Dubai: Emirati women breaking the norm were a common sight at the Emirates Group stand at Careers UAE 2014, which featured a female Emirati flight attendant, pilot and security guard.
Emirati Jokha Eid fought social conventions to become a flight attendant because she wanted to represent her country.
“I have been part of the Emirates business class cabin crew for the past three years and I love it,” she said. “At first my father was very resistant to the idea, but when I explained that I wanted to become a flight attendant to represent my country he was proud.”
The 25-year-old, who travels at least two times a week, encouraged Emirati women to follow their dreams even if it was not conventional.
“You should at least try,” she said. “Talk to your parents and explain to them, you might be surprised that they might actually understand.”
Hanan Mohammad Jawad also had to convince her parents to follow her dream of becoming a pilot.
“My parents were very resistant to the idea, especially my dad, because they initially believed that it is not safe and it is socially unacceptable for Emirati women to travel, but with my mum’s help I was able to convince them,” she said.
Hanan, who completed 1,000 flying hours and has been taking to the skies for the past year in a Boeing 777, said that now her parents are proud of her and she has become famous in her family and community.
Huda Abdullah, 21, works in the security ward is in charge of searching planes and passengers heading to America. “I chose this job because I like it, I am now pursuing a degree related to security,” she said.
Emirates Group is taking part in Careers UAE 2014 to fill its 850 job vacancies, which are mainly aviation-related, said Abdul Aziz Al Ali, Executive Vice-President of Human Resources at Emirates Group.
Al Ali said the group was looking for raw material that they can train in order to meet the expansion demands that Emirates is going through.
“There are 2,500 Emiratis [11 per cent] working at our group and we plan on increasing this number,” he said. “Among the challenges we are facing is competition. Because of Expo 2020 many companies are looking to hire. Another challenge is finding capable candidates.”
