in the week and 62 each month? Imagine the kind of progress you could make with that extra time. Become clear with how it will be spent and how this can move you closer to your short/long-term goals. Become clear with why you are getting up What do you plan to achieve by getting up earlier? Have this list right next to you. If the reason you are getting up is so important to you, nothing should get in your way of achieving it. Go to bed early 7-8 hours sleep is essential for the body to function the next day. Waking up earlier is going to be so much easier if you are well rested. If you want to wake up 2 hours earlier than usual, go to bed 2 hours earlier. Put your phone out of reach when you go to bed. This means that when the alarm rings you physically have to get up to turn it off in the morning (I found this one helped a lot). So then Mollie, are you more successful from going to bed early? (I can hear you already!) Whilst I can’t say that it’s made me more successful, I can say it’s made me more productive (and tired post 9pm!).. It’s something that I have found adds value to my life and I’ll be adding in into my weekday routine. In the meantime my weekends are saved for lie ins and no alarms! What does your morning routine look like and has getting up earlier made you more successful? Comments below..

Hiring decisions are not to be entered into lightly. Not only is it a time consuming process, but the newest addition to your team can really leave its mark on your company—in good ways and in bad. A good hire can take your team to the next level and a bad hire can cost you more than what you had bargained for. The cost of a bad hire The department of labor puts the average cost of a bad hire at 30% of that person’s first year earnings. The cost of a bad hire that earns 300,000 AED per year works out to be 90,000 AED —ouch. A bad hire can cost you more than money The fact is there are many other ways the cost of a bad hire can play out across your company. It can have an effect on: Lower team morale Bad hires tend to have a disastrous effect on team dynamics. Success is based on a team that works well together. A well-oiled machine is only possible when everyone is focused. One weak link can decimate even the strongest team. Moreover, a disruption to the team’s dynamics can lead to higher turnover as otherwise good employees set out to seek job satisfaction elsewhere. For those of you who like numbers, Harvard Business Review, estimates that 80% of employee turnover is due to bad hiring. Lost productivity Bad attitudes and poor work ethics will always effect productivity. A bad hire will undoubtedly throttle the workflow leaving missed deadlines and slighted co-workers in their wake. Damaged client relationships Client-facing bad hires can indelibly damage customer relations. Remember, too, good news travels fast, and bad news travels faster. So while the cost of a bad hire could come in the form of damaged relationships with existing clients, bad hires can cause an undesirable ripple effect that could affect your organization long after the ink is dry on their termination papers. Damaged reputation as an employer Remember that with most bad hires, nothing is ever their fault. And when the story is recounted, chances are your “terrible” organization and your “poor” management were to blame. While you certainly have no control over what people say, the unfortunate truth (in this case) is that the internet exists, and anonymity tends to make everyone more vocal. Bad hires may be emboldened to share their story with anyone and everyone who will listen—including review sites like Glassdoor, for example. See where I’m going with this? Ultimately, negative reviews will give others pause for thought, and qualified candidates may be less inclined to work for your organization down the line. Onboarding expenses It takes a considerable amount of time and funds to get new employees up to speed. These expenses often include the cost of paid training hours, salaries paid to trainers, materials, and the like. Most employers have no qualms with this type of initial investment because a new (and productive) employee is worth the expenditure in the long run. A bad hire, however, essentially turns that expenditure into a bad gamble. Red flags to watch out for during the hiring process Unfortunately, there’s no crystal ball that can tell you whether your new hire will be “employee of the month” or a walking disaster. Hiring managers can do nothing more than rely on whatever credentials prospective employees provide, the processes their organization has in place for hiring, and their own expertise (read: gut instincts). There are a few red flags, however, that hiring managers can use during the hiring process to tell if there is trouble afoot: Warning signs of a bad hire Bad hires tend to show their hands early, and when you know the signs of a bad hire, you can address the issue and take action post haste. Not sure if the latest team member was a good call? Here are ten warning signs that you may have made a bad hire: Filling a vacancy is never an easy task, and most hiring managers just have to trust the process. However, from time to time, despite your best efforts, the process just doesn’t work. The person who brought their A-game to every part of the interview process simply isn’t the same person who shows up on day one—it happens. And while vacancies can cost money, the cost of a bad hire is staggering. Far beyond the monetary cost, bad hires can have a disastrous effect on team dynamics, productivity, and customer relations.

