Dear Steve - Thanks for the advice - I did not want to post too much on the first day on this board as i was not sure if it was the right place to do so (employment opportiunities may be moderated to elsewhere).
We will be offering the client a 3 years renewable service contract. Work permits (Visas) in Dubai are issued on a 3 year basis, and for a project like this we would try and get back to back terms so that we can spread the cost. CTC (cost to company) for us to bring a person, visa him, medical, insurance, deposits, flight tickets, etc is a ridiculously high USD 4,500!! If the contract is only 1 year, we cannot sensibly recover that amount in our monthly billing!
Work Duties are not yet defined - in short we can write our own job description at this stage. The work needs to be done - how much of it can be done by divers is up to us to define. Divers with Aquarium maintenance experience are perfect of course.
Work shift will be 5 days/nights a week, possibly 6 with extra pay - depends really on how the work pans out, and how busy we are each day as the project builds up. Nobody expects the divers to work 7 days a week for 12 hours a day, but if the work is 3 hours a day in the beginning then there needs to be a mutual understanding that we providing a daily service and are building up a business unit that does have costs, particularly if we keep adding bodies!
Salary - name your price that you want to work for. I want people to work with us that are comfortable in their bed and bank account!. At the end of the day we need to be sensible, competitive and do a great job. We need a variety of skill sets and experience, and that isn't at one price - neither can we pay a diver double the market rate.
Accommodation will be in a fully furnished house (villa) or apartment in Dubai, will be shared rooms. TV/Satellite/ Broadband access and a PC, 3 meals a day, etc, will be provided. Company transport will be provided.
We are a professional cleaning company. This opportunity comes to us because of our reputation for cleaning the most difficult of applications all over Dubai, our attention to health and safety on site, staff remuneration, ongoing training, etc.
We have never cleaned an aquarium!
But 2 years ago, we had never cleaned a 600 m2 advertising hoarding on the worlds largest tower (nobody had), or cleaned 92 water storage tanks in 5 locations in 9 x 18 hour shifts (perhaps, nobody else would!). We believe that for this project we will recruit good people with the right experience, mentor, manage and direct the processes, and do a better job than anyone else. We have grown through this approach. Our sales value of July 2007 is 3 times that of July 2006.
I should clarify that I am looking at Thai/Philipino nationals - there is a budget!! I would expect that certified commercial divers are best for any dive work, but recreational divers presumably could be trained to do the work - and clearly that will have a bearing on the price. We would perhaps have a combination of skills - particularly as we look into the maintenance aspects.
I hope that this answers most points.
Thank you for your post and interest.
