Housing fee on dewa bills/offer

[Maz25]

Originally Posted by hopeful

Don't worry, we won't be moving on this offer, its not doable in AD at all! The crazy thing is its with such a reputable company. Hubby says his QS section at work are all weird....least you get paid more to make up for it hey lol

Weird!! Ha ha! Considering that we are always referred to as brick counters, that might explain it!!!!

[Maz25]

Originally Posted by Shinjuku

Maybe they can't afford to pay more for engineers, after all their QSs wage bills

Ha Ha!! You love us really!!!! Who else will count all those bricks for you!!!

But seriously though, most agents in the UAE get about 25% of your package in commission, hence he won't be doing you a favour - more like doing his bank balance a favour, right after you've done him a favour by getting a highly paid job! Which agency are you dealing with? I dealt with Hill McGlynn and I was thoroughly satisfied with the service. To say the least, they were absolutely brilliant and efficient! I found UK based recruitment agents to be a waste of time. They are full of promises and nothing much else!

Have you tried the big UK contractors? I know that Mace, Laing O' Rourke and Balfour Beatty are out there, so if you haven't contacted them already, it might be worthwhile seeing what they have available in Dubai!

[hopeful]

Not sure what agency he's used, think he sent Cv's to a couple. He has had dealings with Hill Mcglynn in the UK, so I told him to send his CV to them last night, don't know if he did or not!

He sent a few applications last night direct to companies.....cutting out the middle is definitely wise, as you say the RA is getting a huge cut of your salary! I know hubby is really keen to get in with first company though, done some of the biggest projects in Dubai. The big boss has confirmed receipt of hubbies email asking for them to increase the offer and said he will consider the content and reply when he's back from the UK, sunday, so thats better than nothing.

Thanks for the advice, have fun counting bricks today lol

[Mocha]

Hello, I too used Hill McGlynn to search for jobs in Dubai and found them reasonable. I personally would prefer to cut the middle man out but found that it a little difficult, especially when I am not in Dubai! Good luck anyway!

Also, be mindful that when agents quote you a salary package (for my case at least), it usually includes basic pay (60%), housing (25%) and car/sundry allowance(15%) - just make sure you check with them the details of the salary package.

[Shinjuku]

I'm using HillMG as well. They've been pretty average so far, although i'll mark them down for even trying to sell me the idea that AED25k is a good deal.
May have a look at a few contractors, but have found before that switching from consulting to contracting is not straight-forward.

Hopeful,
Like others have said, I also suggest going through a UAE-based agency where possible. I sent couple of CVs out to UK ones, and have not even had a courtesy reply from any of them.

[Shinjuku]

Originally Posted by Mocha

Also, be mindful that when agents quote you a salary package (for my case at least), it usually includes basic pay (60%), housing (25%) and car/sundry allowance(15%) - just make sure you check with them the details of the salary package.

Mocha,
Can you explain what does car/sundry consist of?
This question has been nagging me, coz i was told the split will be: pay 50%, housing 25%, car 25%.
But i can't work out how the car allowance can be as high as housing, when housing is going to be the single highest expenditure.

[flossie]

Employers can divvie up the package anyway they like. So it doesn't really matter how much what is as you can just spend it how you like. They give you allowances because your end of service gratuity is worked out on your base salary. Therefore, the more allowances they give you, the less your base salary, the less you get paid when your service ends. I think it harks back to the old days when most people had housing supplied, not an allowance. A bit like DH's company does with our school fees. Ours just get paid which means that some colleagues packages are worth less (they have one or no children) and some are worth more (they have two children in high school). Sadly, not many company just provide housing since the rents shot up sky high.

I agree with your sums. I don't think it's possible to live on that in AD. But at least you checked it out before coming. Your DH's boss may not get paid more than that, but he may be in housing that's been available to the company for a number of years, in which case, he doesn't need more than that.

[Wilfie]

Hi Hopeful,

I think these guys are having a laugh. The agency I was with told me that the days of housing and car allowances were over. However, when I went to the interview I raised the question and found that all they are doing in trying to paint a bleak picture so that they look good when you get offered something more and you are then more likely to accept it.

Remember it is tax free so your hubbies offer will be compared to what you would expect to recieve after tax in your home country. You need to sit down and work out how much you need to live in AD and the negotiate on that. Don't get booged down with allowances, just work out the overall figure. If you can get this paid as a basic then it will mean your gratuity will be higher as you don't get it on allowances. If they don't budge then you should look elsewhere. There are lots of good agencies and even more opportunities.

It is easy to get tempted by the first offer as you get blinded by the wider opportunity and worried that you might miss out. If your husband is good at what he does there will always be an opportunity.

Good Luck!

[Wilfie]

Have a word with this guy:

m.cotgrave@hillmcglynn.com

He is based in Dubai nut looks after AD as well. He got me placed with Carillion and I know he is doing a lot of work with Leightons as well.

Good luck!

Originally Posted by hopeful

Not sure what agency he's used, think he sent Cv's to a couple. He has had dealings with Hill Mcglynn in the UK, so I told him to send his CV to them last night, don't know if he did or not!

He sent a few applications last night direct to companies.....cutting out the middle is definitely wise, as you say the RA is getting a huge cut of your salary! I know hubby is really keen to get in with first company though, done some of the biggest projects in Dubai. The big boss has confirmed receipt of hubbies email asking for them to increase the offer and said he will consider the content and reply when he's back from the UK, sunday, so thats better than nothing.

Thanks for the advice, have fun counting bricks today lol

[hopeful]

He is very very good at his job, but I think thats exactly what he does wilfie, gets blinded by the first offer, I know he really wants to work for this company and I do agree there profile is a good one, but if they can't offer close to what we have asked for then there is no point persuing it.

We haven't asked for allowances etc, just a lump sum that we know we would be able to live on. I am a pretty thorough person me and I devised a budget on excel with several different rent scenarios and salary amounts so that we we were ready when the offer came in. So glad I did it as all we had to do was look at the figures to see what they were offering wasn't viable.

Flossie I totally agree that what percentage of the final sum is atributed to what makes absolutely no difference really, not to us anyway as we know we can't live on the figure offered in the first place. As for the boss, I don't think he has a family, he's a single man so what he's earning can't really be compared to what my hubby needs to earn to support a family.

Anyway, only time will tell as the big boss is back Sunday. Finger crossed.