Job hunting for the Mrs in Dubai…any advice?
Discussion
Ok, we've finally had enough of the UK and want out for a few years.
My business is fairly location independent but I still need to spend a week or so in the UK each month; we fancy Dubai for a few years as it's not too far and has all year round sun.
I can support us but she needs to work or she will go stir crazy.
Now, the Mrs is a very experienced and incredibly talented (everyone's wife is the best lol) salesperson. She's 28, 10 years sales experience B2B and B2C.
Luckily for her (and me) she's good looking and smart.
She only really wants to work in a high paced, high pressure sales environment. Doesn't care about the product or service; she can sell anything within reason.
How should we go about sorting her out a job?
Move there for a month and get her to trawl the agencies? Try and sort something out from here?
My feeling is that a talented salesperson will alway find work relatively quickly?
What say you PH crew?
and thanks in advance
My business is fairly location independent but I still need to spend a week or so in the UK each month; we fancy Dubai for a few years as it's not too far and has all year round sun.
I can support us but she needs to work or she will go stir crazy.
Now, the Mrs is a very experienced and incredibly talented (everyone's wife is the best lol) salesperson. She's 28, 10 years sales experience B2B and B2C.
Luckily for her (and me) she's good looking and smart.
She only really wants to work in a high paced, high pressure sales environment. Doesn't care about the product or service; she can sell anything within reason.
How should we go about sorting her out a job?
Move there for a month and get her to trawl the agencies? Try and sort something out from here?
My feeling is that a talented salesperson will alway find work relatively quickly?
What say you PH crew?
and thanks in advance
Haggleburyfinius said:
Luckily for her (and me) she's good looking and smart.
irrelevant, yet smug and self-aggrandising. you'll fit right in 
depends really on how you intend to run your business. if you are choosing dubai to take advantage of the tax rules then you will need to establish a company out here. depending on your line of work getting a trade licence can be simple[using an umbrella company such as virtual zone - www.vz.ae] or difficult and expensive. for a 'proper' company you will need to invest a guaranteed sum which you can't touch, and then stump up more money for various licences and deposits for visas etc. there are a few on here with their own companies who i am sure will be more knowledgeable than i.
if you're setting up the company first, then you can sponsor your wife's visa and she can look for work at her leisure. if it's the other way around or you don't intend on registering your company then you'd be taking a big flyer coming here on tourists visa with no contacts expecting to find a decent job. you can't rent an apartment without a residency visa so it'd also be an expensive month in hotels.
i suggest you do a lot of reading and then come back with specifics. also unless you are coming here for tax, strategic business and/or career based reasons i would also question why dubai at all.
Edited by shirt on Saturday 5th July 08:09
Thanks Shirt
We just want to grab a few years in the sun before starting a family etc in a place not too far from home but that still has a vibrant business culture.
I wasn't planning on changing any of my company structure really. I spend about half my working month sitting on my computer so why not do it by the side of a pool?
August is a very quiet time in my business so we were thinking of just coming out for a month and seeing what happens really.
I'm fairly confident she can get a job by just tottering about harassing people
We just want to grab a few years in the sun before starting a family etc in a place not too far from home but that still has a vibrant business culture.
I wasn't planning on changing any of my company structure really. I spend about half my working month sitting on my computer so why not do it by the side of a pool?
August is a very quiet time in my business so we were thinking of just coming out for a month and seeing what happens really.
I'm fairly confident she can get a job by just tottering about harassing people
dxbtiger said:
no degree?
