English woman wanting advice on finding a job in Bahr

sadiexx

29 November 2018 11:08:17

Eastbourne, England

Hi everyone

My boyfriend has recently been offered a job in Bahrain and we are looking to move out there in January 2019. I would be grateful for some general advice regarding how difficult/easy it might be for me, as a young English woman, to find work.

I am hoping to go into the finance/banking sector at an entry level and then work my way up. A few questions I have are:
1.Do employers offer a less competitive package if they know a candidate is already in Bahrain instead of the UK?
2.Are most jobs advertised online or is it more through contacts and networking?
3. Do employers tend to sponsor skilled workers only? I am not sure how 'skilled' one has to be to qualify for sponsorship/longer term visa.
4. What is the best part of Bahrain to live for Expats? My boyfriend and I want to make friends and feel comfortable where we are living.

Thank you so much in advance for your help it is much apprciated!

XTang

29 November 2018 12:57:05

11247

Riyadh

I would suggest to browse the threads in the forum as these topics have been discussed many times and I have commented on quite a few.

However, to keep it simple - you are looking for entry level jobs in finance and banking. These sectors are predominantly occupied at those levels by locals and organisations prefer to hire locals vs. expats at that level. Expats are hired more at senior, technical or specialised levels. The aim is to transfer their skills to the upcoming local talent so that they can be replaced in the future.

In that context, I will attempt to answer your questions

1) Doesn't matter at your level. They will never even interview someone at this level who wasn't physically based here because they can easily find junior people who are already IN Bahrain, especially locals
2) Contacts and networking
3) A job = visa. It doesn't matter whether you are skilled or unskilled from perspective of visa. Employers hiring you to begin with is obviously linked to that
4) Very generic question. You need to specify what appeals to you and what is your budget i.e. sea views, apartments, villas, access to certain areas, work place distance etc etc

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