Living and working in Dubai
Mar 11th 2006, 12:50 am
#1
Just Joined
Thread Starter
Joined: Mar 2006
Posts: 1
Re: Living and working in Dubai
Hi all...my names Paul and i stumbled across this forum whilst searching the internet in search for information on living and working in Dubai.
I'll start with saying that i'm 26 years old and getting married this July. My wife to be is 25 and we are both sick of living in England now.
To cut a long story short i'm abit a jack of all trades, but at the moment my main profession is as a Architectural Technologist and i run contracts worth around £10 million, but sadly i dont really get paid enough doing this!...
So me and an old friend got talking sometime back, he does the same job as me and has been in the business for 30 something years. He also is wanting to work/live in Dubai and so we set to finding out what is involved. He managed to get talking to a few recruitment agencies over here that have sent people out there to work over the past few months and explained to us that there is a massive increase in work available in our sector in Dubai right now. They also explained that we would be working for over 4 times the income we are now, tax free!!. This also included all our accomodation costs and travel. We were also told that 'teams' are being prefered and therefore we would both go out there to gether (wifes in tow), which would make the move a hell of a lot easier, as we would have each other to lean on.
After hearing this, i just want to go. The contracts are around 3-4 years long and would set me up for life. My wife to be is 100% behind me with it all and is actually more excited than me about it than me!...Also my family are great about it, telling me to go and not waste anytime (think they just want rid of me!
)
So basically i was wanting to get some feeback from british folk, living and working in Dubai and get an idea of what its like and how easy was it to adjust. Are there certain aspects of their culture i must be aware of (ie when in rome, do as the romans do) or are things getting more relaxed?...How quickly did the move happen from interview to starting and do you find it a friendly and safe place to live and work in?
This will be a massive thing for us all and a decision i am not taking lightly, but it would make life a hell of a lot easier in the long run.
If all the things we have been told are true then it could be the answer i have been searching for.
cheers & beers....Paul
I'll start with saying that i'm 26 years old and getting married this July. My wife to be is 25 and we are both sick of living in England now.
To cut a long story short i'm abit a jack of all trades, but at the moment my main profession is as a Architectural Technologist and i run contracts worth around £10 million, but sadly i dont really get paid enough doing this!...
So me and an old friend got talking sometime back, he does the same job as me and has been in the business for 30 something years. He also is wanting to work/live in Dubai and so we set to finding out what is involved. He managed to get talking to a few recruitment agencies over here that have sent people out there to work over the past few months and explained to us that there is a massive increase in work available in our sector in Dubai right now. They also explained that we would be working for over 4 times the income we are now, tax free!!. This also included all our accomodation costs and travel. We were also told that 'teams' are being prefered and therefore we would both go out there to gether (wifes in tow), which would make the move a hell of a lot easier, as we would have each other to lean on.
After hearing this, i just want to go. The contracts are around 3-4 years long and would set me up for life. My wife to be is 100% behind me with it all and is actually more excited than me about it than me!...Also my family are great about it, telling me to go and not waste anytime (think they just want rid of me!
) So basically i was wanting to get some feeback from british folk, living and working in Dubai and get an idea of what its like and how easy was it to adjust. Are there certain aspects of their culture i must be aware of (ie when in rome, do as the romans do) or are things getting more relaxed?...How quickly did the move happen from interview to starting and do you find it a friendly and safe place to live and work in?
This will be a massive thing for us all and a decision i am not taking lightly, but it would make life a hell of a lot easier in the long run.
If all the things we have been told are true then it could be the answer i have been searching for.
cheers & beers....Paul
Mar 11th 2006, 2:46 am
#2
BE Site Lead
Joined: Aug 2004
Location: MA, USA
Posts: 92,170
Re: Living and working in Dubai
welcome to the forums and good luck with it
There's quite a few threads you might want to flicker through about life there, and also some good links in the faq's about what to do, where to stay etc that you might find handy
There's quite a few threads you might want to flicker through about life there, and also some good links in the faq's about what to do, where to stay etc that you might find handy
Mar 11th 2006, 3:06 am
#3
Forum Regular
Joined: Oct 2005
Location: In the bubble
Posts: 31
Re: Living and working in Dubai
Originally Posted by Bob
welcome to the forums and good luck with it
There's quite a few threads you might want to flicker through about life there, and also some good links in the faq's about what to do, where to stay etc that you might find handy
There's quite a few threads you might want to flicker through about life there, and also some good links in the faq's about what to do, where to stay etc that you might find handy
This site is mainly aimed at us womenfolk, but lots of useful info. If you are coming to work in the construction business, do be prepared for long hours and do make sure the package is going to be sufficient for all your expenses. There are a number of threads on the UAE information boards on expatmum about these topics. Good luck!
