Crossroad..potential new edition in Qatar

Assalamualaikum wbk semua. Been following this web to check out lots of things abt living in Qatar. But now, hv to post as am in the final stage of getting my first hijrah to Qatar. Noted that most sahabat are working In the oil and gas sector, mostly guys.. A bit different in my case. I am a Malay lady, age 30 plus, married with 2 kids age 7 and 5. I will be attending my final interview in Doha to work with Qatar financial centre, regulatory authority. In short, sy di bank Negara sekarang, akan buat kerja yang sama, cuma nnti  regulatory authority of Qatar. Agak2 payah tak klu husband tak kerja..or sementara dia cr kerja di Qatar, hanya saya yg menaggung all expenses?  Gotta be frank here. I am offered the position of associate director, with all in all (salary and benefits) of usdxxk per month. It is very tough decision....but I hv to decide. They hv indicated strongly to lure me joining them soonest possible as I have extensive knowledge n experience in Islamic finance...I need to decide by end of the week tho.... Appreciate ur kind advice.

Wsalam wbt,

Pendapat saya ialah USD18k = QR65.5k actually very generous package. Kalau dapat nego take all as cash lg bagus sbb insyaAllah boleh save byk.

Sewa rmh FF regular apt/upmarket apt/ regular villa = QR8k/QR10k/QR12k/mth
Utility + fibre broadband 10mbps= 600/mth
Sekolah anak min/max = 24k/35k/annum/child
Car rental or loan 4 years 125k = 3k/mth
Return annual flight economy lowest/flexible = 3k/4.2k/person
Groceries = 2k ~ 3k/mth

Harga sewa rmh bergantung kepada location/type/size/finishing/facilities.. boleh chk kat newspaper pdf;

http://www.gulf-times.com/dailypdf

http://thepeninsulaqatar.com/pdf/menu.html

http://www.qatar-tribune.com/data/20130226/suppmain.asp?value=pdf.htm

Kalau husband dpt kerja lg lar byk dpt save.

Paling penting niatkan hijrah itu semata2 kerana Allah SWT. Besar pahalanya... Pastu nanti dah byk dpt sya ingatkan diri sendiri juga dan kwn2 gak.. jgn lupa memberi pada yg hak..

Buat lar solat ishtiharah minta petunjuk dari Allah. Saya doakan puan sekeluarga dan sahabat2 di qatar semua sentiasa dirahmati Allah selalu.. Aamiiin..

En silver, terima Kasih atas pandangan. In fact yes, it is all cash. Sdg berusaha untuk minta petunjuk dan sokongan ESP famili members ie parents, siblings etc. the confident level increases as much more info getting in.

salam raidah.. actually banyak dah tu.. as long back to basic.. apa tujuan datang .. kalau nak save duit .. saya rasa dah cukup banyak dah tu.. tapi kalau tujuan datang nak luxury life.. heheh 100k pun x cukup..anyway bnyk benda bole save kat doha.. as long kita smart..

about the school fees.. kebiasaan company yg sponsor selalunya ada cover utk anak sekolah.. depends pada company.. ada yang 54k a year per child..kalau husband keje maybe tambah lagi duit simpanan..but also ada extra kos..seperti get the maid, driver anak sekolah.. etc..

saya ada pm raidah some tips.

Thank u Toruk maktu...bit pelik sebab my salary is 40k qatar, my car allowance is only 1833 Qatar but my accomodation allowance is 22,000 Qatar. No mention abt kids...cold be bcos I have not told them abt bringing my famili there yet? no also mention abt yearly flight allowance..shld I request all those? But accdg to my head hunter who base in London who arranges this, he said the offer is very good..hmmmmmm...I just receive my employment agreement, gotta study in details line by line. Btw, tq for highlighting.

Kalau senior position normally dia akan bagi annual return ticket business class.. kalau dia bayar cash utk tiket based on IAITA fare maybe boleh dpt QR20k to 25k/person.

Thanks sayyid and silver16v. The company adopts all in one benefits..kira bg allowance ty, pepandai sendiri la manage...kena sgt berjimat...masih dlm proses rundingan dan final onsite interview at month end..Ada rezeki ke sana ada laaaa..insyaallah Allah.

Its a very good offer. Go for it. However please be psychologically prepared that Qatar is not as efficient as Malaysia so expect lots of anger, frustration even heartbreak especially dealing with govt authorities and kids schooling. But its all should not discourage you from coming here. Cuma hati kena kuat and kena expect benda benda atas kat atas tu. Make lots of friends. It will keep you sane. Cheers.

Tq for kind and sincere advice..I need to be sane...

