Accommodation

Yesterday, the 28th I received my accommodation.

I have been placed in the Sarab Building which is apparently a little far out from central Dubai.
Regardless, I am still extremely grateful to receive free accommodation from Emirates and I am sure there are still many perks in this area.

Apparently the Sarab Building has it's own pool and gym on site which is super convenient.
It is 30 minutes from The Emirates HQ however a free shuttle is provided.

I am starting to become very excited for my new adventure and am happy to reside anywhere!

7 days to go!

Ticket & Visa received

This afternoon after logging in and out of my portal all day I finally was able to view my E-Ticket and E-Visa in my Travel Arrangements link.

It's set in stone and officially 'official'. 

I will be flying to Dubai on Friday the 5th of September from Sydney Airport at 6:45pm and will arrive in Dubai at 5:45am. 

I feel like all is slowly coming together - I now await the confirmation of my accommodation. I do hope to receive a place close to the malls and in the midst of central Dubai however wherever I am placed I will be grateful as I will not have to worry about rental expenses in my budget. 

Next post I am sure I will be blogging about it, hopefully tomorrow ;)

10 DAYS

Oh my gosh.

10 Days until the big move.

I have a few things to complete before I even think about flying away.

- I am awaiting a response from the Emirates Clinic in regards to some medication my dermatologist has prescribed me for my skin. I have sent a requested report from my doctor and uploaded it on the portal. It is a manageable condition which I hope will not affect receiving my ticket and visa!!!!

-I need to complete my pre-flight work book to 'Prepare for take-off.' I will probably leave this til last minute. This also has some exercises to be done whilst flying to Dubai, like obsvering the cabin crew, policies and procedures.

-I really, really, really need to practise packing everything up in my bags. I fear I will need to purchase another item of luggage! Annoying but has to be done.

I am allowed 50kg checked in luggage. Seems weird to be packing my whole life into a suitcase... There are a lot of clothes to be passed onto friends!!

-I need to print off all of my joining documents, copies of passport, families birth certificates and academic certificates.

-I still need to get some more head shots for my flying license and US visa.

Annnnd find time to relax and enjoy my friends and families company.

Under the pump but that's the way I like it!

Cannot wait to receive my e-ticket and visa. My accommodation status says that it will be provided shortly. I'm forever still checking the portal!!!!

❤️

Final Approval!

FA! FA! FA!

Final Approval given on the 31st of July 2014 - Only 2 weeks after my GC.

With your Final Approval, comes your medicals signed off and your next step becomes available which you are advised to resign from your current employer.

The Final Approval email is stated below;

Dear Miss Small,

Please read the below instructions carefully.  We are pleased to inform you that we have obtained the final approval on your application. You may now tender your resignation so that you can join our organization as early as possible. Once you have tendered your resignation, please upload the copy of the acceptance of resignation from your present company on our website by logging into CandidatePortal. The acceptance letter should be on a company letter head signed and stamped by an authorised signatory.Please complete the online joiners form if you have already not done so. If you are required to serve further notice with your current employer and unable to join on the scheduled date please notify by submitting a query on candidate portal. If you are currently a student, working on a part-time basis or unemployed, you are not required to upload the service letter. Please inform the Recruitment coordinator of the same through "Submit a Query". A week before your date of joining, the e-ticket and copy of your visa to enter the U. A. E. will be uploaded on the candidate portal and you will be notified through email and Candidate Portal. Kindly continue to check the Candidate Portal frequently.  NB: Now that you have completed your joining formalities. To help you get off to a flying start and prepare you for your Cabin Crew training programme, you will need to CLICK on the Induction Tab within the Candidate Portal.  Here you will find a link to the 'Prepare for Take-Off ' Cabin Crew Workbook. Please take time to familiarize yourself with the information and complete the tasks required. Your thoroughness in completing the workbook will set you up for success in your training.  Best Regards&,  HR Coordinator  HR Employee Services  Emirates Group Head Quarters,  Dubai, U.A.E

So the final countdown is officially on. This doesn't mean it's time to relax, I feel like I have a lot to prepare before I leave. My checklist is growing by the day!

Please remember to comment if you have any further questions to ask :)

Medicals

Keep calm and complete your Medicals.

Commencing your paperwork for your medicals may seem daunting and overwhelming.
With pages of questions, ticks, crosses and appointments to make it is understandable.

First things first, Start from the top.

