What does it actually take?
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The toughest about moving to Dubai is undoubtedly surviving the first year.
Making a move abroad is hard enough, wherever you are going.?
Making the move to the most competitive job market in the world is an even harder proposition - especially if you don’t have something lined up.?
Dubai has a reputation for being a transient place. A HR leader I recently met described it as like ‘an airport waiting lounge’. There’s a constant rotation of people coming and going.??
Your right to stay is linked to your work visa which is sponsored by a company. No work and it becomes a very tricky situation to manoeuvre.
On top of this, it’s also hyper-competitive. Dubai was recently voted?the?most competitive job market in the world, above New York, London, San Francisco, Singapore etc.?
No one moves here with dreams or aspirations of being average - it's a place for the dreamers.
The skill gap between those who can go on to make it a reality is vast and from what I've seen, it's year one that tends to cast a deciding vote on this.
It's hard enough taking that first step to tear yourself away from family and friends to form a new life.
You've then got to contend with the realities of the move to the region like…
The Cost
Moving to Dubai and settling here is EXTREMELY expensive with no guaranteed return.
If you're lucky a company will pay for your flight + hotel for a couple of weeks.
Beyond that, you're on your own to cover deposits, (usually) quarterly rent payments, agency fees, utilities etc?
There’s a huge upfront expense that goes into making the move and it will take some time to break even based on your initial outlay.?
Life here isn’t cheap and that leads into the second point…
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The Idea vs the Reality?
The lifestyle you might see influencers enjoying or have experienced on holiday here is not going to manifest itself in year one.
The people that go down the everyday brunches and pool days are usually the ones that find themselves on the first plane home.?
Your initial experience of living in Dubai will not be like a holiday. It feels like a rite of passage here to go through an awful flat share or live in a crappy apartment to get yourself off the ground.?
It's Incredibly Hard Work?
This is the most competitive job-market in the world by number of applicants.
The likelihood of you being seen for a role that you might be absolutely perfect for (on paper) is lesser in a market where there’s likely to also be 100’s of people who feel the same and have applied.?
Companies are inundated with options for roles - both people on the ground here and also those looking to relocate.??
The business reality is it costs a great deal to onboard and maintain an employee.
They're not going to mess around carrying deadwood if someone isn't pulling their weight and so you always have to be providing value and proving you’re the best person for the job.?
The job market here takes no prisoners and there’s thousands of people queuing up to take a shot.?
This wasn’t me doing my best attempt to put you off the move?
I’ve been here over three years now and would 100% recommend the move to anyone who is looking to get out here.
I think it’s easy to find people willing to tell you how amazing things are here - there’s less about the actual realities of the move.?
If you ask anyone here, I'm sure they'd say the same thing:
Moving and living abroad is one of the most rewarding things you will do - especially once you break through and get to call this place home.
It's also by far one of the hardest.
BEFORE YOU GO: Thanks for reading #12 of our newsletter series. Feel free to get in touch with me across my socials here!
Chief Operating Officer / Chief Commercial Officer / Sr Chief of Staff / Executive Director / Senior Vice President / General Manager in Travel, Leisure and Hospitality sectors
1 个月Every ex-pat heavy market is littered with stories of people who have crashed and burned, sometimes extremely quickly. In fact I know of one example that quit in under 3 days… People who don’t settle because they don’t invest the effort in building their personal support networks and are lonely, who flame out through overspending because they are chasing a fantasy, who don’t (or won’t) adapt to the local culture - the common theme is almost universally that they turned up with unrealistic expectations. That’s why this conversation is so important. It’s a much needed dose of reality. Relocation is not vacation. Candidates need to be honest with themselves about their real motivation, and employers need to delve deeper into demonstrations of that commitment.
I Deliver ERP Data Migrations | Driving Seamless Delivery of SoW, Data, and Testing for all ERP Applications | Delivering ERP Success using SAP Data Services | Cloud CRM & HR | Over 50 ERP Projects Delivered
1 个月It takes a lot just to get the residency! That was a huge deal to get ours in 5 days. Check this out. https://drive.google.com/file/d/190OZ0_yV1bugnLT8nE6pnO5WAzu5A241/view?usp=drivesdk