tonysprings

I was at interview in London and have still to receive expenses....has anyone been reimbursed....I was told by Vish Warden that reimbursement would be this week.
Also,a message to ARCADIA...you say we will be on grade 13 when we get offer can you tell me in pounds what that will be please. Also you mentioned the housing ADNOC supplies could you give me a website for the housing or where they are...cheers

AJMac88

Hi Tony,
We were told at the interview that, upon arrival in Abu Dhabi we'll be put up in a hotel for the first week to 4 weeks so that we can find an apartment/villa etc to live in. Never heard of an approved list of housing or anything like that. You can just google places to rent in Abu Dhabi, view them and if you like one, contact AlHosn and they'll sort out the lease....
PS - No expenses in the bank yet
Cheers
Al

busybee2

arcadia doesnt live in abu dhabi any longer, so things may well have changed since she has left, but most companies will already have leases in their name and then they put you in those, of course, each company policy is different, and it all depends on when they took out the lease, but also some companies will give you an allowance and help you find a place within that and do all the donkey work, as abu dhabi is famous for its red tape. you will not find something in 1 week!!!

AJMac88

4 weeks in a hotel will do me just fine then! haha
Al

tonysprings

Hi AJ, aye I knew all about that 4 weeks in Abu Dhabi (which will be more like 6 weeks) but if you go back through the early posts on this forum a lady whose husband works for Al Hosn put across some interesting points on her thread.Give it a read as she presumes we would be starting on grade 13 (without all the other add ons i.e shift allowance,remote living allowance,general allowance etc). I was inquiring from her what grade 13 would pay in pounds so we have a heads up before the offer comes through. Also Adnoc do own housing complexes in and around Abu Dhabi which will what we would be offered but as the HR rep indicated we dont have to take a one and can choose our own.

AJMac88

Tony,
Aye I read that post aswell. The ladies hubby worked for ADNOC, I know AlHosn is a subsidiary but they might have a different accommodation set up...What job is it you are going for? I was speaking to a guy that is working for AlHosn Gas in Abu Dhabi now and was telling me what was going on and the value of the allowances etc...itching to hear back from them like
Cheers
Al

tonysprings

Al,
The job I am up for is on Operations....if you have some info on wages you are only to welcome to pass it on.....it would at least give us some prior knowledge whilst we wait for the package to arrive. Been looking through some internet pages on Adnoc and found a full grading system that someone had put on the web.....it was however from 2008 but it was grim reading so lets hope the wages have improved from then. I am still a bit wary about it all and like yourself will be relieved when the package finally arrives so I can make a decision either way.

expathopeful

I found that too and was a bit worried. Everything I was told preinterview by the recruitment agency was inaccurate, I'm just hoping that the salary I was told I'd be getting is not wrong. I'm expecting the offer to be lower than what I was told by the recruiter, big decisions to be made, if the offer comes through...

I was left with the impression you choose your own place within your allowance and this has to be done in 7 days of getting there. What I need to know is do we have to pay the deposit? That's like £1000!!!

AJMac88

I think they'd prefer if you got it within 7 days (but up to 4 weeks if needs must), because as long as your house hunting your not working.....I don't think you'll have to dip into your own pocket for anything personally . From what i understand everyone out there negotiates they're salaries, but that's a topic for discussing when when we have contracts to hand
Al

expathopeful

I said that, that it's four weeks then, but the HR rep said the reason it's 7 days is because it takes 3 weeks for the red tape etc after you've chosen, if it takes longer than that then the housing department have to pay for the hotel so it's not on HRs budget. But if it takes 3 weeks to find somewhere then another 3 weeks for red tape, that comes out of HRs budget, and they won't have that. He was really insistent on the 7 days, but he did say do all your research before you go out, contact agents etc, so you're prepared.


Don't see what they can do if it takes longer though. (unless they will just chuck you out)

tonysprings

I agree with Al, I think what is happening here is everyone is talking themselves out of the job on offer without receiving hard info. My advice is to sit tight and wait for the offer before big decisions are made,

Eva

You guys are stressing too much too early.
Some of you sound desperate- understandable given job situ in Uk.
I don't want to dampen your spirits however if this is your first experience
of employ in the UAE,please remember the E stands for Emirates.7 of them,each
ruled by an Emir...he commands the Emirate( i.e Abu Dhabi or Dubai et al)
So forget Labor Law,Health&Safety,Contract Law & ECHR etc.....
Forget timelines,forget interview protocol,forget offer of contract.
Most importantly, forget the original offer and job description.
If you get to signing contract stage,check the deal thoroughly as conditions
will/ could have been honed in that time in favour of employer.
What you first applied for is probably foreign to what you are about to
sign up to.

Planning is good however don't commit to anything I.e resigning from your current position,selling your home etc until you have airline tickets in your hand backed up with serious evidence of accomodation.You will probably have subsequent wrestling matches- verbal- to confirm family conditions of contract..ie school fees,housing etc.
Bizybee is right to point out that things have changed somewhat since a member of the forum used to live in AD.I no longer live full time in AD but still have staff there...I can tell you in a period of 7 years,more people are looking to work in AD for lesser packages -simply because -as you know,opportunities elsewhere are diminishing rapidly.
There is a good life to be had in UAE so just kick back and wait for the interview outcomes.....wait,wait,wait.
Good practice for,when you arrive there.....
Hope this helps and good luck to you all.

P.s plenty of people have been chucked out of hotel accommodation- I know of people employed by the Government in AbuDhabi as business ambassadors/ advisors being chucked out on the street because there was no cheque/ payment for past month's accommodation so absolutely no chance of extension...

Eva

JLF1970

Totally agree, keep calm and carry on lol!
If the offer doesn't tick all the boxes then it'll be a very simple decision to make really, but being positive I hope it all works out!

tonysprings

Cheers Eve...good info...