As for life in Egypt and a career in the IT field in Egypt, it's good that you asked me. I work in the software company in Egypt, I've been delivering IT training in Egypt, and I moderate a 6400-member yahoo group called Egypt-IT-Jobs. I also made this site: Egypt IT Jobs.
There are around 1500 IT companies in Egypt (in 2005). You said training in IT is the best match for your personality. But it's good that you got in contact with me to tell you about this. Delivering training in the IT field in Egypt is not financially rewarding (any more). Delivering English language training in Egypt can be anything from 3 to 5 times more rewarding financially.
As for certificating, we've got loads of certified people here, it's not expensive (any more) to get certified and the Egyptian government gives scholarships for around 5000 Egyptians every year to get such IT certificates (not only is the training + certification free for them, but sometimes they even get a small monthly allowance too!). The certifications in abundance here are: MCSE (MCSA), Cisco certificates, also Oracle ones and MCSD (but much less than MCSA). (Also there is one called CIW which is present in so much abundance).
Forget about working with MCSE, or as Network Administrator. Your best bet is to work as a Systems Analyst or better yet a Business Analyst. Your good English and strong communication skills will give you a plus in such valued positions here as well as your Canadian flavored personality. You can also find a good job for J2EE (Java) or C# if you're into programming and like it. Companies like IBM Egypt, ITWorx and others are hiring and they focus on checking English language and aptitude first. It's a strength in a company like ITWorx for instance if you were exposed to the Western culture ('couse that's where they sell sell their software).
As for life in Egypt, you'll need a LOT of adapting. If you stay in Egypt trying to live your life as you lived it in Canada then forget it, you'll just get frustrated and will find every word that your parents have mentioned to you correct. However, if you try to adapt and absorb the style of life here and discover the ties between people and the different way by which they go about living their lives perhaps then you will find out some warm areas in Egypt which some people highly appreciate and give up other luxuries for. (Ex: Before coming to Egypt, try, at least temporarily, to wipe out the word "organization" from your dictionary. You'll notice the disappearance of this concept from all aspects of life here in Egypt. Also places are not clean here. As for the bright side, people here are warm, they'll help you when you need them and they have warm feelings.) The best thing if you have relatives here, that would be a good thing. They will guide you and make the cultural transition a smoother one.
Tuesday, March 28, 2006
IT Jobs in Egypt
A Canadian born fresh university graduate who has Egyptian parents was asking me about career opportunities in the IT filed in Egypt. She lives in Canada and is entertaining the idea of coming to Egypt to work and live here. This idea seems to have come to many Egyptians whose parents have immigrated to Australia, Canada, USA and other countries. I try to give them an idea about the IT job market in Egypt as well as the style of life here which is great switch from style of life in Western countries with all it's positive as well as negative sides. Not everyone is able to adapt, it depends on your personality and on the effort you put into trying to understand a culture you are not used to or have never experienced before. Here is part of my reply to the latest one who asked me this question:
Monday, March 27, 2006
Fuul Medammes and Team Building
In the US fast food restaurant are nothing but what their name indicates: fast food. When you are in a hurry, you eat fast food. When you don't have the money to afford to dine out at an elegant restaurant, you get fast food, when you don't have the time to cook you also go for fast food.
In Egypt however, fast food has a different twist to it. First of all, fast food here in Egypt is anything but fast. Whether you're getting home delivery, dining in or even take away, in most cases you have to wait and sometimes for a bit too long. But that's not the greatest difference between such type of restaurants in Egypt and the US. While in the US fast food places are considered to be on the lower end of the food-price chain, in Egypt eating at fast food restaurants is considered the classy thing!
At work, we ordered food, not from a US-like fast food chain, but from the traditional full and falafel type of shops. We could have used Gad, but we went for Shabrawy, a popular chain in Egypt offering traditional fuul and falafel (tameya). We did not order sandwiches like is commonly done, but surprisingly, specially for people working at a US company, we ordered fuul in plastic containers and we sent the office boy to buy bread (balady bread). We then emptied the full into a large container and started eating all together crowding around it!
By some, this might seem unhygienic, all of us eating from the same plate, and boy we were many. To the Egyptian who still views eating from US-like fast food chains as classy, this action of ours would seem not appropriate and not 'classy'. This has to do with the class structure that is unfortunately still rooted in the Egyptian culture, and how different classes in Egypt eat in different ways. But the lovely thing I noticed was not only the better taste of the fuul eaten in this way, but that our crowding around the plate and all eating from the same large plate together sparkled a team spirit which although we could not see with our eyes yet we felt with our souls.
It might sound funny to hear that eating from one large plate can be a team building activity, yet I believe one should do what it takes to promote a team spirit. It's much better to use an activity that stems from our culture than to try to forcefully inject 'foreign' objects inside the body of an Egyptian team. We should learn from the West, then adapt what we learnt to our own culture. Never should we take things as is and just apply them blindly in a forced way to our culture, because they will get rejected, not work or in best cases cause annoying problems.
