British Council completes graduate intake for first training programme for UAE nationals

A total of seven (six female and one male) UAE nationals are now on the two-year programme, which aims to give the graduates experience that will ultimately improve their employment prospects in the UAE workplace. All the graduates will benefit from an English speaking, multicultural environment in which they will be exposed to a variety of the British Council's operations, from frontline customer services to administration and special projects. The programme has been in development since the end of 2004 and forms part of the British Council's support for Emiratisation.

"The Graduate Training Programme is a structured, two-year training programme of work experience at the British Council's centres in Abu Dhabi and Dubai, which will help UAE graduates make the transition into the world of work," said Rob Lynes, Regional Director for the Middle East at the British Council. "These graduates have the academic qualifications but need the work experience - the programme will equip them with the basic requirements for the workplace, along with the opportunity to discover and explore their own areas of interest and talent, visit the British Council in the UK and develop their English language skills."

After completing their two-year training programme, the graduates will have the chance to apply for permanent positions within the British Council, subject to availability, or will be able to look for an alternative employer.

Just as importantly as the workplace skills and experience these graduates will gain is the exposure to the multicultural workplace which is the norm in the UAE. The opportunity to work in multicultural teams and to develop interpersonal skills is another benefit of the programme.

As an organisation dedicated to creating mutual understanding between the UK and other countries, the British Council wanted to support the UAE Government in its Emiratisation goal. "The British Council operates in 110 countries and employs local staff wherever possible," explained Rob Lynes. "The demographics of the GCC are unusual and this makes recruitment here more challenging. We also recognize that many young graduates are looking to move into commercial organisations and we have to work hard to attract graduates from the UAE's colleges and universities."

The British Council also recognises and values the mutual benefits in working with local nationals. "We want to ensure that the British Council is more exposed to local UAE culture," added Rob Lynes. "These graduates will have an impact on British Council staff and will help us to learn more about UAE culture and will therefore ultimately benefit our work here."

All seven graduates were recruited directly from colleges and universities in the UAE, with the support of the country's higher education institutions. The next intake of UAE graduates onto the graduate training programme will be in October 2006.