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So I got an offer from a company in dubai. I am a civil engineer specializing in precast concrete with 9.5 years of large construction experience. I have designed jobs up to 30 million dollars and part of team right now doing a 73million dollar structure.
The offer is:

17500 AED Salary
7500 AED Housing Allowance
2500 AED Car Allowance

Can anyone comment on this and let me know if I am being low balled. Is the car allowance too low to be driving a nice car? Is the housing allowance too low to live somewhere decent? Is 17500 AED take home money a good salary? How much of that 17500 AED would be spent a month on groceries/gas/entertainment? Should I be expecting more?

canadianguy wrote:So I got an offer from a company in dubai. I am a civil engineer specializing in precast concrete with 9.5 years of large construction experience. I have designed jobs up to 30 million dollars and part of team right now doing a 73million dollar structure.
The offer is:

17500 AED Salary
7500 AED Housing Allowance
2500 AED Car Allowance

Can anyone comment on this and let me know if I am being low balled. Is the car allowance too low to be driving a nice car? Is the housing allowance too low to live somewhere decent? Is 17500 AED take home money a good salary? How much of that 17500 AED would be spent a month on groceries/gas/entertainment? Should I be expecting more?

Sounds low if you are a real civil engineer [graduated from an acredited school, etc. - loads of fakers in Dubai]. As you are over 30 years old you should get a bit more perhaps.

Neverthelless, I've met at least one Architect who made 5,000 dhs per months for a year.

Based on your username I am assuming you are canadian and so you should analyze it by thinking whether $90K US dollars, tax free, are good enought to live in Toronto (balancing the fact tht the rent in Dubai is relatively more expensive but other things are not).

If you are single, then the salary is fine...

Check out a bunch of posts in help forum for the cost of living etc. Again, think big north american city for costs, NYC, San Fransisco, Toronto, etc... But sunny and no snow on the ground...

Good luck..

DP

canadianguy wrote:So I got an offer from a company in dubai. I am a civil engineer specializing in precast concrete with 9.5 years of large construction experience. I have designed jobs up to 30 million dollars and part of team right now doing a 73million dollar structure.
The offer is:

17500 AED Salary
7500 AED Housing Allowance
2500 AED Car Allowance

Can anyone comment on this and let me know if I am being low balled. Is the car allowance too low to be driving a nice car? Is the housing allowance too low to live somewhere decent? Is 17500 AED take home money a good salary? How much of that 17500 AED would be spent a month on groceries/gas/entertainment? Should I be expecting more?

I think for a 10 yrs exp civil eng in Dubai..( land of construction).. that too a white one.( ).. its a bit less.. u can go for a better bargain.. considering a western life style and expenses that are much different from an indian's or a pakistani's.. but like conci said.. if u are single it's ok.. but if u rate it on scale.. i think with 10 years exp.. it's a sal an indian would b offered.. if that matters to u .. u shouldnt b reading my post.. n also for the same reason I'm happy

TP

TP

Thanks for the replies. Actually the salary is a little less than the "indian" guy who works there now so yes I guess it is an "indian" salary. I will ask for more then.

by the way

what is DP? or TP?

How much money should I ask for?
Note I have experience in Canada and the US only.

canadianguy wrote:Thanks for the replies. Actually the salary is a little less than the "indian" guy who works there now so yes I guess it is an "indian" salary. I will ask for more then.

by the way

what is DP? or TP?

Ask for more don't let the bastards discriminate against you (assuming you are "indian", or whatever your race is, etc.).

DP means Double Post TP means (Taking Pills - actually means Triple Post although I've never seen it )

Good luck with the job.

I am a "white" canadian (British background) so does this mean us westerners make more money? Is our skill looked upon as being higher than a lot of other places?

canadianguy wrote:I am a "white" canadian (British background) so does this mean us westerners make more money? Is our skill looked upon as being higher than a lot of other places?

Yes Nigel,

You'll get more thant the equally qualified or better qualified non-western. Really.

Life is difficult.

C0NC0RD wrote:

canadianguy wrote:I am a "white" canadian (British background) so does this mean us westerners make more money? Is our skill looked upon as being higher than a lot of other places?

