The United Arab Emirates is a top choice for many overseas workers, especially professional and skilled workers. Salaries are tax free in the UAE.
But it’s easy to lose sight of one’s goals there—what with the wide array of luxury brands on display in shopping malls, and the many leisure activities in swanky hotels and dining places.
Jeffrey Ramos, a Human Resources professional, discovered this the hard way. He had landed a good job as a personnel officer with a prestigious hotel chain in Dubai. He enjoyed his upscale lifestyle. He indulged, you might say. Then one day he lost his job.
Losing one’s job is an eye opener, he shares, adding that it sent him through a wrenching personal crisis.
In the UAE, as in many Middle East countries, one’s working visa depends on the sponsorship of an employer. A foreign worker is given one month after losing his employer—sponsored visa to find another job or leave.
“When you lose your job, your whole life crumbles because you put everything in your career. You don’t know what to do. Success went to my head,” he admits. He realized that he had wasted time and opportunity. “Time is a gift of God,” he adds.
Painful loss
Losing a job is totally demoralizing. Grieving about this situation is not the solution,” he goes on.
Jeffrey left Dubai, describing it as “the most painful moment of his life.” His wife, who had in fact been the first to land a job there and was doing well as a marketing communications officer in a hotel, stayed on.
Losing his job was a blow to this achiever, a consistent honor student and valedictorian. After graduating with a degree in Political Science, he had landed a relatively good job at the House of Representatives as a Human Resources training specialist. He also enrolled in law studies at the University of Santo Tomas. He married his college sweetheart, Rosemarie Tacorda. They bought a house in Cavite and a new car.
Alternative Possibilities
When Rosemarie, a Hotel and Restaurant Management graduate, got an offer to work in a hotel in Dubai, new possibilities opened for the couple. He supported her decision to go but opted to stay behind to finish his law studies.
After a few months, he visited her in Dubai to celebrate his birthday. He was impressed by the city’s cosmopolitan air and tried applying for a job. Before his vacation ended, he was hired. He left his law studies behind. For Jeffrey and his wife, there were new and exciting things going for them.
Wrong decision
But Jeffrey was retrenched after the Sept. 11 bombings in New York caused a dip in the hotel business. He was lucky to immediately get another job at a real estate company. But he made a wrong career decision, he muses. He left his real estate job to move on to a better one only to lose it because he had not secured a ‘no objection letter’ from his employer. This document is required by UAE companies before they accept an employee who moves from another company. Worse, his previous employer sent a letter banning him from work in Dubai for one year.
With a work ban stamped on his passport, Jeffrey returned to the Philippines. “It was very devastating for me and my wife. It felt like all our dreams were shattered. I was confused and did not know what to do. The inner part of myself was telling me ‘either I sink or swim’,” he recalls.
Back to square one
One of the lessons he learned was humility. From his former lifestyle of driving fancy cars in Dubai, he was back to riding jeepneys and buses in Manila. But he says losing his job gave him the gift of time—the time to reflect and the “time to follow God’s purpose for me.”
Constant communication and transparency were key to the survival of his marriage, he says. But he also attributes this to his willingness to go through all the sacrifices, believing that ’this too shall pass’.
Another chance
“I enrolled in certification programs and attended seminars to keep myself updated on new HR policies. This way I kept myself up to date and sharp, always ready and equipped.”
He sent over a hundred application forms to try and get a job again in the UAE. It was through the help of a friend that he finally found a job that allowed him to go back. Today, more than 10 years since his overseas journey began, Jeffrey is successful as the recruiter of authorized distributors of the luxury car Mercedes-Benz in Dubai, Sharjah, & Northern Emirates.
Stick to your goals
“It is easy to become successful and maintain it but the challenge is not to be corrupted by success which I believe is the problem of Filipinos abroad,” he says.
“Many Filipinos abroad don’t know how to handle money and relationships, including spiritual aspects, and forget the real reason why they are abroad,” he adds.
As a result of his own struggles, he published a self help book entitled, I Know What To Do! Pinoy Success Handbook.” He interviewed a number of successful Filipinos and also shared his own story.
Complete a cycle
One of the lessons he shares in his book is the concept of “completing”.
“When you start something, you must not only finish it but complete it. Completing means sealing the edges in a situation or having closure to an event by either showing your appreciation to those who made a good thing possible or asking forgiveness to those whom one has intentionally or unintentionally hurt,” he shares.
He has also established a movement called “Successful Pinoy Ako,” which aims to cultivate “a new breed of Filipinos.” Jeffrey now conducts workshops among overseas Filipinos where he shares his experiences and his formula for success.
Balance 8 aspects
His teachings include the “Success monitor”—balancing eight aspects of life in order to achieve success, namely: work and career, finances, recreation and free time, health and fitness, relationship, personal goals, contribution to a larger community and a personal relationship with God.
“When one aspect is not balanced, one loses sight of personal goals and directions. More importantly, putting God first is just as important as celebrating one’s success and monitoring one’s progress,” teaches Jeffrey.
Assert yourself
As an HR professional, he believes the strengths of the Filipino is his or her innate hospitality and friendliness, plus being good English speakers. But there is an irony, he says, citing that the same strength can become a weakness. If one is “too friendly or too hospitable and too accommodating,” he says, others may be tempted to abuse the situation. Filipinos should learn how to fight for their rights such as seeking compensation commensurate to their jobs and being more aggressive in matters of promotions. “We need to be more assertive,” he stresses.
Some Filipinos are afraid to actively pursue or ask for the job they want whereas other nationalities are more competitive and ask their superiors to promote them, he notes.
Learn more, earn more
Some of his other tips:
One, always make your presence felt by asking for more responsibilities (which is different from obligations) and perform it well.
Second, learn more in order to earn more. Being equipped with pertinent skills, and constantly honing and updating these skills will increase one’s confidence to ask for a promotion or salary increase.
Explore other offers
Lastly, always have a back up—apply for jobs in other companies; not only will it update you on your value in the market, but it will also send your company the signal that you can be valued by other companies if they do not value you.
To those who want to go overseas, he simply shares: “Go abroad with a clear purpose or reason and objective. And once you are there, focus on your goal.” When faced with a situation or decision, ask this critical question: “Will this take me closer to my goal?” Be equipped financially, emotionally and spiritually. These will keep you grounded in your journey.