Living in Oman
 

Moving with company at some point next year.
Really green about the whole expat life and looking for any good info about schools, accomodation, life style etc

Also salary expectations. No discussion with my employer about salary.
My package in UK is £50k per year plus healthcare etc.
What would a realistic expectaion be. Worried I might be shafted!

Cheers in advance!

Re: Living in Oman
 

You'll get some help here but you're probably better off looking on this forum which is more specific:

http://www.omanforum.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=13

Re: Living in Oman
 

Ok - things you need to ensure that are included either as additional to your salary (ie company provided) or as a provision by an extra allowance on top of your salary:

1. erm - this is actually compulsory - they cant just give you money for this one. you need health insurance, or company provided medical care (depending how big the company is, or if it is for the government). expats have to pay to use both public & private hospitals.
2. housing - look at taif.me.co.uk for realistic prices on housing. accommodation will depend on family circumstances (no of kids, which school they go to, where you work, where your wife works and if she doesnt, what kind of hangout things does she like to do
3. flights back home - either get one business class return trip for ALL family members at least once per year, or a cash equivalent
4. annual bonus - make sure this is specified in the contract what this is dependant on - eg a gratuity in lieu of pension fund provision, performance related annual bonus, no bonus, etc
5. cars & furniture - normally not included, but some lucky people get an allowance
6. utilities - again, normally not included in the package but some people can negotiate an allowance
7. schooling - the company should provide schooling either direct or as an allowance. there is one UK school, and one USA school and one mixed.
8. oops - that didnt quite work - meant to say - ABA is American British Academy, BSM is British School Muscat, TASIM is The American school (dont know what it fully stands for). You'll need to google to see which one suits, but all have horrendous waiting lists so if you are vaguely interested, get your kids on the waiting list for September 2011 (seriously!). There may be spaces already, but if you want your kids to go to a specific school you may need to leave your family back in the UK until school starts next year. Not saying that WILL happen, just MIGHT happen. If you end up not getting direct payment, but an allowance, look at the school website for what the horrendous fees are, and also allow for the complete rip off one time administration charge of about 2500 OMR per child!
9. clubs - try and negotiate with your company that they pay for membership for the family for at least one club
10. Oman is expensive, so you will have a fabulous lifestyle if you get the right package, but make sure all of what I said is in addition to your monthly wage otherwise you will find what looks a good salary, really isnt.
11. Oman is a fabulously safe place for a family - it's great :D any more questions, just ask