Region’s unemployed throng film festival jobs fair

Over 400 candidates thronged a career fair on Tuesday, applying for jobs at this year’s Dubai International Film Festival, registering their interest for some 300 temporary positions at the event this year.

Participants ranged in age from 17 to 60 years and came from 46 different countries, turning up at the conference centre at Dubai Knowledge Village for a chance to work at the festival.

“My dream is to become a television presenter but I am currently working as a receptionist at one of the big hotels in Dubai. I have no experience in media and want to work at Diff so I can understand the job of a media presenter better. I know I need theoretical and practical knowledge to take up this field, so if the job turns out to be what I expect, I will go ahead and study further,” Eman Nasraoue, a 26-year-old Tunisian national, told Emirates24|7 excitedly.

Mohammed Alhousani, HR Manager at the festival said job opportunities available ranged from media jobs to administration and hospitality.

“We have students, housewives, unemployed people from Dubai, other Emirates, GCC countries and even people from overseas. The participants come just to be a part of the eight-day-long festival and every year numbers are getting bigger,” he said.

The festival has openings in almost every field, including box-office, customer service, hospitality, film mart, registration and accreditation and programme administration.

Each person is paid a remuneration based on their responsibility, hours worked and duration of service, a Diff spokesperson said.

Alhousani said staff are given a a manual about the job and with indepth training. “We give them timely guidance and see to it that they have a good idea about the kind of work they are doing and are also comfortable with it. Each department has a supervisor who takes care of the staff,” he said.
 
Springboard

One woman said she had been on maternity leave for more than three years and was hoping to use the festival as a springboard back into the working world.

“I was a personal assistant in my previous job. I have also got good PR skills along with secretarial skills. Now I want to explore the industry and I want to experiment with different fields without going through the probation phase. I think Diff is the most suitable place for me to apply,” said Lene Pieters, a 36-year-old housewife from South Africa, who has two children.

She is one of several individuals looking at the job as a window to a new career. They believe working at Diff will give them an insight into a new job, after which they can decide on a definite career option.

Iranian national Ali Hussain, 25, is currently unemployed. He said he was looking at Diff to help him find a job he could enjoy. “Previously I was working in sales but now I am looking at something more exciting. I will also get exposed to different fields and different people.”

But not all applicants were there for the first time.

Deepika Chambial, a 31-year-old Indian housewife has been working at Diff for the past five years. “I enjoy the work environment here,” she said. “The people who work here are every energetic and enthusiastic all the time. There are so many different people you come across, it is fun working here. I enjoy the different job opportunities they give me here. Now, I cannot even think of working anywhere else.”

For people like her, Diff allowed her to spend a part of each year gainfully employed.
 
Movie buffs

But surely, working at Diff offers the opportunity to watch a few films? Is the festival fare itself part of the lure?

Agreed Hussain: “Movies are another catch at DIFF, they have always been of interest not only to me but to everybody my age. But watching a movie depends on the kind, if it something like ‘The Last Exorcism’, then definitely I would watch it,” he added.

Nasraoue said she like the different genres on offer at Diff. As a literature student, she said, she liked watching movies to analyse them. “I cannot sit watching a movie merely for entertainment purposes,” she said.

Diff runs from December 12 to 19. 

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