BillyBobbio

Hello all,

I am a qualified teacher, native English speaker and have been offered a position at Newton International School in Doha. With free accommodation and supposed amenities paid (bills, transportation etc), one air ticket for me (but I think not for my wife and 20 month old child),local medical coverage (again, I think only for me), the offer is 10,000 salary. We are not into a luxurious lifestyle and my inkling is that I could make a decent saving each month. Am I right in what I think? I would like to pay private medical insurance for my child. Any idea how much this would cost? I have other concerns too. The interview when I spoke to a high positioned person from the school, seemed to go well and all seemed well when applying for the teaching job. Since then, I have read a lot of negative comments about the possibility to be shafted financially and that the staff may be unhappy at that school. Does anyone know if this is still the case, as the posts are from a couple of years ago? Also, my wife is a medical geneticist, so she could be interested in work in maybe a year's time. Are there opportunities for professions like that? Thanking you in advance for any info really that can help me to decide whether to take this opportunity or not.

Debowing

10,000 QAR per month is a bit on the low side, even with accommodation paid...

BillyBobbio

Thank you Debowing for your quick reply.

I was comparing prices for groceries and thought that 10,000 would be plenty with savings to spare for all of this for my family (of 3). Is there something specific that maybe I am missing?

Benny80

Hey Billy, dunno how familiar you are with the Mid East but Qatar aint Butlins. The main reason most people come to Qatar is for the money, so you have to be saving a lot more than you could in other locations to make it worth it.

The ME forum has an "is it worth it?' calculator that gives a good idea of costs.

gottheTshirt

Why would anyone contemplate attempting to live here on QAR 10,000 month - am I missing something !! What is the point of Qatar if it is not to distribute the petro-chem dollars back to the people who paid it in. If you want to work for charity go to Africa - Qatar doesn't need philanthropist !!

BillyBobbio

Thank you for the advice.

Debowing

To put things in perspective you really should be getting an offer somewhere between 15k and 20k to make it worthwhile as first job in the Gulf. Qatar is a hard place for newcomers and it is even harder for those used to places like Dubai...I would suggest trying to negotiate this offer a bit up, at least QAR 15k...

BillyBobbio

Thank you for the advice. I have written to the school, but doubt the offer will be enhanced. You have helped me a lot. Cheers

Alexa

[QUOTE=BillyBobbio;11283483]Thank you for the advice. I have written to the school, but doubt the offer will be enhanced. You have helped me a lot. Cheers[/QUO

I would stay FAR away from the Newton or any "local" schools.