# Jobs for British Tradesmen (electrician)



## victoriahall99 (Jun 12, 2014)

Afternoon All

My husband and I are moving to the Emirates in September. I am a teacher and have landed a private tutoring role with (what I think are) great benefits- 4x4 car and an apartment in JBR. 

My husband is a fully qualified electrician (7 years experience) and lots of the jobs we have seen have stipulated 'Indian labours only' etc. I understand that lots of British tradesmen go out and work in a supervisory capacity but we are merely wondering whether he should wait until we get out there OR secure work before we go? (Perhaps you may be able to point us in the right direction of good companies!)

Secondly, do construction companies often offer decent salaries/accom etc?? (essentially looking to do what most expats are doing, live off one wage and save the other!)

Apologies for asking the same question as I'm sure many others have! 

Best wishes,

Victoria


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## vantage (May 10, 2012)

i don't think you are going to like the answer...

Trades are carried out by the cheapest regionally avaialble labour. This means the sub-Continent. As a result, wages and conditions are nowhere near the standards that you would expect.
An Electrician here can expect to earn around 1,000 AED / month or so, working 6 x 12 hr shifts a week, and be given accommodation in a Labour Camp out of town. 

Supervisor / foreman roles are not paid significantly more, and are usually served from the same population, which aides communication.

Senior Electrical Engineers are often Western, but by this time, you are degree qualified, and generally a design Engineer, rather than 'on the tools'
Pieces of paper matter out here, so an apprenticehip or the likes will not carry a great deal of weight.

A British electrician lives like a king compared to what you would be offered here, if you could get it.

The majority of site related jobs (on site, or supervision) are 50 hr weeks / 6 days a week.

1 - make sure that the financial situation works for you both on your single salary.
2 - get out here, and start looking for Senior positions on Site
3 - do not expect to be paid as much as back home
4 - it'll be tough.

goodluck!


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## Felixtoo2 (Jan 16, 2009)

As Vantage said the world of Tradesmen in Dubai is very different from what happens in the UK, allow me to illustrate. 

UK 
You call up, explain the problem, make an appointment, tradesman turns up with an array of tools and parts, fixes the problem, gets paid, goes home, job done.

Dubai
You call up, explain the problem a minimum of three times, he has no idea what you are talking about but he understands the address after you've texted it to him, you make an appointment, at an unrelated day or time three blokes arrive, they have no tools but they take their shoes off and leave them in a pile outside your door, two of them follow you to have a look at the problem whilst the third one has a look around the apartment until your cat scares him witless and he rejoins you and the others looking as though he's seen a Tiger, they look at the problem and talk among themselves and start to leave, their parting words are "need tools", later that week when it's most inconvenient either 2 or 4 of them will return and it will never be the same number as the first time, they have tools that look as though they've been stollen from the first cavemen, they either take out whatever was broken or completely break whatever was partially working and leave, early the following week one man arrives to replace what was broken, you give him some money, he leaves having either broken something else or damaged your apartment in a way that will require a different tradesman as he will never return to your apartment. 

To summarise, 
UK benefit=Job Done
Dubai benefit=Leaves shoes outside your apartment.


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## Berry899 (Feb 23, 2014)

I came out with my wife in April who is doing really well here as an estate agent. I am also a qualified electrician and have given up on looking for a job in that field due to the reasons 'vantage' eluded to. 

That's not to say your husband won't find work as an electrician, just that I am now looking for something else.


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## Berry899 (Feb 23, 2014)

Felixtoo2 said:


> As Vantage said the world of Tradesmen in Dubai is very different from what happens in the UK, allow me to illustrate.
> 
> UK
> You call up, explain the problem, make an appointment, tradesman turns up with an array of tools and parts, fixes the problem, gets paid, goes home, job done.
> ...


