* Doha. Is it a livable place for Westerners? Yes? No? Sorta?
All depends what you want. Are you a family man, the quiet type, you enyoy nature and laying by the pool, desert driving etc etc.....yes, it is very much livable!
Do you want to go out all the time, have fun, feel unrestricted, you like cosmopolitan cities etc etc....then do not come!
I love the way of life here , others for sure will start bashing now about Doha being the dullest place on earth....all a matter of opinion so check it out thoroughly yourself before you decide on something!
* Is the Company itself livable? Are expats left alone to just get on with the job or hassled every which way? (Yes? No? Sorta?)
Stay away from politics, dont bother about a managment job and even stay away from training if you can....then you will do allright! This is an expat company and as in every expat company you are rather vulnerable! No unions no nothins so.....
But if you follow the one golden rule they leave you alone....
* Are local crew given preferential treatment in terms of routes, rosters, etc? (Yes? No? Sorta?)
Routes and rosters .....NO! Seniority counts there for everybody! Pay.....as everywhere...yes. They get something more although nopbody knows exactly how much! Who cxares anyway, if you are happy with what they are offering you why should you be worried by a qataris pay? Its the same in GF anyway....
Promotion......some people feel that there is a certain advantage in being an arabic speaker regarding upgrades although again, I have never seen it myself!
* Pay and conditions for A300/A320 capt? In a nutshell.
$??? pm gross/education yes? no?/per diems yes? no?/ average take-home pm $??/ Duration of initial contract ??years
Everybody, regardless of the fleet, takes home the same thing. F/O basic salary 12000QR, Captain 16000QR. Together with all the duty payments etc etc you have around 21500QR as an FO and 27000QR as a captain!
They pay for education but , regarding the market situation in Doha, it is far from enough!Lets say they have to tripple it to make it worthwile. Anyway they pay up to 18 years old and thats it.....pretty lousy package there!
Living allowance, included above, is 4500QR. On an average bases the expats here are paying between 5000 and 11000QR/Month, again depending on what you are looking for off course but to make it reasonable they have to add 4000QR at least to the package there!
This package has not been upgraded for years now and since then the situation in the ' booming' Doha has changed a lot! Everytime they where planning an upgrade something happend that managment could use in thjeir advantage! Lets hope they do change something about that!
If you had not noticed it yet...they are very very very bad in personnell managment! They should read the basical books about managment again and then this company would be a dream to work for!
" Treat people as if they where what they ought to be and you help them to become what they are capable of being"
John Wolfgang von Goethe
In other words:Give to your employees and they will give it back to you!!!
Initial contract is open ended with three months probation
* What is the amount and duration for A300/A320 bonds? $??/??years
I think a bond is around 25000USD or three years....to be confirmed.
* Does the Company offer time off outside Doha? In other words can an expat work his butt off for say 22 days and get 8 straight days off in say the UK or SE Asia? (Yes? No? Sorta?)
Yes you can! You can bid for 4 days of in a row every month or 8 days off in a row every two months.....
Hope this helped you.....