I'm sure that I wasn't the only one in here who saw the 60 minutes story on Dubai. I have also read about Dubai from many others stories before this too, and their flourishing city has really appealed to me. Has anyone here, or does anyone know of anyone who has worked or interned in Dubai? What do you have to say about it? I am more concerned with Engineering related opportunities.
Working or interning in Dubai?
- Thread starter JoeFahey
- Start date
I've seen some stories from a Canadian perspective, and it looked great. Aside from the heat, I wouldn't mind it working there.
Cool, could you tell me about what your position was, how your experience was overall, why you decided to work there, etc.
my friend is working for KBR over there.
i have absolutely no desire whatsoever to visit or work there. i dont understand the appeal to so many people. its in the hot , ugly desert. theres a bunch of high rises, too many rich expatriates, and then a bunch of poor imported labor. what would one do for fun aside from working and going to the mall?
i have absolutely no desire whatsoever to visit or work there. i dont understand the appeal to so many people. its in the hot , ugly desert. theres a bunch of high rises, too many rich expatriates, and then a bunch of poor imported labor. what would one do for fun aside from working and going to the mall?
nerp
Diamond Member
- Dec 31, 2005
- 9,865
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Yeah dubai is awesome if you hate liquor and love slaving away for former bedoins who are now trillionaires.
The architecture is cool and all but the place is painfully sterile. After a while, watersliding indoors and sipping pepsi gets boring.
Get a job in Florence or something.
The architecture is cool and all but the place is painfully sterile. After a while, watersliding indoors and sipping pepsi gets boring.
Get a job in Florence or something.
theyre not THAT strict. again, it is an expatriate inhabited place, so theres many places to get booze. many people also sun bathe nude on the beach. friends of my colleagues have also been busted having sex on the beach without extreme consequences. though recently the police have enforced a much more stricter crackdown on it.
I remember reading something once about Muslims getting married for just a day so they could do the dirty...
I have an Egyptian friend who lived and worked there for a good while. He highly recommends it. Apparently they love Americans especially Engineers and Doctors.
I do know that a man and woman need to show a marriage license before they are allowed to rent a hotel room.
One thing that I'm kind of curious about...
With all this development going on there....won't there be a point where they DRAMATICALLY overbuild and have a HUGE excess supply of condos and houses?
With the second and third palm islands...that world map imitation island community as well and then you've got the bazillion high rises going up...
And in one of the shows I watched a large portion of the buyers are speculators.
Sounds a smidge like a few little places I like to call the Florida, Californian and Las Vegas housing markets of a few years ago.
Prices are already insane there from what I've seen.
With all this development going on there....won't there be a point where they DRAMATICALLY overbuild and have a HUGE excess supply of condos and houses?
With the second and third palm islands...that world map imitation island community as well and then you've got the bazillion high rises going up...
And in one of the shows I watched a large portion of the buyers are speculators.
Sounds a smidge like a few little places I like to call the Florida, Californian and Las Vegas housing markets of a few years ago.
Prices are already insane there from what I've seen.
Yes, a lot of the people I've talked to here are expecting the prices to crash by 2010. Most of the price increases are due to speculation and hype. Plus, due to raw material shortages, the buildings not be completed in time ( which might be good in a way so that there isnt a massive increase of supply in one shot ) and the prices will continue to go up. The land here isnt even "assessed" as such so basically, the price increases are based on the whims of the seller..
.. If he sees that the neighboring tower is selling for AED 2000 per sq/feet, he'll increase his to AED 2100/sq feet and so on.. Welcome to the sandpit! OP, I am currently interning in Dubai at a bank and from my experience as well as those of my friends, I would NOT recommend coming to Dubai for an internship. A full-time job in engineering might be a different issue but internships here are generally a waste of time since they do not trust you enuogh to give you any meaningful work. Its almost like your shadowing the person rather than actually doing some of the work yourself. Also, average internship salary is ridiculously low compared to the US with my friend interning at Merill Lynch and me earning around AED 2000 ($500) per month. It might be different for engineering firms but I doubt it'll be much more. Bottomline, try for a fulltime position not internships.
Also, having been brought up in Dubai and having also lived in the US, I'd say that Dubai's great for a few months especially in the winter (November - March) but after that, it gets pretty boring. Don't be fooled by their marketing campaign. If you do come here, definitely visit only in the winter. Way too hot in the summer ( 125 F ) with nothing to do besides going to malls or watching movies.