In Egypt however, fast food has a different twist to it. First of all, fast food here in Egypt is anything but fast. Whether you're getting home delivery, dining in or even take away, in most cases you have to wait and sometimes for a bit too long. But that's not the greatest difference between such type of restaurants in Egypt and the US. While in the US fast food places are considered to be on the lower end of the food-price chain, in Egypt eating at fast food restaurants is considered the classy thing!
At work, we ordered food, not from a US-like fast food chain, but from the traditional full and falafel type of shops. We could have used Gad, but we went for Shabrawy, a popular chain in Egypt offering traditional fuul and falafel (tameya). We did not order sandwiches like is commonly done, but surprisingly, specially for people working at a US company, we ordered fuul in plastic containers and we sent the office boy to buy bread (balady bread). We then emptied the full into a large container and started eating all together crowding around it!
By some, this might seem unhygienic, all of us eating from the same plate, and boy we were many. To the Egyptian who still views eating from US-like fast food chains as classy, this action of ours would seem not appropriate and not 'classy'. This has to do with the class structure that is unfortunately still rooted in the Egyptian culture, and how different classes in Egypt eat in different ways. But the lovely thing I noticed was not only the better taste of the fuul eaten in this way, but that our crowding around the plate and all eating from the same large plate together sparkled a team spirit which although we could not see with our eyes yet we felt with our souls.
It might sound funny to hear that eating from one large plate can be a team building activity, yet I believe one should do what it takes to promote a team spirit. It's much better to use an activity that stems from our culture than to try to forcefully inject 'foreign' objects inside the body of an Egyptian team. We should learn from the West, then adapt what we learnt to our own culture. Never should we take things as is and just apply them blindly in a forced way to our culture, because they will get rejected, not work or in best cases cause annoying problems.
Sunday, March 26, 2006
US Companies in Egypt
My mom once asked if the increase in foreign investment in Egypt was good for the country. I told her yes it's good. Foreign investment in Egypt fuels the market increasing its momentum. Not only is money injected into Egypt and new jobs created but international level technology and business practices are introduced which upgrades the skill-set of the Egyptian talent pool making it more competitive on an international level.
According to the Egyptian MCIT web site, IT companies in Egypt have jumped to over 1500 companies in 2005. Many of those companies are actually foreign investment. Some are US based companies, others are companies from Germany, France, Sweden as well as other Arab countries such as UAE and KSA. The majority of those companies though are Egyptian.
Sure getting in contact with international level technology and business practices is beneficial. Many of the Egyptian software companies have been started by entrepreneurs who have originally worked at foreign companies in Egypt. ITWorx is a good example of a software company that started in Egypt by two Egyptians. Ten years later, ITWorx has grown to a $10 million annual target. Business Today Egypt magazine has an interesting article about this.
I do work at the Cairo development center of a US based software company. Sure I feel the technology transfer that takes place. Graduates of FCI, Cairo University and FCIS, Ain Shams University as well as FCI, Helwan University are among our employees. We also employ computer engineering graduates from Ain Shams, Alexandria and other universities. Those bright software developers are getting exposed to bleeding edge technologies and are developing software systems on an international level. This is what I call technology transfer. In addition, the business practices and general work atmosphere they are getting exposed to further enhances their capacity and skills.
According to the Egyptian MCIT web site, IT companies in Egypt have jumped to over 1500 companies in 2005. Many of those companies are actually foreign investment. Some are US based companies, others are companies from Germany, France, Sweden as well as other Arab countries such as UAE and KSA. The majority of those companies though are Egyptian.
Sure getting in contact with international level technology and business practices is beneficial. Many of the Egyptian software companies have been started by entrepreneurs who have originally worked at foreign companies in Egypt. ITWorx is a good example of a software company that started in Egypt by two Egyptians. Ten years later, ITWorx has grown to a $10 million annual target. Business Today Egypt magazine has an interesting article about this.
I do work at the Cairo development center of a US based software company. Sure I feel the technology transfer that takes place. Graduates of FCI, Cairo University and FCIS, Ain Shams University as well as FCI, Helwan University are among our employees. We also employ computer engineering graduates from Ain Shams, Alexandria and other universities. Those bright software developers are getting exposed to bleeding edge technologies and are developing software systems on an international level. This is what I call technology transfer. In addition, the business practices and general work atmosphere they are getting exposed to further enhances their capacity and skills.
Thursday, March 23, 2006
Company Lunch
We have company lunch each Thursday. We get out all together and have lunch at some place. Sometimes we just order the lunch and have it at the company. This company lunch thing has been a strong team builder. Expenses of the company lunch are way lower than costs of turnover which this weekly event helps in reducing.
