Another Canadian looking for salary advise

I sent you a pm. I live in Calgary as well and apparently in the same field as you. We should get in touch..

any update familyman....I think we are both in the same boat....?

Yes, US residents are subject to taxes on foreign-earned income, local, state and federal. We have no "non-resident" option of breaking financila ties.

Mandi

well, it is and it is not. It only serves you if you are planning to go back live their and get your dues when you are above 65 years old. A lot of people do not declare their $$ and I am one of them. why? because if I count on a Canada to pay my rent at 65 then I do not even deserve to be alive lol... but that is me...

But you will get a call or 2 every year from some lesbian working for the feds and they will ask you some questions.. i flipped out when they called my number in here!

Is income earned in Qatar subject to US income taxes? Am I hearing this correctly? What would be the point of move then? I guess 'uncle sam' has a long reach :-(

It is not as straight forward in Canada either, basically - we have declare oursleves 'non resident' and cut most of the ties in Canada in order to become non resident and then we don't have to pay taxes on the income earned in Canada...which is a major deal. One of the ties is 'house' either sell it or lease out in arms length (so that it is not immediately accessible) to be considered as non resident. Also, need to take into account damage to the house that will be incured while abroad when returning back home....

Lucky Americans? We pay 36% of our salaries in US taxes earned here in Qatar.

Mandi

hehe 40 %? says who?

I dont know what all above was about but for sure NO 40% tax in qatar or any middle east country,

lucky you canadian and americans, :)

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I don't know exactly what your expectations are, but to me, this is a wise decision man.

Also, you have no idea how old school management could be in here. Most places don't even have a defined structure or even processes and this is even in big companies. It is Def not like N America in terms of efficiency and democracy of thoughts. You need a lot of stamina in here ( at work and outside it ) ... but good luck anyways.

Obviously, both of you guys lost steam for this journey. It is sad to see that needed expertise cannot be recruited in a country like this. I hope that our answers gave you enough information for an informed decision. When I cam here, I wish I had such an insight, but QL did not exist then.

familyguy, were you invited there for visit? did you have an opportunity to see the area, compounds, house rents, car prices, visit the office, office culture etc.

all of these are important elements - the kiss principles, feeling before getting into something that big...

That's exactly what I'm thinking.

The idea of living overseas is great, for the experience of it. Sure there is the adventure component, the opportunity to experience a different country and culture, and travel in the region, however, there has to be some upside as well. The travel won't mean much unless I have enough disposable income to be able to afford it. The adventure of living in a different country/culture will wear thin if the day-to-day aspect of Doha is not alleviated through a nice lifestyle. If my net worth is also suffering because of this opportunity, then it just doen't compute.

Will let you all know what happens over the next week or so.

Cheers.

Good luck, guys, I agree, don't come unless you are made a very attractive package. Sometimes the charm of Qatar can wear a little thin and you don't want to have low-balled yourselves into being unhappy.

Mandi

I countered few days ago, have not heard from them since.....basically, they come back with 500-1000 QR/month as the maximum with take it or leave it attitude, that is not the kind of money one would base their decision for moving there.....

It is correct that the position itself is quite senior and it is good company and all, but the challenge that remain for QP would be to attract people from N. America with financial incentives accordingly compare to what they earn (disposable income - after taxes)....simply matching the same salary is not much attraction :-) and not worth the hasstle

As a few here have said, when comparing to my current package (base+bonus+matching savings+pension contributions+stock options), the QP offer does not compare, let alone compensate for moving away from home.

I am going to try to make a counter-offer but based on the comments here get the impression that I am wasting my time.

Thank you all for your help as I mull this decision.

good comments here and I don't think I need to say much, compare your current overall compensation with the compensation they are offering + Spouse current jobs & prospects there + children adjustments + Schools availability + net monthly saving here versus potentially there + long term prospectus + cost and impact of re-integration to Canada (if u plan to return)

schools are full and they don't give guarantees, we called them and they said just fill out the application (with fee) adn they will let us know. they did say that they prioritize QP staff children.

As far salary - seems low for an MBA even with WIA+CPA, should be at least 30

they don't usually negotiatie

Good Luck!

well knowing that this gentleman has never been to Qatar, comparing numbers is not as easy. The delta of saving in here has to also compensate for that huge cultural shift for him, his kids and wife. meaning for extra 3,000 USD/month overall saving, i would never leave a job in north America to come to a 3rd world country. For 7,000 usd/month saving maybe and for 10,000 for sure.. but this is just me.

I am single and I came from Montreal, Canada and to me Qatar is a very boring place to live in (probably the most boring place on the face of the planet). However there is a GREAT potential for any business. You better be making a LOT of money to be working here.

"Hamad7151" said it correctly. The only thing you should consider is "Is QP offering something better than your current job in Canada".

There will always be people who earn more, have better allowances. If people keep comparing themselves with them they will never be happy and satisfied.

There are people with the same qualifications as you but receive only half they offered you. So negotiate for more but i am sure they can find someone for even a less package for the same open position.

So just compare QP's offer with your current job, forget everything else.

The Canadian I spoke to sends his kids to the American School in Doha (ASD), which QP pays for. There is no equivalent Canadian school at the moment. This is something you'll want to confirm before accepting, since paying for ASD on your own can be pricey.

be offering a salary that's equitable with your peer group. If they are not, they will fall into the trap they got themselves out of in 1992. Hislam..... I hope they have not regressed to the "negotiable" approach. The consequences would prove very, very expensive.

