# Settling in period before starting work



## voipkid (Aug 30, 2013)

Based on people's experience of moving to Dubai - how long did you employer give you timewise to settle in before starting work?


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## Robbo5265 (Oct 23, 2012)

voipkid said:


> Based on people's experience of moving to Dubai - how long did you employer give you timewise to settle in before starting work?


None, whilst settling into new job had to search for apartment, do visa processing and all the 1001 other things you have to do to be legal here!


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## ACertainRomance (Jun 21, 2013)

Robbo5265 said:


> None, whilst settling into new job had to search for apartment, do visa processing and all the 1001 other things you have to do to be legal here!


+1... landed early hours of sat morning, checked into hotel around 11ish, slept for most of day, was at work for Sunday morning.....


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## voipkid (Aug 30, 2013)

Crikey nothing like in at the deep end with little adjustment time.


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## Robbo5265 (Oct 23, 2012)

ACertainRomance said:


> +1... landed early hours of sat morning, checked into hotel around 11ish, slept for most of day, was at work for Sunday morning.....


Same happened with me, because you need to do so much to get visa you have to hit the ground running!


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## looper (Apr 30, 2013)

Robbo5265 said:


> None, whilst settling into new job had to search for apartment, do visa processing and all the 1001 other things you have to do to be legal here!


same here...landed on Sat...first day at the office on Sunday! IMHO a settling in period is not really needed...


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## sammylou (Oct 29, 2012)

and another here. my husband was at the office next day after landing. if you have a wife, bring her with you for the first 30 days! i was the one running around looking at apartments etc. then when i had a couple good ones i brought him round to make final decisions.

we signed a lease and had a few days to get him set up with the basics before i went back to canada to finish packing up etc.

be prepared to hit the ground running.


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## ziokendo (Jan 7, 2012)

voipkid said:


> Based on people's experience of moving to Dubai - how long did you employer give you timewise to settle in before starting work?



I can see a trend here ... 

zero for me as well, landed, visa collection, iris scan, hotel check-in 2am
9 am same day in the office.

... difficult to understand why an employer should pay accomodation, and maybe salary, for someone not working ....


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## voipkid (Aug 30, 2013)

Right two options:

1, Go for the Cyborg Terminator transplant on the plane

2, Prepare as much as I can before I eventually get to Dubai

Think I wil go with option 2  

Thanks everyone for their input and experiences


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## ACertainRomance (Jun 21, 2013)

for me the apt hunting has been the most difficult part.... making sure you stay within budget, dealing with crappy estate agents and finally actually finding the places in an area you know nothing about makes it a real chore..... then you get there and discover its not the place on the picture or the apt is locked (in the 10+ apts ive seen ive only met 1 actual estate agent) and you cant view it.... its really frustrating....

VISA process is not to bad, employer sorted all that out for me but the waiting is a bit annoying as you cant rent an apt or get a bank account without it....

finally, on top of all that youre trying to adjust to a brand new job (for most of us anyway)..... its tough i have to say...


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## vantage (May 10, 2012)

Around 8 hours.

Arrived 1.30am.
Started work in the morning at a leisurely 9.30am.

Admittedly day one was admin / HR / visa medical etc....


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## lordaragon (Jul 4, 2013)

Robbo5265 said:


> None, whilst settling into new job had to search for apartment, do visa processing and all the 1001 other things you have to do to be legal here!


Same here.. Fortunately, got here on the morning of 3rd, so got some time to sleep in... Started work on the 4th... According to my boss, orientation and onboarding is gonna wait until last week of September (racing against time to prepare stuff for a board meeting of one of the investee companies)... Thankfully, seems like a good bunch of folks to work with, so makes things easier..


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## BedouGirl (Sep 15, 2011)

When I worked in HR, I never asked people to come to work at the starting time on their first day. It's pointless. No-one is ever ready for them. Far better for them to report at 10 am when people have settled into their day.


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