# Please help tell the salary package in Abu Dhabi as college lecturer



## Phillip988 (Oct 14, 2015)

Dear some nice friends,

I got an offer in IAT in Abu Dhabi as a lecturer. And because I am a newbie in UAE so I would like to know if my salary package is good or not for living that city, so my situation is like the followings:

1. Monthly salary is about 13000 AED. 
2. The relocation package offered is as follows:

..... Flights to and from country of origin.
..... Accommodation provided and to a high standard.
..... Medical care.
.... Travel to and from work.

3. I will move there by myself for the first 1 or 2 years, so I only need a place to live, for example, renting a studio apartment, usually how much does it cost to find a furnished one or unfurnished one there?

4. How about the monthly cost of food, roughly speaking.
5. Is it easy to get a 2nd hand car to solve the transportation problem? I have a Canada driving liscence.

6. How about the job as a lecturer there, I mean the working environment in IAT. The service of HR department there is good or not most of time as this related with the working culture there???

7. Is this city(Abu Dhabi) an international city, how about living there?

8. If I bring my family (I have one 7 yeas' old daughter) there, is it easy to find an English school for her and how much for her school each year?

I really need some friends' help who had work experience there.

Many thanks

Phil


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## AlexDhabi (Aug 23, 2012)

Hi Phil, It would help if you did your research first as some of your questions are quite basic.

1. Monthly salary is about 13000 AED. Typical teacher salary
2. The relocation package offered is as follows:

..... Flights to and from country of origin. Make sure this annual and not just start and end of contract. Also see if you can get the money instead of ticket.
..... Accommodation provided and to a high standard. Check what this entails and how it is paid for.
..... Medical care. Check whether optical and dental is covered (most is not) and also if you have to pay each time you see a doctor (in most cases you have to pay a minimum but my package I pay zero)
.... Travel to and from work. How will this be? Bus? What time will you need to depart from home in the morning for such an arrangement.

3. I will move there by myself for the first 1 or 2 years, so I only need a place to live, for example, renting a studio apartment, usually how much does it cost to find a furnished one or unfurnished one there? If your accommodation is provided why do you ask this question? It is possible to get all options. Bear in mind most unfurnished accommodation requires rent for a full year in advance.

4. How about the monthly cost of food, roughly speaking. Could be anything really depending on your taste and what you like to eat. Some labourers manage on less than 500 AED per month. Personally for food alone I spend about 5000 AED per month including eating out a few times.
5. Is it easy to get a 2nd hand car to solve the transportation problem? I have a Canada driving liscence. Yes you can buy a car. But if you need a car loan then you may have to go for new and not 2nd hand.

6. How about the job as a lecturer there, I mean the working environment in IAT. The service of HR department there is good or not most of time as this related with the working culture there??? Sorry I don't know IAT but UAE generally is poor in terms of HR and employee relations in my opinion and also work culture is international but not usually up there with western standards. 

7. Is this city(Abu Dhabi) an international city, how about living there? Yes it is an international city with hundreds of nationalities, multi-lingual but you can get by with English you will benefit from knowing some Arabic or Urdu. Living standards are generally high but you will pay dearly for it.

8. If I bring my family (I have one 7 yeas' old daughter) there, is it easy to find an English school for her and how much for her school each year? You won't be able to afford to bring any family to the UAE on that salary. School fees are very expensive and a little research using Google will tell you that. Also if your company provides accommodation for a single person you cannot easily bring your family as it may not be suitable (big enough).


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## Phillip988 (Oct 14, 2015)

AlexDhabi said:


> Hi Phil, It would help if you did your research first as some of your questions are quite basic.
> 
> 1. Monthly salary is about 13000 AED. Typical teacher salary
> 2. The relocation package offered is as follows:
> ...


Hi Alex,

Thank you so much for your almost complete info about all the aspects of my doubts! I really appreciate it !!!

----Based on culture there, whether people speaking English or from the West is quite welcomed by the locals, or it is just not a issue or something else??? 

----In addition, you mentioned some Arabic and Urdu with high living standard, whether are they easy for you to make friends with if you like to do? This is important as one needs to set up a social network there to do something both in his professional field and even finding another opportunities in some business even if he likes ...as you know, if one society is very "conservative" then everything becomes quite difficult right? 

----in addition, after work, one also needs to have a circle of friends and looking for other opportunities of career development after the contract is finished, especially we never know when the current contract will be ended...Someone told me in Dubai there are a lot of business opportunities or the other opportunities for the people who can speak English or from the West...whether this is true or not?

-----For 15000AED/Mon, excluding the cost (internet, telephone, gas, food, social activity of hanging out sometimes), how much can be left net in the pocket? About 8000AED? 8000AED= 2800 Canadian dollars ??? what do you think?

-----Is there any big challenge when one lecturer interacts with the local students in college?

Hope to hear from you again!

Really thank you!

Phil


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## Racing_Goats (Sep 5, 2015)

As others have said there are a lot of factors involved, for an example assume your employer will provide accommodation suitable for your family of 3, and family medical cover, then a sample monthly spend could be:

Bills (utility, AC plus wifi tv): 1000
School fees: 2000-4000
Food for 2 Adults +1: 3000
Car hire or finance: 1500-2000

School fees will usually be paid each 3 month term in advance, cost estimate here is for low - middle of the range school; buying a car may need a deposit, insurance, etc paid upfront.

Other spending? Fuel or taxis/buses, school bus (1000 per term?), mobile phone credit (100 per month per phone with data), leisure/kids activities? Babysitter? Initial costs for furniture/appliances (estimate 5000 to get second hand, basic/minimum furniture and appliances for a small place - look at dubizzle website), school uniform, ++

It makes more sense to budget over the course of a year in UAE as a number of expenses have to be paid in advance and you need to consider cash flow over time rather than just monthly in and out.


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