A somewhat bitter but disturbingly accurate response :rofl:


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## BedouGirl (Sep 15, 2011)

Felixtoo2 said:


> As Vantage said the world of Tradesmen in Dubai is very different from what happens in the UK, allow me to illustrate. UK You call up, explain the problem, make an appointment, tradesman turns up with an array of tools and parts, fixes the problem, gets paid, goes home, job done. Dubai You call up, explain the problem a minimum of three times, he has no idea what you are talking about but he understands the address after you've texted it to him, you make an appointment, at an unrelated day or time three blokes arrive, they have no tools but they take their shoes off and leave them in a pile outside your door, two of them follow you to have a look at the problem whilst the third one has a look around the apartment until your cat scares him witless and he rejoins you and the others looking as though he's seen a Tiger, they look at the problem and talk among themselves and start to leave, their parting words are "need tools", later that week when it's most inconvenient either 2 or 4 of them will return and it will never be the same number as the first time, they have tools that look as though they've been stollen from the first cavemen, they either take out whatever was broken or completely break whatever was partially working and leave, early the following week one man arrives to replace what was broken, you give him some money, he leaves having either broken something else or damaged your apartment in a way that will require a different tradesman as he will never return to your apartment. To summarise, UK benefit=Job Done Dubai benefit=Leaves shoes outside your apartment.


You've left out - smelly feet that are dirtier than their shoes and dirty hands!


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## vantage (May 10, 2012)

Give their dues, though - we had an electrician change all the fuses in our DB, whilst standing in a pool of sweat, with an electrical screwdriver (made from a normal screwdriver wrapped in damp sweaty tape) without thinking that turning off the power would be a good idea. Quite why he's still alive is a mystery....


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## dizzyizzy (Mar 30, 2008)

Oh that note, only yesterday did the folks at M plus finished the tile job at my place. Well, tile job was finished a few days ago (but more than a week late), but it took them additional time to come and fix all the mess they left behind (i.e. replace chipped/broken skirting, remove misaligned tiles and place them again, fix chipped paint/walls they had no business touching, etc.). Oh, and they still haven't brought back my rug. Sorry, I know I should've posted on the DDR


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## TallyHo (Aug 21, 2011)

Once in India, the hire car broke down halfway between two places. We were out in the middle of nowhere in Rajasthan. It was 40+ degrees and dark. There was a handy cluster of garages alongside the road. 

A child mechanic who couldn't have been any older than 10 or 11 comes over to the car. He is one of the dirtiest looking people I have ever seen. After a rapid exchange in Hindu or whatever the local dialect may have been, the child mechanic lifts the bonnet and starts fiddling around with the engine with a screwdriver. 

While the motor is still running 

I could not believe it. 

I had to walk ten or so meters away and avoid looking at the car, taking deep breaths. It was hot, it was humid, the A/C had been broken in the car for hours so I felt a right mess and we were stranded in the middle of rural Rajasthan with a child mechanic just about to kill himself. 

As it turned out, he did fix whatever was wrong, at least to allow the car to drop us off at our hotel a hour later. 



vantage said:


> Give their dues, though - we had an electrician change all the fuses in our DB, whilst standing in a pool of sweat, with an electrical screwdriver (made from a normal screwdriver wrapped in damp sweaty tape) without thinking that turning off the power would be a good idea. Quite why he's still alive is a mystery....


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## Alfred1 (Jan 4, 2014)

Can you shout a lot, drink large amounts of alcohol, aquire a god complex and clear your brain of any sort of rational thought?
If so you might be able to get a job as an expat project manager.

Although to be fair you're already over qualified, ideally you should be a semi-skilled UK site labourer.

The alternative is to get a degree and immediately be projected into the murky work of people that know it all but absolutely couldn't get a job anywhere else in the world where the actual ability to do a job counts for anything.

In short, if you're a western expat in the UAE then decide what job you want to do, then lie to employers that you can do it, then start work.
No one will notice, thats what everyone else does.
You'll be equally as useless as anyone from the sub continent but you'll just do it louder.


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## vantage (May 10, 2012)

Alfred1 said:


> Can you shout a lot, drink large amounts of alcohol, aquire a god complex and clear your brain of any sort of rational thought? If so you might be able to get a job as an expat project manager. Although to be fair you're already over qualified, ideally you should be a semi-skilled UK site labourer. The alternative is to get a degree and immediately be projected into the murky work of people that know it all but absolutely couldn't get a job anywhere else in the world where the actual ability to do a job counts for anything. In short, if you're a western expat in the UAE then decide what job you want to do, then lie to employers that you can do it, then start work. No one will notice, thats what everyone else does. You'll be equally as useless as anyone from the sub continent but you'll just do it louder.


