Luqman Kondeth

Fresh Talent: Working in Scotland Scheme 

Name: Luqman Kondeth
Age: 26
Born: Kerala, India
Time in Scotland: Since September 2003

A breathtaking landscape, a people who are proud of their heritage and a country with good potential for economic growth and businesses eager to embrace new technology.

That's Scotland for Luqman Kondeth from Kerala in India who came to Scotland in September 2003 to take a course at Napier University in Edinburgh.

"I arrived in Scotland as a student in September 2003 without a good idea of the country," said Luqman who grew up as an expatriate in Saudi Arabia, but returned to India when he started high school.

"I joined Napier University for Msc Networking and web technology and later changed this course to a more challenging one - Msc Advanced Networking.

"I believe the course was the best in its category in the whole of the UK and it trained me perfectly for my current job."

Luqman graduated with distinction and was awarded the University Class medal for outstanding performance in June 2005.

After achieving his degree in Scotland, Luqman was delighted to be able to join a Scottish company in a job that allowed him to use his skills and experience to the best advantage.

"The Fresh Talent Scheme is a well thought out immigration scheme, which makes it easier for Scottish companies and graduates to know more about each other before committing to a work permit.

"It is a win win situation. I definitely feel, this scheme has made it easier for highly skilled persons to enter Scotland, obtain a work permit and contribute to the Scottish economy, culture and nation," he said.

After starting work as a part time trainee with Internet Service Provider Scotland Online, in February 2005, he was offered a permanent post in September 2005 as a Network Engineer. Based in Dundee, Luqman's work includes maintaining Scotland Online's networks, customer networks, troubleshooting, and tackling network problems.

Luqman was married in December 2002 to Shaheen in India. They have a son, Yaasin Ali, who was born last year and they will be joining him shortly in Dundee.

"Dundee is a great place to live," said Luqman who has experience of several other countries including the UAE and Sri Lanka. 

"The cost of living in Dundee is much cheaper compared to Edinburgh where I did my Msc. It is a small place, has a rural touch to it, which is the sort of places I like and it's easy to get out of the city and be in the middle of green.

"When it comes to the right mix of people, place and life, Scotland is the best so far, after my native village in India, of course.

"Thereare great universities with an excellent number of courses. I was particularly impressed by its medical school and the number of medical students.

"The people are great and very friendly. This behaviour follows the pattern - the smaller the place, the friendlier the people."

Luqman hopes to continue in his current job for some more years and has his Fresh Talent visa for two years. If his company applied for a work permit, he would stay in the country longer before returning to India.

He says his job gives him good experience and he intends to attain a CCIE (Cisco Certified Internetwork Expert) certification within the next two years and be one of only 700 people in the UK to hold the certificate. With his present job, that task has been made considerably easier. 
 
"I have thoroughly enjoyed my stay in Scotland," Luqman added.

"I think the people, especially up North, are proud of their heritage and of being Scottish. The landscape is breathtaking. I cannot stop describing it to my friends back home. I have taken Gigabytes of photos in my digital camera. I am now beginning to tour Scotland and plan to have a wonderful summer.

"Because of government initiatives and people’s attitude towards the Internet, there is tremendous growth potential in Internet access, E-commerce and Internet business in Scotland.  I feel Scotland would be an ideal candidate for wireless Internet access cities, like some US cities.

"The technology parks are what impressed me with regards to infrastructure for growth. Being in the ISP industry I am aware of various government initiatives to link Scotland through more electronic initiatives."

Information correct at:March 2007

Related links

• Fresh Talent: Working in Scotland Scheme
• Scotland Online