Skills get you through the door, but who opens it? The new rules of career growth in the UAE
Arda Atalay, regional director at LinkedIn, MENA, said skills and experience remain the strongest drivers of career opportunity in the UAE, but they do not speak for themselves
22 October, 2026
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A strong CV can demonstrate what a candidate has achieved, the qualifications they hold and the experience they bring to the table. But in the UAE’s changing labour market, getting noticed may depend on something that cannot easily be captured in a list of credentials: the professional relationships that make those achievements visible.
Networking is not necessarily replacing competence as a driver of career advancement. Instead, it is becoming an important link between what professionals can do and whether the right people know they can do it.
That distinction matters for jobseekers navigating a competitive market. Submitting an application may put a candidate into consideration, but professional visibility, trusted introductions and relationships built over time can also influence how people discover opportunities, exchange information and connect with potential employers.
Read more: You clicked ‘Apply’ — now what? What GCC hiring platforms really do with your resume
Arda Atalay, regional director at LinkedIn, MENA, said skills and experience remain the strongest drivers of career opportunity in the UAE, but they do not speak for themselves.
“Networks can help people make their expertise visible, learn where opportunities are emerging, and build relationships with people who can open a door or make an introduction,” he said.
The implication for professionals is clear: qualifications remain essential, but the ability to communicate their value and build credible professional relationships can help determine whether their experience reaches the people who matter.
Competence still counts, but visibility matters
The idea that professional connections can influence career access often invites a familiar question: does who you know now matter more than what you know?
The UAE findings cited by LinkedIn suggest a more complicated picture. Skills and experience remain the leading factor professionals associate with access to opportunities, while professional networks can help translate those capabilities into career prospects.
The distinction is particularly striking within human resources. According to Atalay, 36 per cent of HR professionals in the UAE identify a strong professional network as the biggest driver of career access, compared with 25 per cent who point to skills and experience.
That finding does not necessarily mean relationships outweigh competence. Rather, it may reflect HR professionals’ closer understanding of how recruitment, professional visibility and introductions can connect qualified people with opportunities.
For employers, the same principle works in reverse. Professional networks can help organisations stay connected to talent, identify emerging skills and maintain access to people who may be suitable for future roles.
Atalay said networks should be viewed as part of the infrastructure supporting a healthy labour market, rather than as a substitute for merit.
For candidates, the practical question is what happens after an application is submitted. A CV may establish that someone meets the requirements for a position. A professional reputation, evidence of measurable achievements and credible recommendations can provide additional ways for others to understand that person’s capabilities.
The confidence gap behind networking
Despite widespread recognition of networking’s value, putting it into practice remains a challenge.
LinkedIn’s research found that 64 per cent of HR professionals in the UAE agree they are making the most of their professional networks, a proportion Atalay said is substantially higher than in other industries covered by the survey. Yet 39 per cent of UAE HR professionals also say they lack confidence when approaching people.
The apparent contradiction reveals a gap between understanding the importance of relationships and feeling comfortable building them.
Professionals may recognise that connections can help them learn about opportunities or gain industry insight, while still worrying about how to initiate a conversation, what to say or whether contacting someone unfamiliar could appear intrusive.
Yet the willingness to help appears considerably stronger than that hesitation might suggest. The research found that 86 per cent of UAE professionals surveyed would help someone who approached them for career support, even if they did not know that person personally.
“The barrier is often not willingness on either side. It is confidence and knowing how to make the first move,” Atalay said.
That gap has implications for jobseekers and employers alike. If professionals assume that unfamiliar contacts will be unwilling to help, they may avoid conversations that could offer useful advice, industry knowledge or an introduction to a potential employer.
Equally, people who already have established relationships may find it easier to learn about opportunities that are less visible to outsiders. The challenge is ensuring that access to professional information does not depend solely on the connections someone already possesses.
Why even HR professionals struggle to build relationships
Working in human resources does not automatically make someone confident about personal networking.
Atalay drew a distinction between managing relationships as part of a job and building a professional network independently. In a workplace, the purpose of an interaction is usually clear: colleagues are discussing a task, resolving an issue or working towards a shared objective.
