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maximusprime · Sep 17, 2007

Hello All,
I have been searching the forums here for a while trying to get a good idea of what kind of salary package to ask for. If anyone out there is in a similar field and can tell me what to expect it would be much appreciated.

I am an engineer with about 3-4 years of experience. I am negotiating a job with a highrise firm as a mechanical engineer doing HVAC on large buildings. I am 25 years old, white, male, single, american.

I want to move to Dubai because I have heard there is quite a bit of money to be made. I want to have a good time and save as much as possible. From reading the forums, I also understand that the cost of living is high and rising everyday. So, does anyone here have a good idea of what I should ask for? I would like to get a competitive salary without pricing myself out of the market. Any feedback would be very helpful.
Thanks

maximusprime · Sep 18, 2007

By the way, I know there are a bunch of these questions here but there seems to be a lot of variance based on nationality, profession etc. So if its not too much trouble, just a ball park.

Coops · Sep 18, 2007

if it is an M&E subby i would say AED15K - 18K total package.

springs · Sep 18, 2007

For a mechanical services engineer with qualifications and experience, salaries I have located range from £40k - £70k sterling.

I'm also considering a move to Dubai from the UK. It's very tempting.....I'm currently weighing up all the pro's & con's at the moment.

Any help from you guys would be appreciated.

Any one else currently working in MEP contracting, your comments/experiences would be very much welcome.

Martin
UK

sage & onion · Sep 18, 2007

springs wrote:For a mechanical services engineer with qualifications and experience, salaries I have located range from £40k - £70k sterling.

I'm also considering a move to Dubai from the UK. It's very tempting.....I'm currently weighing up all the pro's & con's at the moment.

Any help from you guys would be appreciated.

Any one else currently working in MEP contracting, your comments/experiences would be very much welcome.

Martin
UK

You have stated a real wide range, also you must be aware of the cost of living here, if you are coming from the UK, with a couple of kids you have to factor in all of the expenses.

springs · Sep 19, 2007

I've not had a formal offer yet, but expecting an offer around £55k +benefits (probably not including accommodation) but will include car/bonus/flights home/pension/medical health. No kids, my partner will be joining me later once the house has been sold/rented.....

Only thing I need to think about is renting somewhere nice and living expenses. Any help on these would be great.

Let me know what you guys think...!

Martin

maximusprime · Sep 19, 2007

if it is an M&E subby i would say AED15K - 18K total package

Coops, when you say "total package" do you mean 15-18K plus housing, benefits etc, or 15-18K without all that stuff?

Craigo · Sep 20, 2007

maximusprime wrote:I am an engineer with about 3-4 years of experience. I am negotiating a job with a highrise firm as a mechanical engineer doing HVAC on large buildings. I am 25 years old, white, male, single, american.

I am very similar to you in age, experience and race, but I am English. What also differs is that I am surveyor and not an engineer. I came over here 5 weeks ago and my total package including car, house etc comes to 40k sterling per year, which equates to around AED24k per month.

With this I live in a very nice spacious apartment in the marina with sea views etc, I have a very nice car (just ordered it actually), I dine out regularly in very nice restaurants, go climbing once a week, play golf once a week, and do other random things which take my fancy. I still manage to save around 1000 pounds a month which is just mad! I'd say its definitely worth coming out here, I love it and the lifestyle is amazing!

springs · Sep 20, 2007

Thats not a bad package Craigo! Are you in MEP or construction?

Could you let me know if you dealt with your employer directly or through an agency. I'm currently negoiating with a couple of agencies here in the UK.

Could anyone advise of any agencies in Dubai who specialise in the MEP field, or of any large companies who carry out this type of work I could possibly contact directly.

Cheers

Coops · Sep 20, 2007

maximusprime wrote:Coops, when you say "total package" do you mean 15-18K plus housing, benefits etc, or 15-18K without all that stuff?

I mean including all the benefits - alot of the MEP subcontractors tend to hire mainly asian staff at the level you were looking to get in at. If you got in with a larger main contractor or with an engineering consultant if you have a design background you could probably command a higher salary.

Its not so much about what you are worth at your level of experience - but more can they get someone cheaper from another country?

gtmash · Sep 21, 2007

Craigo wrote:
maximusprime wrote:I am an engineer with about 3-4 years of experience. I am negotiating a job with a highrise firm as a mechanical engineer doing HVAC on large buildings. I am 25 years old, white, male, single, american.

I am very similar to you in age, experience and race, but I am English. What also differs is that I am surveyor and not an engineer. I came over here 5 weeks ago and my total package including car, house etc comes to 40k sterling per year, which equates to around AED24k per month.

With this I live in a very nice spacious apartment in the marina with sea views etc, I have a very nice car (just ordered it actually), I dine out regularly in very nice restaurants, go climbing once a week, play golf once a week, and do other random things which take my fancy. I still manage to save around 1000 pounds a month which is just mad! I'd say its definitely worth coming out here, I love it and the lifestyle is amazing!

Good for you, dude.

Craigo · Sep 24, 2007

springs wrote:Thats not a bad package Craigo! Are you in MEP or construction?

Could you let me know if you dealt with your employer directly or through an agency. I'm currently negoiating with a couple of agencies here in the UK.

