# Flying out to job search ??



## Exocet (Sep 21, 2013)

I have it on good authority that the people who fly out and knock doors often make there own luck as far as employment goes but could anyone advise me on any good places to visit if I did take this route, as in are there companies who would not mind me rolling up with a CV or does anyone know of an English agency in Dubai that could set me up without having to cold call !!


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## Stevesolar (Dec 21, 2012)

If you plan to do this then you would need to do plenty of research first.
I find it hard enough to arrange meetings with clients less than 10 minutes away from my office - let alone 8 hours away by plane!
Many meetings here get cancelled or rescheduled due to all sorts of unusual reasons (compared with UK).
What line of work are you in? Maybe we can then suggest some ideas and potemtial contacts.
Cheers
Steve


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## JL321 (Mar 23, 2012)

I suppose a lot depends on the sector. But I spent months researching, trying to get people to agree to meet me if I came for a visit, and then arranging a schedule that worked with all who said they would see me. In the end I managed to have 10 meetings in 3 days. I had one other meeting scheduled that got canceled too.

The point is that email and phone calls based on a lot of research ahead of time will allow you to make the most of your visit. I would not rely on agencies to be of much help (unless you a are a perfect match for a position they are currently trying to fill).

I didn't try to show up with CV in hand at all, but you could try that too with any spare time. I would certainly have some things arranged in advance though.

Maybe others with more success will reply too. I had a number of good meetings and have gotten a few offers, but I haven't been able to secure the right position yet.

Good luck.


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## blazeaway (Sep 28, 2011)

Exocet said:


> I have it on good authority that the people who fly out and knock doors often make there own luck as far as employment goes but could anyone advise me on any good places to visit if I did take this route, as in are there companies who would not mind me rolling up with a CV or does anyone know of an English agency in Dubai that could set me up without having to cold call !!


You need to say what industry and what role, agencies specialise!


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## Exocet (Sep 21, 2013)

Stevesolar said:


> If you plan to do this then you would need to do plenty of research first.
> I find it hard enough to arrange meetings with clients less than 10 minutes away from my office - let alone 8 hours away by plane!
> Many meetings here get cancelled or rescheduled due to all sorts of unusual reasons (compared with UK).
> What line of work are you in? Maybe we can then suggest some ideas and potemtial contacts.
> ...


Steve,

I am in Facilities / Project Management ( Mechanical + Electrical Engineer) and I have a friend who is a Building Manager on the Princess Tower in the Marina, he is fishing for me in regards to posts becoming available but as you said its a hell of a long way to come to then have to run around cold calling !!

Cheers

Paul


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## Exocet (Sep 21, 2013)

blazeaway said:


> You need to say what industry and what role, agencies specialise!


I`m in the Facilities / Project Management, but agencies have criteria which include Law Degree`s for roles that need an engineer !!
Cheers


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## Stevesolar (Dec 21, 2012)

Exocet said:


> Steve,
> 
> I am in Facilities / Project Management ( Mechanical + Electrical Engineer) and I have a friend who is a Building Manager on the Princess Tower in the Marina, he is fishing for me in regards to posts becoming available but as you said its a hell of a long way to come to then have to run around cold calling !!
> 
> ...


Hi Paul

I have a lot of day to day contact with FM companies in Dubai.
If you PM me, once you have enough posts - I will let you have some contacts that you can approach.

Cheers
Steve


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## Exocet (Sep 21, 2013)

Thank you so much, I will message you as you say as soon as I am permitted Cheers Paul


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## damega (Sep 26, 2013)

Hello.

I have a one way flight booked to dubai in just over a months time.

I recently took redundancy from a large bank having worked as a commercial relationship manager for 5 years. 

It has been an ambition for me to move to dubai and now seems like as good a time as any. 

What's the general consensus on the ease of finding employment and how long will it take? 

I'm 25 and as mentioned I have 5 years previous experience with a commercial banking role and have always worked in finance. I don't have a degree; will this hinder me in finding work?

I'm not concerned about the industry I go into as a lot of the skills used in my previous role are transferrable to most relationship management/sales development roles. I am interested to know about the kind of salary/renumeration packages I can realistically expect to achieve. I was earning £2100 (net of tax) here in the UK as a basic with a small annual bonus structure. 

I have looked at agencies online in the UAE and find things to be slow/non-existent when actually applying for jobs from the UK. 


Any advice would be really helpful and greatly appreciated.

Kind regards


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## Stevesolar (Dec 21, 2012)

Hi damega
From the information that you have posted, my honest opinion is that you wont easily find a job similar to what you had.
These roles are filled by people from lower paid countries - so i doubt that this would suit your salary expectations.
How long do you intend to stay for?
It can be quite expensive to stay here for more than a few weeks, without having a job.
Best of luck.
Steve


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## Exocet (Sep 21, 2013)

damega said:


> Hello.
> 
> I have a one way flight booked to dubai in just over a months time.
> 
> ...


I am as new at this as you are but a couple of things I did learn very early on is that ALL the agencies almost without exception have an anal blinkered view of the quality of an applicant without a degree in that if you have no degree in any subject the agencies would not even consider forwarding your details to a prospective employer.
However the irony is that most employers still value experience over academia but the hurdle still remains actually getting you resume seen. 
I hope this helps but as I am having to do a lot of research to even find how to be heard and I feel your trade may have very similar hurdles I would just do what you are doing now and keep looking directly for companies you could work for and approach them for a meeting whilst you are in town !!
Cheers
Paul


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## Dubai here i come! (Aug 7, 2013)

secondly, degree is a requirement for visa


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## vantage (May 10, 2012)

Dubai here i come! said:


> secondly, degree is a requirement for visa


No.

