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Women Working in Qatar

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Wild
  11/19/2004 00:24 EST

Hi I"m a Canadian woman considering a position in Qatar. I have worked in ENgland previously, but the middle east is scaring some of my friends. Its via an employment agency based in the UK. Any scams afoot? i.e. how much of my pay would the agency be skimming, typically? Is pay very good in Qatar? Is it truly tax free?

I'll put up with a bit of risk, but what is the environment there currently, with regard to western women working in Qatar?

All info deeply appreciated!

Smith
  11/19/2004 18:29 EST

Hi there

I am also a canadian from Mississauga who has a bit of idea about Qatar. In fact Qatar is quite different from other Gulf countries. It is very much like what Dubai (UAE) is. Its quite liberal from western point of view and women in general can roam around without any problem. Yeah I know there are lot of agencies based in UK who are currently working for Gulf employers. I am not sure what your terms of employement are but in general good headhunters do not charge to the employees rather they get a good service fee from the employer. I don't know who is your prospective employer and what level of career you are but in my opinion the salary range should be 10,000 plus in addition to accomodation allowance. Yes but whatever cash/benefits you get are 100% tax free.

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Wild
  11/20/2004 21:01 EST

Thanks Smith! Are you currently in Qatar, or now back in Mississauga? (I'm in longbranch). Bit confused by 10,000 plus, did you mean a premium of 10,000 to salary here? My job here pays 100k, how do you think salaries translate to Qatar?

Thanks again,

Smith
  11/23/2004 09:56 EST

Hi Wild

Basically I am a finance guy who is currently in Mississauga and with my finance background I look at the things from financial perspective. By knowing how much you are making over here I can well understand the risk you are taking not from the security point of view but from career point of view. I believe that the experience of Gulf is not acceptable anywhere in North America therofore I always look for a premium to cover that risk. Keeping in view this risk I personally feel that the salary in Gulf should be enough to pay off your existing mortgage within 5 years plus you can have the same quality of life in Gulf and save money as well. This is personal view which you may not agree with. Therefore I think a salary of US$ 10,000 plus is a good figure in which you will get a good furnished accommodation from the company plus furniture allowance plus car allowance (don't worry about gas its cheaper than bottled water). The normal rent in Gulf ranges from 60 - 65 K riyal which is close to 20,000 CDN and if you are not bargaining on a good salary you may get an housing allowance (to cover the basic accmmodation or you put money from your own pocket to get a good accmmodation). If you are going on the current salary level or above then my guess is that you are joining in one of the QP subsidiaries. By the way the headhunter you are dealing with is Hays International ??

Regards

Wild
  11/23/2004 12:59 EST

Hi Smith, thanks for the reply! Until recently I worked in finance myself (volunteering my time/ideas on sports boards). So I understand what you mean by a risk premium.

I am considering a position through CLR Global (headhunter in UK, heard of them??) who represent the DOHA 2006 Games. The recruitment agency seems very interested, more correspondence from them than a month on monster.ca!!! And I've applied rigorously to positions in my area (marketing/PR/communications). There have been so many layoffs in finance here, as you probably know, with all the M&A going on.

I have British experience, so was thinking of checking out the market there too, which is how I ran into CLR's positions in Qatar.

I've heard of Hays, probably seen their job boardon line.

I'm still confused. 10000US+...do you mean Per Month? THat's about $144k per annum CAD?? That's a, what, almost 40% risk premium? With a risk premium like that, If this job were an investment, it would be a covered derivatives strategy!

Do you mean 10 thousand PER MONTH, US?

FlyingScot
  11/24/2004 10:42 EST

Hi there,
My advice would be quite simple - if the money is right, take it. FYI I have just come back from spending last week-end in Doha on a first time visit and have accepted a job out there. I am very well travelled, and felt safer than in many US cities. I currently live and work in the UK and my sense is that the salaries out there are on a par, or slightly more than you would expect in London, with the added benefit of tax free.
I checked out the supermarkets, electrical goods, cars and clothes and the only thing more expensive than the UK was milk. Everything else was 15-30% cheaper, especially cars. I hooked up with another guy who was from Montreal and even he thought the prices were good too.
good luck,

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FlyingScot
  11/25/2004 12:45 EST

Hi,
I just returned from spending last week-end in Doha and have accepted a job there. I am not female, but I must say I felt perfectly safe wandering around day/night. I also met up with a Canadian guy and we went to look at prices of food, electrical goods, clothes, and even cars. I only found one thing more expensive than the UK, and that was milk ! Most things were 10-30% less. My Canadian friend was surprised, too.
I will be taking my wife out there, and see no problems at all, except we might not be able to hold hands in the street !
regards,

edward1
  11/29/2004 22:28 EST

I notice your comment about Mid East experience not being regognised in the US. I am an Aussie with a US wife living in Australia ( getting complicated?)
I am considering an opprtunity in Qatar that is a good job with good money $US 100K + accom etc... We may want to move back to the USA one day and I am concerned that the experience will be not considered well. Where do you base your experience from?

Lauren
  1/31/2005 12:44 EST

Hey - Qatar is awsome.
I lived there for 11 years, with my parents who were working there at the time. It was a brilliant life, sun, sand and sea. High wages and yes its completly TAX FREE!!! No income tax, no taxes on bought goods or gas.
If you can possibly get a job there go for it!! I wish you the best of luck!!!

(im in University right now and im planning on going back there myself)

Jade
  3/3/2005 03:50 EST

Hi Wild.

I'm also considering a job thru' CLR. Do you have any updated info on them and are they legit? Pls reply - would appreciate your help. Thanks.

phillsar86
  3/9/2005 15:26 EST

Hi. I will likely be moving to Qatar within the next three months for a new position there. I am a single, American woman in my mid-20s and would love to hear any feedback on what I should expect. I've read as much as I can find about Qatar online and I know that it is a pretty open country. But some things say that single women may not be welcome in certain restaurants, etc. Has anyone experienced that?

Also, culturally how will I be perceived as a single woman living abroad? Will I receive lots of questions as to why I'm not living with my family, etc.? I love any feedback anyone may have on this. I''ve always wanted to live and work abroad and having the opportunity to do so in Qatar is something I'm really looking forward to.

Thanks so much!

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onyxvt
  3/10/2005 13:50 EST

Hi Wild:

I am a Canadian male also considering a job through CLRglobal in the UK. I also lived and worked in the Uk and have gotten lots of email from them. Please let me know what happened with your job and more details about the salary etc as we may become co-workers. My role is a Senior IT job,

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