After Qatar became well know during the FIFA World Cup which started last November 20 and finished last December 17, it made me realized how long it has been since I started my career here. I feel like it was just like yesterday when I came here, but look at me now staying here in this country for more than six years! If you’d been a reader of this blog for quite some time, you’ll surely know how did I ended up in a country 4,637 miles away from my home. To give a quick recap for my new readers, my story started when I applied in a hotel company here in Qatar. Even before I graduated from college, I keep sending tons of application overseas just trying my luck. Little did I know is that I will receive a call one month after my graduation. It took a total three months to process everything and last August 24, 2016, I started my life as an expat here in this country. At 20 years old, I was exposed in a new culture far from what I used to. A total LIFESTYLE CHANGE happened for a year. It was a pure excitement at first but when everything sinks in, from work pressure, new culture, longingness and many more other things, that’s when the time that I literally started crying. Looking back on those days, I can help but laugh about it. Do you know the famous quote which is “Curiosity kills the cat.”? That’s what I actually felt during that moment!
To tell you honestly, I’d been wanting to go home even just for a couple of months staying here. To correct your assumptions, it is not about the country, it’s about those sudden changes in which I’m not mentally & physically prepared. I keep telling to myself back then that I will just stay for a maximum two years and go back to my country. With that in mind, God’s plan is a bit different from it. I’d been in three companies up and three positions up to date. I started as a commis, then a demi chef de partie and now as an administration officer. Within six years, I was able to step up my career and experienced different companies that taught me a lot of skills. If you will ask me if six years of staying here is worth it, then my answer would be, CERTAINLY. It was not an easy path to begin with. It was actually quite rocky at first but during those times, I became a better version of myself. Just imagine someone who usually rely on her parents for 19 years and eventually started in a new place alone. Well, that’s me.
This is one the biggest decision I made in my entire life. If I’ll look back to all of my past experiences here, I can see how I progress despite of being alone. Moving here, of course I need to work in a multicultural environment. As of now, the population of Qatar reached 2.7 million and locals consist of only 15% of this. The rest are other Arab nationals, expats from India, Philippines, Bangladesh, Nepal & Sri Lanka. You can check more specific information regarding this country’s population by checking this website below:
Qatar Population Review
First let’s start with their values that they uphold. In any country, we are having our own values based on our historical background. Even in my own country Philippines, our values are family, adaptability, hospitality and respect. Here in Qatar, what I realized is they value respect, culture and their privacy. I believe that these three aspects are the ones that we need to keep in mind before going here. Like what we wanted to all our foreign visitors to know, there are things that varies in each country. It’s our due diligence to know about it and practice it once we visit or stay in that specific country.
VALUES
1. RESPECT. Like any other country, they also value respect. Even if the place is a Muslim country or not, foreigners or expats should know the country’s customs and tradition. In Qatar, they don’t expect anyone to do the same in terms of their religious beliefs, customs, tradition, practices and way of living. They only want everyone to show genuine respect for them.
2. CULTURE. One thing that made me amazed when I started working here is how they value their rich culture. You’ll see in any infrastructure the union of traditional and modern period of this country. There are painting that illustrates their country’s history everywhere, the building architectural origin are from something that depicts their culture and they also continued different traditional activities up until this day. Even though in this era where all has to be modernized, they were still able to show their rich culture by means of incorporating it in anything that they do. Even if you’ll go in a park here, you’ll still find something which represent their country, and that really made me feel awe even until this day.
3. PRIVACY. Anyone around the world will always want to have their own privacy. Especially for locals here, you can not tell them to do something without asking if their comfortable with it. Even just for taking a random picture on the street, you need to know if that person will be ok doing it or not. Also, it is not allowed here to share something publicly without the person’s approval. Whether it’s an accident, private events/occasions, private space (household), etc. you need to be very careful on sharing it. Just recently, there’s a law that has been passed about violations using different Social Media platforms. With this high technology generation which you can easily share everything, this country imposes strict guidelines for those who will violate their rules. Some of these are:
- Spreading Fake/False news.
- Producing pornographic materials.
- Violation of Social and Principles.
- Slandering or threatening a person online.
