An HR professional shared the difficulties she faced while searching for a job in the United Arab Emirates despite having years of experience in India. Acacia D’Souza, who worked in HR roles at several companies including General Mills, wrote on LinkedIn that many employers in the UAE rejected her because she lacked “UAE experience”.
In her LinkedIn post, she questioned why professionals struggle to get jobs abroad when companies demand local work experience before offering opportunities.
“One thing I genuinely struggle to understand is this: how do professionals gain ‘UAE experience’ if every opportunity requires UAE experience first?” she wrote on LinkedIn. She added, “Feels a bit like needing experience to gain experience.”
D’Souza said she has over seven years of HR experience and has worked with multinational organisations connected to the United States and the United Kingdom. She also said she holds a Master’s-equivalent qualification in human resources. “I bring 7+ years of core HR experience,” she wrote. “Yet many conversations end with: ‘You don’t have UAE experience,” she added.
She also spoke about salary expectations during interviews. According to D’Souza, some employers suggested that she accept much lower salaries despite her experience and skills. “Does capability lose value once it crosses borders?” she asked in the post.
D’Souza’s post connected with many professionals who said skills and work experience should matter more than geography. She wrote that professionalism, accountability, adaptability and technical skills should not lose value simply because someone changes countries.
“Still hopeful, still applying, still learning,” she wrote. “And trusting that the right opportunity will value skills, potential, attitude, and capability beyond geography.”
Who is Acacia D’Souza?
According to her LinkedIn profile, Acacia D’Souza has experience in HR operations, HRIS systems, people analytics, talent acquisition, onboarding, employee engagement, payroll, and learning and development.
She currently works at General Mills as a Human Resources Business Associate and joined the company in January 2024. Her work includes hiring, onboarding new employees, HR operations, employee relations, and handling HR systems like Workday.
Before this, D’Souza worked at MORE, part of the Oliver and Inside Ideas Group family. There, she handled payroll, onboarding, HR policies, employee relations, and HR systems.
She also worked at companies such as Brandmovers India, BriefKase Digital Communications, and BookEventz.com in different HR roles.
D’Souza has an MBA in Human Resources from IBS Mumbai and a Bachelor of Commerce degree from St. Andrew’s College in Mumbai. Her experience includes recruitment, payroll, employee engagement, compliance, and HR operations.