A little bitter are we?
Nobody believed your own personal lies, and you are now sweeping hair in a salon on Karama?

An awful lot of nonsense in the post above.


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## Felixtoo2 (Jan 16, 2009)

Did they catch on to you Alfie?? Unlucky!! Lol


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## Alfred1 (Jan 4, 2014)

vantage said:


> A little bitter are we?
> Nobody believed your own personal lies, and you are now sweeping hair in a salon on Karama?


No, its much worse than that.

I'm a company director trying to find competent people to actually manage projects instead of pretending to. I'm just tired of meeting chancers that came over here 10-15yrs ago to steal a living and managed to get by because they drink in the right circles.

Back to the original question - if your husbands wants a job out here for more than 1500dhs a month he will have to pretend he's more than an electrician. He'll have to say he's a contracts manager or project manager or something and just try to wing it.
Like I said, thats what plenty of people seem to be doing.


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## londonmandan (Jul 23, 2013)

Alfred1 said:


> No, its much worse than that.
> 
> I'm a company director trying to find competent people to actually manage projects instead of pretending to. I'm just tired of meeting chancers that came over here 10-15yrs ago to steal a living and managed to get by because they drink in the right circles.
> 
> ...


Full disclosure:

I know sweet FA about project management but pay me 20KDhs and I will know everything :lol:

I am a fast learner though


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## Mr Rossi (May 16, 2009)

Dubai is a city of deception, sounds like you have HR issues rather than anything else.


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## Alfred1 (Jan 4, 2014)

Mr Rossi said:


> Dubai is a city of deception, sounds like you have HR issues rather than anything else.


I guess, but its not just us.

IME its the same in any expat network, the Peter Principle crew build a network to protect themselves. I worked with one memorable bloke on 78k that was notoriously useless, he actually started crying once when he was caught out lying about his ability, but he was very good friends with a very senior person, his nickname was Broken Arrow, because he was useless and couldn't be fired.

Anyhoo, the gist of what I was saying (rather sarcastically) is that the posters husband should spend some time googling project management and contract management. If hes a decent JIB industrial electrician with experience on sites then with a few hours of reading he could come over here and call himself a Contract Manager, I suspect few of his colleagues here will be sufficiently equipped to know if he's faking it.


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## undftd (Oct 20, 2014)

:fingerscrossed:


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## paulylad (Oct 20, 2014)

Hello, It depends on what type of sparky hubby is. If hes the common all garden house bashing type then your wasting your time, ten a penny indians have the market cornered there. Yes they bash your house and yes they leave their shoes outside. other comment on the visit from sparkies was dead right, same for any tradesmen , all are useless and unskilled. House bashing is a completely different ball game here and is staffed from the labour camps. Industrial more specialist craftsmen is just the same as in uk. Now then if hubby is from an industrial background your deffo on a winner coz industries here expand a lot and look for experienced trades to slot in with the indians and supervise these expansions. Steel industry, chemical, oil and gas are sectors where hubby will find supervisors jobs requesting degrees but ignore that because your qualifications in the UK are above indian degree standards( the adverts are for all nationalities so always as for degrees). Btec HMC or craft for the daft NVQ will do so just apply for them regardless. Indian ladz working for the government companies arent on a bowl of rice wages like the labour camp boys, some are on more than we would get working in the uk. I have seen electrical supervisors indian getting 3k pounds a month so as a brit youll get more than that...I do...a lot more, im mech fitter but supervisor here. 7 years experience isnt brilliant though, i had 26 years when i started here and im sure that is what counts. Id been working 20 years in the same type of plant i work at here too. Its a case of matching your experience with the job perfectly here. Thats what they look for. Everyone here i work with is from the same industry back in their own countries. They buy expertese here because that expertese is what makes their industry work. The locals cant grasp the technical stuff yet thats why they employ us. Best i can offer im afraid good luck.


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## paulylad (Oct 20, 2014)

Alfred1 said:


> Can you shout a lot, drink large amounts of alcohol, aquire a god complex and clear your brain of any sort of rational thought?
> If so you might be able to get a job as an expat project manager.
> 
> Although to be fair you're already over qualified, ideally you should be a semi-skilled UK site labourer.
> ...


Dead right!!!!


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