Im in construction. Not on the contractor side though, on the client side.

I worked for the same company back in the UK and just nagotiated a new package to come out here. I basically had to sign a new contract. You would be better applying direct to companies over here because agencies charge companies very large fees for finding people such as yourself. This is usually reflected in your offer! If you go direct to the comany they can afford to pay you more because they arent paying the high agency fees!

Craigo · Sep 24, 2007

gtmash wrote:Good for you, dude.

Cheers man. Didnt think it was too bad myself either. Although I know being the youngest in the office I have the lowest package

maximusprime · Sep 24, 2007

Craigo wrote:
gtmash wrote:Good for you, dude.

Cheers man. Didnt think it was too bad myself either. Although I know being the youngest in the office I have the lowest package

Wow, I need to get a job where you work. See if they need any ME's.

Craigo · Sep 25, 2007

maximusprime wrote:Wow, I need to get a job where you work. See if they need any ME's.

Afraid not fella. We're only a construction consultant firm, project management and cost management only at the mo.

Mark Harris · Sep 25, 2007

Craigo wrote:
maximusprime wrote:Wow, I need to get a job where you work. See if they need any ME's.

Afraid not fella. We're only a construction consultant firm, project management and cost management only at the mo.

Hiya craigo,

I just got an offer of £41k (AED300k) including everything.

You definately think it is a goe on this kind of cash?

Where you staying?

Niow the money seems to stack up, I need to look at places to stay around the marina area.

maximusprime · Sep 25, 2007

Thants ok, well hopefully things will work out and I'll be out there making the big bucks by December.

sage & onion · Sep 25, 2007

Mark Harris wrote:
Craigo wrote:
maximusprime wrote:Wow, I need to get a job where you work. See if they need any ME's.

Afraid not fella. We're only a construction consultant firm, project management and cost management only at the mo.

Hiya craigo,

I just got an offer of £41k (AED300k) including everything.

You definately think it is a goe on this kind of cash?

Where you staying?

Niow the money seems to stack up, I need to look at places to stay around the marina area.

If you want to stay in the Marina Area, half you package will go on rental and that is a single bedroom.

arniegang · Sep 25, 2007

Sage is correct your salary wont leave you a lot of spare cash by the time you pay rent, utility bills, car and food.

Mark Harris · Sep 25, 2007

Cheers guys.

I'm not definately tied to living in the marina, maybe somewhere close like grens, international city? As long as is close enough to drive in 20 minutes should be fine.

craigo seems to be doing ok, will it really be a stgruggle?! My plan is to save £1000 a month, pay £300 towards my house back home, have a reasonable car, play golf etc etc.

Where would you reccomend I look to stay??

Craigo · Sep 26, 2007

Mark Harris wrote:Cheers guys.

I'm not definately tied to living in the marina, maybe somewhere close like grens, international city? As long as is close enough to drive in 20 minutes should be fine.

craigo seems to be doing ok, will it really be a stgruggle?! My plan is to save £1000 a month, pay £300 towards my house back home, have a reasonable car, play golf etc etc.

Where would you reccomend I look to stay??

Serioulsy dude, you'll be fine on that wage. These other guys must live way too lavishly! .........like I said in the other post I think your best bet would be to share a place with someone (most guys in my office do). Would save you a load of cash. One guy even lives right on the beach in a massive villa in Jumeirah with 3 other guys and pays next to nothing!! Uses about half his allowance.

Craigo · Sep 26, 2007

[quote="Mark Harris"]My plan is to save £1000 a month, pay £300 towards my house back home [quote]

I didnt see this bit! You might struggle to save a grand a month AND pay 300 towards your mortgage each month................well, unless you live like a hermit over here!

gtmash · Sep 26, 2007

Craigo wrote:
Mark Harris wrote:Cheers guys.

I'm not definately tied to living in the marina, maybe somewhere close like grens, international city? As long as is close enough to drive in 20 minutes should be fine.

craigo seems to be doing ok, will it really be a stgruggle?! My plan is to save £1000 a month, pay £300 towards my house back home, have a reasonable car, play golf etc etc.

Where would you reccomend I look to stay??

Serioulsy dude, you'll be fine on that wage. These other guys must live way too lavishly! .

Honestly, sometimes I wonder if some of the peeps on here are giving away half their fat paychecks away to charity and whining about expenses after the fact!

jayzed · Sep 26, 2007

Mark, I just posted on your other thread and said that you'll be OK on 300K - but now I see your plan to pay £300 on your house back home and save £1000 a month. That's pretty ambitious and you probably need to scale back your expectations of what you'll save - especially if you're going to be shelling out for golf club membership!

Mark Harris · Sep 26, 2007

jayzed wrote:Mark, I just posted on your other thread and said that you'll be OK on 300K - but now I see your plan to pay £300 on your house back home and save £1000 a month. That's pretty ambitious and you probably need to scale back your expectations of what you'll save - especially if you're going to be shelling out for golf club membership!

That may have been a tad ambitious!!

ok, £300 towards the house at home and £500-700 savings!

Thinking now that sharing a 2 bed in a nicer place is more realistic also.

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