‘Graham is English and Luay is of Arab origin, so they’re very different, but they have the same professional attitude’
Before becoming a contractor, Muhammad Waqas had a permanent job, working for a mobile operator in Pakistan. Asked what made him turn to contracting, he replies ‘Luay and Graham know all telecoms professionals – who’s working in which domain, what their experience is etc – and they approached me. I decided that it would be good to get some international exposure, and they got me started working as a signalling gateway consultant.’
Graham and Luay found him his first position, working for Huawei on a big managed services project for a Dubai-based mobile operator. They arranged his 3-year working visa, his medical etc, and that was that: he moved to Dubai and started work on the project in June 2009.
Almost a year later, he’s still working on the same project, but no longer for Huawei, as, in the meantime, the customer shifted the contract to Ericsson. Recognising their need for someone with the right experience and with proven skills on the Huawei equipment however, Ericsson took over his contract, with the transition managed seamlessly with First Point Group. Muhammad’s work with Ericsson centres on CS Core and GSM mobile for the ongoing managed service project.
He says he found the move to contracting, and the move to Dubai, equally painless: ‘I can’t see how anyone could have any issues.’ He works in-house at the mobile operator’s offices, with a number of other contractors, some of them from other agencies but says, ‘I’m very happy with Graham and Luay: they’re very professional, and I have no issues with them. My salary always comes on time, and there have been no delays and no problems.’
Asked about the future, Muhammad responds that he personally prefers being a contractor to having a permanent position (missing only the greater security offered by a permanent job), and sees himself continuing with this life for 2-3 yrs. This will enable him to gain valuable experience and build up his savings: it’s probably only when he has a family that he’ll search for a permanent position, because he’ll want to be with them.
Until he starts a family though, Muhammad would be very happy to stay in his role in Dubai, and working with First Point: ‘They handle everything efficiently and follow all of Ericsson’s defined procedures. I never have to worry about things: my time sheets are signed and sent direct to the Head Office, and payment goes directly to my account.’
Interview dated: March 2010
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