Last edited by trailingspouse; Mar 11th 2006 at 4:47 am.
Mar 11th 2006, 4:19 am
#4
Banned
Joined: Sep 2005
Posts: 1,393
Re: Living and working in Dubai
Originally Posted by cadvis3d
Hi all...my names Paul and i stumbled across this forum whilst searching the internet in search for information on living and working in Dubai.
I'll start with saying that i'm 26 years old and getting married this July. My wife to be is 25 and we are both sick of living in England now.
To cut a long story short i'm abit a jack of all trades, but at the moment my main profession is as a Architectural Technologist and i run contracts worth around £10 million, but sadly i dont really get paid enough doing this!...
So me and an old friend got talking sometime back, he does the same job as me and has been in the business for 30 something years. He also is wanting to work/live in Dubai and so we set to finding out what is involved. He managed to get talking to a few recruitment agencies over here that have sent people out there to work over the past few months and explained to us that there is a massive increase in work available in our sector in Dubai right now. They also explained that we would be working for over 4 times the income we are now, tax free!!. This also included all our accomodation costs and travel. We were also told that 'teams' are being prefered and therefore we would both go out there to gether (wifes in tow), which would make the move a hell of a lot easier, as we would have each other to lean on.
After hearing this, i just want to go. The contracts are around 3-4 years long and would set me up for life. My wife to be is 100% behind me with it all and is actually more excited than me about it than me!...Also my family are great about it, telling me to go and not waste anytime (think they just want rid of me! )
So basically i was wanting to get some feeback from british folk, living and working in Dubai and get an idea of what its like and how easy was it to adjust. Are there certain aspects of their culture i must be aware of (ie when in rome, do as the romans do) or are things getting more relaxed?...How quickly did the move happen from interview to starting and do you find it a friendly and safe place to live and work in?
This will be a massive thing for us all and a decision i am not taking lightly, but it would make life a hell of a lot easier in the long run.
If all the things we have been told are true then it could be the answer i have been searching for.
cheers & beers....Paul
I'll start with saying that i'm 26 years old and getting married this July. My wife to be is 25 and we are both sick of living in England now.
To cut a long story short i'm abit a jack of all trades, but at the moment my main profession is as a Architectural Technologist and i run contracts worth around £10 million, but sadly i dont really get paid enough doing this!...
So me and an old friend got talking sometime back, he does the same job as me and has been in the business for 30 something years. He also is wanting to work/live in Dubai and so we set to finding out what is involved. He managed to get talking to a few recruitment agencies over here that have sent people out there to work over the past few months and explained to us that there is a massive increase in work available in our sector in Dubai right now. They also explained that we would be working for over 4 times the income we are now, tax free!!. This also included all our accomodation costs and travel. We were also told that 'teams' are being prefered and therefore we would both go out there to gether (wifes in tow), which would make the move a hell of a lot easier, as we would have each other to lean on.
After hearing this, i just want to go. The contracts are around 3-4 years long and would set me up for life. My wife to be is 100% behind me with it all and is actually more excited than me about it than me!...Also my family are great about it, telling me to go and not waste anytime (think they just want rid of me!
) So basically i was wanting to get some feeback from british folk, living and working in Dubai and get an idea of what its like and how easy was it to adjust. Are there certain aspects of their culture i must be aware of (ie when in rome, do as the romans do) or are things getting more relaxed?...How quickly did the move happen from interview to starting and do you find it a friendly and safe place to live and work in?
This will be a massive thing for us all and a decision i am not taking lightly, but it would make life a hell of a lot easier in the long run.
If all the things we have been told are true then it could be the answer i have been searching for.
cheers & beers....Paul
You can check Qatar as well! massive developments.
yes expatwomen site is great! it helped me to buy the best diapers for my baby, and expensive beauty parlour for my wife.
All the best
Mar 11th 2006, 4:51 am
#5
A Natural Blonde
Joined: Dec 2004
Location: Dubai
Posts: 410
Re: Living and working in Dubai
Hi welcome to the site... Buy the Dubai Explorer Book and the Dubai Zappy book (should be able to get them on Amazon), this book is a bible for anyone thinking of moving to Dubai.
