Teacher Accommodation

Sounds good!

Mandi

Yeah we have decided to take the teacher accommodation.

It is the Al Areen apartments in West Bay.

Essentially by using my allowance we are getting it for pretty much half the price as most two bed apartments there are 11/12,000QR.

It certainly would be easier to take the offered accommodation rather than finding your own and trying to set up utilities, contracts, etc. Living in school housing also allows for car-pooling.

Mandi

That's good news. I've read some teacher reviews of Sherbourne and there's both good and bad reports. The reports recommend that you bargain hard over contracts - some teachers seem to have been paid very well, others not so well so it seems like their terms and conditions are negotiable.

Good luck!

Hey everyone, thought I would give you an update.

My wife has had an offer from Sherborne school, which came as a surprise after she didn't hear back after interview. Essentially someone turned it down and she was next in line!

With regards to accommodation there are two options, they will give her 2,340QR allowance to add to my 6,660QR to make upto 9,000QR which is the schools allowance for married couples.

The other option is to live in the school provided two bed apartment which I believe is in West Bay for the cost of my accommodation allowance of 6,6660QR.

So maybe not free as first hoped, but gives us a couple of options anyway! My company have also agreed to sponsor my wife so I've had an increase on things such as flight allowances. Feels kind of like a pay rise, before I've even started!

Guys,

Just wanted to say a big thanks to all your info, this has helped us greatly and I hope the company I will work for makes a decision soon then I can come to Qatar. If all the good schools are gone we may go down the route of the wifey working as a local for now...

CT

I'm so glad to hear that your wife didn't accept the Cambridge job! Your wife should send her CV directly to a few good schools and ask them to keep her in mind for any possible vacancies - this is a well accepted practice in teaching, and has been successful for me.

Good luck to you and your wife.

Thanks for the advice Cassandra!

I was only offered my job a few weeks ago so she didn't want to start applying until I was defiantly coming! We understand that many jobs have now been filled.

As I said earlier, she had an interview for a position with Sherborne the other day but unfortunately did not get it. She also had an offer from Cambridge but after seeking advice on here, over the internet and with our friends in Doha she has turned that one down. So we just have to keep trying! I asked my employer if I could sponsor her which they said yes so if she cannot get a job this year then that is what I will do.

Very good and very true, cassandra! However, if she chooses not to renew a contract she can (hopefully) transfer her sponsorship to his and teach without an NOC.

Mandi

Hi Ben-130,

Your wife might find it tricky to find a teaching job with accommodation at this time of year - most schools start recruiting for the following year around Christmas time, and the good schools will have filled all their vacancies by now.

If she gets offered a job now, chances are it's not one of the good schools - and if she decides to accept it, it might be best to sign up as a local teacher under your sponsorship so she won't be tied to an expat contract, and it will leave her free to find a better school for next year.

Many schools refuse to give their expat teachers an NOC letter at the end of their contract, simply to stop other schools in Qatar from poaching their staff. Once you have finished your contract, you have to leave Qatar!

P.S. Mandilulur, thanks for the tip

At the moment I am not sponsoring my wife in the hope that she gets accommodation that we can both live in (like she would have got if successful in her interview the other day).

If you both have jobs neither needs to sponsor the other. If it comes own to one of you wanting to change jobs you could then go under the other's sponsorship.

Mandi

If both the Wife and I are applying for jobs in Qatar and we are both successful, who decides on which one sponsors the other one, i.e. wife or me when we both come over in Aug 2012?

Is their a hard and fast rule that for best value I should go along as being sponsored by the wife who is the teacher or should I sponsor her when I begin my job working for the transport industry in Qatar?

Any ideas to best decide this would be greatly appreciated.

cassandra, yes, there are a few compounds with apartment buildings. Usually 2-story with two to four flats to a landing sot of thing. Didn't mean to mislead you. I also recommend daveseslcafe.com for teachers.

Mandi

Jovahi - I assume your husband will be sponsoring you, therefore you will get a resident visa and nothing will need to change when you find yourself a job. you wont get any allowances as you would be sponsored but as you said that could work in your favour would essentially be paying less for you.

My situation is a difficult one with my wife being the teacher but we are hoping she will get accommodation that we can both live in. If this doesn't work out I've asked my company if I can change my contract to sponsor my wife if needed.

My husband is a teacher and has got a job at an int'l school and we get accomodation with the job, a two bed apartment is all we know at the moment, I don't really mind that it's small, that it's free is a massive bonus.

What I would like some advice on however is me getting a job. I am starting to look for work, tho' will probably start properly when I arrive as I'm still on MAT leave here with a six month old, and have a 3 year old too, so hands full.

What are the visa implications for when I do find work? Will I have to leave the country to re-enter on a work visa? Will this impact on my husbands contract/ benefits in anyway? I would have thought that to a prospective employer I am an easy person to hire in that I don't need accommodation providing and get annual return flights with his job already!

Also, any advice on arriving in August re- the heat/ and it being Ramadan? And finding baby equipment second hand?

Cheers and thanks in advance.

I'm moving to Qatar to teach and my school's HR has told me that I will get a 2-bed apartment in a compound.