Now for some general information that you need to know, here are some of it:
A MUST TO KNOW
1. WEEKEND IS FRIDAY AND SATURDAY
In my country, our weekend starts on Saturday until Sunday. In any Muslim country, their weekend starts on Friday and ends on Saturday. Based on my research, Arab world has traditionally revolved around Friday being the center of the weekend since it’s a sacred day of worship in Islam. So, if you are working in a government or in office, most probably your day off will be Friday/ Saturday. During these days, you will expect more people everywhere from hotels, parks, restaurants, malls and many more public places.
2. LANGUAGE
The language that mostly middle eastern countries spoke is Arabic. Within six years working here, I came to know that the way they speak to each other varies on where they came from. If you’ll listen carefully, their accents are different from each other and you will eventually know which country they came from just by listening to them. Even if you’re an expat, you need to at least know the common greetings like “Marhaba” which means hello and “As-salamu alaykum” which means Peace be upon you. If you don’t know how to speak their language, it’s ok because they can converse well in English.
3. CLOTHING RULES
Expats/Visitors are not expected to wear their traditional clothing. Despite of this, you need to keep in mind that there are some areas where you are not allowed to wear clothes that are see through, tattered, above knee, open shoes & sleeveless. Most of these places are government offices, museum (some will give you shawl to cover up) & mosque. The thing is, no one can stop you whatever clothes you want to wear but you need to consider if it’s right or ideal to wear it on a certain place.
4. DURING RAMADAN
During the holy month of Ramadan, Muslim will practice their religious beliefs and one of this is fasting. For Non-Muslims, you are not required to do the same but eating in public during the Fasting period is not really practiced here. Out of respect for those who’s doing their fasting, you need to be at least sensitive enough not to do something that may trigger them to break their fast. You can eat in a private place or you can simply ask them if they will be comfortable if you’ll eat around them. Other than this, all government/semi government sectors are entitled for 5-6 hours duty time only during the whole month of Ramadan. This may also be applicable for other Muslim’s working in private sector depending on their company’s instruction.
5. PRAYER TIME
In Muslim, they are required to pray every day at dawn, post noon, during the evening, at the evening, and at night. You will see a lot of mosques as soon as you enter here in this country. Their prayer will also be heard everywhere so if this will be your first time to go here then be at ease if you’ll hear their prayers throughout the day.
6. NO PDA
Public display of affection is not practiced here. But this rule is actually not what you’re thinking about wherein you can not literally hold hands with your loved ones. This rule is pertaining for intimate activities such as kissing. To make it easy for everyone to understand, they just want for everyone to be more cautious in their surroundings. Since most of their public parks are open for everyone such as kids, might as well adults need to be more careful on their actions.
7. OPENING HOURS OF COMMERCIAL ESTABLISHMENT
Opening time of most commercial establishments here are 10 am to 10 pm except weekend in which they start little late like 12:00 pm. Rest assured that you can still enter malls and wait until all the shops open. For clubs and bars, they’re allowed to operate only for a specific time.
WORK RELATED
1. BASIC SALARY
The basic salary here in Qatar will be depending on your position, industry, nationality and experience. For entry levels, the average salary that most company are offering will be 1500 qar. The amount will be depending actually on the package offer. If they will provide everything such as food, transportation, accommodation and uniforms, your salary would be around that amount. If it’s not, then it may increase since you need to pay for everything. That’s why, freelancers are highly paid because they are not under sponsorship. They will handle all living cost even their visa renewals.
2. EMPLOYMENT CONTRACTS
Most contract here are good for two years and it will automatically renew not unless you choose to resign or your position will not be needed after the contract expires. This actually rarely happens as far as I know. During the pandemic when there’s a lot of laid off employees, some contracts were changed based on what happened. Some companies offered one-year contracts while the rest made a couple of adjustments for other benefit package. If you are planning to work here, you need to carefully check your offer letter before signing it so in that way, you know what your salary and benefit package.
3. RULES IN COMPANY TRANSFER
Unlike before when you are not allowed to change employers, you can now easily do it by following the steps imposed by Ministry of Labor. Just take note that you need to finished your contract first on your current company before applying in another work. You also need to consider that before taking necessary steps, you need to undergo interviews already and have an offer letter in order for your current employer to allow you. Since you are still under their sponsorship, you need to finish one- or two-months’ notice (depending on your years of service) which can also serve as your period for transfer process. The transfer may take time depending the industry because if you will apply for company under government, you need to provide other requirements such as police clearance.
