Royal Jet attracts local graduates to its new Emiratisation programme

Following approaches to Abu Dhabi and Al Ain Universities, two dozen graduates in the fields of IT, Engineering, Marketing, HR and Sales went to Abu Dhabi's Al Raha Beach Hotel where they were put through a number of ability tests to ascertain their suitability for the company.

This was followed a few days later by an online personality questionnaire where they were graded as to their ability to work in teams, their communicating skills, and their overall flexibility.

The best of these interviewees will be invited back to final interview in the next couple of weeks and those offered positions will given a one year training programme with a mix of on-the-job, off-the-job and instructor-led training.

Amna Saif Al Mansouri, Royal Jet's Vice President of Human Resources and Administration, explained that the programme came about as a direct result of the company's commitment to Emiratisation and to nurturing the up-and-coming talent within the UAE with the aim of filling key future positions within Royal Jet by local people.

"Earlier this year we offered a number of Emirati students the chance of gaining work experience with us and that programme was highly successful," she said.

"This new programme is a direct result of that opportunity, and all the indications are that this will become a regular and major platform in Royal Jet's recruitment programme in the future.

"The ongoing training of these graduates will include a grounding in the overall work process, together with organisational policies and procedures, and this will be enhanced by technical training, personal and management competency training with an emphasis on professional effectiveness.

"At the end of a year, depending on their performance over the previous 12 months, they will then be offered an established position within Royal Jet," she added.

Throughout the year, the graduate trainees will be assigned mentors within the departments in which they are working to help them with their development, to act as role models and to help them in their individualised development plans.

"We look forward to welcoming these local graduates to the Royal Jet family and to having them work with us. We already employ over 40 qualified Emiratis in a number of key departments and with the exponential increase in business that the company is experiencing, that number is sure to increase significantly in the months and years ahead," Amna Saif Al Mansouri concluded.