# Received a Job Offer - Advice Needed



## judicious (Oct 22, 2008)

Hello

I have just received my job offer and although I have a few questions to ask the company, the main facts were all included. I would like to ask those of you out there if it is viable for me to take the job.

My Accommodation and my Transportation is to be provided by the company, along with Medical Insurance and flight tickets (every year (one-way ticket) / two years (two-way ticket)).
Annual leave is one month paid by the hotel.
Now here comes the part that shocked me, my monthly Salary is 3000AED.

Now let me tell you a little bit about myself, I am 21 and the job I have been offered is as a customer service supervisor in a hotel.
I am really keen on moving to Dubai but would like to know, would I be able to live comfortably (not extravagantly) and also save some money monthly on 3000AED?

Thank you


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## Andy Capp (Oct 5, 2008)

AED3000/month, well it's certainly survivable, all depends on your outgoings...

You certainly wont be partying every night....


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## judicious (Oct 22, 2008)

Andy Capp said:


> AED3000/month, well it's certainly survivable, all depends on your outgoings...
> 
> You certainly wont be partying every night....


That's what I was thinking, I don't drink etc so leisure for me would probably be restricted to sheesha cafes/cinema/eating out.

How much would you reckon a fairer salary would be monthly?

I have heard that you can live fairly comfortably on 1500AED/month (for food etc), is this true?


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## Maz25 (Jul 6, 2008)

The salary is very low but without knowing your current lifestyle, it would be impossible to say for sure. If you can negotiate something more, then by all means, go for it. It's always a good idea to do your homework on the typical cost of living here so that you can back your demands for more cash with hard facts.


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## judicious (Oct 22, 2008)

Maz25 said:


> The salary is very low but without knowing your current lifestyle, it would be impossible to say for sure. If you can negotiate something more, then by all means, go for it. It's always a good idea to do your homework on the typical cost of living here so that you can back your demands for more cash with hard facts.


I live in the UK and have done for most of my life, I am university educated and I would say I come from a working class background.

I have relatives in the UAE and infact the job is through family, I am not looking for the "high life" so to speak but to be able to live comfortably and save a little ech month (£300/month or so).

The salary I had in mind was about the 6k mark but when the offer came through I must say I was a bit shocked. I will try to negotiate a higher salary, I reckon I could get it upto 4k or maybe 4.5k.

Would this be enough?
I just dont want to come across and struggle.


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## Maz25 (Jul 6, 2008)

3000 AED is actually £480 (bear in mind that the pound is worthless at the mo, so once it picks up, your salary will go down!).

I like to think that there is no family in business, i.e. just cause someone is related to you, you do not have to accept a low salary or so anything for that matter that you wouldn't have done if you didn't know your prospective employer. What's your main aim in coming here? Is it all about the money or are you looking to experience a different culture, etc. 

Crazymazy kindly wrote a long essay in the post entitled 'Expected salary?'. If you do a search and can follow all he wrote (he lost me halfway!), then you will be able to do a rough calculation of a fairer salary. As a general rule though, I never advise people to move for less than they were originally on!

I lived in the UK for 6 years and my employer made me an offer based on what I was earning in the UK! I appreciate that rent is being taken care of and that would undoubtedly have been your biggest outgoing but I believe that if you come here, you also need to have enough money to do all the cool stuff. I appreciate that you do not drink - I didn't drink a lot when I was in the UK but I'm fast learning. There are loads of stuff to do here like trips to the desert, skiing, diving, shopping, trips to the museums, trips to other GCC countries and all that require money. It would be unfortunate for you to miss out just cause you cannot afford it and there is no time like when you are young for you to do all the cool stuff.


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## judicious (Oct 22, 2008)

Maz25 said:


> 3000 AED is actually £480 (bear in mind that the pound is worthless at the mo, so once it picks up, your salary will go down!).
> 
> I like to think that there is no family in business, i.e. just cause someone is related to you, you do not have to accept a low salary or so anything for that matter that you wouldn't have done if you didn't know your prospective employer. What's your main aim in coming here? Is it all about the money or are you looking to experience a different culture, etc.
> 
> ...