4. LIVING ARRANGEMENTS FOR EXPATS
Living arrangements will actually be based on your company that you work with. Here below are some information based on the company that I’d been here in Qatar:
a. Entry Level- most entry level position is offered a sharing basis accommodation usually maximum of 2 pax. In some company, it can actually be more than that. You can ask your employer beforehand how many people will be sharing in one room so you can get an idea as early as possible.
b. Supervisory Level- Most company are offering one room but shared spaces for supervisory level. Meaning, you can have your own room in a flat, then you’ll just share with the rest some spaces such as living room, dining room, kitchen and laundry. If you got a room with a bathroom then that would be ideal. But in some cases, you can end up sharing your bathroom to the other room. The usual type of flats here for corporate are consist of three-bedroom flat with kitchen, dining & living area.
c. Managerial Level- For this position, you have a choice to live out and have your own apartment considering the amount offered to you in your benefit package. Most of good flats here starts from 2500 qar up to 7500 qar monthly. This is ideal if you have your own family with you. In some company, they have a separate accommodation solely for managerial and executive levels.
d. Executive Level- Since this position requires well equipped individuals with a decade of experience, the company offer bigger housing allowance for this position. Since their target is to attract professionals, they usually offer a great benefit package for them excluded the basic salary offer that they will get.
OTHER INFORMATION
1. USE OF PROFESSIONAL CAMERA OUTDOORS
Despite of having different tourist attractions here in this place, there are still areas where you need to have a permit in order for you to use your camera. Camera mobile phone are ok but the professional cameras like DSLR are not allowed in some places not unless you have permission to do so. If you want to make sure if you can bring your camera while visiting a specific place here, you can simply check their website for their rules and regulations that they strictly imposed.
2. CHRISTMAS CELEBRATIONS
Even this is a Muslim country, they still allowed people to celebrate Christmas but NOT publicly. You will not find any decorations around during that day but you can see a lot of Christmas brunch offers by different hotels and restaurant. Living here for six years, we always celebrate Christmas every year by doing it on our flat together with the rest of Filipino’s. Nobody will stop you but don’t just do it publicly.
3. COST OF LIVING
The cost of living actually varies to us. If you are single and not a bread winner, then a 400 Qar monthly grocery and food expense will be more than enough. If you have your family here, then you need to add more amount depending on how many you are. In terms of hanging out, at least you need to have a minimum of 100 Qar or more. If you’ll use uber/taxi the fare will starts at 10qar but if you will use the Metro Train, it will only cost you 2 qar. Again, your cost of living will still depend on your lifestyle choices. If you get a good opportunity here in this country, then take it as a chance to save more and not to spend more.
4. WEATHER CONDITION
Qatar has a dessert climate. Long summer season will start from May to September, with temperatures rising more than 45°C. During this period, all are not allowed to work outside since this season is characterized with extreme dry heat which may cause problems in one’s health. Winter season will slowly start around October to April and temperatures may fall below 5°C. These are the period which is ideal to tour and explore around the country. Since I’d been staying here for quite some time, there are actually indications you’ll see that the weather will soon change. There will be days that it may rain, be windy and sandstorms will be every now and then. That’s why if we know that the weather is about to change, we will secure our exhaust fans, ac, windows and doors to ensure that minimal dust will come inside our flat.
With all these information above, I’m sure that you’ll get an idea what to expect in this country. All I can assure you is; this is the perfect place for your career to grow, get involve in a multi-cultural environment, and achieve your financial goals. As soon as you settled yourself here. Keep in mind that you need to progress at the same time. Time will be very fast once you work. You will wake up one day and you’ll see how many years you’d been here. Just like what happened to me, I never imagined that I’ll be spending six years here. But within those years, I’m glad that I experienced career growth three times, got my own insurance and start my rental business. There are endless opportunities that will be present to your journey. You need to plan ahead and don’t be used to the comfort. Keep moving and keep aiming for your goals!
Qatar became a part of my journey. This is where I start my career and met a lot of people that taught me a lot of things. Although I experienced a lot of challenges here, I can still tell to myself that I made the right decision. This will be the period of my life in which I will always look back. Thank you for all the memories, Qatar!
Until we meet again.
“MA SALAMA!”
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