Yes Nigel,

You'll get more thant the equally qualified or better qualified non-western. Really.

Hehe. Yep. It's because Indians like to devalue themselves to the lowest offer.

LIFE .....sometimes is not fair.......

St.Lucifer wrote:

canadianguy wrote:So I got an offer from a company in dubai. I am a civil engineer specializing in precast concrete with 9.5 years of large construction experience. I have designed jobs up to 30 million dollars and part of team right now doing a 73million dollar structure.
The offer is:

17500 AED Salary
7500 AED Housing Allowance
2500 AED Car Allowance

Can anyone comment on this and let me know if I am being low balled. Is the car allowance too low to be driving a nice car? Is the housing allowance too low to live somewhere decent? Is 17500 AED take home money a good salary? How much of that 17500 AED would be spent a month on groceries/gas/entertainment? Should I be expecting more?

I think for a 10 yrs exp civil eng in Dubai..( land of construction).. that too a white one.( ).. its a bit less.. u can go for a better bargain.. considering a western life style and expenses that are much different from an indian's or a pakistani's.. but like conci said.. if u are single it's ok.. but if u rate it on scale.. i think with 10 years exp.. it's a sal an indian would b offered.. if that matters to u .. u shouldnt b reading my post.. n also for the same reason I'm happy

I dont have Dubai experience though. Its all Canadian for the largest company in Canada. This company wants me to teach them what I know from over here. Does any of this matter?

St.Lucifer wrote:

canadianguy wrote:So I got an offer from a company in dubai. I am a civil engineer specializing in precast concrete with 9.5 years of large construction experience. I have designed jobs up to 30 million dollars and part of team right now doing a 73million dollar structure.
The offer is:

17500 AED Salary
7500 AED Housing Allowance
2500 AED Car Allowance

Can anyone comment on this and let me know if I am being low balled. Is the car allowance too low to be driving a nice car? Is the housing allowance too low to live somewhere decent? Is 17500 AED take home money a good salary? How much of that 17500 AED would be spent a month on groceries/gas/entertainment? Should I be expecting more?

I think for a 10 yrs exp civil eng in Dubai..( land of construction).. that too a white one.( ).. its a bit less.. u can go for a better bargain.. considering a western life style and expenses that are much different from an indian's or a pakistani's.. but like conci said.. if u are single it's ok.. but if u rate it on scale.. i think with 10 years exp.. it's a sal an indian would b offered.. if that matters to u .. u shouldnt b reading my post.. n also for the same reason I'm happy

I dont have Dubai experience though. Its all Canadian for the largest company in Canada. This company wants me to teach them what I know from over here. Does any of this matter?

i think thats a great offer

studstar wrote:i think thats a great offer

Do you know the precast concrete industry?? Do you know about the engineering industry over there in Dubai? I this really a good offer?

canadianguy wrote:

studstar wrote:i think thats a great offer

Do you know the precast concrete industry?? Do you know about the engineering industry over there in Dubai? I this really a good offer?

nope, i dont, im in transportation and logistics. i do know that in general that sort of package is pretty good, im sure others get more and others get less, but if you think you can squezze say a couple more thousand dirhams by negotiating then good for you..

i just recently got my fleetcard and i realized i cant use all the gas i can buy, point is its all relative. but if you do all things in moderation, that offer you posted, will be more than enough.

They have incresed the offer to:

17500 AED Salary
10000 AED Living
2500 AED Car


From what I am seeing this is still too low?? One guy on this site says he is a surveyor and he makes 30000 AED/month + benefits and he is not an engineer?? This leads me to believe that I am being low balled for my experience and qualifications??

canadianguy wrote:They have incresed the offer to:

17500 AED Salary
10000 AED Living
2500 AED Car


From what I am seeing this is still too low?? One guy on this site says he is a surveyor and he makes 30000 AED/month + benefits and he is not an engineer?? This leads me to believe that I am being low balled for my experience and qualifications??

It looks like the company is not willing to play much ball with you in regards to salary negotiation. You did not say if you were single or married with kids. If you are single (or married with spouse contributing a good salary) you should take it and get some GCC experience under your belt. On the other hand if you have like 2 kids and a spouse with limited earning potential, you have to pass on the offer.

