Dubai Forums Dubai Expat Forums Dubai Expat Help Forum

Hello Everyone,

I am a 22 yr old American IT Professional with 5 yrs experience, in 2003 me and a fellow co-worker came to Dubai to set up a Wireless Internet services company in the prestigious DIC, after 17 months we went bankrupt, however, I loved my time in Dubai, to me Dubai is the most dynamic and vibrant place I have ever traveled to, it has everything from the mind boggling skyscrapers to the naughty nightlife of Naif road!

I am desperately trying to find a job in Dubai, there are plenty of IT jobs and I understand that employers prefer UK or US professionals, however, I have not gotten a single response, is it because I don't have a college degree?

I see that a lot of people on this site are getting good jobs with all the perks and they have similar credentials, is that the reason why no one is responding to me? believe me I have been to 20 different Middle Eastern recruitment sites and have sent over thousands of CV's for the past four years! and I haven't gotten a response

So should I get a college degree and then try to get a job in Dubai or anywhere else in the GCC? your feedback will be highly appreciated, thanks.

You can respond to this post or send me an email techsource2005@yahoo.com

I would say that not having a college degree will have a lot to do with it. This place is fulll of people with "advanced" degrees who know "diddly squat" but that't the way they get the job. I've met many people who claim to be professionals "accountants" "lawyers" "engineers" etc. and their degrees were obtained by "distance learning" so they know NOTHING really but got the jobs. Never heard of "distance learning" till I started asking around people's qualifications because I was thinking that their "universities" must have ripped them off...

Anyways, a college degree will do you good not just in Dubai but anywhere else for the next 48 years of your life (as you'll probably will need to be 70 to retire). Since you are only 22, be patient, get your butt to school, graduate and then life will be a bit easier for you. Study at night and summers and work in the meantime.

Good luck.

Hey Concord,

Thank's for your post, and you know what ? ? I will do just that............im already done with my 1st year in college in U.S.A , 3 long years to go but im determined to get my bachelor's and then hopefully I will land a good offer in Dubai or some Middle Eastern country, thanks for your post it teaches me that things in America are very different then the rest of the world!

Hey Concord,

Thank's for your post, and you know what ? ? I will do just that............im already done with my 1st year in college in U.S.A , 3 long years to go but im determined to get my bachelor's and then hopefully I will land a good offer in Dubai or some Middle Eastern country, thanks for your post it teaches me that things in America are very different then the rest of the world!

I don't wish to sound rude, but if you are 22 now, in 2003 you would have been 18 with no experience other than your schooling. I am hardly surprised that this business venture failed.

Even now, you claim to have 5 years experience, but it is unlikely that any employer would consider what you were doing at 17 as particularly valid as you would clearly have been training or learning to some degree.

Personally, and I'm sure this is short sighted but most employers would look at your CV and think '22 years old and no qualifications' - they would then have a 2nd stack of CV's from india, pakistan etc wanting 1/3rd of your salary and all fantastically qualified.

Definitely making a good decision - get a degree and have another go.

TechSource.. Your post suggest that u are a self made techie.. While thats appreciated, I'd like to ask u the reason behind you being so desperate to land up in Dubai. From my personal experience, Dubai is not a great techno land. Organizations and companies like to buy box packed software solutions here. And even with all those CISA certified auditors on their pay role, they'd still go for big software names rather than the utility and use of a particular software.

Software innovations are lowkey here unless u've a big brand name and u are among the major suppliers of MS, IBM, HP n what not. If you are looking at a professional atmosphere to work where focus is on competence and continuous self learning and upgradation, I doubt this would the ideal place to challenge yourself.

Coming back to the topic. Yes, formal education and certificates play a big role in finding a well paid job here, other gcc countries as well as in many Asia countries. This is due to the large number of degree holders available in the market (with or without any merit). Most of the IT companies in India who look to recruit keep an entry criteria of Engineering, Master if Comp Appln or equivalent.

Hello John Smitch & St. Lucifer,

I got my first job as a contractor doing entry level IT work for IBM and I was also employed at another small company to look after their wireless local area network, at that time Wi-Fi hotspots were on the rise and I thought Dubai would be a great place to set something like this up, I know I know it was a dumb move, now that I look at it.

St.Lucifer, well what can I say? I would just love to work in Dubai.......I really like this city and the region, a lot of money is being pumped into the economy here and I would like to be a part of it but I will come back as a Professional with an American college degree and experience, at this time I am a contractor for Boeing as a Systems Administrator here, in 3 years I will have 8 years of I.T experience with a western degree in Management Information Systems, I hope the future will be promising for me in DXB!

I don't know, I've got some mixed feelings about that.

The past 10 years no one ever has really bothered about my school education, it was all about work related experience I have gathered.

I'm now 35 and earn okay/good money, have a lot of skills but not really a college degree. This level in my case is as System Engineer. I do know that if you would like to aim for higher management positions you would need to have a MBA degree. Well, that's not for me anyway since I don't like to manage other ppl. I've recently been talking to a guy now running his own company, who has previously been managing 200+ ppl in corporate life - He told me: It's like being to the dentist on a daily base and getting your teeth pulled out - good description to me.

Regardless, I do believe that running your own business would need to be the ultimate goal if you would like to make real money. There are only a given number of hours per day where you can earn money working for others...having your own business, the sky is the limit.

A college degree is not necessarily important for that...and to the OP, if you failed your first own business, don't give up but use the invaluable experience you now have and try again...!