# Swedish Graduate in Civ. Engineering wondering about Dubai & fresh graduates!



## pekar4 (Oct 16, 2012)

Hello,

I am a soon to be graduate in Civil Engineering from Sweden wishing to relocate to Dubai (or Saudi/Qatar).

*Anyone here with some experience or advice on finding a job in Dubai as a recent graduate? *

My qualifications are as follows:
- MSc. Construction Project Management at Chalmers University of Technology
- BSc. Civil Engineering at Chalmers University of Technology
- B.A. in Arabic from Gothenburg University

It seems virtually impossible to find a position that doesn't require at least 5 years of experience. I realize that companies would prefer someone with experience and I personally wouldn't mind accepting a lower starting salary.

Regards,
Adam


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## Windsweptdragon (Aug 12, 2012)

Hi Adam

What have you done exactly to look for positions? My company alone employs over 40 graduates across Middle East region and advertises well to fill upcoming positions on the training scheme. 

There are other companies with similar graduate training schemes. I'd suggest you join Linkedin if you haven't already done so and search around for available positions there.


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## pekar4 (Oct 16, 2012)

Hello Windsweptdragon,

That's an excellent question. I began my search recently by joining websites such as bayt, monstergulf and recruitgulf as well as classified advertisements websites like dubizzle. I have only been searching for roughly 2-3 weeks so I suppose it's to early to draw any serious conclusions but from what I have gathered thus far, the vast majority of vacancies are reserved for people with > 5 years experience. 

Furthermore, the graduate positions tend to be filled by the local nationals whether they be Emirates or Saudis. The only companies that - from my limited understanding - hire fresh Western graduates are the large American/European firms that have branches in the Gulf. I've sent a few applications but I haven't heard anything yet.

As for LinkedIn. I do have an account but I haven't used it for job searching, I will be sure to try that out as well. Thanks for the tip! 

PS: May I ask how you acquired your current position?


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## pekar4 (Oct 16, 2012)

No need to answer my last question, did a little bit of googling and found my answer (took a look at your LinkedIn profile), you have nice resumé so I assume it wasn't particulary difficult to obtain that job in Dubai. 

Judging from the fact that you're still working for the same company as you did before in the UK, I assume all you needed to do was to transfer? Is that the easiest route to getting a job down there?


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## Windsweptdragon (Aug 12, 2012)

I don't believe any of the grads at my company are local to UAE. There are lots of nationalities, from Mexican to Greek, majority with no experience as this is their first job. 

I would definitely use Linkedin for your search. Agencies are looking to supply more specialist people, with the 5+ years experience, as their commission rate is higher. Make contact with the graduate training scheme heads and HR for employment. They are all easily found. 

I transferred across (as you found). Fairly simple process for me yes, but it’s as simple for a new starter once place of work has been found.


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