Have you ever been out here? Obviously lots of employment agencies are sent thousands of CV's a week, most are hardly ever read. If you are serious about coming out here, arrange a few days (try and do it before June as the weather is starting to really heat up!!), contact the employment agencies direct and tell them you'll be out on such and such and you want to make an appointment. This shows to them that you are serious about getting a job out here. However another good way is contacting company HR departments direct and asking if they are recruiting (both these ways have proven to work well - plus unlike the UK, jobs arn't always advertised, you've got to look for them) and again if you can get out here for a few days, tell them when and hopefully arrange an appointment. You can also be lucky for a company to approach you out of the blue (in my husband's case).
As Bob mentioned the FaQ's thread at the top of the M/E forum page is very informative.
Good luck.
Zannie
Have you ever been out here? Obviously lots of employment agencies are sent thousands of CV's a week, most are hardly ever read. If you are serious about coming out here, arrange a few days (try and do it before June as the weather is starting to really heat up!!), contact the employment agencies direct and tell them you'll be out on such and such and you want to make an appointment. This shows to them that you are serious about getting a job out here. However another good way is contacting company HR departments direct and asking if they are recruiting (both these ways have proven to work well - plus unlike the UK, jobs arn't always advertised, you've got to look for them) and again if you can get out here for a few days, tell them when and hopefully arrange an appointment. You can also be lucky for a company to approach you out of the blue (in my husband's case).
As Bob mentioned the FaQ's thread at the top of the M/E forum page is very informative.
Good luck.
Zannie
Mar 11th 2006, 4:51 am
#6
Forum Regular
Joined: Oct 2005
Location: In the bubble
Posts: 31
Re: Living and working in Dubai
Originally Posted by CasaNova
You can check Qatar as well! massive developments.
yes expatwomen site is great! it helped me to buy the best diapers for my baby, and expensive beauty parlour for my wife.
All the best
yes expatwomen site is great! it helped me to buy the best diapers for my baby, and expensive beauty parlour for my wife.
All the best
Mar 11th 2006, 7:49 am
#7
Soupy twist
Joined: Dec 2004
Posts: 2,271
Re: Living and working in Dubai
Originally Posted by trailingspouse
meow, meow
Mar 11th 2006, 10:39 am
#8
Feeling broody
Joined: Oct 2005
Location: UK - Dubai
Posts: 130
Re: Living and working in Dubai
Hi Paul, welcome to the site.
My hubby was told about his construction job in Dubai by a friend, he applied and got the job within two weeks without an interview, a month later we married and then moved here - all very very quick!
We were both very excited about coming to live here but the experience has been much easier for hubby because he made friends at his work.
I made 2 good friends on my second day here and we see each other about twice a week. I have other friends too who I don't see as often as they are busy with family. I don't work at the moment but I am looking. To be honest I wish that I had got a job straight away because I have found it very boring here - once you have seen one Mall you have seen them all
I don't regret moving here because the money is fantastic. It initially took me 7 months to feel settled and I was very homesick alot of the time. At xmas we visited the UK for two weeks and although I was looking forward to coming back here (because of the weather) it set me back big time. I am ok again now though Your wife to be should find it easier if you come with your friends though.
Dubai is a great place, I feel safe here, the summer heat is unbearable 40 - 50 degrees centigrade but lovely at all other times!, you can drink alcohol, there are loads of british style pubs here, the food is great.
I hope you manage to get some work here and enjoy your wedding. If you have any more questions then PM me.
Al x x x
My hubby was told about his construction job in Dubai by a friend, he applied and got the job within two weeks without an interview, a month later we married and then moved here - all very very quick!
We were both very excited about coming to live here but the experience has been much easier for hubby because he made friends at his work.
I made 2 good friends on my second day here and we see each other about twice a week. I have other friends too who I don't see as often as they are busy with family. I don't work at the moment but I am looking. To be honest I wish that I had got a job straight away because I have found it very boring here - once you have seen one Mall you have seen them all
I don't regret moving here because the money is fantastic. It initially took me 7 months to feel settled and I was very homesick alot of the time. At xmas we visited the UK for two weeks and although I was looking forward to coming back here (because of the weather) it set me back big time. I am ok again now though
Your wife to be should find it easier if you come with your friends though.Dubai is a great place, I feel safe here, the summer heat is unbearable 40 - 50 degrees centigrade but lovely at all other times!, you can drink alcohol, there are loads of british style pubs here, the food is great.
I hope you manage to get some work here and enjoy your wedding. If you have any more questions then PM me.
Al x x x