Personal networking can be less straightforward. Professionals may be uncertain about whom to approach, how to begin a conversation or whether their efforts will appear transactional.
The solution, Atalay argued, is to treat networking as a skill that can be developed rather than an ability people are simply expected to possess.
That can mean contributing to an industry discussion, asking a thoughtful question, following someone’s professional commentary or maintaining relationships before a specific need arises.
For candidates, this approach shifts networking away from the idea of asking strangers for favours. It becomes a process of participating in professional conversations, exchanging knowledge and building familiarity over time.
Such relationships may not lead directly to a job offer. They can, however, help candidates understand changes in their industry, identify skills in demand and become more visible to people who work in their field.
A regional divide in networking confidence
The research also points to differences between the UAE and Saudi Arabia, suggesting that networking behaviour cannot be explained by a single regional pattern.
UAE HR professionals are more likely than professionals in other UAE industries to report lacking confidence when approaching people. Saudi HR professionals, by contrast, show the opposite pattern, according to Atalay.
He also pointed to a broader trend in Saudi Arabia, where 45 per cent of professionals surveyed said they were putting greater effort into building their networks.
The findings suggest that recognising the value of relationships does not automatically translate into the same levels of confidence or participation across markets.
For businesses operating across both countries, that distinction matters. Approaches to professional development that focus only on encouraging people to network may fall short if employees also need practical guidance on how to do so.
The issue becomes particularly relevant as Saudi Arabia pursues the economic transformation associated with Vision 2030.
According to Atalay, 46 per cent of Saudi professionals surveyed said networks could help people access the skills needed for the future economy. Among Saudi HR professionals, 54 per cent linked networks to access to major national projects, while 49 per cent associated them with entrepreneurship and business opportunities.
As new sectors develop and demand for different capabilities changes, professional relationships can help people understand where opportunities are emerging and what skills they may need to pursue them.
Can networking widen access rather than reinforce privilege?
The growing importance of professional visibility also raises a difficult question: could networking favour people who already have access to influential contacts?
The answer depends partly on how professional networks are built and used. If opportunities circulate only within established circles, candidates without existing connections may struggle to become visible, regardless of their qualifications.
Atalay said professionals new to the UAE and those starting their careers are among the groups considered more vulnerable to missing opportunities when they lack visibility or connections. In Saudi Arabia, people outside major business hubs may also benefit from stronger networks.
For networking to broaden access, it must extend beyond familiar circles. That means creating opportunities for people to exchange knowledge, seek advice and establish relationships without needing an existing personal introduction.
The survey’s findings on willingness to help suggest there may be room to do so. In addition to the 86% recorded in the UAE, 90% of Saudi professionals surveyed said they would support someone seeking career help even if they did not know them personally.
Atalay said those findings indicate that professional ecosystems may contain more willingness to help than individuals realise.
The value of a network, therefore, is not simply the number of contacts a person has. It also lies in whether those relationships enable knowledge to circulate, introductions to happen and people to navigate changes in their careers.
Guidance could be the missing link
Despite awareness of networking’s benefits, many professionals say they have not received enough guidance on building professional relationships.
The research found that 43% of HR professionals in the UAE and 41% in Saudi Arabia considered the guidance they had received insufficient.
That points to a gap in professional development. Networking is often treated as an instinctive activity, even though approaching unfamiliar people, sustaining conversations and building mutually useful relationships can require practice.
Atalay said better guidance could help address both confidence and access by making the first step less intimidating and showing professionals how to connect with people beyond their existing circles.
For employers, that may mean treating relationship-building as a practical professional skill rather than leaving employees to work it out independently. For jobseekers, it means looking beyond the CV to how they communicate their expertise, participate in their industry and maintain credible connections.
None of this makes qualifications or demonstrated results less important. A professional introduction cannot, on its own, replace the ability to perform a job. Nor does a large network guarantee a successful application.
But a CV is only one part of how a candidate’s value becomes known.
In a labour market where skills, experience and professional visibility intersect, the decisive moment may not be when an application is submitted, but when someone recognises the value behind it.
The question for jobseekers is no longer simply whether their CV is strong enough. It is whether the right people can see what they bring to the table, and whether the relationships they build help that value reach them.
