RMred

It's a constant battle and partly due to my naivety when leaving the Military, I should have completed a degree whilst still serving.

I'm scouring LinkedIn most nights, actually found a previous employee from my company who is now with one of the major ME region contractors as Op's Director, so i'll be giving him a nudge.

Thanks for your advice.

DXBtoDOH

RMred, your writing skills are excellent and imply a level of capabilities, astuteness and understanding that has me immediately respecting you over many people with university degrees.

You might find it beneficial to consider working in the UAE as a five-year goal. During the next five years beef up your experiences at home and obtain a university degree (Open University?). You can also keep networking and applying to roles in the UAE on the off chance something comes up (and I suspect something actually would, sooner or later), but the UAE is a place best moved to when you're as well situated as possible. A bit more non-military experience and obtaining the degree is a way of proving yourself for better roles with better employers, both which are critical to success in the UAE.

scrubbedexpat141

Honestly, it's the best way.

At the moment you have to convince someone to convince someone, if that first person is already convinced about you, they'll easily convince the decision maker because it will come with conviction rather than them just pretending to be convinced.

RMred

DXBtoDOH Thank you for your comments, really nice to hear.

I agree, the strategy is to assimilate any qualifications I already hold and discuss with universities the best way forward for a degree, whether that means formalising my Aeronautical Engineering Degree or going down the PM route.

In the meantime target Principal contractors in the hope that one takes a chance one me, I'll also continue the degree study via Open Learning.

Bahtatboy

Seconded. In my decades of experience its those attributes outlined above that I value far higher than any academic qualifications (in the construction / heavy engineering industry -- I still prefer doctors who are qualified, although I've met a few who I wouldn't let near my barge pole).

Have you considered an MSc / post graduate diploma in a construction-related subject? Many can be done with distance learning (some in a year or so), and I'd wager that aeronautical engineering is a damned-sight more intellectually challenging than construction, so you'd probably beast it. I'm not sure about employers' views in that regard (Scamp, any thoughts?), but management is about getting people to get things done, which doesn't usually require intimate knowledge of everything that's got to be done.

Time after time attitude beats qualifications.

RMred

Again, thanks for the compliment, it's always nice to hear.

I have considered MSc, this was my first thought, however, having spoken to a couple of recruiters I'm led to believe that this doesn't satisfy VISA requirements. I wasn't convinced on this one, but they assure me that a degree must come first and MSc alone does not satisfy the client in most cases.

In all honesty I feel that the two in house recruiters I've spoken to, who for whatever reason have brought up the VISA issue, are just trying to avoid telling me I'm not what they're looking for. I can handle a knock back, I've had plenty in my time, my Rugby career was full of them, hence why I then moved into the Armed Forces. I'd rather recruiters be honest, but pigs might fly...

Bahtatboy

There are a few (Scamp, for one) who I'd trust, but the vast majority of those who work in the construction / engineering industries are appalling. Regardless, it's worth using them, but networking statistically produces the most and the best results. Have you emailed everyone you know, with a copy of your CV and a brief, concise and catchy covering letter, asking if they'd pass it on to anyone who might be recruiting or who might no someone who is? 6 degrees of separation and all that...

RMred

Not yet, It's quiet in the office today, we're in demolition at the minute so I have quite a bit of time on my hands so that may be an option.

However, I'm trying to keep it to LinkedIn for the time being so that I can vet contacts etc.

That's a good idea though and something I will do, typically I keep remembering people who are either in the UAE or have been recently and they're proving good value.

But the VISA issue has me once bitten, twice shy.

Bahtatboy

Keep trying -- the MD of the engineering / manufacturing co I worked for in UAE didn't have a degree. Things are never black and white.

Good luck.

weasel decentral

On that answer alone I would probably hire you!

Even though your previous PD was against it initially I think he spotted a niche for you in BREEAM, O&Ms, compliance etc. where the processes are well documented are can be followed by someone, such as yourself ,who is disciplined and thorough.

I guess my reservations were more to do with being at the coal face of construction where you need to make decisions based on good construction experience and knowledge. Though having said that there are plenty of PMs with degrees who have no real hands on construction experience who are guilty of making fundamental errors on projects.So for me the mixture of academic qualifications and experience is important.

I wonder if you could study something in the line of quality control or compliance etc. where it might be possible to do a shorter diploma course and use that as your foot in the door to project work. Once on board it certainly wouldn't be difficult to try move across to project management. Anyone that shows a desire to take on responsibility generally will not struggle to progress.

scrubbedexpat141

This is a great shout, particularly the MSc over PGDip as it's an obvious 'degree'.
We're quite black and white, if you've got a degree in Geography or Aeronautical Engineering or Maths or Economics that's fantastic but it's not Construction Management etc.

Get an MSc in Project or Construction Management if you can find a way to work it quickly using other quals?

I'm going to call bollocks on this I think. Visa requirements for what? Entry to the country? To work on a specific type of contract? Is it government work or something secure / defense related? I don't have a degree and I work in house for a decent size Construction Consultancy. Happy to go over your CV and give any more help I can. I'll PM you my contact details.

RMred

I'm glad I managed to persuade you I really did take on a lot and found that I naturally took to the processes, but a lot of being a PM is process.

My role in the team was as Package Manager, in this role the lines are quite blurred between PM and Construction Manager, we're reviewing RAMS, monitoring Quality/CMP's/ITP's making sure they're implemented and signing off work, approving samples with the client and architect, reviewing drawings, being on site and monitoring the contractors you're in charge of, Monitoring programme progress, handling change control requests and approving instructions, to use the coal face analogy "firefighting" issues found on site.

I managed the Facade refurbishment package on two of the smaller buildings, although quite small in value there were some tricky parts to it. One of the buildings had subsided so we had to work with the structural engineers to tie the brickwork facade back together. The Shucho systems previously used were discontinued, so we did a lot of R&D to get a suitable replacement. The client also wanted to add external lighting brackets, on a facade not built to take these add to that the issue of getting power to the lights, again a lot more R&D. So a lot of coordination and a very steep learning curve.

I'm going to look at the MSc PM route and hope that in the meantime someone gives me a break.

Thanks for your continued advice. very much appreciated!

Looking into a lot of routes, but it's a slow process with Universities and also speaking to the RN education officers (who aren't the brightest, how ironic!).

The VISA reply was a poor response, I think they just didn't have the balls to say I'm not what they were looking for. I had another say that the construction output in Dubai/Abu Dhabi is dramatically slowing down and as a result they are not looking to hire anymore external staff, contrary to everything I'm reading in the press, or am I missing something?

scrubbedexpat141

It's definitely cooling here. We're also dealing with clients who don't want people without UAE or MENA experience already. We can't even get current / long serving staff moved to a project if they've not ticked that box with many clients.

It's busy, but not mental, there are still opportunities but there are lots of people after them I guess.