1970dub

Hi everyone,
I have been reading and laughing at posts over the last few months in my never ending research quest. A bit about myself- I am a married father of three kids currently working as a civil engineering project manager in the water sector in Ireland. I have 18 years post grad experience and i am chartered. However i have no ME experience. Due to economic situation here, i am looking to move to ME primarily to save money.
I have been contacted by an international consultancy and I have an interview scheduled for next week for work in Saudi/Qatar.
My wife is planning to stay at home for the first year and if it works out will follow on after 12 months. She might bring the kids as well
Should the salary expectation question arise, i was wondering whether anyone would have an idea of ballpark salary ?Realistic package?
I don't want to aim too high or worse too low.
Best wishes,
Dub

Patsy Stoned

Hi..please do a search..this question has been asked over and over.

However, depending on your children's ages and if the company are going to pay housing/schooling.
WTF does this mean... She might bring the kids as well.... leave them at home??

OriginalSunshine

Patsy - he's Irish and 43 years old. How old do you think his kids are?

Patsy Stoned

He could have started fatherhood at 15..so they could be in their 20's by now
If they are male and over 18 and not in full time education he wouldn't be able to sponsor them anyway.

1970dub

That was meant to be a joke!!

1970dub

Sorry just to clarify my wife and kids will be staying at home for the first year so that I am not uprooting them unnecessarily should the ME be a non runner.
I would be looking for school for the gang (9,5,2) eventually if all works out.
I have actually done a search however most of the package pertains to structural engineers with far less experience that myself.
As aforementioned I have 18 years post grad and will primarily work in water civ eng not construction.
I couldn't find any posts dealing with water/environmental engineering.
So by any chance if there was anyone out there who could assist I would be delighted and could certainly buy you a beer in Doha or a juice in KSA.
Cheers

britexpat76

Scamp is your man with Construction salaries mate. Qatar is a place you can live and function a relatively normal life, whereas Saudi is an absolute shit hole.

scot47

A lot depends on your employer. Get a good employer and decent housing and Saudi can be okay.

1970dub

Thanks for the replies so far.

I was out in Qatar already. Stayed in a 'hotel' on the c road - enough said. Once I got to a mate's compound in Al wabb thought it was quite nice. Driving is a bit nerve wrecking though. Bit of a wing and a prayer.....many butters with great metal under them!

1970dub

S&@t that was meant to be nutters not butters( stupid ipad)

britexpat76

La Cigale or Radisson on C Ring are ok, anything else will be a dry hotel and best avoided. If you think Qatar driving is bad you have not seen anything compared to Saidi drivers. Fortunately in Doha they don't get chance to build up enough speed for a big accident, you don't have that in KSA. Main thing here is you don't have to live in a compound.

Johnnyboy11

I can help with Qatar, based on your post:

Huge demand for Chartered Engineers with Water Industry exp. Massive investment programme kicking off (QR100bn over 5-10 years in sanitation alone). UK/ Irish Chartered Engineers are very highly sought after.
QR 40-55k/m for 48 hours a week (usually 5 days, but 6 if site based)
Car rental 2.2k/m (Sunny) to 4k/m (Prado)
Accommodation: QR8k for a basic 2-bed furnished flat, up to 16k/m on the Pearl
Schooling: Expensive, hard to get and poor quality, QR60k/ year / kid
Advice: leave the wife and kids at home. They visit you during school hols and you visit them during your hols. Try this for a year or two to build up some experience and contacts, then take things from there.
Tax free if you meet the statutory non-residency requirements, so you'd be mortgage free in a couple of years, even with three kids.

Work for a UK consultant, or a US one as a second choice. Dominant players out here are:
Hyder
Atkins
CDM Smith
Parsons Brinkerhoff
KBR
Parsons International
CH2MHill
Ashghal (Public Works)
Kharamaa (Water and Electricity)

If I were you I'd spend a day on Google finding out the email addresses of the Consultants' Technical/ Regional Directors out here and firing them a CV. You'll be placed in a week or two, usually a Skype interview will do.

Watch the Sponsorship thing, you'll be locked to your employer and facing a 2-year ban if you leave your job. There are no employment rights whatsoever, so choose wisely.

[J]

flares

CH2M Hill are doing water tunnel around Abu Dhabi. One of the top PMs is an Irish lad. Abu Dhabi much nicer than Qatar and Saudi if you can get a gig there

Johnnyboy11

Funny you say that, but a Scottish lad is one of the top PMs heading up the IDRIS Programme in Qatar, where CH2MHill are the PMC.

OriginalSunshine

you'll need to negotiate well then - you need to make sure that your offer includes either schooling directly paid when you bring your kids over, or a schooling allowance when you bring your kids over. same for flights etc.

but being away from littlies for a year? at their age?

in engineering you normally only get a one day weekend, so if you or they want to meet up more than once it's going to be super expensive.

they'll only get 30 day visas, and you dont want them here over the summer if you can avoid it. and you wont have enough annual leave to visit them during school holidays.

in your situation I'd shit or get off the pot. bring them, or don't come here. nowt in between.