Salam semua. Just an update. Went to Doha last 2 weeks..it was excellent experience. Had whole day interview from CEO, MD, Directors and counterparts. All mat saleh...American, Canadian, Briton, Australian...(rasa macam nk kerja kat UK..bukan Qatar)...hv received positive feedback...berdebar  la sebab I will be the only Malaysian joining them. And the only woman in the technical department....somehow, Malaysia boleh wpun sgt nervous ni sebab salah satu task is to provide technical advisory to a group of Qatari ppl from Qatar central bank. Thank you for all your advice. Once signed, kena start browsing around for accomodation, schools etc.....

Salam Raidah,

What I can say is, USD 18K = QAR65,700 sbulan gaji.. toksah citer banyak la.. datang je haha... insyaAllah cukup.. kalo banyak tu tak cukup lagi tatau laa kan hehe..
in terms of skolah anak2, mmg tak dinafikan kat Qatar nih skolah anak2 agak mencabar.. be it admission, location, curriculum and even fees.. normal international school macam Newton British School / Qatar International School / AlJazeera Academy (sila google skolah2 ni kat Qatar) punya fee pon ranging from 20k to 30k per year... kalo premium school macam Doha College, American School, Sherborne tuh toksah citer lah.. cecah 60k per year.. rumah pon depends pada location mana yg u nak duduk... ada mahal ada murah ada berpatutan..
meh saya breakdown sikit expenses di Doha (which I believe dah ramai org yg tolong breakdown kan untuk Raidah)

Sewa Rumah : Villa QAR12K
Utilities (api/air/internet/cable tv etc) : QAR1000
Kete: QAR2500
Groceries: QAR2000 (katalah blanja 500 sminggu)
Skolah anak (satu term ada 3 bulan. Stahun 3 term) : QAR3000 sbulan
Shopping dan makan luar : QAR2000

Briefly lebih kurang gitu lah... total baru QAR22500 sbulan.. banyak lagi lebih tuh... gedebak gedebuk bayar hutang rumah and segala bala di malaysia... katalah QAR10k... ada lagi balance dalam QAR30k... ahh tayah pikir laa kak... datang aje.....

bende2 lain kat sini tuh nanti insyaAllah boleh overcome.. people keeps on saying pasal life sini banyak bawang laa.. hal dgn gomen slow la lembab la apa laa.. tadehal... sume tuh kecik aje insyaAllah...
ada laa jalannya nanti...

Kalo pasal suami tak keje tuh takde hal.. saya ada kawan sini isteri dia keje.. husband dia run errands everyday... anta anak skolah, groceries apa bagai sume.. ok aje..... kalo nak keje pon boleh jugak apply nanti.... no worries..

Tahniah di atas rezeki Allah ni kak....(saya panggil kak sbb saya nih budak lagi, no offense ye)

Kalo nak tanya pape, PM lah... insyaAllah mana yg boleh bantu kita bantu lah...

~NiK~

Nik..terima Kasih byk2...skg akak dh di Doha. A week lepak dulu sblm masuk kerja on 1 July. 
Jet lag really hurts.  ....insyaallah I hope to meet everyone here..mgkn the best time is during raya celeb at embassy?

Salam Raidah. Congrats on your new opportunity. As someone from financial industry back in MY, I should say I am extremely proud of you making the history in Qatar financial line especially under their central banking portion. If you don't mind, can you introduce me to your London-based headhunter? Been looking for any relevant opportunities since 2006. Tough luck though.

SpectraGuy...pls add me in LinkedIn., my head hunter is also in my connections. Do produce exciting bground of your job...klu Ada rezeki, insyaallah..keep trying.

Assalaamualaikum,

Tumpang mencelah ........... CONGRATS Raidah. Tumpang bangga  

Salam, terjenguk page ni. Alhamdulillah, been here dh dkt setahun (bln 7 ni). Terima Kasih segala maklumat dan guide yang sahabat2 berikan ketika saya menimbang2 tawaran ke sini dulu. Terdetik nk buat post asessment review with basic question to answer: did I make a good decision? All in all, my answer is YES. But it is also worth to share some key matters including few things that didn't really work as planned.
1) is it fine if husband in worst case scenario failed to get a job? Dear ladies, please discuss this thoroughly with ur husband before u decide to relocate here. We THOUGHT it is gonna be easy. I mean, pls agree on terms if ultimately your husband has to stay at home and run the chores. Some men, mungkin ok for short term, some aren't. We were almost coming to an agreement balik mesia thn dpn if my husband still unable to get a job. Money isn't a problem. But it is beyond that. It is for the sake of their career progression and of course some 'dignity'. But for us, alhamdulillah, after much effort, my husband finally gets a job from one of the banks.. It is a huge relief. Just can't imagine if my husband leaves us to work back in mesia and we continue to be here..I am nt willing to take any chance. Family first.

