Dean has been working at Cigna for over 6 years and spent the past 4 years working in the Glasgow office.
He will be moving to Dubai in March 2020 where he will assume control of Cigna’s Middle East SME, Manual and Individual Underwriting organizations, as well as the Saudi Arabia Underwriting department.
In this interview, Dean shares more about his upcoming move.
What kind of things are you excited about as you prepare for your move to Dubai?
The weather is certainly one!
There are two sides to it, from a Cigna perspective, the Middle East is a very exciting place to be. It is an exponentially growing market, and becoming a top location for expats and international business. This creates huge opportunities for Cigna to leverage our expertise and support the diversity that exists within the region. Our Cigna leadership team in the Middle East are designing and committing to some extremely innovative ideas and solutions this year and to have the opportunity to play a key part in that is going to be very exciting.
From a personal perspective, I’ve already fallen in love with Dubai. I currently manage two teams in the region and I’ve been travelling over there back and forth for the last couple of years. The people there are incredible, a complete mix of expats from all around the world along with the local Emiratis who have built Dubai to what it is today - it’s a fantastic place to be. My partner and I both love to travel, so both she and I are excited about all the opportunities to travel to Asia and Africa. Dubai really is the travel hub of the world so I can’t wait to get there.
I’m also hoping to work on my golf game a bit more since the weather here in Scotland can be quite challenging at times!
Is there anything in particular that you are stressed out about as your get ready for the move?
Change is always going to be inherently stressful and when you add in the fact that I’ll be moving 4 000 miles away, it becomes even more stressful. Some of the formalities that come with an expat move, such as visas and property management, are taking care of themselves which is great.
But I think some of the more challenging things is dealing with the emotional stress. Leaving your support network of family and friends behind becomes a bit difficult. When you start to see somebody and it becomes the last time that you’ll see them before you move, that can be tough to deal with.
Also, packing for the move is a bit of a challenge. You cannot take every single item that you own with you as you move across the world. So ruthlessly deciding what makes the cut is becoming a bit stressful but we’re getting there!
Finally, what are you going to miss about working in the Glasgow office?
It is a cliché but I can honestly say that I will miss the incredible people. I’ve been a part of the Cigna Global IPMI business for 6 years during which time I’ve seen it grow into a hugely successful business. It will be sad not to be part of that journey anymore, but it’s been fantastic to be a part of that until now.
The people here are extremely passionate about the work that they do and customers they serve, it’s a great environment to be around and will be truly missed!
Video interview
In this short video, Dean shares more advice for those considering an expat move.
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Más consejos
Find out more tips for preparing to move abroad by visiting our blog post with 7 helpful tips for a successful relocation.