How to relocate your dog to Dubai Written by Lauren Davies  Making a big move to the UAE, you will have plenty of things to sort out. Let me try and help you with making your furry friends move that little bit easier.. I recently moved to Dubai to be with my Partner and the absolute non-negotiable for me was Toffee. This little dog is my baby, she has been everywhere with me and during covid, she kept me sane, she is Poochon that weighs around 4.5kg, she now has a sister whom my partner had before I came along. I will later tell you all of our favourite spots to go on our family days out, doggy staycations, and life in Dubai as a dog parent. Let’s start at the beginning, I was living in the Cotswolds, UK, and spent hours searching the internet for the best, easiest and safest way for Toffee to arrive in Dubai. I found a company called Airpets who would look after doing everything. needed on the UK side of things, I was adamant that i could do these things myself to save on costs, but when I looked into it I really could not and it was much easier to let Airpets do it for me. I paid £1200 for this which included her flight (she was down in the hold and I was up top!) airline handling fees, the delivery from Airpets to Heathrow, customs export entry, DEFRA export certificate, and a kennel for her to travel in. I dropped her off at 2 pm, ready for an 8 pm flight. There is an option of collection from your home, however, I decided I felt more comfortable dropping her off. Please note, your dog must have had a Rabies vaccine 21 days before the flight (around £100). Onto the Dubai side of things, again I did my research and actually found a company that works closely with Airpets called Pets Express an English lady who also has a poodle! She made everything on the Dubai side absolutely seamless. Her services covered the Import Fee, Vet check (at airport customs), Customs Bill Entry, and Emirates Handling Fee. Toffee was finally handed over to me around 2 hours after landing. The cost of this service was 3150AED (around £650) Luckily I had my Partner who already lived in probably the most pet-friendly community in Dubai (obviously I am very biased) The Palm. We are so lucky as on our doorstep we have the racing track which is probably used more for people walking their pooches. It has a great community feel and you end up knowing the dog’s name before the owners! However, if you don’t live on the palm there are many other dog-friendly areas to live with great walking spots such as JLT, Arabian Ranches, Dubai Hills, almost everywhere however, you cannot walk your dog around the marina. Where can I take my furry friend I hear you asking, well Dubai is seeming to become more and more pet-friendly, and let me share with you some of my favourite places to take my two doggies. We are very fortunate to be within walking distance of West Palm Beach, one of the only dog-friendly beaches in Dubai along the boardwalk there is an array of amazing restaurants with Koko Bay and February 30 being amongst my personal favs, on the other side of the palm you have Club Vista Mare which is always full of dogs and just up the road from that The Pointe also allows dogs, you must try Brunch and Cake with your loved fluffy ones whilst you are there. You also have the lakes around JLT to walk around they also have a dog park, the new harbour is a good stretch for you and your dogs and in the Greens you have Lah Lah’s which I am very fortunate to work in a dog-friendly building there. I am sure that there are many places that I am missing out on, but that will give you a good start. Once you have moved here, you will feel like life is always a holiday at the weekend, however, you may decide that you want to refresh and have a change of scenery, you’ll be pleased to hear that there are many dog-friendly hotels in the UAE, let me start with a few of the gems I have found, W hotel Abu Dhabi, yes you read that right! The W allows your fluffs to stay with you! The Vida Beach Resort Umm Al Quwain, they even have a separate beach area for you and your woofs! Banan Beach in Ras Al Khaimah where if you are after something a little more casual and a Boho effect then this is a great spot! I hope that gives you a better idea of doggy life here in Dubai and good luck relocating with your furry friend! www.airpets.comwww.petexpressuae.com

We have all heard about Influencers on Instagram and Tik Tok, but what about influencers on LinkedIn? With LinkedIn being the most important platform across social media for business purposes, it is an easy way to gain exposure for yourself, your experience or your business. I have grown two LinkedIn profiles to over 50k followers in under 18 months. How do you ask? Read on to learn exactly what I did. 1. Get the basics right The first and most crucial step is to have a LinkedIn Page that explains your experience and information about yourself. Your LinkedIn page should be an accurate representation of your CV. Make sure you update all the requested information, including: Ensure to include SEO-optimized keywords throughout your profile. The more information you have listed, the higher your profile will rank. A high ranking is important to raise awareness of yourself or your company, whether it’s for business, networking, or job hunting purposes. 2. Turn on “Creator Mode” Creator Mode is a profile setting on your dashboard that can help you grow your reach and influence on LinkedIn. You can turn on creator mode to get access to additional tools and features that help you create content and grow your audience base on LinkedIn. In addition, it also means that any new connections will need to follow you before sending a connection request and you can approve/reject accordingly. Click the link to find out how to turn on Creator Mode. 3. Gain recommendations and endorsements The more recommendations and endorsements you have, the higher your profile ranks. You can request a recommendation from any of your connections and can then post it to your profile. Follow the link to see how to do this. 4. Grow your audience Every connection you have will automatically be added as a follower, so by adding new connections, you are adding new followers. However, Linkedin only allows you to have a maximum of 30k connections. You want to ensure your connections are relevant to you, your business, and ideally people you know or want to know. 5. Post regularly To increase the number of followers you have, you need to give them a reason to follow you. This can be done with quality content on a regular basis. Just as posting content regularly to a blog will gain a consistent following, the same is true on LinkedIn and any other social media platform. When your audience knows you are going to post something on X day, they are going to be waiting for it — assuming you provide valuable content. In addition, the more frequently you post, the more likely your profile is going to show up in the feed. This will make your brand far more appealing, increasing the chance of a new LinkedIn user following you. As you get started with posting content, you may need to post every day or, at the very least, every other day. This is to ramp things up and get your profile seen as quickly as possible. Once you’ve got the momentum up, you can take things down and post a couple of times a week. Just never let the quality of your content suffer. 