For many jobseekers, a vacancy is simply an opportunity to apply for a job. For Rehna Shajahan, every CV represents a person, a family and often a story of uncertainty.
That understanding has shaped Mission Employment, a free professional community that Rehna has helped build into a network reaching more than 100,000 people across the UAE, Qatar and other GCC countries.Around 70% of the community comprises jobseekers, while the remaining 30% includes recruiters, HR professionals, employers and others who support candidates through vacancies, referrals and career guidance.The initiative began in the UAE in early 2025, but its reach has since expanded across the Gulf as more jobseekers and recruiters approached Rehna seeking a platform to share opportunities.
“Having been born and raised in Bahrain, I have always felt connected to the GCC,” Rehna says. “I believe the challenges faced by jobseekers are similar across the region, particularly for newcomers who may lack local experience, professional connections or proper guidance.”
Mission Employment now operates mainly through LinkedIn and WhatsApp. Recruiters can share vacancies free of charge, while jobseekers can post their CVs and professional profiles and connect directly with hiring professionals.For Rehna, the idea is deliberately simple: remove unnecessary barriers between people looking for work and those looking to hire.
Recruiters sharing vacancies through WhatsApp are asked to provide their LinkedIn profile, company details, official email address, job description and application process. The information is reviewed before the vacancy is shared. On LinkedIn, recruiters can post directly, while the community is monitored for questionable or misleading content.
The emphasis on safety comes from an awareness of the risks jobseekers face online.Rehna encourages recruiters to provide verifiable professional and company information, while members are regularly reminded that genuine employers should not ask candidates to pay for jobs, interviews, offer letters, visas or recruitment services.
Candidates are also advised against sharing passports, identification documents, bank details, passwords, one-time passwords or verification codes with unknown parties.“No public platform can guarantee the authenticity of every third-party post,” Rehna says. “However, verification, active moderation, member awareness and quick action against reported content can significantly reduce the risks.”Behind the growing numbers, however, is a considerable amount of personal effort.
Rehna runs the initiative alongside her full-time career in talent acquisition. Much of the work is done after office hours, when she reviews posts, checks vacancies, responds to important enquiries and deals with safety concerns.It is not possible for her to personally respond to every CV or message. Instead, she wants the community to develop into an ecosystem where candidates and recruiters can connect directly and members can help one another.Since Mission Employment began, more than 1,000 candidates have personally contacted Rehna to tell her they secured jobs through vacancies, referrals or connections made through the community. She believes the actual number is considerably higher because many candidates apply directly to recruiters and never return to report the outcome.
Recruiters, too, have found value in the network, with some reporting that they received relevant CVs within hours of posting vacancies. Several have returned to share additional positions.But among the many messages Rehna receives, one story continues to stay with her.
It involved a single mother who had lost her job and was preparing to leave the UAE because she could no longer support her children.She eventually found a new job through a vacancy shared in the community.
“She later told me that, although it might have been only one job post or referral from my perspective, it meant that she could remain in the UAE, continue supporting her children and rebuild her life,” Rehna recalls.“She also said that she would always remember me in her prayers.”For Rehna, that message captured the real meaning of the initiative.
“Behind every CV is a real person carrying responsibilities, fears and hopes,” she says. “For one person, it may be only a vacancy, referral or LinkedIn post, but for another person, it can mean financial security, dignity and a better future for an entire family.”
Her own journey has shaped that perspective.Born and raised in Bahrain, Rehna later moved to India and eventually pursued an MBA from Jamia Millia Islamia in Delhi. Her professional experience includes work and internships with organisations such as Google and Amazon, experiences that helped her develop an understanding of careers, recruitment and professional development.
She says her experiences also taught her the value of making the most of opportunities and continuously learning. During the Covid-19 pandemic, she completed 81 certifications within 24 hours, an achievement she says was recognised as a world record.
After moving to the UAE, she encountered many talented professionals struggling to find opportunities because they lacked guidance, visibility or professional connections.That experience strengthened her desire to share what she had learned.
Today, the vacancies circulating through her community span real estate and property development, sales and business development, administration, customer service, healthcare, technology, construction, engineering, logistics, finance and HR.The employment market, she says, remains challenging, with some companies recruiting cautiously amid regional uncertainty. Tourism, aviation, hospitality and international trade have experienced greater uncertainty, although she sees signs of gradual improvement.
For jobseekers who have been applying for months without success, Rehna believes simply sending more applications is not necessarily the answer.She advises candidates to identify a clear target, tailor their CVs, highlight measurable achievements, optimise their LinkedIn profiles and build meaningful professional networks. She also encourages candidates to use AI tools responsibly to improve CVs, prepare for interviews and identify gaps, while ensuring that all information remains truthful and personal.Most importantly, she wants people to understand that rejection does not necessarily define their ability.
“Repeated rejection does not always mean that someone is unqualified,” she says. “Sometimes the CV, positioning, visibility, networking approach or overall job-search strategy needs to change.”For Rehna, the work is not without challenges. Managing a large community while maintaining quality, safety and credibility is demanding. There are fake vacancies to monitor, expectations to manage and hundreds of requests arriving alongside her corporate responsibilities and personal life.
There is also an important limitation she repeatedly stresses: Mission Employment can provide visibility, information, guidance and connections, but it cannot guarantee employment.The final hiring decision remains with the employer.
Yet Rehna remains committed to keeping the service free.
Her ambition for the next two to three years is to formally register Mission Employment as an NGO dedicated to supporting jobseekers, particularly people who lack professional networks, local guidance or the financial means to access paid career services.
She hopes it can eventually become a trusted organisation serving jobseekers across the GCC without losing what made the initiative meaningful in the first place.“Success is not only about reaching the top; it is also about lifting others along the way,” she says.Perhaps that is the most important measure of Mission Employment’s success.
Not the number of CVs posted or vacancies shared, but the message from someone who found work, stayed with their family, regained financial security or simply found hope at a difficult moment.And sometimes, she says, the greatest reward is a simple blessing from someone whose life was touched by the opportunity.“Money may come and go, but a genuine prayer stays with us,” Rehna concludes.
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