Don't bother asking for another grade, it doesn't work like that and they are not negotiable. Each job has it's own grade and set of responsibilities and they would be fools to offer a higher grade than the job is worth.

Does the cash amount you quoted include all the allowances?

Eg Housing, education, transport, WIA and have you factored in ESB?

Suitable schools for your family are full, and waiting lists are very long. What difference does it make if your salary is high or low?

Simply put, Doha is not ready for western workers, who have school children.

Ask 30 basic + kids tution fee + 20k housing and transport

a package of 50K

I say only in 1 sentences.You wont get any other better offer than QP with all the facilities.join qp.

As MxY said, education is expensive. A decent school is in the 30k-70k QR range and finding places for all of your kids at short notice may be very difficult.

I would start calling schools now to enquire if they even have spots for your kids' grade levels before signing on the dotted line unless you are prepared to home school while you wait for spots to come up.

I believe there is a list of schools with contact details on this site somewhere. If you have any questions about them, send me a message.

Good luck.

Great advise, made me laugh, but no thanks. I'll stay in Calgary before I go there.

Avvid, thank you for asking and getting back to me.

hislam, I have no need of this job. I'm currently employed, just looking at options to take the family overseas. So I will certainly make a counter-offere instead of simply accepting this one.

The offer is for the Organisation and Systems Department in the main corporation (not one of the directorates or subsidiaries). Are you aware of it?

My children are Canadian. Surely with school, soccer (football), swimming, etc there is much more to do than just eat and hang out at the mall?

Thanks for the explanantion on grades. That is helpful.

I spoke to a Canadian in my office. The offer is too low, for a family with 5 kids. Ask for a Grade 16, which would take you to about 25k in basic. Even though all other allowances remain the same, you'd need the extra money for the 2nd car, and bigger villa for the kids.

You'd also need to provision the schooling for your 5th kid, once they start going to scholl at age 3, which is only a year away.

Fort Mac,,,, you'd be better off.

Sorry UKeng, it is not a rigid salary scheme. There is a huge overlap between the max of a grade and the min of the higher grade. And again bargaining is a typical practice of QP still depends on how badly you need the job on one side and considering th over flow of enfineers no-a-days from UAE on the other side.

As for the grade; in QP you might find a Ph.D holder with 25 years experience in Grade 15 and another with B.Sc. with 10 years experience in higher grade.

However, it is not about the Job grade as it is related to the Job not to your qualification and it's up to you to apply to this position or not.

Note that the salary grade doesn't have to match with the Job grade (wthin limits) and you have a space to bargain if you're not desperatefor thejob.

More important than all what's discussed here is your children life. If they were raised in Canada (not Arab immigrants), it will be extremely unfair to them to bring them here for only hanging out in the malls and eating.

Its not a matter of comparing your experience + school with the grade offered . To me , it a matter of comparing the offer by QP with your current job .

Ok for a Grade 15 I can say that is a good offer, unless you get a grade up they will not raise you salary in my opinion. but do try to ask more. The only different between Grade 15/16 is the basic salary every thing else is same. I hope it helps.

Which department are you been offered for?

Basic Salary + wia= 23000QR

Transport: 2000QR. Since you have have a big family you will probably need a SUV or minivan. You should buy one. You cannot rent a SUV or minivan for 2000QR. But you can get a bank loan and pay 2000QR monthly installments.

Housing: 13700QR. You can get good 4BR villa in a compound. But 15-16k would have been better. You would have much more choices.

If QP is paying for the kids education, i think the package is good enough. If QP is not paying for the education, you might end up with no savings at all. Education is expensive.

Does this correlate to a new graduate? A 10 year engineer, or a 25 year manager? Just looking to get a feel for their scale.

ok family guy what grade are they offering I am under the assumption that the salary you have quoted is for Grade 16?

Total package is going to be much high as I will have 4 kids in school, be recieving return flights for 6 (I'll have to pay for one child myself), and health etc. However, I cannot really include those benefits in my analysis since they are to compensate me for costs that I would not incur except for taking this job.

I agree on countering with a bit more salary, and hoping for a grade jump as well, but do not want to appear unrealistic in my expectations.

You forgot to mention if you have any kids as Qp will pay education for your kids in your commuinty school for upto 4 children plus they will pay you return tickets for you and your family..

Now with that package you are getting around 50k in my opinion. As the cost of health insurance is also covered etc etc,.

If I were you I would ask for little bit more of the basic salary. Thats all everything else is standard..

Not so much about surviving, but rather about market value.

I'm sure we could survive, as it really comes down to what standard of living we would want to maintain, although I suspect at 38k/mth we would not be living the life we envision (family with 5 kids: 11yrs - 2yrs). What we envision, by the way, is a comfortable lifestyle, not opulent(villa with 4 b/r, pool available for kids, possibly a maid/nanny).

What I'm more intertested in, is whether the offer is comparable with what those of similar experience and education are recieving.

Thanks for taking the time to think on it.

It's OK, but it ain't great.

So basically you are asking if a total package of around 38k plus would be enough for you to survive in a place like Qatar? Hmmm let me think about that..