Job Discussion Forums

[niro]

Hello everyone,

I have been offered a job in Abu Dhabi. The salary would be 18000 AED per month. Benefits include housing, air line tickets, medical insurance �

What do you think about the proposed salary? (I am married and I have, actually, one child)

Also, I greatly appreciate any advice/tips on Abu Dhabi.

Thanks a lot

[pwrgrl]

How many years of education do you have? How many years of experience do you have?
Who is the offer with? Is your child school aged?

[slaqdog]

18,000.00 SAR

=

4,800.02 USD
Sounds,actually,alright
(what's his 'years of education' got to do with the price of fish? or do you mean qualifications/years teaching?)

[helenl]

Is your child school aged? Do the benefits cover education? In the past, just getting into a school has been a big issue (especially this late in the year).

Also, is it a housing allowance or do they provide you with accomodation?

[marianthelibrarian]

Hello Niro,

From your last post in the KUSTAR thread, it appears you are contemplating an offer with KUSTAR as a faculty member in the regular university curriculum (i.e., not the Foundation program). If that's the case, I'm thinking you have been offered an allowance package, as opposed to actual housing provided by the university. So really your salary doesn't mean very much without some idea of the allowance number - the entire package will tell you whether you will be able to find acceptable accommodation in Abu Dhabi for you and your family.

Keep in mind that money is fungible - so even though your base salary seems quite reasonable, if they are only offering you, say, an allowance package of 100K Dhs per year, that's not enough. On the other hand, even if your base salary were a bit lower, but your allowances were on the order of 300K Dhs per year, you would be better off in the end. Salary numbers by themselves are pretty meaningless.

What is your field, by the way? You mentioned "other faculty" in a previous post. I'm asking because if you are an engineer, I don't understand why you would come to an ESL board to ask salary questions (I made that mistake too, and am lurking here only because I've seen some activity related specifically to KUSTAR).

If you are not getting housing supplied outright, have you started looking at the housing market in Abu Dhabi? It has certainly come down from its peak this past winter, but you will still be looking at over 300K Dhs/year for a suitable apartment on the island (generally paid in one check upon signing the lease). Villas on the island will be more on the order of 400K per year. Less costly if you want to live out in Khalifa City A or Al Raha (where villas are now going in the low-200s) but in my opinion that area is a sandpit and the commute can be deadly.

HelenL is absolutely correct about schooling. There are waiting lists galore and it seems that many families end up deciding where to live solely based on availability of spaces in schools.

[veiledsentiments]

And no one has mentioned an education allowance for the child. School fees are very high.

VS

[ap4058]

Is your job with ADEC? If so then you won't get schools fees included in your package. If it is with an international school, then your child will have a place there for free or with a small contribution.

[Zoot]

niro, you haven't given enough information for people to help you. Where will you be teaching, is the 18,000Dhs in addition to all other allowances including your child's school fees, are your utilities to be paid for etc?

[veralynn]

As someone 'on the ground' I'd just like to point out that Linguist's numbers are now a little out.
3 bed apartment on island c. Dhs250k
4 bed villa on island c. Dhs350
I mentioned on another thread that apparently prices are 'due' to drop with the alleged exodus. I'm personally not convinced about this but watch this space....

[marianthelibrarian]

Veralynn, you are likely correct - I was erring on the high side, and actually, villas in the *prime* areas are still up in the half-mil zone. Depends on where you want to be. Mushrif and Muroor will cost less than Khalidiya and Bateen, of course. As for the exodus - there are signs it's happening and signs it's not. We'll wait and see!

As for Niro, he's been posting on another forum as well - generally in a vague sort of a way. Some days back he was asking about KUSTAR on this forum, the other day he asked about AD University on the other. Looks like he's got a PhD, and my guess is it's in engineering or physics or somesuch. I don't think it's in communication.

[veralynn]

[pwrgrl]