The criteria for selection varies from one provider to the next.
As someone already pointed out, it is a great advantage to know someone who is working there.
In the Middle East, it is not just logged hours and legacy airline experience that counts.
They also want to know if you are culturally aware and can cope with the ME lifestyle and all the nuances that go with that.
There is absolutely no room in a VIP setup for anyone's ego except that of your very well-laden passengers and if you are used to being "the man in charge of your aircraft" - you can forget that the second you arrive here. There is a whole new art to be learned in telling someone very subtly the things that can or can't be done.
Working over here is not as easy as it sounds.
Sure, the salaries are great and the weather is great for eight months of the year, but it takes a certain "type" of person to get on with the locals.
After only a year here, I can pretty much gauge which of my friends would cope here and which would be out of here within a fortnight.
There is nothing more valuable in this neck of the woods than a good inside contact - it's all about relationships.