DUBAI A man born with just two fingers on one hand is desperately looking for a job after being shown the door by 16 prospective employers in less than three years.
Egyptian Islam Khalil, 31, says he has now run out of patience after being serially snubbed in job interviews because of his abnormal right hand. “Please help me find a job. I am willing to take up anything for a living,” pleads the unemployed father of two currently living under the sponsorship of his wife who earns Dh6,000 in a hotel.
“I really need to start working again as it’s almost time for my kids to start going to a nursery. It’s getting increasingly difficult to manage with just my wife’s salary,” says the man who briefly, in 2012, found a Dh5,000 per month work as a company driver after acquiring a UAE driver’s licence. “Sadly after almost three months into that job, my owner let me go, saying he needed someone who could also drive vehicles with manual transmission,” adds Khalil who only has a valid UAE driver’s licence for light motor vehicles with automatic transmission.
An arts graduate from Cairo, Khalil worked in the sales department of a garment factory for six years before following his wife to the emirate in 2011 but since losing his driver’s job in 2012, he has remained unemployed. “My right hand is not very strong but that doesn’t stop me from being a diligent and honest worker. I will be good, especially in a company’s customer care,” says Khalil is a black belt holder in Taekwondo.