Wednesday, March 22, 2006
Employees Adapting
When interviewing for a vacancy, you try to pick someone who fits the profile of the job and of the company culture. However, you have to put in mind that even if the person you are interviewing does not have all the personality traits needed, he or she may still change and adapt after joining the company. This change can be affected through an induction program made for new recruits.
We once recruited a guy who had terrible communication skills and was a hard liner, yet we still recruited him because we were in need of the technical skills he had and we were unable to find such skills easily elsewhere. So we recruited him knowing his communication and other related problems. A few months later, this employee did not of course turn into a first grade communicator, but at least he changed a lot. He started to adapt slightly after a few weeks of working at the company. Gradually with time, his communication skills started to improve as well as his attitude. Again I say he has not turned into a skilled communicator, but at least his communication skills have advanced noticeably. Although we did not provide him with communication skills training, yet a weekly seminar program in which each employee has a turn to deliver a seminar helped enhance everyone's communication skills. A note is due here, this employee was aware of the communication skills issue he had after we informed him of it and accepted it. Not only that, but he did a continuous effort to improve himself in this regard.
Sure I am not asking you to recruit people with poor communication skills, yet my point is that people can change with time specially if you guide them and put them in the right environment to help them change. When conducting an interview, you should look not only for current skills and traits, but the candidate's potential to grow and change.
We once recruited a guy who had terrible communication skills and was a hard liner, yet we still recruited him because we were in need of the technical skills he had and we were unable to find such skills easily elsewhere. So we recruited him knowing his communication and other related problems. A few months later, this employee did not of course turn into a first grade communicator, but at least he changed a lot. He started to adapt slightly after a few weeks of working at the company. Gradually with time, his communication skills started to improve as well as his attitude. Again I say he has not turned into a skilled communicator, but at least his communication skills have advanced noticeably. Although we did not provide him with communication skills training, yet a weekly seminar program in which each employee has a turn to deliver a seminar helped enhance everyone's communication skills. A note is due here, this employee was aware of the communication skills issue he had after we informed him of it and accepted it. Not only that, but he did a continuous effort to improve himself in this regard.
Sure I am not asking you to recruit people with poor communication skills, yet my point is that people can change with time specially if you guide them and put them in the right environment to help them change. When conducting an interview, you should look not only for current skills and traits, but the candidate's potential to grow and change.
Sunday, March 19, 2006
T-Shirts and Team Building
It's surprising how some simple things such as distributing t-shirts with company logo on employees can go a long way in building a team spirit. Today we asked our team to come pick t-shirts with the color, size and style of each one's choice. It was like a mini-party where each went through the different t-shirts checking for an appropriate size and a color that he liked. After that we all had a group photo, actually many photos together. It was very nice. Then several of us got their camera phones and kept taking still more photos of us together. When we went back to our desks, still wearing the shirts as none seemed to want to take them off even after we were finished with taking the photos, everyone appeared to get back to work with a better spirit. That's what I call team building. It's amazing how simple things as t-shirts with company logos given to employees can go a long way in inducing a team spirit.
Thursday, March 16, 2006
Zedny
Zedny is one of the many entities that have sprouted quickly in Egypt over the last few years delivering human development training. Zedny is by large the most popular, and I believe, best of them all till this date.
Zedny started a few years ago by providing human development training courses such as time management, job hunting, CV writing and the like. Zedny offered low cost training sessions for a large number of youth. A training session may be attended by 200 or 400 attendees. It is more like a seminar. The large number of attendees makes up for the low cost of the 'course'. Zedny made good use of the Internet to spread its word among youth. It used mailing lists, groups and the power of forwarded emails to spread its word among the rapidly growing Internet-savvy youth population of Egypt.
Currently, Zedny is operating from the premises of Rabaa Mosqe, which is located in Nasr City, Cairo. They have an office their and they used the wide halls present next to the Rabaa Mosque. Anyone who wants to attend one of the courses pays a minimal fee, something like 20 LE or 40 LE to attend a course of perhaps 8 sessions (around 2 hours for each session). It varies from course to course but this gives you an idea of the price and time range of courses offered by Zedny. Courses focus on human development topics and topics that are of interest generally to the youth. One of the courses for instance was how to select your life partner.
If it is the first time you are attending a course at Zedny, when you go and pay for that course you fill out a form with some info about yourself (name, address, phone ... etc) and they make you an ID card which you go get it from them at a later day. If you later go and register for another course, you use this same ID card. The interesting thing about this ID card is that it has a barcode on its back, so whenever you enter a session that you have registered for, they just pass your ID card in front of a barcode reader, much like the one used in a supermarket by a cashier on a product, then you enter to attend the season. It's a cool way of keeping track of attendance in an easy way and verifying who is registered in the course, given the large number of attendees.
