Shall I move to Qatar?
Bobby
Feb 24 13:22
Hello All,
I am living and working in Australia as a Project Engineer in road construction and maintenance field. I have a bachelor of Civil Engineering and have worked mainly in project management for about 14 years.
I have received a job offer from Ashghal. It is for 20000 Qatari Rial per month+accommodation+yearly flight to AU+45 days paid holiday, etc.
I have been in middle east before not for work just visiting ,but I have no idea about Ashghal and my future career there. Only thing that encourages me to move there is saving a good amount of money in say 5 years. I have no idea whether I am able to make a good saving with this offer following a normal life style or not. I have my wife and a little kid. Can you please give me some ideas in this regard? I understand this is a very general question but any facts about living there, working with Ashghal, job security, ... could help me a lot.
thanks,
Bobby
Thanks Aussie one and others, your comments really lightened my way. Very helpful
!
Hello Bobby, I made the change to move to Qatar from Australia last year. Your salary is not sufficient to support your family let alone produce some savings. A western PM should earn on average QAR60K. If you wont be able to reach an agreement I suggest you apply for a reputable Contractor (Contractors well known in Australia do have contracts here) or Consultant company. The big ticket expenses here is the school and rent. A good 2 bed apartment in compound costs average QAR9-11K per month and school with British Curriculum (same as Australian curriculum) is about QAR30-40K per year. Your other expenses being food, clothes, car etc is cheap. Ashgal is a bit like the council back in Australia. They have many works online and in future, however dont know the job security or how reputable they are. Remember everthing is on a sponsorship scheme, you need approval to do anything even after you left the company (NOC is required if you wish to change companies).
At least get them to pay for schooling and you should scrape through.
Good Luck
Job security (or insecurity) would be same as with any other company in any other country. It being a govt. company doesnt make it secure for the job (anyone from Ashgal may be able to advice accurately though). Changing jobs isnt easy unless the comppany gives you NOC. If not, you have a cooling period of 2 years to come back. If your family income now is more as compared to what you alone are being offered here (your wife getting a job cannot be guaranteed) you may also like to think of the lifestyle difference...it would be huge if I must say and you cannot move out of the country without your company allowing you through an exit permit. And lastly since you hold an Australian passport that itself makes you eligible for a substantial increase in salary as advised by some up there.
Yes, You would be saving at least 13 K ......
Wed, 26.02.2014 , 05.20 hrs ...
Thanks people for your comments. Actually I am not an Aussie but I have Australian passport so my nationality in passport is Australian.
Molten Metal: I did not get your message about missing points. Can you please explain it a bit more?
As for the salary, What I offered from Ashghal is more than 25% than what I get here because of tax free salary and accommodation provided. However here the family earn more because my wife is working here as well. If she finds a suitable employment there (Structural/Asset Engineer) then we (the family) will earn more however we have then childcare cost.
How about Ashghal? How reputed are they in the market (in CV)? How is job security with them? If I get out from Ashghal, is a good chance to find another good employment with another company?
To be honest, It is difficult to be back to Australia market from Qatar telling that I have been working for a public authority in another country. It certainly dose not have any value in my CV here.
Do you reckon it is worth it? Would I be able to make a good saving there at least 10000 QR per month?
Thank you again,
At any cost a project engineer with 14 years experience will get atleast 30 + all benefits.
Humbles: good catch:-) I too hurriedly assumed he was Australian but there are actually many giveaways that so is not the case.
I assume he is not an Australian because of '' living & working '' is the hint . @ MM.
rule of thumb calculation; is the offer at least 25% higher than what you make in Australia?. If yes, then you should consider it. Besides, there's the obvious tax benefits and one of the biggest expenses here, i.e. accommodation is being taken care of by Ashghal. A key point is that you lead a normal lifestyle which could help you save a bit. However, try to get them to foot some of your baby's education expenses if applicable since a decent school costs a pretty penny here. Best of luck.
MM, yeah your right but even though the salary offer is still very low for an Australian with 14 years experience...
Paj, There is some key point missing from Bobby's side .....
Tue, 25.02.2014, 07.45 hrs ...
the salary offer of 20k/month is very very low for an Australian with 14 years experience. for your info the cost of living in Qatar is very high compare to other GCC countries. try to ask for a min. of 60k/month + accommodation...