Charisma or MBA? What's more important to get a job in UAE

Many expats who come to the UAE with fancy degrees to their credit, believe they are on the fast-track to success here.
However, after a few years they still do not see themselves where they should have been.

They have the academic background with a decent experience level and have been managing good returns for the company, but there is something lacking which keeps them away from promotions and a thrust their careers are looking for.

“My company was looking for a CEO internally,” said Roshan Tripathi, CFO of a construction company in Dubai. “I’d done well for them but yet they picked the chief marketing office over me. I was taken aback as I was more qualified and well-deserving than him, but was later told by a confidante that the management believed he was more charismatic than me.”

There are many companies in the UAE that train professionals how to be charismatic.

Websites like sellingskillsempowerment have courses on leadership and charisma, perhaps aimed at people like Tripathi, who believe it is a lack of this trait that kept him away from climbing the corporate ladder.

Such companies promote the fact that charisma is not a God-given gift, but a behavioural quality that can be learned and developed with proper training, much like an MBA degree.

Experts in the recruitment industry believe that just having an MBA degree cannot ensure you success in the UAE. Other factors play an important role and an ideal candidate would have it all.

“It completely depends on the role,” says Caroline Gentles, Senior Consultant at Cobalt HR Consultancy.

“A lot of people believe an MBA means guaranteed progression, however, this is not always the case and it depends on the quality of the MBA.

“Charisma can also get you a long way, but it is a proven track record that will seal the deal. Candidates are normally recruited based on their achievements, relevant skill set, motivation, drive and cultural fit.

“Both an MBA and charisma can help but having been there and done it is far more important,” she told this website.

Ash Athawale, a recruitment expert with many years of experience in the UAE job market strongly believes that professional qualities will always be more important than say the communications skills of a person and his ability to charm an audience, which many came to believe during the recession years.

“Charisma can get you through the door, but an MBA will keep you employed.

“Companies have seen a lot of people who have charisma but are not able to deliver once they are hired since there is no depth to their knowledge.

“Researchers say charisma can be taught but an MBA from an accredited school is a formal study programme focussing on all aspects of management and it is not for everyone.

“Any formal education from an accredited school is always an asset,” he says. 

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