Dubai Forums Dubai Expat Forums Dubai Expat Help Forum

Hi,
I have read virtually all the expat forums about Dubai and understand that cost of living is amazingly high over there. I am a 25-year old Australian who has just finished her Master's degree in Finance in a prestigious university. I have received an offer from one of the big consulting firms and it came a 'shock'! 35k USD all inclusive, meaning no rent assistance, no transportation, etc except for a yearly ticket back home and medical insurance. From what I've read from the forums, one should not receive less than $18k AED/month to have a decent life. However I am only offered about half of it! I do not have any relevant work experience in the field being offer but I am extremely interested in the position. I am leading a decent life in Australia, I would not mind taking a step back to take up a position which I am genuinely interested in, however I do not wish to be 'struggling' with my life if I move over to Dubai!
What do you think about $35k? Is negotiation possible considering I am a graduate? Any suggestion is appreciated!

Btw, the office is located in Deira...

niuniu wrote:Hi,
I have read virtually all the expat forums about Dubai and understand that cost of living is amazingly high over there. I am a 25-year old Australian who has just finished her Master's degree in Finance in a prestigious university. I have received an offer from one of the big consulting firms and it came a 'shock'! 35k USD all inclusive, meaning no rent assistance, no transportation, etc except for a yearly ticket back home and medical insurance. From what I've read from the forums, one should not receive less than $18k AED/month to have a decent life. However I am only offered about half of it! I do not have any relevant work experience in the field being offer but I am extremely interested in the position. I am leading a decent life in Australia, I would not mind taking a step back to take up a position which I am genuinely interested in, however I do not wish to be 'struggling' with my life if I move over to Dubai!

What do you think about $35k? Is negotiation possible considering I am a graduate? Any suggestion is appreciated!

Btw, the office is located in Deira...

Hard one. what I would say first is: "There are no olympic medals for best start"

I image you might get a range of answers including ones from those making the same amount of money and saying that you woudl be crazy to take the job (which gives the impression they make a lot more - strange but true).

In any event, the money is rather low for an expensive city. But if you are single and don't mind sharing a flat/villa with others then it won't be extreme harship. Most likely you will need a car. Although, if the job is in Deira the accomodations there are cheaper and you might get away with taking taxis to work (but won't have the flexibility on the weekends).

I depends on what you want to do: Experience (work experience) or a job to save. Most 25 year olds don't save - I know from experience.

Many professionals manage on less than that even in Dubai - really.

Obviously you will want to get more but perhaps gaining the experience (as a recent graduate) for less money now will get you the big salary down the road and once you average salaries it won't be so bad.

On the otherhan, if you have a job and a decent standard of living in Australia and the only reason to come to Dubai is for more money then stay put - as the offer isn't giving you that. Remember, if you do come at that salary you would pretty much be stuck with it for a year (immigration/labor laws).

All the best.

...they're offering that to you because they can.

I've seen recent people, with business experience, in my age range (I'm 28), with MBA's (from a crappy American school), making 125kAED/yr, and a car allowance (I've seen their contracts). Mind you, they're straight from Pakistan.

In the end, it's really up to you. If you actually plan on living in Dubai, you're going to have to share a rather big villa/flat with people.

Dubai is not the best place to "learn" I find. The only things I've learned in Dubai when it comes to my field is the cultural differences (duh), and taxation issues (I'm in the wireless field). I feel like I'm teaching people here more often than not in my field.

But, Dubai's lifestyle has its perks. If you're a half decent looking girl and you don't smell, you will be flooded with offers of free food, booze, and entertainment from the flocks of single expat guys here. But keep in mind that the t3sticle festival that is Dubai is also filled with a lot of geeky guys that have no game. So be prepared to be flattered, but not impressed.

(For the record, anyone who uses dubai forums has game. let's keep the peace here).

Beyond that, I would probably encourage you to seek out a consulting position instead of a standard accounting type of package. Also, everyone I know who has worked for one of the big 6 has always commented on the bonus packages. You should find out the details about that, and if it's based on billable hours, you might at least get some money out of that... (3% of billable revenue is the bonus I used to get back in Toronto as a consultant).

Hope that helps.

djl

It's shockingly low, you won't be able to live a decent life unless you can share rent.

I work in management consulting, PM me if you want some info on companies and the market here. Despite what the person above says, working in management consulting is hugely interesting, I did it for 6 years in the UK prior to coming here and I'm loving the change of pace (if not always the pigheadedness of some decision makers).