You can find information about courses currently available at Zedny and who delivers them at their web site Zedny (the web site is in Arabic). Those who deliver the sessions are volunteers, they do not receive any monetary compensation for their efforts. The money goes back to Rabaa for charity purposes. Al Ahram Weekly has an article about Zedny: Concept Promotion. Zedny also have a group online: Zedny Group.
The word Zedny stems from the Quranic verse "Wa koll Rabbi zedny 3elman" which means "Ask God to increase your knowledge."
Zedny started a few years ago by providing human development training courses such as time management, job hunting, CV writing and the like. Zedny offered low cost training sessions for a large number of youth. A training session may be attended by 200 or 400 attendees. It is more like a seminar. The large number of attendees makes up for the low cost of the 'course'. Zedny made good use of the Internet to spread its word among youth. It used mailing lists, groups and the power of forwarded emails to spread its word among the rapidly growing Internet-savvy youth population of Egypt.
Currently, Zedny is operating from the premises of Rabaa Mosqe, which is located in Nasr City, Cairo. They have an office their and they used the wide halls present next to the Rabaa Mosque. Anyone who wants to attend one of the courses pays a minimal fee, something like 20 LE or 40 LE to attend a course of perhaps 8 sessions (around 2 hours for each session). It varies from course to course but this gives you an idea of the price and time range of courses offered by Zedny. Courses focus on human development topics and topics that are of interest generally to the youth. One of the courses for instance was how to select your life partner.
If it is the first time you are attending a course at Zedny, when you go and pay for that course you fill out a form with some info about yourself (name, address, phone ... etc) and they make you an ID card which you go get it from them at a later day. If you later go and register for another course, you use this same ID card. The interesting thing about this ID card is that it has a barcode on its back, so whenever you enter a session that you have registered for, they just pass your ID card in front of a barcode reader, much like the one used in a supermarket by a cashier on a product, then you enter to attend the season. It's a cool way of keeping track of attendance in an easy way and verifying who is registered in the course, given the large number of attendees.
You can find information about courses currently available at Zedny and who delivers them at their web site Zedny (the web site is in Arabic). Those who deliver the sessions are volunteers, they do not receive any monetary compensation for their efforts. The money goes back to Rabaa for charity purposes. Al Ahram Weekly has an article about Zedny: Concept Promotion. Zedny also have a group online: Zedny Group.
The word Zedny stems from the Quranic verse "Wa koll Rabbi zedny 3elman" which means "Ask God to increase your knowledge."
Wednesday, March 15, 2006
Ethics 3
Dr Sherif's sessons are a model for how to deliver training, the kind of training which leaves an effect on the minds and hearts of people and moves them to positive action. It's the kind of training that not only leaves people hoping and wishing they should do so and so, but makes them go beyond that and actually move and do what they see has to be done.
Dr Sherif uses a lot of stories while he is talking, real life stories that he has either experienced first hand, learnt about through a friend or knew about through other sources. The session he delivers is composed mainly of questions he asks to the audience, stories he narrates and comments he provides on the answers the audience give or the storied he narrates. His comments comprise the smallest part of the session content, while stories and questions directed to the audience compose the bulk of the session.
Dr Sherif derives his conclusions from the voting or response of the audience and from the stories he narrates. This method of stories, audience feedback and delayed or audience-derived conclusions are what make his words convincing to the mind and soul and drive people not action. Another thing which helps produce this effect is that he does not talk in idealistic, theoretical and impractical ways, instead he talks real-live, he talks day to day events and actual scenarios.
Dr Sherif uses a lot of stories while he is talking, real life stories that he has either experienced first hand, learnt about through a friend or knew about through other sources. The session he delivers is composed mainly of questions he asks to the audience, stories he narrates and comments he provides on the answers the audience give or the storied he narrates. His comments comprise the smallest part of the session content, while stories and questions directed to the audience compose the bulk of the session.
Dr Sherif derives his conclusions from the voting or response of the audience and from the stories he narrates. This method of stories, audience feedback and delayed or audience-derived conclusions are what make his words convincing to the mind and soul and drive people not action. Another thing which helps produce this effect is that he does not talk in idealistic, theoretical and impractical ways, instead he talks real-live, he talks day to day events and actual scenarios.
Monday, March 13, 2006
Dr Sherif, Ethics
Dr Sherif mentioned 5 mental tests that help you find out if an action is unethical. I remember 3 of them now:
- Put yourself in the other person's shoes. Do you find this action okay if you were in the shoes of the other person? If so, then the action is ethical, if not then it is unethical.
- What does religion say about this action? If religion forbids it or says it is bad, then it is unethical.
- Imagine this action is generalized and is now done by all people. What happens to the community and the world if this action is generalized? If the world falls into chaos due to this or is harmed, then the action is considered unethical.
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