Thanks for the reply, I agree with you that there should be no family in business and the person in question is a reasonable man and open to negotiation so I will make sure and try and negotiate as much as I can.

The main aim of my coming to Dubai is to get away from the UK (due to some unfortunate circumstances) which is the reason why im more willing to accept quite a bit less than I would make here. As you pointed out the £ is equal to 6 AED's at the moment and once the £ goes back up my salary will take a further dip so that will be one of the points I will use when speaking to the company.

I understand that living in Dubai you need money to do all the extra activities on offer but as I mentioned I just need out of the Uk at the moment and also I have visited Dubai on holidays a few times before.

I will have a look at the "Expected Salary?" thread and have a go at the calculations.

Thanks for your reply


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## Gaza (Sep 22, 2008)

judicious said:


> I have relatives in the UAE and infact the job is through family, I am not looking for the "high life" so to speak but to be able to live comfortably and save a little ech month (£300/month or so).


That would leave you around £180 a month for food and clothing. Can you really live on that? If you can you would be better of living in the UK and finding a job that paid a bit more. A salary of £15k per year would leave you with £1000 a month after tax and NI. Find a house share somewhere at about £150 a month and you will still have £850 a month. Chances are an employer would also put a minimum of 5% in a pension for you. Not enough to build a good retirement fund but at least it is something.

You also need to look carefully at what sort of accomodation they are offering. Is it sharing? If yes, ask exactly who you will be sharing with and how the arrangements work. Someone on here a few weeks ago arrived to find she was in a 1 bed apartment with two philipinos sharing a curatined off area of the lounge.

My opinion would be for you to stay in the UK at that sort of salary level. As a uni grad you should be able to find soemthing that pay more than you have been offered.


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## Maz25 (Jul 6, 2008)

Good Luck! 

Just bear in mind that Dubai is a wonderful place, full of great things to do, so do not let your current situation cloud your judgement when you start your negotiations. You might not think that you would want to venture outside and experience all that Dubai has to offer but trust me, you will! I have loads of friends on this forum and since I've known them, I've been out every weekend and I think that if you got to know some of the crazy people on here, you would be out all the time. Even if you think you do not want to go out, just budget for it when you negotiate your salary.

Edit: Picking up on what Gaza has said, remember that your degree is worth something. Use it to your advantage to get a better job if you can. Sometimes, it is better to stay in the UK for a couple more months if it means coming out here on a much better package, that will allow you to live comfortably, save and still have a good time.


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## judicious (Oct 22, 2008)

Gaza said:


> That would leave you around £180 a month for food and clothing. Can you really live on that? If you can you would be better of living in the UK and finding a job that paid a bit more. A salary of £15k per year would leave you with £1000 a month after tax and NI. Find a house share somewhere at about £150 a month and you will still have £850 a month. Chances are an employer would also put a minimum of 5% in a pension for you. Not enough to build a good retirement fund but at least it is something.
> 
> You also need to look carefully at what sort of accomodation they are offering. Is it sharing? If yes, ask exactly who you will be sharing with and how the arrangements work. Someone on here a few weeks ago arrived to find she was in a 1 bed apartment with two philipinos sharing a curatined off area of the lounge.
> 
> My opinion would be for you to stay in the UK at that sort of salary level. As a uni grad you should be able to find soemthing that pay more than you have been offered.


These are exactly my thoughts but the issue is that I _need_ out of the UK for a while (a year or two) and will probably use this job as a stepping stone, I will have a discussion with the employer hopefully this evening as I need some things cleared up such as accomodation etc.


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## judicious (Oct 22, 2008)

Maz25 said:


> Good Luck!
> 
> Just bear in mind that Dubai is a wonderful place, full of great things to do, so do not let your current situation cloud your judgement when you start your negotiations. You might not think that you would want to venture outside and experience all that Dubai has to offer but trust me, you will! I have loads of friends on this forum and since I've known them, I've been out every weekend and I think that if you got to know some of the crazy people on here, you would be out all the time. Even if you think you do not want to go out, just budget for it when you negotiate your salary.


Thanks, I certainly will need all the good luck I can get 

I will take my time to think things through and get in touch with a few people in the UAE and try and get as many different opinions as possible before taking this job on!


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