Richardjames

Hi everybody,

I am a UK citizen recently offered a job as a senior piping engineer for a large engineering oil company. I am going to negotiate the rate this week. I am thinking of 670K Qatari Rials annually, all inclusive. This is the minimum rate that I can convince myself to move for.

I have never been Qatar before and I have no clue about rates in Qatar. What I have in my mind is only based on my understanding from UK market.

I appreciate your input.

Regards

Richard

jam25mack

What does a senior piping engineer do?

55K a month seems like a lot of bunce to me.... especially when O&G and Qatar are on their ass.

co durham boy

That seems like decent money and you'll need good money in Qatar as it's very expensive and basically shit so you need compensating.

Millhouse

I would highly recommend you visit before you agree to anything, and certainly before you commit.

Richardjames

Thanks very much for your input. I persume you have lived in Qatar. There are lots of posts regarding average living cost in Qatar, I am not able to figure it out how much would be my monthly saving on average.

Me and my wife have not kids, for two Britons living average standards, I am trying to figure it out, how much I might be able to save. The contract is for 3 years initially.

I am also thinking about safety of my family, can you please comment on how safe is qatar for a brit family? especialy for women?

Thanks again

Richardjames

Thanks very much for your response. I received the offer for the job in principle. The plan arranged to negotiate the terms including salary this week.

I am asked to go to their office in Qatar to in December to visit.

Thanks again.

DXBtoDOH

I think the money is fine. You'll soon find that it'll be easy to spend almost all of it, equally it's also easy to be frugal and leave at the end of three years with gobs of savings. Up to you.

A few things:

Qatar is perfectly safe. There is very little crime. Women are treated just fine and dandy. They're not expected to cover up like Saudi. They can drive. The worst a western woman will experience in Qatar is in certain parts of Doha where you have a lot of labourers, they may stare a bit too intently.

But Qatar is a culturally conservative place. It's definitely not Dubai by any stretch of the imagination. Just dress modestly and behave modestly in public and you will be fine.

Qatar is a very quiet, very staid and dull place where you pay a whole lot of money for the privilege of living there. There's a few impressive pictures of West Bay and the Pearl if you google for them, but behind the veneer it's still a traditional if rapidly developing Arab country. Even the modern veneer of Qatar really isn't all that great, look more closely and you'll see how it truly lacks of the quality or professionalism you otherwise expect. Your biggest danger (other than boredom) is getting yourself trapped into a particular circumstance through no wrongdoing of your own but because the arcane laws haven't caught up with the times. Having said that, it is rapidly changing, half of Doha seems to be in the process of being demolished and rebuilt and there's a certain fascination with that (for me).

I'll parrot what others will doubtlessly say to you: avoid debt at all cost. Don't even take out a car loan unless you have plenty of money to pay it back quickly if needed. Don't get stupidly drunk in public. NEVER drink and drive. Whenever you encounter a local, be polite no matter what happens.

co durham boy

You sound like a bloke that's just about to board a plane to Doha

Decent post and all you need to know is in the above

DXBtoDOH

Har har har.

Three weeks to go till I walk the plank

Richardjames

Thank you so much for your response. Some very good information and points, you have just shared with me. I really appreciate it.

Richardjames

I have had the worse weekend this week, lots of thoughts and concerns in my mind. but, I think, I made my mind that I should go ahead with this.

thanks again for your support.

Richardjames

Thanks everybody for your input. I will keep you all posted regarding this position and may be my experience if got to that point

Regards

Rick

OriginalSunshine

Is English your first language, or are you just crap at typing...?

The reason I ask is that if you are originally from an Asian country (as your phrasing of words and sentences in the above posts suggest) you may find Qatar an altogether different experience, even if you are being paid a Western salary level.

Beaverstate

Perhaps carrying cash to the Clintons.

Richardjames

Not too bothered for my typo.
sorry to hear you hven't had a pleasant experience in duha as an Asian expat.