dagwood

So my wife has got a job as a teacher and we will be arriving in Abu Dhabi in the next few weeks. I am a cisco network and security engineer (CCNP) with over 8 years experience working for large multi-national companies in both technical and project management roles, however I do not have any formal qulifications in IT. Every advert I've seen asks for a degree or masters in IT. Do any of you recruitment consultants out there know if this is absolutely a must as
1 - I do not know of any degree or masters program that can train you as a cisco engineer
2 - I know I will be competing against people from the sub-continent but does experience and quality count for anything.

I have never had any problems with finding work/contracts in the UK.

Any insights will be welcome

Also will it worth my while taking a year out to do a masters in IT as I see a couple of British universities have a presence in dubai.

Oyibopeppeh

it's more often related to immigration procedures rather than as a prerequisite for the job, since it's easier for the employer to process your residents visa and labour card if the candidate is degree qualified.

Bahtatboy

Have a friend here who has a fairly good job in IT, no degree just lots of experience (and is working towards his Cisco accreditation here). Just makes visa processing easier.

dagwood

I do have a degree but it is in Financial Services so not IT related and most jobs I have seen ask for a degree or masters in IT related field. However I have always worked in IT.

Oyibopeppeh

For immigration purposes, it doesn't matter if the degree subject and job title don't match.

dagwood

Ok so back to my original question how big a deal is it not to have a degree in IT to get a job in Networking as most of the jobs I've applied for I never got a reply.
I've read and heard that it's easier once you are in the UAE.