Bint Omar

Hey all,

I'm in my final year on a business and management course in the UK, and I really want to relocate in the Middle East in the near future. This has been an overdue project of mine, but I've only recently started to do some research, I guess being in final year gave me that little nudge I needed! Anyway, I would really appreciate if you could give me names of some job search website, or if you happen to have recruiters details, that would be even better! Any other word of advice is also welcome! One more thing, I dont speak arabic, is that going to be a problem?

Regards,

Bahtatboy

Difficult to understand how it's an overdue project if you still haven't graduated. About the only way you'd get a job fresh out of university would be as a hooker.

Bint Omar

Anyone with a SENSIBLE word of advice? Jokers, time wasters, please abstain.

Bahtatboy

You won't get a proper job here straight out of university.

Bint Omar

Mind you, I have paid work experience. Coming straight out of uni as you put it, doesnt automatically mean one has NO work experience.

Bahtatboy

Still wont cut it. Companies here want experienced people who can hit the ground running, and even if you did find something it would damage your cv coz you'd be very unlikely to get proper training. Not knowing Arabic is the least of your worries.

BTW, do you know what bint means?

Saff_Parker

Ok my advice, from my OWN experience is to stay in the UK for 3-4 years. Honestly. I know it isn't what you want to hear.
When I graduated uni all I wanted to do was relocate ASAP but I realised that

1) So many people want to move to the Gulf, therefore, most companies there have their pick of some really great candidates, they won't bat an eyelid at a fresh grad who is still based in the UK, except maybe for the grad training schemes, which there seem to be VERY FEW of in the Gulf, and seem to be used for the nationalisation projects anyway

2) Most jobs I've seen advertised require a minimum of 5-10 years experience. I don't see many jobs advertised with minimum 2-3 years experience required.. and if I do, they're so basic/entry level and you won't gain as much valuable experience as you probably would in the UK in my opinion

3) It depends what industry you want to work in. Some are harder to get into in the Gulf as an entry level candidate. Some are more open.

I did a humanities degree at uni. I got a job in an industry afterwards that I never imagined myself working in. It was just a job to earn money. BUT it gave me some invaluable experience, in an industry I could always follow in the Gulf.

I job searched from the UK for Gulf jobs for the past 8 months. As a British uni graduate, fluent in Arabic, with 3 years experience in a massive industry - I did not find it easy to get a job. It probably would have been easier if I was a little older with more experience. But then again I'm sure you'll speak to other people who managed to find a job instantly.

You won't be taken very seriously if you're still a resident of the UK either.

Like another poster said, Arabic is the least of your worries unless of course you want to move somewhere like Yemen.

anyway some job search sites are gulftalent, bayt, monstergulf, naukri. They're the main ones. In my 8 months job searching online, they only really came in useful to me by providing me with info about the job market. I did not get any interviews. I got a phone call one day from a company interested in me but as soon as they realised I was a resident in the UK and required relocation assistance, they ditched the phone call immediately.

Recruitment consultants may be able to help more. They can be hard to crack.. they just seem to be busy all the time trying to reach sales targets so you can't expect them to shower you in love and adoration as they're just doing jobs too and trying to earn money... finding a recruitment consultant to help you is like finding a good boyfriend. Takes time.

scot47

Not what you want to hear - get some experience in UK first.

Patsy Stoned

You won't get many responses then...most of us are jokers and time wasters
Especially with young sprogs still wet behind the ears ( this is a joke..my comment re 'Bint' below is a bit of time wasting)

Bint, from the Arabic word for 'daughter', is a derogatory slang word in the United Kingdom meaning woman or girl. Usage varies from the harsh '*****', to only a slightly derogatory, almost affectionate, term for a young woman. The latter being associated more with usage in the West Midlands. The term was used in British armed forces and the London area synonymously with (the slang meaning of) 'bird' from at least the 1950s.

Ash786

Just to add what has already been said...realistically, you will only get a job in the ME as a fresh grad if a UK employer sent you out here as part of a project etc. You might get lucky without significant experience with an employer here, but I doubt it. Also remember that for the salary they wil pay you, companies could hire three people from SE Asia.

One final note, there are many scammers and fraudsters who would quite happily take advantage of young idealists like youself. read this thread as a cautionary of what COULD happen if you don't do your research properly.

http://britishexpats.com/forum/showthread.php?t=780980

OriginalSunshine

You need 5 yrs experience - fulltime work, 365 * 5

Millhouse

I disagree. There are a (very) few places that may employ.

We take on investment analysts, recruited 'locally' (i.e. local not expat contracts but all are expats). Pay is pretty good too.

Bahtatboy

I stand correct. What are the criteria?

Millhouse

- Interest in doing (and completing) an MBA within 4 years (or we will fire you)
- Some experience in finance, a degree and an ability to do financial modelling.
- Good Ingerlish
- Arabic, french or urdu a plus
- Willingness to work on the most mundane shit we can find for you at all hours of the day.
- Pass our written and financial test
-Tight arse, perky tits and dark hair if I'm interviewing.

I'm sure the other investment banks have them too. It would be very hard to crack in though and you'd be competing with some excellent graduates in a very small market... but for us, at least, we pay them all the same regardless of skin colour so you wouldn't be disadvantaged.

Millhouse

- Interest in doing (and completing) an MBA within 4 years (or we will fire you)
- Some experience in finance, a degree and an ability to do financial modelling.
- Good Ingerlish
- Arabic, french or urdu a plus
- Willingness to work on the most mundane shit we can find for you at all hours of the day.
- Pass our written and financial test
-Tight arse, perky tits and dark hair if I'm interviewing.

I'm sure the other investment banks have them too. It would be very hard to crack in though and you'd be competing with some excellent graduates in a very small market... but for us, at least, we pay them all the same regardless of skin colour so you wouldn't be disadvantaged.