Haggleburyfinius said:
she can get a job
e21jason said:
as an estate agent or selling finance services to expats
Haggleburyfinius said:
just tottering about harassing people
heheheOP, totally depends what she is selling. your comments re: ease of her finding work does lend itself to jase's view of where she'd end up along with the rest of the apprentice wannabes. whilst selling real estate or offshore pensions can be lucrative, it's a non-job in the eyes of many - think uk mobile phone sales. also if you do come here and she rings me about my pension i guarantee i will come round and kick your teeth in
{three calls from QROPS people this week, although being in africa i was more interested than usual and kept the last one on the phone for nearly an hour!]
i digress. if that's not her bag then you need to tell us what she normally sells. plenty of scope here across most sectors but not sophisticated in western terms so if she is good then she will clean up. however just turning up and hitting agencies isn't going to work for you, good companies just don't work that way. its likely she'll be outside a freezone so that brings you into contact with local hiring managers which can mean many weird and wonderful hoops to jump through.
also, as said previously, you cannot get residency without one of you having a job. she's need to find work then sponsor you. as long as you're not billing anyone in the UAE your current business would be unaffected and go unnoticed.
if you can stand the hotel costs, you could both do visa runs until she gets sorted. every 30 days just drive to the omani border and back. my old flatmate had no uae visa, wasn't resident in the uk yet was fine and dandy for tax purposes.
i still question why dubai if your business is so portable. is it really the weather or the perceived glamour that does it for you?
Gents, thankyou.
I'll try and answer as many questions as possible in one post.
Why Dubai?
I have to be able to easily spend a week or two in the UK each month. In an ideal world I'd be in Thailand training every day but it's too far and the timezones are too extreme; I've tried it.
The Mrs prefers city living, as do I and as I mentioned before, she will go crazy if she doesn't have a job and pester me all day, tbh. I can't really think of anywhere else to head to that fulfils these criteria whilst being in the sun.
I'm not remotely interested in perceived glamour tbh; I'm happy in Birmingham
She was brought up in africa as a child (although you'd never realise) and longs every day to live in a warm climate; this has been going on for years, the nagging to live somewhere hot.
What does she do now?
She sells franchises and the finance that accompanies them. Spent the majority of her career as a F2F B2B print media salesperson/sales manager. Been selling the franchises a couple of years now.
She really doesn't mind which sector she works in; she believes she can transfer her sales skills to just about anything.
I think she'd do really well in real estate or some other "apprentice wannabe" job haha.
Thanks for taking the time to reply everyone.
I'll try and answer as many questions as possible in one post.
Why Dubai?
I have to be able to easily spend a week or two in the UK each month. In an ideal world I'd be in Thailand training every day but it's too far and the timezones are too extreme; I've tried it.
The Mrs prefers city living, as do I and as I mentioned before, she will go crazy if she doesn't have a job and pester me all day, tbh. I can't really think of anywhere else to head to that fulfils these criteria whilst being in the sun.
I'm not remotely interested in perceived glamour tbh; I'm happy in Birmingham
She was brought up in africa as a child (although you'd never realise) and longs every day to live in a warm climate; this has been going on for years, the nagging to live somewhere hot.
What does she do now?
She sells franchises and the finance that accompanies them. Spent the majority of her career as a F2F B2B print media salesperson/sales manager. Been selling the franchises a couple of years now.
She really doesn't mind which sector she works in; she believes she can transfer her sales skills to just about anything.
I think she'd do really well in real estate or some other "apprentice wannabe" job haha.
Thanks for taking the time to reply everyone.
hey, brum has a selfridges, thats roight glam that is!
franchises are out then, that would require free market conditions for a start. sersiously, all [well most] companies must have a local partner who are granted exclusivity for their products. the only exception is apple.
for real estate dxbtiger is your man, used to have a sharp burtons suit and huge filofax so i'm told
for finance, well i do know people who have made it work for them and outside of banking proper, qualifications aren't required. the personal finance market is largely unregulated and practices/morals are akin to 80s wall street. i reckon this is her chance for an 'easy' in. just remember what i said about your teeth.
my tip for a satisfying job would be account manager or something like running loyalty programs or managing the B2B for a hotel chain or airline. a friend ran emirates' loyalty program for a bit, then moved to developing arabian adventures before going to etihad. AFAIK she has no degree. dubai is a long way behind in the entrepeneurial stakes but there are companies like dubizzle who buck the trend.
