About Shortlisted

Built from experience. Led with humanity.

Shortlisted connects both sides of the UAE employment market — helping people understand employers and employers understand their people.

Meet the founder

Halima Mohamed

Founder & Senior People & Culture Leader

10+ years of UK & UAE experience

I’m Halima Mohamed, Founder of Shortlisted.ae and a senior People & Culture professional with experience across the UK and UAE.

My career has spanned hospitality, government and semi-government, financial services, technology, energy and corporate services. I’ve worked across the full People & Culture lifecycle — from recruitment and employee relations to performance, talent, organisational design, workforce planning, engagement, reward, HR technology and transformation.

I’ve supported growing businesses, senior leadership teams and large, complex workforces, but I’ve always been most interested in the human side of work: what helps people succeed and how businesses can create environments where both people and performance thrive.

I also know what it feels like to start again in a new country, build a career in an unfamiliar market and learn some lessons the hard way. That experience has shaped how I work today: practical, straightforward and people-focused.

Why I created Shortlisted

Better guidance for people. Better People support for business.

I created Shortlisted because I kept seeing people and businesses trying to navigate the UAE without always having access to the right information, guidance or support.

Talented job seekers were struggling to understand what employers actually wanted, how to position themselves, what salaries were realistic and how recruitment in the UAE really worked. People planning a move often lacked a clear view of the market, the costs and the realities of starting again.

At the same time, businesses are navigating changing expectations around culture, wellbeing, leadership, engagement, technology and the overall employee experience. Shortlisted supports SMEs, growing organisations and international companies with practical People & Culture solutions.

“We help people better understand employers. We help employers better understand their people.”

What guides us

Practical, straightforward and people-focused.

Accessible knowledge

Useful UAE market insight should be easier to understand and act on.

Honest guidance

Clear advice, realistic expectations and no unnecessary complexity.

Human perspective

Every career, team and organisation deserves to be understood in context.

Start a conversation

Let’s find the right starting point.

Whether your next challenge is personal or organisational, speak directly with Shortlisted.