Dubai Travel Answers

Very safe for girls. Avoid the job scene as its pretty tight now, at least for new comers. If you can land a job during the Tourist Visa, you are lucky. Try during the period November onwards. But worth a try if are a tough nut!! After all this...a great place if you can settle down!

As far as job market is concerned, Dubai is still coming out of blow of recession, as that effected Dubai badly. I would not advise you to come here & then search for job. But, if you already have a job then its other story. It is very very safe for ladies, you can even get good sharing accomodation, so living cost is not that much high. Regarding pay, you have to advise us the position you are looking for and also your nationality as here pay depends on that also.

Something local is going on desert safari and winding the day with an Arabian night dinner and belly dancing entertainment.

Dubai is very safe to girls

women are safe, BUT there is something else that might be a problem for you: there is a kind of raceism in Dubai that I have heared of when I met a lady from Canada, married to an Austrian and both live in Canada. The lady was born in the Philipines and that seems to have been the reason why after the arrival at the airport she was forced by the authorities to use another line for queuing than her husband, although both have canadian passports ! In a restaurant she was not served, when she went there alone and when her husband came on the table the waitress (also from the Philipines) finally took the order. Some nationalities are obviously there to do certain jobs and are not considdered equal for participating in normal life as well. -- walking in the streets (outside the city-centre) is mostly done by indian and philipine people, all others seem to have a car, take the metro or the bus.

Janice, your questions seem fairly simple but the answers are complex! 1. The most difficult question of all to answer. I know people living on a salary of AED600 a month (and sending money back for their family at home from it) and others on over AED100,000 a month. You can buy a cup of tea for 50 fils in the small Indian cafes or for AED15 in a western coffee shop. There are couples living alone in 5 bedroom villas and other people sharing ten to a room. It all depends what you're used to, what you're looking for. 2. Rents are costly but coming down dramatically, but as I said in No 1, it depends what you're looking for. For transportation there's a Metro covering the major areas of the city, there's an extensive bus system and there are taxis. (Info in my Dubai tips on them all). 3. It's one of the safest cities in the world. 4. Very complex again because salary depends on the points I made in No 1 and also where you're from. As all expats are temporary guest workers salaries are largely based on what they would earn in their home countries, although higher. For example, if the person is payed triple his/her home country average salary that would be around AED25,000 a month for an Australian and around AED8,000 for a South African. Each earning three times his/her home country average wage but a huge difference in Dubai pay scale. What you can earn depends on all that, what you can save depends on what standard you choose to live at. 5. Before the boom of the early 2000s Dubai was a very small place with limited sightseeing places. The new developments have added many places to visit, such as Dubai Marina, the malls with their indoor attractions such as the ski slope, aquarium, fountains etc. The original old city is my No 1 place to spend time in, around the Creek, the souks and museums. There are superb beaches, plenty of water sports and other sporting activities (NOT in the summer!!), desert trips and other emirates to visit.

Thanks guys for your responses Nilin - My skills are strong in areas of writing, editing, photography thus the job that I would score more would be on communication, copy writing related work. I am a Sri Lankan. What's the score for SLankans on the paysheet ?

ann_enc : any chance of seeing typical local life - bedouin community, housing etc.,

globetrott : thanks for responding, helpful to know..

globetrott : how do Sri Lankans rank over there ? I bet they get the same ***ty treatment as all other South Asians ? and what kind of jobs are they usually considered for ?

HI from Dubai, as the others have said (globetrott and Colin), unfortunately there is a strong case of "professional racism" in the UAE (well, actually the whole Middle East)... expatriates from Asian countries tend to be paid lower (unless you have been educated / worked in the West previously), then the next level are Arab expats, then Westerners and finally at the top of the food chain you'll find the local Emiratis. As the others have also said: the job market in Dubai is still down. I have friends in your line of work and it's not looking good... so I wouldn't really come here seeking a job. Try to find a job / get interviews from overseas before you come here. And whatever you do: don't waste your money on so-called recruitment agencies. Many of them merely rip job-seekers off by charging them lots of money. There are no real "bedouins" or very traditional local housing areas left in Dubai. There are areas where mostly Emiratis live, but you can't just wander into their houses :-) You can contact the Sheikh Mohammed Centre for Cultural Understanding (have a look in google)... they organize tours of the Jumeirah Mosque and as far as I'm aware, they also organize meals in traditional Emirati homes for those foreigners who are interested in learning more about the culture. The city is very safe for women, but there are more and more increasing cases of rape, so generally (like anywhere) don't trust strangers and keep both eyes open. No city in the world is 100% safe.

colin_bramso : Thank you for responding with a lot of detailed info. Had a look at some of your travel pages as well. Very helpful to know. How do Sri Lankans ranks on the Dubai payscale, respect level and otherwise ?

JessH - Thanks for the helpful tips, sometimes good to know something before landing !

Hi Janice, I havent got in touch with the local community, but in my experience in going around some countries, natives go around public markets selling their stuff or wares. Try to visit a public market theres some in Dubai and Sharjah, selling carpets, antiques..there you will have a glimpse of their life and maybe befriend. The only encounter I had was with some Arabs selling carpets in the Desert camp. When you are in a foreign country you learn a lot by just going around and meeting locals. ann_enc

"How do Sri Lankans ranks on the Dubai payscale, respect level and otherwise?" Janice, again it's a complicated and generalising is always a bit difficult. While, as Jess indicated, Asians generally earn the lowest salaries there are plenty of, for example, Indians & Sri Lankans in very senior very well paid positions. As I said before the salary relates to your home country salary levels - if you're offered (say) three times more than you can earn in Sri Lanka you should not reject it because someone else from a richer country is earning more (remember they're also earning the same three times more than their home country salary). Respect level - well, the largest single nationality group is Indian, there are more than 180 nationalities living in Dubai, it's a truly international city. Of course there are people who disrespect other races (same as everywhere) but in my experience people generally get along with each other very well. Dubai is really all about commerce and trading and it's more your position than your race that people take notice of. ("What do you do?" is probably the most asked question when people meet).