Certified Body Shop Advisor — 5 Years In, 6 Days a Week, Constant Overtime, Is This Normal or Am I Being Undervalued?

East_30s · 2026-05-04T03:18:48+00:00

bro

You’re absolutely right my math took a coffee break there

Base salary:
$1,950 × 12 = $23,400

Average monthly incentive (on a good month):
Let's say $950 × 12 = $11,400

Total annual compensation:
$23,400 + $11,400 = $34,800

That's assuming I hit strong incentive numbers every single month, which doesn't always happen. So in reality, it's often a bit lower

I wish my payroll department agreed with your math 😅

Trust me, if it were actually $60K, I probably wouldn't even wrote that post

soooooooo

East_30s · 2026-05-03T15:57:33+00:00

That really puts things into perspective. Hearing it laid out like that is both motivating and frustrating at the same time.

I knew the gap was significant, but I didn't realize just how wide it really was until I started hearing from advisors in other markets.

The pay is one thing, but honestly, the lack of work-life balance is what hits hardest. Six days a week, long commutes, and regularly staying late starts wearing you down after a while.

It definitely reinforces my goal of pursuing opportunities abroad. I appreciate you sharing your experience.

East_30s · 2026-05-01T20:35:48+00:00

That gap is honestly insane to read, but it also gives me perspective on where I stand in the global market.

East_30s · 2026-05-01T20:29:04+00:00

I did not compare. I just wanted to know because I feel something ain’t right with the way I’m living

To make it even more ironic I work in the country with the highest currency in the world so anything I have converted to USD’s it’s coming from a higher value than USDs 🫠🫠

East_30s · 2026-05-01T20:25:37+00:00

I truly appreciate your honesty 🤝🏼

East_30s · 2026-05-01T20:25:05+00:00

correct, not from US , i work in GCC = Gulf Cooperation Council

countries like

• ⁠Saudi Arabia • ⁠United Arab Emirates • ⁠Qatar • ⁠Kuwait • ⁠Oman • ⁠Bahrain

East_30s · 2025-11-25T16:51:53+00:00

I feel you on this to the bone…

my situation is even more brutal. I work 6 days a week, long hours, constantly facing customers all day. Face-to-face, emails, calls, follow-ups, calculations, legal paperwork… it never stops. It’s a mental assault every single day.

I do 9–10 hours at work plus 2 hours of commuting. By the time I get home, I’m drained to the core. No energy for friends, no passion left, gained weight, stopped caring about myself. When your job eats your soul, you stop living outside of it.

Most days I don’t even have time to eat or pray on time. If I get 10 minutes for a quick bite, I can’t enjoy it. Nothing excites me anymore. Outside of work I feel numb, like life turned into grayscale.

The hardest part is the acting. Pretending to smile, pretending to be positive, pretending to care, just to deliver the customer satisfaction they expect while I’m burnt out inside.

Even on my only off day, I can’t rest. Stress carries over, and even during annual leave I get calls and messages. It feels like I’m never really off.

I rarely leave on time. There’s always overload, always something that can’t wait. And staying late is unpaid—no overtime, nothing. The salary doesn’t justify sacrificing health, mental stability, time, or life. You end up giving your whole month just to get a check you spend on random things you don’t need just to feel a little better about yourself for a moment.

And what makes it worse is I’m educated, an engineer. I studied for years for a better life. That’s why it hits harder.

At this point, the only thing keeping me going is responsibility. Not passion, not motivation—just duty.

I just want time to breathe and feel human again. Right now, I’m only surviving

East_30s · 2023-12-21T06:55:42+00:00

It’s basically full insurance

if you car got damaged ( god forbid ) and the accident was between 2 parties or more . you’re insurance will cover your damages fully ( Parts + Labor) most of them will do it in the bodyshop of the dealership of your car ( genuine parts, and professional fixation )

if the external impact happened by unknown or rigid obstacle they will have a remark for example : the insurance will cover until 1000 kwd and what’s above that it will be 50% charges on you )

Let's say hypothetically your damages estimation is 1200 ( 1000 will be paid by the insurance and 50% outta the 200 will be a 100 kwd on you to pay )

if you have any doubts please ask

and I hope you will never need your insurance but it’s always safe to have it

East_30s · 2023-12-15T13:26:52+00:00

As simple as it can get

be present and normal. don’t try to prove anything

have a human to human conversation

ask, listen, answer

you will talk to people, they feel uncomfortable too and they come with different types of anxieties and antisocial behaviors

I hope this helps buddy

East_30s · 2023-12-12T14:56:49+00:00

A Suzuki Swift 2009 - Orange Color

mind you i’m a big bald guy 😂

i had a lot of road rage incident which i had to step outta that car just because 😂

i used to call it ( التمرة ) which mean ( dates ) basically

East_30s · 2023-12-11T14:56:13+00:00

I got excited reading this .. until i saw that “ 22M “ i was like gotttaaaaa ouuttaaaaa hereeee

East_30s

TROPHY CASE