I am a single guy with 2 dogs. I have to counter offer with another salary as this one is not a fair one. They have low balled me from what I can see. I have a lot of experience which they know. I have to write them back soon. I guess i will go high then.

That housing allowance gets you more than you need. I have a 2 bed villa brand new for less than that. The car allowance might be low, but you can definately drive a functional NEW commuter car for that money. The question is, do you want to save or splurge? You can live pretty high on the hog by Canuck standards if you want to spend it all. If you expatriate yourself from Canada.. that offer is worth over 200K CAD pre-tax. If you are not earning in that ballpark now, take it.

I cashed in my chips and am enjoying it so far. After your probation period and you prove what you can do, you can negotiate more cash. Make sure that the rental increase is in your offer as well.(now 5% in dubai). That offer is a decent salary for a single guy with 2 dogs. You can still get the villa and finance the Lexus if you want. Do you know if you have competitors? If there is great competition, you might not be so bold. There are very qualified folks from Asia that work for less that can maybe do a better job, employers are realizing that these days.

Like the saying goes.. "poop or get off the pot". If the offer is better than what you have now, if you are looking for a change, if you are looking for a new experience, go for it.

canadianguy wrote:They have incresed the offer to:

17500 AED Salary
10000 AED Living
2500 AED Car


From what I am seeing this is still too low?? One guy on this site says he is a surveyor and he makes 30000 AED/month + benefits and he is not an engineer?? This leads me to believe that I am being low balled for my experience and qualifications??

Canadian guy, what makes u think that just cos a surveyor is earning more than u that is wrong? I'm a quantity surveyor and in my experience they earn more than engineers anyway! I'm from uk and start work in dubai next week. My package is 30k AED/month incl accom and car and i have only 3 yrs experience so sounds like ur expectations are too high.

So now they have increased it to:

27500 AED Salary
2500 AED Car
10000 AED Living

This is a much better offer in my eyes. I have been told though that designing high rises in Dubai I can get more. I need to research those companies now as well.

duncheski wrote:

canadianguy wrote:They have incresed the offer to:

17500 AED Salary
10000 AED Living
2500 AED Car


From what I am seeing this is still too low?? One guy on this site says he is a surveyor and he makes 30000 AED/month + benefits and he is not an engineer?? This leads me to believe that I am being low balled for my experience and qualifications??

Canadian guy, what makes u think that just cos a surveyor is earning more than u that is wrong? I'm a quantity surveyor and in my experience they earn more than engineers anyway! I'm from uk and start work in dubai next week. My package is 30k AED/month incl accom and car and i have only 3 yrs experience so sounds like ur expectations are too high.

Hmmm a surveyor making more than an engineer?? Sorry but thats not possible. In North America that is not the case and could never be. It takes a lot more education to be an engineer than to be a surveyor and they have more responsibility, hence they make more money.
My expectations too high?? Not at all...I make more than what you are making in Dubai here in Canada. Obviously in the UK they were even paying you less...wow! Glad I am not a surveyor now that they increased my offer again. Good thing I went to university and did a masters degree to be an engineer.
What degrees do you have again??

Get off your high horse about the quals/positions its all about negotiation in Dubai.
Accept the offer and come and enjoy the place.

scarlet wrote:Get off your high horse about the quals/positions its all about negotiation in Dubai.
Accept the offer and come and enjoy the place.

Sucks that you have to defend yourself to someone on this forum.

I know its about negotiating, thats why I am asking the questions!

Canadian Guy, time for me to chime in.

30K AED per month is plenty for a QS with that experience. Frankly QS' are a dime-a-dozen in this town and most of them are clueless...All they really know if 4th grade math and how to calculate area and volume on simple geometric shapes (ok, 5th grade for that one) and once heard of FIDIC


Good luck and shut up already!

Concord wrote:
Frankly QS' are a dime-a-dozen in this town and most of them are clueless...All they really know if 4th grade math and how to calculate area and volume on simple geometric shapes (ok, 5th grade for that one) and once heard of FIDIC

Has it got to do with the fact that they are mostly young, perhaps fresh grads who cant get a job in their own country therefore 0 experience? Or they are just plain "stupid"?