was going to leave this but no she can't sell 'anything'. could she sell a power station? an airliner? an M&E fitout? i suppose it depends how big her tits are to some extent but reckon the answer's still no.
franchises are out then, that would require free market conditions for a start. sersiously, all [well most] companies must have a local partner who are granted exclusivity for their products. the only exception is apple.
for real estate dxbtiger is your man, used to have a sharp burtons suit and huge filofax so i'm told
for finance, well i do know people who have made it work for them and outside of banking proper, qualifications aren't required. the personal finance market is largely unregulated and practices/morals are akin to 80s wall street. i reckon this is her chance for an 'easy' in. just remember what i said about your teeth.
my tip for a satisfying job would be account manager or something like running loyalty programs or managing the B2B for a hotel chain or airline. a friend ran emirates' loyalty program for a bit, then moved to developing arabian adventures before going to etihad. AFAIK she has no degree. dubai is a long way behind in the entrepeneurial stakes but there are companies like dubizzle who buck the trend.
was going to leave this but no she can't sell 'anything'. could she sell a power station? an airliner? an M&E fitout? i suppose it depends how big her tits are to some extent but reckon the answer's still no.
If she ended up at De Vere or any other those other t
ttish outfits, would she earn enough to sponsor the OP, surely there us a lower limit? I know it is 20k pcm to sponsor your parents.
If there is a limit that may also rule out Real Estate, basics will range from zero - 10k pcm I think although it has been many years since I donned the aforementioned suit...
ttish outfits, would she earn enough to sponsor the OP, surely there us a lower limit? I know it is 20k pcm to sponsor your parents.If there is a limit that may also rule out Real Estate, basics will range from zero - 10k pcm I think although it has been many years since I donned the aforementioned suit...
I don't think i need sponsoring. I'll be leaving the country each month and don't plan on reincorporating unless it's particularly advantageous in the future.
Guys, what currencies are we talking about with these salaries?
Tbh, if she can bring in £25k it's worth her working and worth all the upheaval to keep her happy.
So what's the general consensus on the best next move for us?
Again, thanks for taking the time to reply.
Guys, what currencies are we talking about with these salaries?
Tbh, if she can bring in £25k it's worth her working and worth all the upheaval to keep her happy.
So what's the general consensus on the best next move for us?
Again, thanks for taking the time to reply.
figures in dirhams
a 1 bed flat in a good area will be 120k minimum. utilities, tv etc. will be about 1k per month.
petrol is peanuts. £20 will buy you 4 pints or a full tank of super unleaded. an excellent meal out is about £100-150 for 2. there are many excellent restaurants in dxb.
if you're travelling regularly, it'll be cheaper [upto 20%] to book your flights from the uk>dxb return not the other way around.
check dubizzle.com for car [and property] prices. i'd say the next step would be to target recruiters and look to come out for a few weeks in october. let the heat pass, otherwise you'll have skewed impressions of the place.
one thing to be aware of is that salary negotiation is very much about how badly a company wants you and you them. if you go doorstepping and are willing to take on any old job then they'll likely bid low. however $25k is less than my butler's valet earns so i'm sure you'll cope.
a 1 bed flat in a good area will be 120k minimum. utilities, tv etc. will be about 1k per month.
petrol is peanuts. £20 will buy you 4 pints or a full tank of super unleaded. an excellent meal out is about £100-150 for 2. there are many excellent restaurants in dxb.
if you're travelling regularly, it'll be cheaper [upto 20%] to book your flights from the uk>dxb return not the other way around.
check dubizzle.com for car [and property] prices. i'd say the next step would be to target recruiters and look to come out for a few weeks in october. let the heat pass, otherwise you'll have skewed impressions of the place.
one thing to be aware of is that salary negotiation is very much about how badly a company wants you and you them. if you go doorstepping and are willing to take on any old job then they'll likely bid low. however $25k is less than my butler's valet earns so i'm sure you'll cope.
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