Job Description
Job Purpose:
The Career Advisor supports the employability and career development of University of Dubai students and alumni by providing career guidance, delivering career-readiness programs, building employer engagement, and connecting talent with relevant employment opportunities. The role also contributes to the University’s employment-outcomes, labor-market alignment, employer feedback, and evidence-based reporting priorities.
Key Responsibilities:
Primary Responsibilities – Career Services
- Provide individual and group career advising to students and alumni on career exploration, career planning, job-search strategies, CVs and cover letters, interviews, professional networking, personal branding, and job-offer negotiation.
- Design, coordinate, and deliver career-readiness programs, workshops, webinars, coaching sessions, and resources that strengthen students’ transition from university to employment.
- Support students in identifying career pathways aligned with their academic programs, strengths, interests, labour-market demand, and emerging occupations.
- Develop and maintain strong relationships with employers, recruiters, professional bodies, alumni, and other industry partners to expand employment opportunities for UD students and graduates.
- Source, screen, and promote appropriate full-time, part-time, graduate, and entry-level employment opportunities and ensure vacancies are accurately maintained on approved career platforms and databases.
- Plan and coordinate career fairs, employer engagement activities, recruitment sessions, networking events, career talks, and other employability initiatives in collaboration with internal and external stakeholders.
- Maintain a network of employers, recruiters, career speakers, mentors, and industry professionals who can contribute to students’ career awareness and employability development.
- Monitor UAE and international labor-market trends, employer demand, emerging occupations, future skills, salary trends, recruitment practices, and skills gaps, and translate findings into career guidance and employability initiatives.
- Promote awareness of relevant professional certifications, licences, micro-credentials, and other career-enhancing qualifications that can strengthen graduate employability and professional readiness.
- Support the collection, validation, maintenance, and analysis of graduate employment data, including employment status, employment in relevant jobs, employer information, and other required graduate outcome indicators.
- Contribute to Graduate Destination Surveys and other graduate-outcome data-collection exercises, including communication campaigns, follow-up activities, response-rate improvement, data validation, and reporting.
- Support employer feedback and satisfaction surveys related to UD graduates, including employer outreach, response-rate follow-up, data quality checks, analysis, and reporting.
- Prepare accurate career-services reports, dashboards, evidence, and supporting documentation for institutional planning, quality assurance, accreditation, and Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research outcome-based reporting requirements.
- Track and report career-services activities and outcomes, including student and alumni engagement, employer engagement, vacancies, recruitment activities, career events, advising services, and employment outcomes.
- Use career-management systems, online career platforms, LinkedIn, digital tools, and approved AI-enabled resources to improve career guidance, student engagement, employer connectivity, service efficiency, and data quality.
- Collaborate with Colleges, Alumni Relations, QA&IE, Marketing, Student Services, Registration, and other relevant UD units to support institution-wide employability and graduate-outcome objectives.
- Maintain appropriate records of career advising, employer engagement, vacancies, events, surveys, and graduate employment outcomes in accordance with University requirements and data-governance standards.
- Provide timely, professional support to students, alumni, employers, faculty, and other stakeholders on career-related enquiries and services.
- Contribute to the continuous improvement of career services by reviewing service effectiveness, feedback, outcome data, labor-market intelligence, and emerging good practices, and recommending improvements.
- Perform other career-services duties consistent with the purpose and level of the position as assigned.
Professional Development
Maintain professional currency in career development, graduate employability, labor-market intelligence, recruitment practices, digital career services, AI-enabled career tools, and emerging future-skills requirements.
Performance Criteria :
Performance will be assessed against approved annual KPIs and service standards, which may include:
- Contribution to graduate employment and employment-in-relevant-jobs outcomes.
- Volume and quality of employment opportunities sourced and employer relationships maintained.
- Student and alumni participation in career advising, workshops, events, and recruitment activities.
- Graduate and employer survey response rates, completeness, accuracy, and timeliness of data.
- Quality and timeliness of career-services reports, dashboards, and evidence required for institutional and regulatory reporting.
- Stakeholder satisfaction and demonstrated service improvements.
Preferred Qualifications:
Education:
- Bachelor’s degree in Career Counseling, Career Development, Psychology, Business Administration, Human Resources, Education/Higher Education Administration, or a related field.
- A Master’s degree in a relevant field is preferred.
- Relevant professional certification in career development, career coaching, employability, or talent acquisition (e.g., CCSP, CDF or equivalent) is an advantage.
Experience:
- Minimum of three years of relevant full-time experience in career services, career counseling/coaching, graduate employability, recruitment/talent acquisition, or a related function, preferably within higher education or a professional recruitment environment.
- Experience in employer engagement, career events, graduate outcome tracking, career platforms, or employability reporting is an advantage.
Competencies:
- Career Advising & Coaching: Strong ability to guide students and graduates through career exploration, career planning, job-search preparation, CV development, interviews, networking, and transition to employment.
- Employer Engagement & Recruitment Knowledge: Ability to develop productive employer relationships and understand recruitment processes, employer expectations, and talent-market needs.
- Labour-Market & Future-Skills Awareness: Ability to interpret labour-market trends, emerging occupations, skills gaps, and future-skills requirements and apply them to career programs and advising.
- Data & Outcome Reporting: Ability to collect, validate, analyse, and report graduate employment, employer feedback, survey, and career-services data accurately.
- Digital & AI Proficiency: Competence in career-management systems, databases, online recruitment platforms, LinkedIn, productivity tools, and responsible use of AI-enabled career tools.
- Event & Program Management: Ability to plan and deliver career fairs, recruitment activities, workshops, webinars, networking events, and employability programs.
- Communication & Presentation: Excellent written, verbal, facilitation, and presentation skills with students, alumni, employers, faculty, and senior stakeholders.
- Relationship Building: Strong networking and stakeholder-management skills with employers, alumni, professional bodies, and internal university units.
- Analytical & Problem-Solving: Ability to interpret data, identify service gaps, address career-related challenges, and recommend evidence-based improvements.
- Organization & Accountability: Strong planning, follow-up, record-keeping, attention to detail, confidentiality, and ability to manage multiple priorities and deadlines.
- Team Collaboration & Service Orientation: Ability to work collaboratively across university functions while providing responsive, professional, student- and employer-focused service.