Cheers
And a crappy indoor ski hill. From the looks of it. Oh yea, real crappy. No smoking, high temps and crappy ice ball snow. Sounds like fun :roll:
Long time lurker but I decided to post on this since I can offer a decent perspective and do have rather strong opinions about Dubai. I'm 24 and currently working in Dubai. I've lived here for a year now, and previously worked for the same company back in the states for a year before moving to Dubai. I was born and raised in the US, and am Chinese. (though unfortunately come across as Filipino all the time over here)
I can agree with the majority of what jai3368 said. Do not intern in Dubai, it's pointless and yeah, you'll be paid virtually nothing. If you want to work here, have an actual job. You would not be able to survive here on an intern's pay here. Rent alone can be about $2,000 - $3,000 a month for a decent one bedroom apartment, with rent costs increasing something like 15% a year, which was true in my case when I re-signed.
In regards to engineering opportunities, they are there, there are plenty of job opportunities available I suppose, though I know in the finance side there are a ton more.
Dubai has its highs and lows. Sometimes you think the place is absolutely amazing with the stuff you can do here, but at other times it's a damn depressing place. I would be considered a rather senior person in Dubai having lived here a year. It is an extremely transitory place with most people not staying more than 2 years, though there are some people that get completely caught up in the Dubai lifestyle. In general I would say it's extremely superficial, which I suppose is obvious to any outsider.
Unfortunately many of the posters above are wrong about their assumptions about Dubai. Dubai is definitely one of the most progressive areas if not the most in the entire Middle East, and is extremely Westerner friendly. That aside, the class disparities and some customs will absolutely disgust you too. There is a fair amount of media censorship and control, but it's something you just have to get used to if you're going to live here.
This place has definitely been an amazing experience for me though, I've grown a lot the past year, and plus it's going to look great on the resume. Dubai can be a great place for certain people, but others will absolutely hate it. Also, the adverts and everything you see about Dubai is just one narrow aspect of the real Dubai.
I've been here for 1 year, and I think after another year it'll be enough for me.
I can agree with the majority of what jai3368 said. Do not intern in Dubai, it's pointless and yeah, you'll be paid virtually nothing. If you want to work here, have an actual job. You would not be able to survive here on an intern's pay here. Rent alone can be about $2,000 - $3,000 a month for a decent one bedroom apartment, with rent costs increasing something like 15% a year, which was true in my case when I re-signed.
In regards to engineering opportunities, they are there, there are plenty of job opportunities available I suppose, though I know in the finance side there are a ton more.
Dubai has its highs and lows. Sometimes you think the place is absolutely amazing with the stuff you can do here, but at other times it's a damn depressing place. I would be considered a rather senior person in Dubai having lived here a year. It is an extremely transitory place with most people not staying more than 2 years, though there are some people that get completely caught up in the Dubai lifestyle. In general I would say it's extremely superficial, which I suppose is obvious to any outsider.
Unfortunately many of the posters above are wrong about their assumptions about Dubai. Dubai is definitely one of the most progressive areas if not the most in the entire Middle East, and is extremely Westerner friendly. That aside, the class disparities and some customs will absolutely disgust you too. There is a fair amount of media censorship and control, but it's something you just have to get used to if you're going to live here.
This place has definitely been an amazing experience for me though, I've grown a lot the past year, and plus it's going to look great on the resume. Dubai can be a great place for certain people, but others will absolutely hate it. Also, the adverts and everything you see about Dubai is just one narrow aspect of the real Dubai.
I've been here for 1 year, and I think after another year it'll be enough for me.
With regards to pay, if you're a true expat status and working for an American company, you have your normal base salary from the US, and get tacked on hardship allowance, etc. These addons will vary from company, but in Dubai this will typically be an increase of something like 50%. The no tax thing in Dubai is also a big help, however doing your tax returns in the US will be a much more horrid process unless if your company has arranged for a firm to do it for you.
Again, packages vary huge amounts depending on the company, where its actual hq is based, but expect to be paid more. If not, you are being jipped.
haha... Being of Indian origin does not help my case either.
Didnt know there was another person on ATOT in Dubai..Out of curiosity, what kind of projects do you work on? You a civil engineer?
Yeah, the ski slope isnt that great. I was expecting better slopes but considering thats its below freezing inside while its 125 F outside, I think thats a feat in itself..
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