Barry,
I have no experience working for the aerospace industry but I have lived and worked in Dubai and from that viewpoint, I'd tell you to follow Shawn and DAR's advice.
While the pay is fantastic in DXB, it affords you a lifestyle that can easily distract you - even if you are the most committed of people with set goals to achieve. I met countless folk who had planned to stay "just one or two years" and were still there 5, 10, 15 years later. By that time they were so used to the trappings of excess that they could not possibly afford in their professional positions elsewhere, they saw no reason to leave.
I too am a case in point. On arrival there to start my new job, I went out with some soon-to-be colleagues for a drink and they asked me how long they expected me to stay before moving on. I said a year, the smiles spread across their faces, but nothing more was said. Three years on, I finally got out of Dodge.
I couldn't fathom their reaction at the time but soon enough I knew what was what, and I was asking the same thing to newcomers, knowing that Dubai has an uncanny knack of changing your perspective. It's something you only understand after being there a while, and while many convince themselves it won't happen to them, far more often than not, it does.
Incidentally I knew a Scottish guy there who worked in the oil industry out on rigs and like every other blow-in, he planned a short stay to save money which would enable him to move on to pursue other ambitions. When I left DXB he'd been working with the same company for 8 years and by that time his original plans for the future were a distant memory.
He had a wonderful life, worked long hard hours but enjoyed big chunks of time off back on land, he was always out on the town, had a beautiful big villa, drove a flash car and went on amazing holidays all over the world but he got to used to all that and he just couldn't let it go. He used to tell me that while he enjoyed all he had, he wanted to get back to a normal existence (DXB can become artificial after a while) but couldn't leave all his luxuries he'd got so used to. I really felt sorry for him - he'd enjoyed the life for so long he'd wasted the time he needed to get to where he'd wanted to be. He was a really tormented soul.
Dubai is a rewarding experience, but a terrible trap. Stick to your other plan and you're much more likely to achieve your ambitions IMHO.
Last edited by Nil Flaps; 5th Feb 2007 at 06:53.