Assistant CV for Dubai what employers read first and how to write it honestly

What a Dubai employer reads first

The first third of the page decides the call. Put the facts the employer needs to estimate your start date and fit right under your name.

• Current location and visa status: in the UAE on your own visa, on a spouse's visa, on a visa that can be transferred, or outside the UAE and ready to relocate. Without this line the employer cannot estimate the start date
• Notice period or the date you can start
• Languages with a real level: English fluent, Russian native, Arabic basic. Do not write fluent for a language you cannot interview in
• Whom you supported: owner of a company, managing director, a family, a clinic owner. The level of the person you supported tells more than any adjective
• Phone with WhatsApp and a professional email address
• One line of positioning: Executive assistant with 6 years supporting founders in Dubai and Moscow; calendar, travel, confidential matters, English and Russian

Structure of the CV, block by block

One to two pages, newest experience first. The structure below is for an executive or personal assistant; a family office or household assistant adds a block about the household and staff.

• Header: name, city, visa status, notice period, phone with WhatsApp, email, languages
• Summary: three lines, whom you support, your strongest areas, what kind of employer you are looking for
• Experience: for each role the employer, the person you supported and their level, dates, then four to six bullets of achievements, not duties
• Tools: calendar and email systems, task boards, travel and expense tools, document systems, CRM if used, AI tools used for drafts
• Confidentiality line: a short statement that you have worked with confidential information and signed NDAs, see below
• Education and courses: short; a project management or finance-for-non-finance course counts more than a long list
• References: available on request, from people who managed you directly. Employers in the UAE do call, see our guide to reference checks

Achievements with numbers you can honestly state

Duties say what the job was. Achievements say what you did with it. Write only numbers you can confirm in an interview, and round them honestly.

• Scope: managed the calendar and travel of two directors; coordinated about 40 international trips a year; handled an inbox of roughly 150 emails a day with a same-day reply standard
• Reliability: no double bookings in the last year; every booking confirmed in writing the day before; a travel checklist that reduced last-minute changes
• Money and vendors: managed monthly household or office expenses of about X AED with receipts and a monthly report; renegotiated a supplier contract and saved a stated amount, if you can confirm it
• Projects: organised an event for 80 guests from venue to follow-up; coordinated an office move for 25 people; prepared board or investor packs each quarter
• Household and family office: ran a household of 5 staff with schedules and payroll; coordinated three properties and their maintenance calendars; managed school, medical and travel logistics for a family
• What not to write: percentages you cannot prove, saved the company millions, increased efficiency by 300%. Employers in Dubai have read these lines before and discount the whole CV

Tools, languages and the confidentiality line

These three blocks are where an assistant's CV wins or loses against a similar one.

• Tools: name them specifically, Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace, Outlook or Google Calendar, Zoom and Teams, Trello, Asana or Notion, a travel platform, an expense app, Zoho or another CRM, a password manager. Add one line on how you use AI tools for drafts and summaries without entering confidential data
• Languages: level and use, English fluent, daily written communication with partners; Russian native; Arabic basic, government errands. Language is a skill; nationality is not a line on a CV
• Confidentiality line, sample: Worked with confidential financial, legal and family information under NDA for six years; no incidents. Keep it short and factual, and never list the names of private employers or clients without their permission
• Discretion in the CV itself: do not describe a former employer's private matters, deals or health as examples. Describe the task type, not the secret
• Driving licence, if errands or family logistics are part of the role, and whether you have a car
• For employers reading this: a candidate who names tools precisely and describes confidentiality calmly usually tests well in the practical skills assessment; ask for the proof on real tasks

Photo, visa status and common mistakes

The rules below follow our general Dubai CV guide and what employers here are used to.

• Photo: a professional photo is common in the UAE, especially for roles with client or family contact. Neutral background, business dress, no filters. If an employer asks for no photo, follow the instruction
• Visa status is a fact line, not a negotiation: write what you have. The employer sponsors the work visa for the person it hires; do not write that you can arrange your own visa unless it is true
• Do not list personal data that is not needed: marital status, religion, passport number, home address. Date of birth is optional
• Unexplained gaps: one honest line, relocation, family, study, is better than a hole
• One CV for every job: adapt the summary and the first three bullets to the role, personal assistant for a family and executive assistant for a founder are different applications
• A free CV builder for Dubai is at /en/resume/; it puts the UAE lines where employers expect them. Our general guide to the Dubai CV format covers the rules for every profession

How we help

TLNT is a hiring consultancy. For employers we help describe the assistant role, search for candidates, assess them on a model of real tasks and prepare a shortlist with the facts that matter: visa status, notice, languages, confirmed achievements and references. You interview, you make the hiring decision and you agree the terms with the candidate; the person is employed directly by your company, the employer sponsors the visa and we give you a step-by-step checklist.

If you are an assistant looking for a role in Dubai, send your CV at /en/candidates/ or build one free at /en/resume/. We let you know when an employer has a matching vacancy. Candidates never pay us.

Our fee is fixed for each role and agreed before the search starts. A 10% prepayment of the fee starts the search, the rest is due once the person has started work. If it does not work out, we find a replacement free of charge; the period is set in the contract. Consulting and CRM projects are priced after a free review.