Having been a long time resident of Dubai, seeing the amphib 208’s of this company buzzing the shoreline is as long standing and commonplace as the helicopters in NY that cruise the Hudson, I don’t doubt the legitimacy of the position.

That being said, know that rent alone will eat up a sizeable portion of that $8000 salary. There is a huge gap from the lower end of western style housing and the dormitory style of the common worker. A suitable one bedroom will be minimum 100,000 dirham a year, add 20% for a furnished place. Typically landlords want the full year’s rent up front, and negotiating to quarterly or monthly can add another 5-10%. Factoring Ultility/Gas/Cable deposits and payments, high grocery and other cost of living expenses I would calculate one could pocket 3 grand a month without a particularly posh lifestyle.

On one hand that’s not a bad savings for someone just starting out with relatively low experience, to be saving any money at all at an entry level is a feat.

On the other hand, while Dubai is actually a very cool city, it ain’t too much fun to live there on a strict budget. It’s only a matter of time before the urge for a new car, nice bling, fancy vacation etc takes over and you soon find yourself living paycheck to paycheck and leaving with only a enviable instagram history to show for your time there.

You wouldn’t, because you’re employed and doing well here. Unlike the legacy pilots who lost pensions and their jobs post 9/11 and 2008-2010 that went to EK then.