2)Work wise ( ini relevant for those in financial sector la kut). Please come here with not so HIGH expectation. Malaysian system is way ahead. Lagi pun, that's the reason they hire us. They need our knowledge and experience. I met lots of colleagues from UK, Canada, Aus yang down sbb diorg dtg dgn expectation yg tinggi. Bila in reality agak kadang masalah yang kita rasa tak masuk dek akal pun leh jadi kat sini...so be mentally prepared. U get their money in return we improve their system, that the barter trade. Overall I am still pretty occupied with jobs.

3) life dan perbelanjaan...i admit nasihat kawan2 kat sini. It doesn't matter how much u receive. It is how you spend. Alhamdulillah, I can't argue more. Kitorg mengamalkan konsep hidup dgn cara yg sama cam waktu kt mesia dulu. Nothing less, nothing more. Few friends ada dtg melawat and I just knew they expected change in my lifestyle. Huge house, huge car, designers item etc..unfortunately I disappointed them. Kitaorg hidup with 'fit the purpose' approach. Yang penting, sblm dtg sini, be very clear of your objectives, ESP financial objektif. In sha Allah in less that a year, I would consider myself financially independent ( kat mesia mau sampai pencen baru settle hutang semua). Yang lbh tu, simpan buat hari tua dan jangan lupa, upfront, apa yang dapat, lunaskan tggungjwab as Muslim, samada yang wajib mahu pun sedeqah. Kata org, time Ada la kena sedeqah byk....Makin byk kita beri, Makin murah rezeki Allah kembali kan.

4) peluang yang Allah berikan untuk saya dan famili ke sini, sememangnya hanya Allah yang tahu. Saya Melalui process yg agak mudah dan 'selamba'...selepas saya, director Ada interview 3 lagi kawan2 saya..namun tidak seorang pun yang berjaya ke peringkat final interview. Besar tggungjwab saya sebab asessment diorg on Malaysian capability bergantung kepada tahap performance saya since i am the first and so far the only mesian Dalam agensi tu. . Jadi bila director indicate interest untuk keep looking for mesian, I feel relief juga la. tapi ye lah, dh short listed dan pggl interview tu,the rest bergantung pada masing2 la kan. But in short, I Personally think we are sama standard dgn ppl from advanced countries, and in some technical areas, we are much better! ( tetiba rasa patriotic). Cuma, Bab english tu, mmg tak leh nak lawan depa la kan...tang sini, saya pun angkat bendera putih..dema buat report sejam, , saya buat 2 jam. ..Moralnya, setiap org akan melalui process yg berbeza, Ada mudah, Ada berliku. Yang penting mesti istiqamah untuk cr peluang ke oversea dan pada masa yang sama, continue improve knowledge kita. Saya sendiri sgt2 bersyukur kerana sewaktu bz kerja kat BNM dulu, pada masa yg sama saya tekadkan usaha smbg belajar. Perit, mmg Perit, tapi berbaloi. Nk kerja kat sini, kita compete bukan dgn cina ( cam mesia).. Sini semua bangsa kita kena compete, western, Indians, Arabs, etc...

5) lastly, is it berbaloi Dari segi pengalaman, bukan shj untuk saya, tapi juga anak2... Untuk saya, saya seronok bila saya membantu Negara ni..walaupun sumbangan idak le besar mana. Pengalaman kerja dengan different culture, way of thinking...in sha Allah will make us better person. Kita akan Lebih mengenali diri kita, menghargai jati diri kita, kekuatan dan kelemahan kita. Juga Akan menghargai keluarga yang kita tingglkan di mesia dgn lebih bermakna. Bab anak2...I have mixed feeling. Kitaorg Still mencari formula terbaik terutamanya Dalam pendidikan....sekolah international ni Ada baik Ada yang tak berapa nk baik ya juga bgantung pada sistem. Saya akan share dgn Lebih details Dalam next topic. Penah benar dah menulis ni...

W'salam wbt.

Alhamdulillah and jzkk. sis for sharing your experience. Ada gak kwn2 kita kat sini bila mula2 sampai ajer aktif pastu dah sibuk sgt x sempat dah nak share their experiences secara bertulis.   

Apa2 pun semoga dikala adanya kelapangan masa dan waktu (Alhamdulillah) sama2 lar kita luangkan masa kita join program2 ilmu dan pengisian sambil berukhwah, InsyaAllah.

Announcements-nya mostly boleh dirujuk disini;

http://www.malqatar.com/MAQ/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&id=30&Itemid=42

That's what I am still missing...tak nah lagi join usrah or aktiviti malqatar. Paling tinggi pi pasar malam! Moga diberik an Allah berikan ruang di samping diri sendiri mencari ruang itu. tq for the link.

Salam Aidil Fitri Kak Raidah. Many thanks for your experience as far as financial industry is concerned. It is very, very useful.

Anyway if it doesn't inconvenience you, I'd so glad if you could PM me your LinkedIn details so that I could touch-base with you.