I have worked in both Australia, Hong Kong, China and now in Dubai. In terms of experience I would encourage you to give China a go, it is a dynamic and fascinating market with loads of opportunities. The markets in GCC are also interesting, but really supported by the high oil prices more than anything else, and very often deals here don't quite make commercial sense. Nonetheless the money is good here and without tax it is quite attractive, but if the money is not there then China is your best bet, even in Shanghai now you can get away with decent accommodations and living conditions at dirty cheap prices, whilst getting invaluable experience.
PM me if you want to find out more.
Good luck with your endeavours.

...on second thought, i gotta agree with scot1870.

that deal sucks.

niuniu wrote:Hi,
IFrom what I've read from the forums, one should not receive less than $18k AED/month to have a decent life. .......
What do you think about $35k? Is negotiation possible considering I am a graduate? Any suggestion is appreciated!

Btw, the office is located in Deira...

First of all don't put the $$ sign when talking in Dirhams - it makes it confusing.

Secondly no chance in hell or heaven that you'll get 35. If you are single - anywhere from 15,000 AED inclusive of allowances and up will allow you to live a good lifestyle. Note that is $5000 tax free per month equivalent in . You may not get 60,000 after tax in Aus first yr out of uni. But def do not come for less than 15 K AED.

You finished your Master's Degree but don't have relevant working experience. Employer's point of view, the offer is fair enough for an entry level. Employer would still invest on your training and some other things. If you've exemplary performance at work then you can negotiate for an increment.

For a stepping stone, you can consider the offer. Take it or leave it.

IMHO, get your relevant experience in Australia first then apply for another expat position. I believe companies are only willing to pay if you can contribute skills & knowledge.

Believe me...I'm able to demand a better package (but of course, most of the members here have way better package than mine) because I'm a CPA with one of the big 6 accounting firm experience + a few years in the capital market.

So, you may want to re-think on getting your "early years" experience in Aust first. But again, you're single....so you only have to worry about feeding yourself.

niuniu wrote:
What do you think about $35k? Is negotiation possible considering I am a graduate? Any suggestion is appreciated!

Almost everyone else are graduates too so, bottom line is what you can contribute to the company to deserve 35k!!!

But Big 4 charge grads out at $1000+ a day, that's the difference to any other job. Sure, you can't expect the high life straight away, but something in line with what value you bring a company can be expected.

i'm probably gonna get flamed for this but............

YOU ARE A FRESH GRADUATE!!!!!

you've got no experience whatsoever and you've only got your thesis to back you up. And here we have Management Consultants bragging about their big salaries and saying you should not take anything less than blah blah blah.

heed the other's advice and get a couple of years experience in Australia before coming out and expecting a huge pay packet.

and guys.......here you are telling niuniu to demand more when obviously you have no idea what sort of background she has, the sort of communicator she is, the quality of work that she is capable of producing, blah blah blah....

just my 2 cents.....FLAME AWAY!!!

Who was bragging about salaries?

Graduate or not, management consultancies generally don't recruit morons and compete only with investment banks for the top graduate talent. I don't know this person but they'll undoubtedly have come through a very tough process against many other people to get an offer. In Europe or the US, a starting salary is double that offer. Yeah they pay tax there, but they also get pensions and benefits not given here too.

One of my real bugbears over here is the inability of many people to accept that young people can be talented - they don't have to 'serve their time' as too many cultures expect, if there's a market rate for you then you should go for it.

scot.... niuniu said consulting....not management consulting. thats 2 different areas.

true....even if we are not talking about the likes of Mckinsey and PA Consulting the Big 4 like EY, Accenture, PWC or KPMG would usually pick the cream of the crops in Universities....but then again i've worked with quite a number of them in various countries and they are really not all that. there are a higher number of smart ones but most of them just go thru their production line and come out as "con-sultants" that produce mediocre work.

anyway...i'm not here to judge anyone.... so if niuniu doesn't feel that he/she is getting a good price then ask for more.

dodgeek wrote:i'm probably gonna get flamed for this but............

YOU ARE A FRESH GRADUATE!!!!!

you've got no experience whatsoever and you've only got your thesis to back you up. And here we have Management Consultants bragging about their big salaries and saying you should not take anything less than blah blah blah.

heed the other's advice and get a couple of years experience in Australia before coming out and expecting a huge pay packet.

and guys.......here you are telling niuniu to demand more when obviously you have no idea what sort of background she has, the sort of communicator she is, the quality of work that she is capable of producing, blah blah blah....

just my 2 cents.....FLAME AWAY!!!