6. Publish LinkedIn articles relevant to your expertise LinkedIn has a unique publishing platform, which is exactly how you are reading this. It’s a great way to showcase your expertise and grow your audience. Publishing valuable content on LinkedIn positions you as an authority on your topic. Posting regular, valuable content creates trust with your connections and helps you to be seen as an expert on your topic. 7. Post videos TikTok is a video-sharing app that allows users to create and share 15-second videos and is now the most used social media platform in the World. Don’t underestimate the value of a video, some people prefer them to a normal post as they are more personal. Videos have on average 3 x more views than posts with pictures and 12 x more views than just posts alone. 8. Use hashtags in every post Use 3 hashtags on each post. Why? Because your post will automatically show up in all the people’s newsfeeds that are following that hashtag. This not only creates exposure for your post but profile also. I recommend viewing the hashtags you are posting before tagging them, to ensure they have a decent following. Tagging more than 3 hashtags can actually bring your ranking down, so stick to a maximum of 3 when you can. 9. Tag people and companies in your post LinkedIn allows you to tag people, companies, or organizations in your post. All you have to do is to type the @ key, followed by the name. Why would you do this? For the exact reason that you should put hashtags in your post – because you show up in everyone’s newsfeed within the person or company, you have tagged. 10. GO VIRAL Sounds easy doesn’t it.. Just put a post on LinkedIn and let it go viral? Creating a viral post is actually harder than it looks. With so many different people, personalities and trends it’s hard to know what’s going to gain traction and what isn’t. A few ways I have gone viral is: Talk about your experiences.. Help someone.. State your opinions.. 11. Comment on trending posts You don’t need to go viral yourself, you could comment on someone else’s post that is going viral. Comment with your opinions and things you believe in, or even Don’t forget to drop me a follow to keep updated with my posts and articles 🙂 Happy networking.

Dubai is fast becoming one of the most sought-after cities in the world to set a business up for various reasons.. Whether it be for the year-round sunshine, tax-free living or being a hub for VC-backed start-ups.Since moving to Dubai in 2020 I have set up 2 businesses; Edge Executive Recruitment and Edge Executive Gifts. In this article, I will explain the different business licenses that are available and the process of setting up a business in Dubai. Business License Before setting up, you’ll need to decide if you’d like to operate in a Free Zone or Mainland. Depending on your requirements, both options have their own requirements and benefits. Free Zone  A Free Zone is a specified jurisdiction area within each Emirate. Free Zones are operated by the Free Zone Authority (FZA) and function based on their own regulations. Free Zones provide various packages and benefits, including 100% foreign ownership and an income-tax-free environment. A Free Zone company is any company registered within the 40+ Free Zones of the UAE. This type of company is only authorized to trade within the Free Zone and outside the UAE and cannot trade on the mainland. Pros of a Free Zone business license: Cons of a Free Zone business license: Mainland A mainland company is a business entity that has been registered with the Ministry of Economy under the Department of Economic Development (DED). A sponsor, who is a UAE resident, is required for the establishment of a mainland company. A mainland company in the UAE is not restricted to trading and can conduct business within and outside the UAE. Whilst Expats are able to now keep 100% shares of their company, they do require a UAE National to be their Local Service Agent (LSA). LSAs are not part of the board or have any shares of the business, but require a yearly fee which typically ranges from 5,000-10,000 AED per year in addition to the license cost. Pros of a Mainland business license: Cons of a Mainland business license: Business Bank Account After you have received your business license you will be able to open up a corporate business account. The UAE has many banks, both local and international, to choose from. These include HSBC, Citibank, Barclays, Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank, Commercial Bank of Dubai and many more. Office Space Depending on which business license you have will depend on where you can have your office space. For example, if you have a Free Zone business license, you are restricted to having an office within the area of that Free Zone. If you have a Mainland business license, you can have an office anywhere in the UAE, outside of the Free Zone areas. If you are looking to rent office space, I would recommend looking at Property Finder and Bayut which are commercial and residential property searching platforms in the UAE. Tax There is 0 Income Tax in the UAE, and currently 0 Corporate Tax. However, from April 2023 Corporate Tax will be levied at a headline rate of 9% on Taxable Income exceeding AED 375,000. Taxable Income below this threshold will be subject to a 0% rate of Corporate Tax. Income tax will still be at 0, however, the new changes to Corporate Tax are definitely something to consider when choosing to set up your business in the UAE. VAT The general VAT rate is 5% and applies to most goods and services, with some goods and services subject to a 0% rate or an exemption from VAT (subject to specific conditions being met). There are business expenses that are VAT deductible, these include: Hiring The UAE has some of the best talent in the world. We at Edge Executive Recruitment help companies within the GCC with hiring and would be happy to help. Feel free to contact me directly at mollie@Edge Executive for guidance, advice or hiring support. Employee Requirements Each employee that works for your company will need a work visa. In addition to this, you will need to provide private healthcare and 20 days of paid annual leave per year. You can hire a PRO to help with all of the above, I would be happy to give the contact details for the company I use. Feel free to contact me if you would like them. Author SB