Conditions for engineers abroad?

humberklog

I'm a civil engineer in my 30's. Working in the field for 13 years. The last few in Ireland. Before that it was England and israel.
I've not had much luck in recent weeks sourcing work so have thought about moving abroad for a year to see if things pick up here and catch a few rays somewhere sunny whilst I'm at it.
Dubai, Australia keep popping up, however I am also considering Nigeria.
Does anybody have any experience working in Dubai or Nigeria? I'm not keen on Australia but I am curious of the conditions in either of the other places.
I'm not looking for wiki-wonderland style info of how awful these counties are but 1st or 2nd hand knowledge of actually working in these regions. Anyone with advice/information on working/residing in these countries?

motherfunker

I have no direct experience of Nigeria but one of my lecturers has worked there in the past. He said it is not a great place to work, driven to work past guys with ak47's guarding villages, driven straight back to your compound after work. Sloppy local nigerian workers, jamming tooth picks into switches so they wont go off, then going to sleep for the rest of the shift before removing the tooth pick and going home is one story he told us, one of many.
The climate is not too pleasant and alot of the places he worked were in the middle of nowhere, jungle type places.
He dident say he would never go back but he wasent rushing there this summer again.

frecklier

Hi I am a nurse who lived in dubai for 3 and a half years. I am back here for the last five. However i go back there at least yearly and even 6 monthly.
Its a wonderful place, and i really loved living there. Its really hot in the summer about 50 degrees and 100% humidity. You are never told that in any brochures. The worst part of the year is the incessant heat of the summer and a lot of expats get out for their holidays at this time.
So 4 mths of the year is intolerable, but the rest makes up for it.
all accomodation is airconditioned. Generally you will be brought out on contract, and given accomodation when you go, or a housing allowance. Accommodation in dubai is very expensive, anbd you pay the rent a year in advance!
The work week is standard 48 hour week and you will work lots of overtime. The arab way of getting things done can be very frustrating, and you get the same excuses for everything you cannot have delivered, the most common excuse for anything breaking down is the humidity.
Holidays are 4 weeks, which is 30 consecutive days, as per labour law of the country. Bank holidays are about another 8 days but if you are on leave you may lose them depending on how your employer enforces the law. I worked for a bad employer, but i stayed tehre for the lifestyle, the weather, the GAA team Dubai celts, and because i loved it. I came back to study in ireland and would take a contract there again.
If you are a facebook user, look up the dubai celts site or just google it and you can ask questions on it and someone will get back to you. There are a huge variety of irish working there in different jobs so you will be able to get an engineers perspective.
Hoep this is of some assistance to you.
yes sometimes the place can be a bit plastic, and its quite a stunning place, but you will meet lifetime friends there and get into the odd scrape, that will make a great story in pub in years to come!!
good luck

A Primal Nut

Well I've just started in Ericsson - a lot of people travel to different countries and Nigeria is always talked about as the worst. I've heard great things about Dubai.

ibh

Company i work for (Consultant) do a lot of Middle East work esp Dubai and Abu Dhabi. I do some work for those areas but from the Irish office.
Generally use US and UK building codes so easy to adapt to how they do things.

the guys in our Middle East offices love it there. They have accomodation included in a good package and they work hard and party hard.

I would be interested in more random up and coming markets / locations like Argentina or Brazil, but not ready to go there yet. Downside is that English would not be widely spoken.


Sh'tloads of work in Abu Dhabi now and it's a nice place too, was there at new years.

humberklog

Thanks very much for the responses.
I'm a little less keen on Dubai for a number of reasons- It's a parvenu. It looks like Vegas without the culture. I've a lotta Israeli military stamps on my passport. The money is less than what Nigeria is offering (3k p.w. tax free. Is this good money for that region?)
Nigeria could offer a bit more excitement and new experiences and could be my last hurrah to sate my wanderlust. The Nigerian job is fully compounded. The job is next to accommodation whicg is supposed to be top notch.
Anyhow i haven't yet sat full interviews for either so if there are any more info to be had out there then please let me know. Thanks again.

dan_d

Friend of mine moved to Canada in Feb for the next 3 years.Apparently they're screaming(quietly!) for engineers there. She's a civil, specialising in Geotech.We've just been over to them, and they've a great lifestyle.Well-paid, 20mins on public transport to work, finish at 5.30 every day, surfing an hour away skiing 2 hours away.They're in Vancouver.Good health system, great facilities around the city and they love it.
Sounds almost too good to be true I know, but it genuinely is.If you're willing to go as far as Nigeria and Dubai, then Canada won't be to much of an issue distance-wise.

dave2pvd

humberklog wrote: »

Thanks very much for the responses.
I'm a little less keen on Dubai for a number of reasons- It's a parvenu. It looks like Vegas without the culture. I've a lotta Israeli military stamps on my passport. The money is less than what Nigeria is offering (3k p.w. tax free. Is this good money for that region?)
Nigeria could offer a bit more excitement and new experiences and could be my last hurrah to sate my wanderlust. The Nigerian job is fully compounded. The job is next to accommodation whicg is supposed to be top notch.
Anyhow i haven't yet sat full interviews for either so if there are any more info to be had out there then please let me know. Thanks again.

I'm not surprised that the Nigeria job offers more money. So would a job in Iraq, for example. Is the Nigeria job in the North or South of the country? The North is mostly Arab. Or perhaps it is in the delta region, where there is a lot of unrest?

I don't understand your characterisation of Dubai. You seem to only refer to the city. There's a bit more too it than that.

Regarding the passport with Israeli stamps: just 'lose' it. Then you would have to get a new one.......standard procedure I reckon

humberklog

dave2pvd wrote: »

Is the Nigeria job in the North or South of the country?

I don't understand your characterisation of Dubai. You seem to only refer to the city. There's a bit more too it than that.

Regarding the passport with Israeli stamps: just 'lose' it. Then you would have to get a new one.......standard procedure I reckon

Not sure what region job was in. It was for a Glanbia milk plant. As it turns out they are gonna hire GB passport holders as it takes up to 9weeks to process Irish citizens.

I didn't know that there was much else to the place.

Yeah but it has sentimental and cultural reasons. Matters of identity and pride.

So with Nigeria out the window it's back to the atlas, scratch of head, hum and haw. Hmmm Canada perhaps. I was looking for somewhere that I may feel less settled (as I've a kid in Ireland) and do it for the cash for shorter periods.

Darren1o1

humberklog wrote: »

Not sure what region job was in. It was for a Glanbia milk plant. As it turns out they are gonna hire GB passport holders as it takes up to 9weeks to process Irish citizens.

I didn't know that there was much else to the place.

Yeah but it has sentimental and cultural reasons. Matters of identity and pride.

So with Nigeria out the window it's back to the atlas, scratch of head, hum and haw. Hmmm Canada perhaps. I was looking for somewhere that I may feel less settled (as I've a kid in Ireland) and do it for the cash for shorter periods.

Tar sands in Canada are crying out for engineers apparently. Rough work long hrs but great money I hear!