It affects type of visa, but it is not a requirement.....


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## Exocet (Sep 21, 2013)

damega said:


> Hello.
> 
> I have a one way flight booked to dubai in just over a months time.
> 
> ...


I am sorry I thought I replied to you previously but obviously not !!! 
I am a newbie to this too and am having ALOT of trouble getting over the fact that I have no degree and this is with 30yrs of relevant experience, so to answer your question I am afraid to say that your age, level of experience and lack of degree will all hinder your search quite dramatically and would probably sway my decision to cancel the one way ticket you have until you have firm leads at least.
As I said previously though I have zero UAE knowledge and I am purely going on my own experience of searching.
I hope this helps 
Paul


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## damega (Sep 26, 2013)

Exocet said:


> I am sorry I thought I replied to you previously but obviously not !!!
> I am a newbie to this too and am having ALOT of trouble getting over the fact that I have no degree and this is with 30yrs of relevant experience, so to answer your question I am afraid to say that your age, level of experience and lack of degree will all hinder your search quite dramatically and would probably sway my decision to cancel the one way ticket you have until you have firm leads at least.
> As I said previously though I have zero UAE knowledge and I am purely going on my own experience of searching.
> I hope this helps
> Paul


Thanks Paul for the input. I'm still going to give it a go and see what happens. Worst case it's an extended holiday.

As for the neccessity of a degree I know that is incorrect as I have many friends living and working in the UAE without a degree.


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## NargessDuque (Oct 1, 2013)

any luck finding a job?


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## Exocet (Sep 21, 2013)

NargessDuque said:


> any luck finding a job?


No not yet I have a couple of people keeping an ear to the ground but it looks as if my 30 years HVAC and FM experience doesn`t stack up against a Degree in Dubai !!


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## Robbo5265 (Oct 23, 2012)

Exocet said:


> No not yet I have a couple of people keeping an ear to the ground but it looks as if my 30 years HVAC and FM experience doesn`t stack up against a Degree in Dubai !!


i have a similar experience background to you and do not have a degree, but got my visa by attesting my Project management (APM) certificate as you can only get this if you have a minimum of five years PM (which is checked) experience.


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## Exocet (Sep 21, 2013)

Robbo5265 said:


> i have a similar experience background to you and do not have a degree, but got my visa by attesting my Project management (APM) certificate as you can only get this if you have a minimum of five years PM (which is checked) experience.


Cheers for that really good tip however I have never paid the APM Just working on a CSCS black card as my firm is tight !! although I have the pedigree to join so may pay the APM Fee !! Does it get you a degree level visa ? and are you seen as a level player ? just out of interest How long did it take you to get anyone interested in your resume ?


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## blazeaway (Sep 28, 2011)

Exocet said:


> Cheers for that really good tip however I have never paid the APM Just working on a CSCS black card as my firm is tight !! although I have the pedigree to join so may pay the APM Fee !! Does it get you a degree level visa ? and are you seen as a level player ? just out of interest How long did it take you to get anyone interested in your resume ?


Coib works ok


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## boroboy (Mar 19, 2013)

I am new to dubai myself so I cannot comment on the peculiarities of the local job market but from my experience in the past 3 years you should try subscribing (i.e. pay the monthly fee) to LinkedIn. There are hundreds or thousands of recruiters who sit in front of PC's typing in keywords trying to find candidates every day - what you need to do is make sure you come up at the top of the list. 

Pay attention to your keywords and pay the monthly fee for a month or two, its a lot cheaper than flying to Dubai and will expose you to more contacts than 'networking' in person in a short time.

I dont work for linkedin but I have seen it work many times.

good luck


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## Robbo5265 (Oct 23, 2012)

Exocet said:


> Cheers for that really good tip however I have never paid the APM Just working on a CSCS black card as my firm is tight !! although I have the pedigree to join so may pay the APM Fee !! Does it get you a degree level visa ? and are you seen as a level player ? just out of interest How long did it take you to get anyone interested in your resume ?


i am here on secondment from the UK with my company and i made sure that my job title was as a PM ( although i am doing a different role) hence the APM certificate fits the title. To get the certificate you will have to sit an exam and provide PM role experience/projects managed and have it all confirmed by previous companies/references.


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## blazeaway (Sep 28, 2011)

boroboy said:


> I am new to dubai myself so I cannot comment on the peculiarities of the local job market but from my experience in the past 3 years you should try subscribing (i.e. pay the monthly fee) to LinkedIn. There are hundreds or thousands of recruiters who sit in front of PC's typing in keywords trying to find candidates every day - what you need to do is make sure you come up at the top of the list. Pay attention to your keywords and pay the monthly fee for a month or two, its a lot cheaper than flying to Dubai and will expose you to more contacts than 'networking' in person in a short time. I dont work for linkedin but I have seen it work many times. good luck


Good point, linkedIn works if used well


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## Exocet (Sep 21, 2013)

boroboy said:


> I am new to dubai myself so I cannot comment on the peculiarities of the local job market but from my experience in the past 3 years you should try subscribing (i.e. pay the monthly fee) to LinkedIn. There are hundreds or thousands of recruiters who sit in front of PC's typing in keywords trying to find candidates every day - what you need to do is make sure you come up at the top of the list.
> 
> Pay attention to your keywords and pay the monthly fee for a month or two, its a lot cheaper than flying to Dubai and will expose you to more contacts than 'networking' in person in a short time.
> 
> ...


Cheers for that my profile etc are already up and I have been on Linkedin for a few years now thanks for the tip I will be paying up this weekend !!


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