Qatar/Doha vs Emirates/Dubai (life and work)
The time has come to expand horizons and look for a long haul career in a ME carrier. Tons of colleagues in my current company are doing the same. Some apply to FlyDubai, some Emirates and some Qatar. Most of them apply to all three as if the main goal was to move to the ME no matter which company. I tell them that living in Doha is not the same as living in Dubai and that living in Dubai while working for FlyDubai is an inferior experience and a lot less nice than with Emirates. I used to live in Dubai back in the 2000s and I'm the kind of person who adapted to the lifestyle of the city. I loved the expat environment. Yes, I hated the turnarounds like most people. I know Dubai has changed a lot since I left and has probably lost the small town feel that it used to have where most people knew each other. Before you recommend not going: I know what I'm doing. I've been there before. I don't have a family and I'm the kind of person who, excluding the sleeping patterns, enjoys being at work or on a layover as much as on a day off at home. I compare my current conditions with what I'd find in the ME and for me this would be a huge step up.
Having said that, what I want to know is how different it is to live and work in Doha when compared to living and working in Dubai at Emirates. Is the city as exciting as Dubai? Are people there in the same welcoming expat mentality? Is the environment at work and during the layovers equally nice in these two companies? Could it be that Doha now is similar to the Dubai I experienced in 2005? When I think of a career in the middle east I only consider Emirates as an option, but seeing how most people apply to both companies I want to know if Qatar would be a good option and if I would ever regret having chosen it over Emirates or considered it as the next best thing when maybe it isn't.
PS: Please. If you have only negative things to say about working in the Middle East, at least try to consider that, for some people, what you complain about sounds like unreasonable whining given the conditions and the lifestyle we're coming from. For some of us, the nice hotels, getting picked up for work, not having to pack food and water for a flight, getting our uniforms cleaned for us and the higher salary completely justify the intentions. Also, some consider Dubai a great place to live and work. Keep that in mind.
THANK YOU