arjal

Hi All,

I have been asked by a potential employer in dubai of my salary expectations, can anyone kindly advice.

I am a Mechanical Engineer (MEP) with 5+ years exp will be coming as a single person

Thanks in Advance

Bahtatboy

What colour are you? No, seriously.

arjal

are you being serious???

auzdafluff

Welcome to the Middle East. Yes, sadly colour does come into it.

I was once asked by a counter girl at Manchester Airport to describe Dubai in one word (after she found out I lived there). I said racist. I still stand by that to this day.

arjal

wow!!! well I am asian but look middle eastern light skinned, hope that helps

shiva

In terms of salary, no not really. Employers will automatically try to pay you less.

arjal

interesting what is a good salary per month is 20,000-25000 ok? including accommodation? for one person

shiva

For only 5 yrs experience and single yeah it's liveable but this place isn't cheap so more is always better. Accommodation is the killer. Search the forum for detailed breakdown. Autonomy had a good spreadsheet the other day, look for that

Bahtatboy

Which part of "No, seriously" didn't you undestand? My perception is that most western companies operating here don't discriminate...

arjal

I have an offer for an interview but they have said the package will be about as follows:

18k per month inc accommodation
+ flights
+ medical

Feels too low appreciate advice ??

shiva

its not far off what i'd have expected. you should be able to get 20k out of them easily, 25k doubtful on an 18k first offer

arjal

the company is based in Al Barsha, are there metro stations in the area? and the area itself is it nice?

Millhouse

it's beautiful.

auzdafluff

I'm on a similar package. If you're single and don't plan on going out every night of the weekend and dropping £100+ on beer, you should be fine.

Also, if they're based in Al Barsha, it means they'll most likely be in Al Barsha 1, which is where Mall of the Emirates is. Most of the office space in that area is walking distance from the mall. Also, there is a good range of apartments in that area. There are a lot of duff ones, but there are also some hidden gems.

arjal

Thanks for that I will try to negotiate for around if possible 21-22k what is the rent for a good apartment? in Al Bashra?