Job Discussion Forums

PRiS · Joined: 05 Nov 2010 Posts: 3 Location: Saudi Arabia

turned it down (the interview) because they wanted me to fly on my dime to meet with them in London. At the time, I was in Turkey, and the flight was to cost me $800. They would not put me in a hotel either.

I offered a Skype or telephone interview. They declined.

A friend did interview with ARAMCO in Houston. Just as I had suspected, the ARAMCO offer was not what I would have thought. Simply put: ARAMCO didn't pay much compared to other gigs in Saudi, and from what I could gather, they didn't provide enough money for housing as well.

I am glad I didn't waste time nor money with them. If the situation changes in the future, I would consider them as an employer.

BTW: ARAMCO is the biggest oil company in the world. EXXON-Mobile lags far behind.

veiledsentiments · Joined: 20 Feb 2003 Posts: 17644 Location: USA

Never Ceased To Be Amazed · Posted: Sat Nov 06, 2010 1:51 pm Post subject:

I hate to tell you this PRIS, but yer friend is mistaken. S/he did NOT interview with Aramco in Houston...

Lemmee guess, the "Aramco" s/he interviewed with required him/her to travel on his/her dime as well as held the interview in a hotel rather that their Houston office building, right?

Ask yerself this: Why would the biggest oil company in the world ask a candidate to use their own resources to help get recruited? Money to them isn't like money to us. A flight? That's chump change to a multinational.

Plus, would they like to gain a reputation, like you mention here, of being a penny-pincher?

Food fer thought.

NCTBA

PRiS · Joined: 05 Nov 2010 Posts: 3 Location: Saudi Arabia

Greetings Community Members,

This will be my final response to this topic.

My experience: My friend had interviewed twice with Aramco: Once in 2005 and once in 2010.

For the first 2005 interview, my friend says that the recuriter paid him cash for the travel reimbursement to Houston and that he was given a nice room in the hotel where the interviews were held: a nice hotel in Downtown Houston. The interview went well with the Sudanese Ph. D. and the Englishman Coordinator. He did not accept the job offer because he received a better job offer. As he was to be hired as a subcontractor and not as a direct ARAMCO employee, he did mentioned that a friend of his was very critical of the low quality of housing provided: that was a big red flag for him. I later verified this myself and saw the accomodation given to his friend: the accomodation reminded me of my days serving as a missionary in Indonesia - truly depressing.

In 2010, my friend interviewed with the same gentlemen again: This time the recuriter/ARAMCO did not reimburse him for the plane nor hotel arrangements - in other words, these came out of his pocket. The money offered to him was still the same as in 2005. Luckily, my friend found a much better job in the Gulf region. The difference this time, though, was that ARAMCO wanted my friend to be a Lead teacher: more responsibilities, same pay. He says he didn't like the housing allowance money and the vacation structure. He declined.

My two cents: There are better contracts out there. At best, IMHO, this contract is so-so. I am shocked that the largest oil company by far penny pinches this way out of their employees - this certainly does not ensure employee loyalty. The students I know tend to sleep in class a lot and the teacher is to blame. For the money that is offered, this kind of hassle and aggravation is not worth it. There are better gigs that offer more money and benefits for the same emotional tax.

This is the end of my participation on this topic.

Thank you for reading.

Regards,

PaRiS

Never Ceased To Be Amazed · Posted: Sun Nov 07, 2010 2:09 am Post subject:

Ahhh...therein lies the reason for his disappointment. He was being hired by a recruiter for Aramco and not as a direct hire. Direct hires for Aramco are allowed to live on the Dhahran Camp (or other various company-run camps) and given all of its amenities.

When recruited, direct hires for Aramco are emailed a return e-ticket, chauffered from the airport to a nice hotel that is not located in Houston's CBD, chauffered to the interview at their building in Houston, paid a per diem for their trouble, fed for any mealtimes that the interview infringed upon and chauffered back to the airport for their flight home. It is all done first class as can be imagined as it, indeed, is the World's largest oil company.

I don't doubt that your friend is absolutely honest in his account, but as I said earlier, he wasn't interviewed by Aramco. And, the Englishman coordinator was obviously also hired by the recruiter. I don't blame yer friend on taking a pass.

I would've as well, but then again, I would've never travelled on my own dime to Houston (or anywhere for tha matter, save a TESOL convention) for an interview...

Good luck to yer friend...

NCTBA

Al-Mansoor · Joined: 15 Aug 2010 Posts: 76 Location: Here

Hi all. Thank you to everyone who has contributed to this thread.

After much thought I decided to attend the interview in London. I asked around and made phone calls to Aramco to verify the authenticity of it all.

I'm back from the interview and can confirm that it was legitimate and the interview was held by real Aramcons...phew. The building was off Oxford St, London, in their overseas office.

Structure of the interview:
- Watched a very short promo video about Aramco. There was only two of us (candidates) in the room while the screen was on.
- After the video I was called in to another room for a grilling by three people; two Saudis and one Brit.
- I can't recall the length of the interview but it felt quite long and I finished my glass of water pretty quickly!
- Final stage was a presentation by another lady who provided us with more in depth information about Aramco's benefits package, excluding the actual salary which will be stated IF an offer is made.

The interview lasted from 10am until 12pm.

The information above is to help others who may be in a similar position in the future. If you receive any communication from Aramco Overseas Company make sure you call the office to confirm and don't just rely on the contact number given by the expat recruitment person.

Once again, thanks for all your comments.

Very Happy

Never Ceased To Be Amazed

saxmanrandy · Joined: 03 Mar 2011 Posts: 7

SRACO/ARAMCO contracts are paying approximately what kind of salary?
Of the two offers I have had from universities in SA, I had an offer of a 17,000 riyalsl and a 16,000 riyal salary (not inclusive of other benefits/housing).

How much more are we looking at?
I have over 10 years uni teaching, 24 in total, a M. Ed. in TESOL, and fully completed Ph. D coursework in literature (ABD).

Chinaski · Joined: 06 Apr 2011 Posts: 54

Top notch thread.

Does anyone think there would be any bias for a Canadian or American to be interviewed in London, or for a British or Irish national to be interviewed in Houston, for example?

I've got an application in with Aramco, through a recruiter, and if I get an interview it could be a toss up between London and Houston, as I'm in Northeast Asia now; hence my interest in readers views, concerning the above...

Cheers!