Dubai Aluminium (Dubal) has announced that it has successfully achieved its goal of the year by recruiting 120 UAE nationals.

This has been accomplished by pro-actively participating in career fairs and employer days held at various universities and colleges across the UAE throughout the course of the year; as well as the prestigious Careers UAE 2012 exhibition, a statement from the company said.

Most recently, Dubal was invited to participate in the 2012 UAE Student Forum arranged by the Embassy of the UAE in Washington DC mid-November; and responded by way of both sponsorship and a display stand.

The three-day event drew more than 1,000 UAE national students who are currently completing their studies in the US (graduating in Spring 2013); and was attended by Sheikh Sultan bin Hamdan Al Nahyan, deputy director of the Department of American and Pacific Affairs, UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs; and Yousef Al Otaiba, Ambassador of the UAE to the US.

“Dubal’s participation in the 2012 UAE Student Forum was most successful,” said Sultan Al Sabri, vice president of human resources & organisation effectiveness. “Our stand, which was manned by representatives of all the major operational areas of our smelter complex, attracted the applications from more than 300 students from diverse disciplines – such as engineering, finance and administration – all of whom are keen to pursue careers in an industrial setting. This level of interest is certainly fitting of Dubal’s status as the world’s largest single-site primary aluminium smelter using pre-bake anode technology.”

“Dubal’s main objective was to recruit young talent for the company’s graduate trainee programme (GTP) – an 18-month long on-the-job training programme that equips university graduates to assume a role as one of the company’s first line supervisors.”

Participants in the GTP benefit from ongoing mentoring, coaching, training courses and developmental feedback, as well as an incremental growth in salary through the period of the programme.

Moreover, selected GTP participants with higher potential levels may be identified to fill middle-level management positions and ‘fast-tracked’ through the training and development process.

“The 2012 UAE Student Forum was very well organised, resulting in an environment conducive to positive prospects for the students and participating companies alike,” Al Sabri said. “This was Dubal’s first appearance at the annual UAE Student Forum in the US, but will not be our last.”

“To the contrary, we plan to include the event in our annual calendar of UAE National Development activities in support of our National Emiratisation policy; and look forward to similar success in the future,” he concluded. – TradeArabia News Service