QATAR
Have received a job offer was wondering what you guys think from your experience. Been offered 45000 qar (About £96k) this is inclusive of all allowances this is a middle managerial job for an oil and gas company.
Currently I'm earning in the region of £46,000 onshore and in the region of £77,000 offshore, my job is primarly offshore. Onshore is there for reference,since this job is onshore its worth comparing.
Given that education costs, house costs and other costs have to come out of that what does everyone think, good or bad?? Accept or decline???
Just really trying to understand if I would be better off or worse. I am married and have 2 children, one would have to goto school next year, the other is just a baby so no issue there. Wife would probably not be working out there, especially initially.
Would be looking to rent a 3 bedroom villa in compound for around 12000 per month, i believe that is the cost.
Would be nice if I could get cheaper but doubt it, probably more what do you think??
Thanks
think about the job not the money my friend, you should have a passion to what you are doing. money is just secondary. life is a journey not a destination. who knows maybe 1 year from now you'll increase your salary
Well I have told the company in Qatar that they need to improve the salary significantly as my current employer who I told I was leaving has upped my wages.
The difference in salary is now quite low and certainly not enough to justify moving my family over there.
Savings is my motivation to do this and if they cannot increase the salary by £10-15,000 then it is not worth it.
Does anyone have any experience where a prospective employer has said that this is their final offer and it isn't and they have increased the money again? This was my second offer.
Thanks I really do appreciate everyone taking the time to give me some advice. I realise that if I ask for more, that might be the end of that but I think given all your advice the general consensus is that it should be more when moving from my home town.
I do think that the likely savings a month is going to be £2k at best a month and I doubt even that so it needs to be more to make sure that the time there is spent saving money and no just living there as that's what it would be for.
No other reason to uproot such a young family. To be honest we have a good life where we are, it needs to be good for us to move.
My names Craig, MD of Mirage Properties here in Qatar.
You've got a hard choice as you're being offered a salary which if all in i.e. no separate housing allowance or schooling, is borderline compared to what you're on, but don't forget, there's no tax.
Just to correct a couple of earlier comments.
In the present market you will struggle to find a decent compound, 3 bed villa for under QR12,000 a month semi furnished, fully furnished would be nearer QR14,000. If you choose to live in the outskirts of Qatar, you may find something cheaper but then traffic will become a major issue, on both the school run and journey to work.
Schooling costs are nowhere near QR10,000 per month, that would be a mid to top end fee per term per child (3 terms per year). With kindergarten fees being QR4-5,000 per term for a reasonable nursery. My 2 kids are in pre-school and yr2 at a cost just over QR50,000 per year.
If your wife is not working you may need a second car, so need to consider another QR2,000 - QR2,500 per month for that, you'll probably want a 4x4 for her to feel safe on the roads.
Basically you can have a good life on that salary but, depending on what kind of lifestyle you like, will depend on whether you save anything or not. The social side of life can be very expensive here with booze being about 40-50% more expensive than in UK and when drinking out, double the price of UK.
However saying all of that, it's a very safe place to bring up your kids and plenty to do if you go looking for it, don't expect it to come to you, 'cos it won't. Those that say there is nothing to do here, haven't yet opened their eyes...!!
If you'd like to get an idea of property prices, take a look on our website www.mirageproperty.com and if you want more info, please feel free to get in touch via the site.
I hope that helps with your decision making and look forward to being of assistance should you decide to give it a go.
Kind regards
Craig at Mirage
On paper you will be better off financially
But in my experience you wont be.. As you will have to fill the void of living in Doha which normally involves buying an expensive car, lots of man toys and lots of expensive dinners, shopping trips etc etc to try and keep the wife happy especially if she's not working
I'm currently trying to go back to the UK and would prob only earn around half of what I do now... But unfortunately my industry is scr@wed in the UK at the moment and Qatar was one of the few places hiring when I was made redundant.
But trust me after living here 4 yrs I have learnt you can't put a price of living at home...
my whole salary is 7.7k riyals but still i'm alive,, it really depends what kind of lifestyle you want, but i know someone who's salary is around 18k and he's living the life,,
10k per month for school is crazy. For a good school 5-6k would be more like it.
OK here goes, as I do this for a job, relatively easy:
45,000 QAR per month = the equivalent of earning GBP130,000 in the Uk because you would have to pay tax there, you don't here.
Here you can get a big 3 bedroom house with shared pool and gymnasium for about 9,000 QAR per month plus, let's say, about 500 QAR for power and water. Equivalent of about GBP1,643 per month. No chance of getting a 3 bedroom house (let alone pool and gym for that) anywhere within the M25 and definitely not big.
Yes schools are expensive and you need to factor that in and the value of living and working in a different society for a while. Food, not too expensive, grog, a bit dearer than the UK, cars definitely cheaper and better than UK. Petrol, they give it away. Lifestyle... different.
Read the Qatar section of my blog for some ideas but I'd say its a no brainer.
waggingthedog.wordpress.com
is it really 10k a month for school, I calculated 45000qar for a year. If its 10k for schooling then I agree 10k extra should be needed.
Your estimated cost of the villa is pretty close. For school fees, look at Doha English Speaking School website for current term fees. Qatar has zero income tax. So whether you would be better or worse off financially would depend on what the whole thing is worth to you. In considering whether it is worth it to come over to Qatar, do consider the effect on your family life, any family concerns re travel and distance from parents, relatives, friends etc, how long you want to be in Qatar and where you want to be or what you want to do after Qatar.
Car 2K per month?
Do the math..
Housing 12k per month
School 10k per month
Food etc 05k per month
Car 02k per month
Others 02k per month
Savings ??? 14k per month
Is that good for you. How many save that amount a month ?
You should get Three times your present salary to move out from your comfort zone.
Yer ask for something better 10k more at least or its a no no
decline, it is not enough compared to what you get today.
Housing and schooling is expensive and will take a great chunk out of the sum you mention.