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鈥淲ho at my age can say they鈥檝e worked on a 拢130m project?鈥� asks Robert Watson, a 29-year-old project manager for construction manager Mace. He has been in Dubai for two years and is leading a 拢130m residential development on Palm Jumeira Island.

Watson gets straight to the point of why many young people move to the Middle East with dreams of sun, sand and megabucks: they鈥檒l be given an even warmer welcome from employers when they return to the UK. 鈥淒o two or three years out here, clock up a couple of big projects on your CV and you could go anywhere,鈥� he says.

Richard Masters, project manager at consultancy Davis Langdon & Seah, agrees. He鈥檚 27 and has been leading on several office developments for big-name investment banks in Dubai. At the moment, he is seconded to Deutsche Bank and reports daily to the financial giant鈥檚 chief operating officer. 鈥淯nlike some postings outside London, I feel that here your career can be accelerated or at least on a par,鈥� he says.

But it鈥檚 not that simple. While there鈥檚 little doubt that working in Dubai offers great opportunities you wouldn鈥檛 find at home, there are also plenty of pitfalls. There鈥檚 no guarantee that hard-won experience will be relevant anywhere else. After all, there isn鈥檛 that much call for billion-dollar leisure developments back in the UK.

Masters admits that he is pleased to be building offices for international companies rather than the outlandish resorts typical of Dubai. 鈥淚f you are working on these mega-projects, your experience may not translate well back in the UK,鈥� he says.

Before you book your tickets, make sure you鈥檙e not on the fast track to a career desert. Here are five things to think about 鈥�

1 - Standards are lower than the UK

One expat, who is project managing the construction of 300 villas for an Egyptian contractor, describes the experience as 鈥渟cary and confusing鈥�. This is his first Middle Eastern assignment for a UK company in Dubai, and he says: 鈥淚 was seconded to an Egyptian contractor and it was quite an eye-opener. The project was out of sequence, there was a severe lack of health and safety, and nothing on site was done quickly.

鈥淭hings are done very differently here. I had to educate them in what we in the UK would see as the basics: from respecting workers on site to telling them how to actually build. They didn鈥檛 know that

you never hang a door before you鈥檝e done the tiling. Also, they would order finished doors way too early and then leave them out in the sun so they warped before they鈥檇 been hung.鈥�

2 - Procurement is handled differently

Here鈥檚 another area in which your Dubai experience may be of scant use in the UK. The main contract used in Dubai is FIDIC, produced by the International Federation of Consulting Engineers. Although the document is similar to the ICE contract, there is little chance in Dubai of keeping up with other forms of contract used in the UK, such as JCT and NEC.

Masters says that although he can return to London for training in contracts, procurement and practices, there鈥檚 little available in Dubai. 鈥淚t鈥檚 just not there,鈥� he says. 鈥淚 have not heard of serious training going on at any construction firms here.鈥�

Antony Wells, project manager with Bovis Lend Lease, says work is not packaged out as it tends to be in the UK. Instead, a lump sum is normally agreed with the main contractor.

Competitive tenders are the norm, although negotiated contracts are becoming more common because of the high demand for contractors. Wells adds that procurement tends to happen much faster in Dubai. 鈥淐olossal jobs can go from conception to start on site in less than a year,鈥� he says.

Credit: Simon Pemberton

3 - You may not make as much money as you think

鈥淒ubai is not the honey pot it used to be,鈥� says Gareth Broadrick, a senior manager at recruitment firm Hays Property and Construction. On the plus side, salaries are higher: an associate would earn about 拢45,000 a year in the UK and 拢48,000 in Dubai. Also, in Dubai there is no income tax, your employer is likely to contribute to your rent and it costs less than 拢10 to fill your petrol tank.

However, other living costs are rocketing. Rents have gone up about 10% in the past three years. The lowest rent you can expect to pay is Dh120,000 (拢18,500) a year, according to Neil Morris, director of human resources consultancy Digby Morris. Employers tend to pay about Dh80,000-Dh100,000 a year towards your accommodation. Meanwhile, the price of a pint of beer can be an eye-watering 拢5. Bet you never thought you鈥檇 long for London prices 鈥�

4 - The social life isn鈥檛 great

Beer prices aside, Masters has no complaints about the expat bar scene. But as a single man, he says meeting women is hard. 鈥淭here are simply fewer expat women here than men,鈥� he says. Not that you鈥檒l have much free time: six-day weeks and long working days are the norm in Dubai.

Moving there with a partner is not an easy option either. Mace鈥檚 Watson had to leave his girlfriend at home when he moved to Dubai and it was a year before she found a job and could join him. And then she encountered the hoops that would-be immigrants have to jump through. For instance, you need a visa before you can buy a flat or a car, but you can only get a visa once you鈥檝e arrived and navigated tests ranging from degree certificate inspections to blood tests.

The biggest shock can be the attitude of Dubai nationals to foreigners. One 33-year-old senior consultant, who arrived nine months ago, says the 鈥渃ultural hierarchy鈥� is the worst aspect of life in the Middle East. 鈥淎rabs are at the top and they look down on everyone else. Below them you鈥檝e got Brits and then people from the subcontinent, who get treated the worst. It takes some getting used to.鈥�

5 - It could be hard to get a job when you get back home

If you鈥檙e away from your company鈥檚 UK headquarters, you could be overlooked for promotion. One project manager makes frequent trips home to guard against this.

Returning expats might also find they鈥檙e second best when job-seeking externally, says Hays鈥� Broadrick. 鈥淯K employers have the perception that if you have worked abroad, your experience is not relevant,鈥� he warns. He adds that because of the large amount of infrastructure work in Dubai, you are likely to return to the UK with water, oil and road projects on your CV. 鈥淵ou鈥檒l have a tough time because the infrastructure market in the UK is not that big,鈥� he says.

He believes that if two QSs apply for a job and both have five years鈥� experience, one in the UK and one in Dubai, the UK applicant will get the job. The Dubai QS will be presumed to be out of touch with cost bases in the UK and to have a smaller network of contacts. As Broadrick concludes: 鈥淎 chap who鈥檚 spent his time in London will do much better finding a job.鈥