Part A - Declaration of Health.
Very simple and straightforward document to complete - A signature is required for your understanding that Emirates will not emply you and The UAE will not issue you a Visa if you have any of the following

• Positive HIV result
• Signs of active TB or signs of scaring from TB on chest from X-Ray
• Untreated syphallis
• Positive Hepatitis B surface antigen

Emirates will do testing in the UAE upon arrival so you do not need to do these tests in your home country unless you are concerned.
Sign and date below and onto the next stage.

Part B - Medical History Declaration.
This section is 3 pages long and has a thurough checklist of items to place your tick, cross and further information on medications and dates of examinations.
Everything from your mental health, vision, skin, back, internal organs, BMI, medication list and sleeping must be completed with 100% honesty and if you tick any of the questions, make sure you elaborate in the column to give further information to prevent them from coming back and requesting you to complete the form and upload it again.
With the completion of these 3 pages, have your doctor sign off on this and date it.
This is not a hard section to complete however it may take some time if you have medical issues that you may need to look back on documents/dates for.

I stated that I was on a medication for my skin. I was contacted by Emirates and was told that I needed my dermatologist to provide a medical report.
I also had her sign a letter that I am able to travel with this medication (Just in case!)
I am keeping all of my medical reports, scripts and letters together to travel with just as confirmation that I have been prescribed these legally by doctors.

Certificate of Dental Health.
For this you will need to book an appointment with your dentist.
Fortunately I have private health cover in Australia and my appointment was free for a check up and had to only pay $25 AUD for my X-rays.
The Dental Health certificate requires your dentist to provide and assessment of your X-ray (note for missing teeth, fillings, crowns etc).
The remainder of the form includes details for your dentist to check and sign off that your teeth meet the expected 'standards.'
Your dentist needs to comment on the following criteria -

• Teeth and Gingiva
• General appearance
• Treatment recommended 
• Treatment carried out

You'll then need a signature, stamp and away you go.

Vaccinations.

For me, this was the most time consuming document.

I had to chase down previous records, some of which were lost - just my luck. 

Now, the compulsory vaccination to obtain before you leave is your Yellow Fever Vaccination. Many of the others will have to get done and can be done so in Dubai however it will be deducted from your salary. The cost of the vaccinations is unknown to me in Dubai so I chose to do them all in my home country. I am covered by private health and can claim part of the cost. 

Here is a full list of the vaccinations:

• Chicken Pox
• Polio (must be within the last 10 years) 
• Diphtheria (must be within the last 10 years)
• Typhoid
• Hepatitis B
• Hepatitis A
• MMR (Measles, Mups, Rubella)
• Yellow Fever
• Meningococcal 

It was quite expensive to get these vaccinations done - $650 AUD however I was able to claim half back.

Ensure that your document is signed and stamped by the doctor and you have your little book/vaccination certificate with you to travel with!

I uploaded these documents completed to the portal on the 30/7/14 and received my Medical Completed email on the 31/7/14

Yippee!

Post any questions in relation to the medicals here and I will answer as best I can :)

Step 1: Pre-Employment

I am writing this quite delayed.

I accepted my contract through the selected candidate portal on the 19th of July 2014.

This was completed by reading through and accepting. Once this was done, I received a tick on the left panel next to the 'Contract' link.

The next link available to complete was the 'Online Joiners Forms.'

This includes your information and your families personal details. Very simple and straight forward. I completed this on the 20th of July 2014 and again I received a tick next to the link.

My next stage was 'Documents for Security'.

You must upload an updated and recent copy of your Resume, a coloured scan of your passport and additionally 6 x passport size photographs (these can be smiling as they are for HR documents).

I completed these again on the same date, the 20th of July 2014.

I did not receive a tick to the next stage until the next day, the 21st of July due to HR needing to review the documents uploaded. 

Next step, Medicals! Please see my next blog for the Medical documentation as it is slightly more lengthy than the previous steps.

Again any questions please post I am more than happy to answer!

Selected Candidate Portal

So I made it to the Selected Candidate Portal! What a relief!

In here contains the most prized information - my contract, online forms, medical documentation and travel arrangements.

When you log in there is a little countdown of how many days left before your DOJ and on the left panel your list of items to complete with the right panel links to things such as uniform standards, living in dubai and also company policies and procedures.

I will be posting shortly about my completion of the online documentation and then my road to the FA! 

Make sure you comment below if you have any questions to ask along the way and I will answer them with my experience and knowledge.