But "nothing too luxurious, sort of boxy habitable" will be fine for me, I'm not moving to Doha to sit around in an apartment! I'm hoping to get out and enjoy Qatar with my son, we're looking forward to some sailing and scuba-diving.

I've also heard not-so-good stuff about Cambridge School - there's some interesting reports written by teachers on the International Schools Review. It's worth subscribing to this site and reading the reviews if your wife is job hunting.

If it's a 2-bedroom apartment it won't be in a compound. It will be in an apartment building. Mamoura? Oh, kind of mixed use, shops and construction. Probably street parking. Nothing too luxurious, sort of boxy habitable. The rents in Doha are so high that the middle range tends to be nothing to write home about. But then, everyone is different. I used to visit a friend in Azizia and think, "Oh, my God, if I'd come to Doha and walked in on that I'd have run back to the US screaming the first night." But she actually liked it.

Mandi

My wife has recently been offered a job with Cambridge school although we are a little unsure at the moment as she was given an offer after only a five minute phone conversation the other day! Also the offer is not brilliant, they were only providing single accommodation. We were both hoping that she would get the post at Sherborne.

I also heard a few bad things about Cambridge school from a friend who has lived most of their life in Doha.

My wife and 2 sons are moving to Doha in August. Our contract with Cambridge International School offers us a 2 bedroom apartment, five minutes from the school in the Mamoura Area. Does anyone know what this accommodation might be? Compound - Apartment etc? Any information welcome.

She had an interview for a position in Sherborne yesterday. She didn't get it (which she is gutted about, so am I!)

They did say how she would not have been allowed an allowance because I have one however, the other option was to have the provided accommodation in West Bay which would have been a two bed apartment which I would have been allowed to live in as well. This would have been perfect for us which makes it even more gutting that she didn't get the job.

If she gets a job with benefits they will be taken away anyway if they know she is married to someone working in Qatar. There's no "double dipping" that I'm aware of here.

Mandi

Dear Ben,

Let me know how it goes as i am in the exact situation and was wondering if I should change my contract to single instead of accompanied spouse to maximise the benefits, any advice on this would be greatly appreciated?

I arrive in Aug 2012...

Chet

Yes I know it will take a while before I can balance everything and see what I can spend/save.

She is a fully qualified UK teacher and coming to the end of her first year as a qualified teacher. She also worked in an international school in Bahrain for a year before doing her PGCE which I am sure will be good experience for working in the Middle East again.

Anyway I need to sort myself out first. I've got lots to do and arrange before my move in six weeks time!

Sounds good Ben, looks like you done your research then you should be ok. But I would still take a cautious approach on how much you can put aside, especially now that you will not paying into any pension etc..:)

Hi Ben, I think that she will find a job if she is a UK certified teacher. The issue is - will it be a good job? There are a lot of dodgy schools out there who love to hire captive Western wives to teach for peanuts!

Mandi

Thanks Mandililur.

I have asked my company about changing my contract which if I can will do if her single contract is not good enough. Anyway she needs to start applying for jobs first!

The first dilemma is the thought of me moving over in six weeks time and then my wife not being able to find a job!

Yes, sounds good. You may want to transfer you wife to your sponsorship if she doesn't have a good single package to avoid the whole send-you-back-at the-end-of-your-contract NOC thing. Three times the salary is getting to be worth it.

Mandi

Thanks again,

Yes I understand the cost of living and have done a lot of research plus have some friends living in Doha (who I had a good chat with last night!). My salary for new job is almost three times greater than my current salary. I have a mortgage in the UK right now. Planning on renting my place out to help cover that cost.

Because we are not coming out together my contract status is for a single person at the moment so my wife would not be under my sponsorship and she will remain in the UK until she secures her own employment.

My friends said I should check with my employer if they would chance my contract if I wanted to sponsor my wife which I would try and do if she was not offered any accommodation/allowance.

It would be so much easier if it were the other way round and I were the teacher!

Ben,

Don't under estimate the cost of living out here. Yes one can save here, but cost of living is much higher here and especially this cost of rented accommodation is about 3 to 4 times London prices.

Of course it is very employer-dependent, however, if your wife comes to Qatar under your sponsorship she will not get any of the benefits such as airfare, accommodation, etc. If your wife is hired from outside, the school MAY offer family accommodation, but it is unusual for women to sponsor their spouses so I'd guess this might not happen. You better look at Western schools only as these are your best chances for salary and benefits.

Mandi

Thank you.

I was just a bit worried that they only offered single teachers accommodation and if you weren't single, i.e. you were married, they would not give you anything.

Luckily with my job I can use my allowances on whatever I wish, it is not restricted to accommodation, travel etc.

If my partner can secure a job and accommodation that we can both live in then that is a huge financial bonus for us. Its actually one of the main reasons for us coming as we would make so much more than we do now back in the UK.

I'm moving to Doha later this year to teach. I'm bringing my son and we're getting a 2-bed apartment, it comes with the job.

Yes Ben some school will provide accommodation, some school will provide an allowance to rent in the open market.