Kabsy

Hi guys! Long time reader, first time poster

Im about to commence final year at Coventry university, studying Business Management, and have accumilated around 2 years of work experience with HBOS plc and telemarketing with Orange. I'd really like to work in dubai as its my ambition be a business owner and working in a tax free country should speed up the saving process.

Does anyone have any advice or reccomendations for graduates seeking employment in Dubai?

Thanks in advance

K.

commander

yea, dont bother..tax free yea..cost of living..expensive.

graduates..shit pay

good luck

Millhouse

Sorry buddy, but it's a No. I thought the same at first.

Get yourself some experience and then take a crack at it when you are 30. You'll make loads then, but not now. If you jump now you will fu ck it up for the longer term.

The Dean

You've worked for HBOS??

Yes, but have you worked for any good companies..........?

Grace O Malley

yes def agree unless hes coming out for a year for the living overseas exp and have a bit of fun but then goes back after the one year.

Grace O Malley

oh give him a break, hes still at Uni ffs

Grace O Malley

[QUOTE=Kabsy;8644834]Hi guys! Long time reader, first time poster

Im about to commence final year at Coventry university, studying Business Management, and have accumilated around 2 years of work experience with HBOS plc and telemarketing with Orange. I'd really like to work in dubai as its my ambition be a business owner and working in a tax free country should speed up the saving process.

Does anyone have any advice or reccomendations for graduates seeking employment in Dubai?

Thanks in advance

I would just say owning your own business here is not easy and prob one of the worst places in the world to own one. As for saving thats no easy task here either, its expensive....

Millhouse

Come on, there must be worst... Russia (the tax man uses an uzzy), Nigeria (random killings), North Korea (food rations)... but yes, UAE is pretty tough for red tape – not forgetting your thieving bastard local sponsor

Grace O Malley

well I did say one of the worst! The red tape is a bore but not really a major prob, your second was good, very good!

RubberMan

In my view its better to come out here later in your career for the following reasons:-

You will struggle to save much on a graduate salary unless you sacrifice alot and live in some crappy places - I think you might have a better time and save as much by being very careful in the UK.

Generally companies over here (western ones) treat this as a bit of an outpost so your career progression which is most important in your first ten or so years will be stifled (assuming the self employed route does not materialise). If and when you return to the UK/USA or wherever you will have a small network and you will be a relative nobody compared to your peers who have worked closer to the HQ.

The training and experience you get here can be limited, There are other experiences you wont gain elsewhere like working within different cultural norms etc but if you are ambitious and yet inexperienced I think you will find that you get a generally poorer business training here than in the west. This is a generalisation but I think the standard of some professions out here is poor.

I would recommend you gain experience and networks back home then come here when the tax free status combined with higher salary level you can command will really pay off. This leads onto the next debate however - the exit strategy - seems to be 2 general plans people develop:-

Dip the toe in - 3 to 5 years then back on the ladder in the home country, or
Full immersion - stick it out until you dont have to work anymore which will generally come far sooner than in the UK were I worked for 18 years struggling to save at any decent level.

Those exit plans are also why it does not work so well to come out here young as you will end up going back as a poorly trained nobody in your late twenties or early thirties.

If you really want to be self employed I would recommend you go for it in your home country and try it now. What you think you lack in experience you will make up for in energy and enthusiasm and you will be free of the mortgage/car loan/kids/holidays/pension fund/parent care issues that limit your options as you get older. Richard Branson didnt need to work for anyone else.

Hope thats of use.

seven seas

no tax to file

no company returns

no registration at companies house

no yearly accoutns to keep for 700 years


actually thats a bad start to a business career as you will pick up all teh 'bad' habits.

But do send a year here. internship. networking. Some people aren't bitter and twisted, not cynical and full of contempt for arabs. You could have fun. On your CV- you'll have worked in a demanding business environment where change is the only constant.

Kabsy

Graduates with some experience included?


Grace O Malley
Quote:
Originally Posted by The Dean
You've worked for HBOS??

Yes, but have you worked for any good companies..........?

oh give him a break, hes still at Uni ffs

Cheers grace


Thanks for the advice so far guys its been an interesting read. For the people who say graduates earn crap salaries, any ballpark figures??

Also for the people who say 'its expensive to live here', would you mind listing the typical costs for the average expat?

Is it common for a renumeration package to include accomodation, or flights?

Just want to have an idea of as much as possible to make my mind up.

Cheers,

K.

Millhouse

I'm not really sure your experience will count for much at all here. Sorry.

When I joined RBS as a graduate in 2001 I was on 28k GBP (before bonuses of c.10k) a year - I rented a one bedroom flat for 600 quid a month - the rest was savings and beer money. Further I was trained as an accountant at a cost of around 10k GBP per year in fees.

Rents here are high, salaries are low. I doubt you get will your accommodation and flights chucked in, those days are long gone. Further, I doubt you will earn as much here as a graduate than you would in the UK (London based) after tax and the rents here are higher than in the UK. You will also get ZERO training. (search the forums and you will see how much is needed)

You will do better in the UK - plus you get trained in how to do things properly and get to build a network of contacts in the UK.

I am in the process of changing jobs here and made a very careful decision to safe guard my exit strategy by choosing a very strong international 'brand' rather than going for higher pay and working for a GCC nut house which will erode the CV. Don’t come here thinking you will save a fortune in a few years and then simply go home and carry on – it will not work like that.

flares

It's remuneration not renumeration...not being a pedant...i've only just found that out myself!!

RubberMan

But do send a year here. internship. networking. Some people aren't bitter and twisted, not cynical and full of contempt for arabs. You could have fun. On your CV- you'll have worked in a demanding business environment where change is the only constant.[/QUOTE]

For the record I work for a western company with no involvement from Arabs and it is still a poor training ground in my opinion because of the reasons mentioned and the transient nature/turnover of staff - makes it hard to develop continuity and solid processes/systems.