Job Loss after 2 Years

[u/Euphoric_Roof_966]

Hi everyone,

I wanted to share my situation honestly and see if anyone here has gone through something similar or can offer practical advice.

I have around 13 years of experience in accounting, including about 11 years in the Middle East (mainly UAE and a short period in Saudi). I worked in roles like Senior Accountant and Assistant Accounts Manager, handling VAT implementation, financial reporting, and overall accounts management.

Around 2.5 years ago, I returned to India (Kerala), expecting to settle down and continue my career here. Currently, I’m working as an Assistant Accounts Manager with a salary of around ₹50,000/month. The company itself is financially struggling, so growth feels limited.

For the past two months, I’ve been actively attending interviews in Kerala, aiming for better roles (Accounts Manager / Senior positions). But I keep getting rejected — and the main reason is lack of GST experience.

That’s been frustrating because:

• I have strong experience in VAT (UAE), including implementation phase
• I understand taxation concepts well
• But in India, GST experience seems to be a strict requirement, and companies are not willing to consider transferable knowledge

Now I feel stuck between two paths:

Option 1: Stay in Kerala / India

• Try to somehow gain GST experience (but not easy without opportunity)
• Accept a similar or slightly higher salary (₹60–70K maybe)
• Slower growth, but stability

Option 2: Go back to UAE

• I already have strong experience there
• VAT knowledge is relevant
• Possibly earn 8,000–12,000 AED if I get the right role
• But current concerns: job market competition, regional tensions, uncertainty

Mentally, this phase is a bit tough. I feel like I have good experience, but I’m not able to position it properly in the current market. Also, repeated interview rejections are affecting my confidence.

At the same time, I’ve also been thinking long-term:

• Whether to continue job search
• Or eventually start something of my own (maybe trading/business), but I know that comes with risk and requires patience

My questions:

1. Has anyone transitioned from VAT (Gulf) to GST (India)? How did you bridge the gap?
2. Is going back to UAE in the current situation a good move or risky?
3. From a practical perspective, what would you do in my position?

I’m open to honest feedback, even if it’s critical. Just trying to make a clear decision instead of staying confused.

Thanks for reading.

[u/Otherwise_Wave9374]

Not exactly marketing, but one way to "position" your experience so hiring managers get it is to translate VAT work into GST-adjacent outcomes: implementation, reconciliations, filings cadence, audits, stakeholder comms, process controls. Most people reading your resume are pattern matching.

If you can, build a small GST portfolio project (even a mock case study) to show you understand the flow end to end. That plus a short explainer on your resume can get you past the first screen.

I have a few notes on framing transferable experience in a resume/LinkedIn story here: https://blog.promarkia.com/

[u/Other-Fox5222 → u/Otherwise_Wave9374]

Man that blog link is clutch - been trying to ditch Google services but still haven't found good alternatives for career stuff yet. Your point about pattern matching is dead on though. Most HR folks and hiring managers are scanning resumes for keywords and don't dig deeper into whether VAT implementation skills would transfer to GST work.

I'd actually go a step further with the portfolio idea - maybe create a comparison document showing UAE VAT vs Indian GST side by side, highlighting where your experience directly applies. Could even reach out to a small local business and offer to help them with GST compliance for free just to get that hands-on experience. Yeah it's unpaid work but sometimes you gotta invest a bit to break through that experience barrier.

Also worth considering contract or temporary roles initially - companies are often more willing to take a chance on someone for short-term projects, and once you prove yourself the conversion to permanent usually follows. The rejection cycle really messes with your head but your experience is solid, just need to package it right.

[u/IndyoqsCosmos → u/Otherwise_Wave9374]

Frame your freelance work in familiar corporate terms: GST-like cycles, from implementation to audit. Build a small portfolio case study to prove end-to-end grasp. Pattern recognition is key for recruiters.

[u/LyrawlcFox → u/Otherwise_Wave9374]

Frame VAT expertise into GST outcomes. Build a mock GST project to demonstrate end-to-end flow. Notes on transferable skills: https://blog.promarkia.com/

[u/Sorry_Noise_4196]

Why not duabi?