Right. So you’re off to Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity. Land of rosé, rooftop panels, sweaty handshakes, and the illusion that every conversation could change your life.
If you’re a “Strategy Director” based in Dubai, on the hunt for a new role, this is your annual escape. Your Makkah of possibility. Your chance to swap DIFC espresso meetings and Mall of the Emirates small talk for yacht decks and buzzwords.
But never fear. Here’s your completely unverified, deeply strategic (and only mildly desperate) 10-step guide to landing a job at Cannes.
1. Curate Your LinkedIn Like It’s a DIFC Pop-Up Gallery
Cannes is 90% peacocking and 10% pretending not to be peacocking. Your LinkedIn needs to scream “I’m the strategic brain you’ve been thirsting for” without sounding like you’ve been trapped in a Sheikh Zayed Road boardroom since Expo 2020 Dubai.
Bonus points if your header photo is you looking “thoughtful” in front of a bookshelf, a skyline, or a panel backdrop from Dubai Lynx International Festival of Creativity 2019.
2. Practice Saying ‘Purpose’ With a Straight Face
You’re going to hear it. A lot. Say it back, nod wisely, and try not to roll your eyes.
3. Be “Between Gigs” Not “Unemployed”
Language matters. You’re not jobless. You’re “exploring cross-market strategic opportunities.” You’re “open to collaborations from Dubai to the Côte d’Azur.”
4. Perfect the Casual Lanyard Dangle
Wearing your badge around your neck? Amateur. Real players hold it loosely in their hand while sipping something overpriced and sparkling. It says, “I belong here” and “I could vanish into a beach party with a Saudi fintech founder at any moment.”
5. Turn Panels Into Interviews
They say “ask a question,” but what they really mean is “subtly advertise yourself.” Begin with, “As someone who led regional strategy across MENA…” then land it with a humble-sounding but entirely self-promoting query.
Watch the audience admire your modesty. Or hate you. Either way, they’ll remember you.
6. Talk to Everyone, Even That Guy From Procurement but Not to the Most Awarded Strategists in the World
You never know who’s hiring. That quiet person in linen might be a crypto-funded founder from London. Or someone’s cousin with a hiring brief in Amsterdam. Also, avoid anyone who claims to be the best and most awarded strategists in the world, those will get you nowhere but to work as their minions or slaves to execute their ideas and you will end up more miserable than you originally thought you were a year later. But…
Speak to the caterer. Speak to the bartender. Speak to the person holding the elevator. This is networking. This is survival.
7. Wear Something That Says ‘Alserkal Avenue Meets La Croisette’
Not too dull. Not too try-hard. Ideally a relaxed shirt from a local Dubai designer. Or a jacket that once attended a rooftop soirée in JLT. Avoid wearing anything from The Giving Movement, nobody wants a cheaper-less creative copy of Essentials Fear of God.
Something that says “I do strategy but also brunch at Flamingo Room.”
8. Keep a Deck on Your Phone (But Never Show It)
You’re not that desperate. But also… you are. So keep it handy. Just in case someone says, “So what kind of work do you do?”
Smile. Say, “It’s all about clarity in complexity.” Then casually swipe open a keynote titled MENA Growth Stories That Sparked Cannes Nods. Oh, and keep it vertical.
9. Stay Sober Enough to Remember Names
Yes, free drinks. But you can’t pitch yourself if you’re slurring your agency’s tagline.
Rule of thumb: For every glass of rosé, rehearse your 30-second pitch. If you forget what time zone you’re in, it’s time for water. You can always make some French words or sounds like: Oh la la, c’est magnifique, tres jolie…
10. Follow Up Without Sounding Like a Clingy Ex
Met someone interesting? Great. Send a message the next day. Not five. Not fifteen. One.
Keep it light. Keep it short. Something like:
“Great chatting at the Instagram garden lounge yesterday. Loved your point about post-growth storytelling. Would be keen to share thoughts over coffee back in Dubai.”
That’s it. No deck. No link. No desperation. May the hunger games begin.
Moey writes here. 
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