What are the dos and don'ts of finding a job in Jordan?

Hello dear
Am from Petra  South Jordan but unfortunately am living in Australia now by I still I can help you with things ?
If the English language is you  Second excellent  that's will help you !
So in Petra city it more tourist and hospitality country and most of them the Arabic language it's not a condition, and if you are entrusted to work with in tourism or hospitality maybe I can do something ?

I hope I answer your questions and have a nice time in Jordan in the mean time

Motaz

Thanks for your reply Motaz but Priscilla is a team member who post regular new subjects on the country forums to attract more information and members on that particular thread.

An excellent set of questions and a hot topic indeed.

I am a graphic designer/ Illustration artist, and I have been in the Jordanian market for over 13 years now working fulltime, part time and freelance, so I guess I might have a few things to add that might help.
Although I have to say that in the art/ design world job seeking is a little bit different, but the general rules apply everywhere.

In my opinion and experience, I think the best places to job hunt in jordan are neither direct contact nor the recruiting agents and websites, but rather a bit of both with the applied understanding of the professional atmosphere in Jordan.
Like for example, if you keep in mind that most HR managers or hiring personnel would like to have an upclose and personal view of the candidates applying to their companies, so they will look you up on social media, and on professional platforms. and most importantly they will try to find someone they know and trust that might have known you personally or worked with you, because people in Jordan would trust word of mouth much more than anything else.. so keeping that in mind it is not just about your resumè, its more about how much exposure you got and the kind of networking you have invested in.

As for the second set of questions,
I think one should always attach a photo for two simple reasons, one is that most of the time people can read alot about you from your photo (a well selected one) than from what are you saying in your resumé, the second reason (and that is my personal opinion) a C.V. or a resumé is usually a bit bland or cold since it is supposed to contain so much information and technicals about you and who you are on the professional level (atleast a classical resumé is supposed to do) so adding a photo will break the ice a little bit, add a personal touch and a little bit of color in that vast gray if you catch my drift.

As for unique aspects to be considered while preparing a C.V. I guess its the same guidelines for Jordan as in everywhere else, where the best C.V. is the one that manages to look clean, decent and edgy and stands out at the same time and there is no one recipe to do that.
While manners and greetings are also the same as everywhere else, mind your body language, be confident, make and keep eye contact and have a decent handshake.
(it should be noted here that a handshake is the most friendly and acceptable way of greeting with one exception that applies sometimes; when the person is of the opposite sex they might not shake hands if they were religous Muslims but they will usually let you know politely that they do not.. in that case just a verbal greeting will be sufficient)

However, there is a critical point I would like to highlight;
always remember when creating your C.V. to think about who is the person that will be recieving it and sorting it out.. mostly it's going to be an HR personnel (and not someone of your own field of work) so if you are a designer for example when you make your resumé ofcourse it should reflect who you are and a little bit of your style, but remember that the person who will recieve it and first sort it out is NOT a designer and will not think or see it the same way that you do... they will be looking for specific points to match their criteria and hiring needs.. and to light up on their radar you should try to keep that in mind and you need to put your self in their shoes and try to think like they would have.

And lastly about the language;
In my opinion mastery of the local language, in this case Arabic is ALWAYS a big plus since it will be interpretted by the employer as a show of skill, dedication and professionalism, especially that Arabic  is not an easy language to master at all.
However, it depends alot on the particular company and business type the fact that having any level of mastery of the language would actually be required.
And on this part two points should be highlighted;
the first is that many people in Jordan speak English fluently and that is especially true on the professional level. The second, however, unfortunately rather contradicts the first, I noticed personally since I worked a few times in teams of mixed national and international members that sometimes people automatically revert to speaking their mother tongues either because they lack the propper English to communicate or because they simply were not thinking, forgetting or maybe not realising how hard it is for the other people around who do not know the language.

Anyway, sorry for the lengthy reply, I tried my best to cover all the points and any other details I could think of.
I hope it will be helpful.

Peace, light and happiness.

Zeid

I am blown away by your post Zeid.
Thank you.
Do you have tips as well for newcomers on the market  who hasn't any experience at all?

Thank you Primadonna, I am just trying to help out anyway I can.

actually I do have a few pointers.

The first and foremost is to try to invest BEFORE you enter the actual work market, by trying to land jobs as an intern (even unpaid) while you are still studying for example. this will give you two edges over everyone else; the first is experience , your hard currency. and second a chance to shine up and be more likely picked by that company you interned at because they already saw who you are and how do you operate against someone else whome they still have to test if they match up or not.

Second, work on your soft skills, that is also something you can start early on even before you enter the work market.. research, observe and learn.
from my experience, imployers are often looking for someone with BOTH remarkable skills in their profession of choice and an appealing character.. someone who can be flexible, can fit well within a team, know how to handle themselves and generally an upstanding person, these all are things you are born with or can be picked up and polished way before being an employee somewhere and will help you shine up anywhere.

Third, Think well about what do you want and where do you picture yourself.. most employees are just looking for the next pay check... DON'T BE THAT PERSON.
A person on average spends more than half of their day at work, try to make that half of your day as meaningful as possible.. if you work for a cause or doing something you absolutely love (or if your really lucky doing both at the same time) you will be a much happier person, and a happy person can cope more to stress, unprofessional co-workers, long hours or a bad boss which are the usual hazards of a work environment, also a happy person tends to be more productive, leaves a better impression and move up in the world more efficiently.

lastly, Learn your rights, make sure you are well aware of the country's code regarding work and workforce as well as the internal code of the particular company you are aiming to work for or started to work for. do not hesitate to ask the HR for assisstance about that.

I hope that is helpful.

Peace, Light and Happiness.

Zeid