NYfinance

structured finance, sales & trading

Sheikh Ahmed bin Zayed

If you are interested in your opportunities for promotion at ADIA, take a look at pages 24-27 of this and see if you think you fit in:
http://www.adia.ae/En/pr/Annual_Review_Website2.pdf


And when you go for interview, be sure not to mention how ADIA financed BCCI and how Sheikh Zayed was subpoenaed by the US Courts for his part in the scandal


If you'd like to know more about living in the UAE, compare the following reports from a UK paper and a Gulf paper about the same story:

http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standa...ubai-police.do
http://gulfnews.com/news/gulf/uae/cr...neral-1.792618

NYfinance

Look at the exec committee oof any bank and it's just a bunch of white guys. That is the least of my concerns! The second half of your post is more concerning, very eye for an eye, or maybe even life for an eye....

al dente

I think you really need to do some more research at working in this part of the world. Office politics is incredibly different and important. This is not a meritocracy and a very discreet, observational, self effacing personality seems to shine.

Sheikh Ahmed bin Zayed

This is a quote from Saeed Al Hajeri, a member of the CFA Institute Board of Governors and Executive Director of ADIA’s Emerging Markets Department. I can't imagine I'd find this work environment very motivating:

"For instance, in some cultures, people just like to be part of the meeting and feel that they are actually involved. In the Western mind, sometimes efficiency and getting a meeting done on time is more important. Balancing the two and being sensitive about giving people enough time as part of the meeting is always essential."

http://www.adia.ae/En/pr/CFA_Magazine_Jan_2011.pdf

lullabelle

Too true. Took me a while to settle down here. In my business you have to fight and be quite hard and that is emphatically NOT the way here. Also, people will say the wrong things to you as they don't want to disappoint you - in my book that's lying and it would really upset me. And I did get treated differently - some of my benefits were to be be paid out over the year as opposed to upfront like the blokes in my department. Even though I was senior to them. I got it changed but it was a massive fight and probably didn't endear me to HR.

I'm pretty fiery and feisty and I have to temper my behaviour quite considerably here. I keep having to remember to smile and be sweet, smile and be gentle. When under similar circumstances back in the uk I would been much more demanding and aggressive. And it would have worked.


Also, my industry is pretty un pc, critical and caustic, with sarcastic humour. Something which often didn't translate with some nationalities. We had a Malayalam researcher and a Filipino production manager and often they would completely misunderstand gentle ribbing or piss taking.
(most of the people in my office were south African, followed by Brits, then Lebanese. The emiratis were mainly on the Arabic channel and most were lovely and worked really hard. Two of them went to the court when the company was dissolved as they felt we were being given a bad deal - they were being "looked after" anyway but they were upset on our behalf. )

Sheikh Ahmed bin Zayed

Incidentally, this story appeared last year in the press about one of ADIA’s sister companies
================================================== ==========
Peter Barker-Homek was the Chief Executive Officer of Abu Dhabi National Energy Company PJSC – also known as TAQA and TAQA New World Inc.

In an explosive complaint recently filed in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan (Southern Division), Barker (a former pilot in the U.S. Marine Corps and Gulf War veteran as well as State Department official) alleges as follows:
“When Barker tried to put a stop to the kickbacks, bribery, accounting fraud and corruption at TAQA, the Defendants [TAQA, TAQA New World, [...] (a NY licensed attorney and chief attorney for and General Counsel of TAQA] fired him. Instead of abiding by the terms of Barker’s employment contract, they summoned him to a meeting and presented him with a so-called ‘severance agreement,’ a one-sided agreement in which Barker purportedly agreed to step down as CEO and forfeit millions of dollars owed to him. Defendant [...], a New York-licensed attorney, chief attorney for and General Counsel of TAQA, demanded that he sign the ‘severance agreement’ on the spot, comply with its provisions, or be arrested and sent to prison. Worried for his life and the well-being of his family, Barker signed the ‘severance agreement.’ Thereafter, he was harassed and lived in fear of a ‘knock’ on the door by police, received mysterious phone calls and was followed, until finally he and his family escaped to the safety of the United States.”

================================================== ==========================================

The actual complaint filed in a Michigan court can be found here – it’s scarily like a Peter Grisholm novel, except its real…

http://www.scribd.com/doc/37884270/P...omek-Complaint

ionoyo

Hi guys,

does anyone know how long it takes between accepting a verbal offer from ADIA to actually getting something official in writing? I was made a verbal offer which I accepted and subsequently filled out various forms and sent a load of paper work to them. Now almost 2 months later I still have nothing official from them. Apparently they are still completing their checks, although all my references have gone back fine so im not sure what other checks they could be performing. Does anyone have any insights on this at all??

Thanks
Linda

BellaUK

It can take quite a while. I know a few people who have gone through it, and the whole recruitment process can take anywhere from 4 months upwards! They use third parties to verify all your information and there appears to be no sense of urgency for them! Good luck

jackthehat

Verbal Offer from ADIA! - Rolling on the Floor here!

shiftdelete

yes, exactly- very good of you to post this for the next wave of expats- be that person that comes in to a meeting to smooth things over.

HACSEN

Hello Guys!

I have an upcoming interview with ADIA and I have been told that I will have to do the psychometric test first. Can anyone who has been through the process please help me? what kind of test are they giving you (numerical, verbal, ...) how to prepare for those? Do they give the same tests across all divisions?
Any insight will be much appreciated!
Thank you in advance

lawyer111

Hi HACSEN, have you now undertaken your psychometric tests? Were they difficult? How many tests are there, how long did each test take and what are the test types? I'm assuming that two of the tests were verbal and numerical reasoning? Is there also abstract reasoning or spatial reasoning? What is the company used for these tests, for example, SHL or some other provider? Any other feedback would also be appreciated. Thank you

Millhouse

Be careful people. The Abu Dhabi family isn't a happy one at the moment.

Hamd

Hey

I am an Australian MBA graduate with 3 years experience in banking operations .I really wanted to work for ADIA .Kindly suggest me the best way to apply for ADIA .:

I tried applying through ADIA career website but haven't receive any response .Kindly help me
Cheers
Hamdi