(Another) DH offered a job in Abu Dhabi

[foxytocin]

Do many expat mums work and if so, what fields do they mostly work in? What about working inside the expat community vs working o/s the expat community? Pros and cons please.

My dd is currently 3yo so not school age but since I am currently pg (will give birth in the UK) it means that I would not be looking for work right away but I definitely would like to work at least part time in the future.

Hi

Yes plenty of expats mums work. However, you should expect to be paid less as a local hire than you would be if brought in on an expat package.

The workforce is very mixed - the Emirates (like all Gulf states) has a policy of encouraging Emiratis to join the workforce so they are always preferred candidates but other than that you should expect that your colleagues will be from a wide variety of nationalities.

Part time work is available and there are a lot of agencies who can help - bayt.com and monstergulf.com online.

Bear in mind that some kinds of jobs are strongly associated with certain nationalities, usually due to the ability to pay lower wages to them.

Hope that helps

Oh I should say that there is always demand for classroom assistants if you want to do something school hours. Otherwise all fields are open really.

thanks meow, are you in the ME/AD at the moment? if so, do you work?

I'm in the ME and yes I work full-time, DH works part time.

oh foxytocin

i'll email you back tonight. i got some info for you. sorry i've been so bad about it!

meow, I am in secondary education (mfl) is do you have any knowledge about the education system that can relate to my possible prospects. if need be, I could also do mfl for the equivalent of ks2 and possibly 1.

Before you worry about employment I would worry about accomodation. Earlier this week there was a coffee morning in AD with 25 ladies (meeting in someones apartment as its Ramadan and no coffee shops open). to the point, out of those 25 ladies more than 10 yes TEN are living in serviced apartments and have been for more than 3 months becuase of the dire shortage of accomodation. The cost of accomodation is sky rocketing so make sure your DH (and I say DH because DP are very frowned upon) gets his full accomodation cost covered. A small 3 bed villa can reasonably cost 400k aed payable upfront with another 5% to real estate agent who will have done nothing.
Be very sure your package meets your needs.

Dont get me wrong I live in Dubai (but have a lot of dealings with people in AD)and we really enjoy it, but it is sad to see so many people arrive unprepared for the rampant inflation (accomodation wise).

Finally in most packages nursery fees are NOT covered only school fees and school places for FS1 and FS2 are like gold dust.

Try www.expatwoman.com for more info. The AD site is down at present but there is a link to there events page and to the info board for AD, also browse the info board for DXB to get some ideas.

HTH. If the package comes together its a great place to live.

thanks SM. Dh lived in Doha as a single man and knows how to negotiate a full package (accom. medical coverage, bonus, pension, flights, education) and mostly what to expect. Since I will be on Mat Lv this year anyway, we are not worried about nursery fees. and dd1's education is part of the package as she will be school age in sept 09. DD2 isn't here yet so I don't think we have good grounds for negotiating her fees.

I was hoping you would pop in and post on my thread btw as i've seen your posts before.

One thing i am afraid of is going out there and not finding work, not necessarily to what i am paid at in the UK, but work that will be fulfilling for me. I have worked in crap schools in the UK before and learnt a lot from them but at my age (40 next yr) I don't want to find myself on that rung of the ladder again. I feel like i have already served my time in that part of purgatory.

i hate to admit that i am in the position to be choosy. Mainly because i will be the one taking a step backwards in my career in order for dh to take one forward in his. I don't want to return to the UK in X no. of years and find that i am difficult to employ in my field and will have to do some retraining.

We are waiting for dh to hear back on his main sticking point wrt the contract at the moment which is why i am beginning to panic.

Finally in most packages nursery fees are NOT covered only school fees and school places for FS1 and FS2 are like gold dust.

I was speculating that this was the case. I would not mind homeschooling my 2 dd's for a while either and using it as a career break. Another idea for me is to do 1 - 2 hr afternoon clubs in French and/or Spanish for expat children between ages 6 and 10 but in 2 separate groups. Would there be interest in that?

There are a wide range of British and international curriculum schools in the region but I imagine its much like finding places for kids. I don't know schools in AD I'm afraid and I don't work in that field directly.

If your DH has been in Doha before 2002 then he will be unaware of the galloping rent prices and inflation here. Do your research carefully before accepting a package.

Hi - in Dubai also,
echo what SM says..
I am not a teacher (actually the very thought is hilarious)but I could take a very educated guess that a british teacher shouldn't have a problem picking and choosing jobs to be honest.
Wages aren't huge though compared to other industries within the Gulf (but then I don't think they are in the Uk either?)

I also think you would do very well offering bespoke tutoring..
Keep us up to date.

Thank you everyone for giving your views. Dh did work in Doha pre-2002. I mentioned the inflation thing because i felt like it has changed from when he was there.

He said that he doesn't get an allowance for accommodation, it is paid straight from the company's budget as well as the vehicle.

I mentioned that the price of everything will be galloping as everything out there is imported his come back was that food will still be cheaper than in the UK and we are not big consumers of clothes, 'things', holidays, nightlife etc. etc.

I really like the idea of being a bespoke tutor. thanks for the idea!

Well, i have already said on 2 other threads that we are on our way to Abu dhabi. Dh first, we (me, dd1 3.5yo and dd2 to be birthed soon) in early Dec. planning on spending Christmas out there.

oooooh MFL at secondary can you tutor DS, just gone into year 8, struggles with French, better marginally with Sapnish, please please please ;-)

See employment already lol.

FYI the ew site has been down for a revamp, should be back Monday or Tuesday. There there are lots of teaching jobs on there just for your info, IYKWIM. Likewise the forum will be back and you can see the demand on there for tutors.

Santa at Wafi shopping is fab, loads of trees and you get to meet him with pictures. Decorations can be bought everywhere and you can either eat at the hotels or just chill at home. TV is rubbish so if your one for a trashy movie on Christmas afternoon bring your own.

Good luck and see you soon

Doh Just realised you're goign to be in Ad
;-( bad luck for me and DS.

thanks for responding SM.

I think the tutoring will be a good first step initially then.

I suggest you subscribe to the website www.linguascope.com

it is v good for kids that age. If nothing else it helps with vocabulary.

you can also create an ID on it that gives you authorisation as a teacher and print off worksheets for him or download powerpoints you can then get him to practice with.

also google 'sunderland mfl' a good resource by a friend built the site. Lots of resources, for teachers, but if your language is not too dusty, some of it can work as extra help for him.

Ooh foxy, thaks for your advice I shall rush off to those websites and start downloading. We have already had the sulks from the first lessons...sigh.
To help him revise we got a learn French in 20 hours or something and did it together to practise speaking out loud and hearing the language. It helped quite a bit. And did wonders for reminding me of what I had learnt a million moons ago.

Just realised I probably should have written Spanish!!! I wont be much helpw ill I? lol.

good luck

I don't mind if you keep tapping me up for ideas or with questions. it's the teacher in me.

btw, Spanish is my stronger subject if what you were saying is that Spanish is your weaker subject.