Job Discussion Forums

[Never Ceased To Be Amazed]

[talktome]

I will definitely report back after the interview.

Off-topic~ What is there to do in Houston on a Friday night?

[scot47]

I hear there are some really good mosques.

[Never Ceased To Be Amazed]

You could always go down to the Houston Ship Channel and watch the paint peel offa the tramp frieghters on their way to Bolivia...

NCTBA

[spiral78]

I had to spend a night in Houston once. I admit I wasn't very enterprising, but the only thing I found to do within walking distance of my hotel (couldn't locate anything resembling pulic transport - or sidewalks!) was to eat some plastic food at a plastic chain restaurant along with some thankfully decent California wine. It took relatively a lot of wine, but the evening wasn't a total washout after all.....

[Bebsi]

So...this thread is about the Aramco operation in Houston, yes? Very useful indeed!

[Tjames426]

I have an interview in Houston on November 1st. But I'm not sure if it is with Aramco or not. It might be with a recruiter for Aramco.It is at the Doubletree Suite Hotel.

Can anyone enlighten me?

[Bebsi]

Well, Tjames, it's not often someone asks a question along the lines of, "I have an interview but I don't know who with; can anyone tell me?"

I can help you with the Doubletree Hotel. You will recognize it by the two palms outside, and I could be wrong about this, but I suspect there will be a sign with the name on it there as well.

Okay, I'm engaging in some urinary extraction here.

Seriously, if the job is for any kind of teaching or training position, it will in all likelihood be with a contractor, as this is something Aramco has been outsourcing for almost twenty years now. Does your letter not say something like, "...with Mr. **** of HAK Company (or SRACO...or whatever)...etc"?

If you see any such reference, then it will indeed be a contractor. If it's a direct hire, it will say something like, "Mr **** of Aramco Human Resources Dept"...or something similar.

Hope this is useful

[Never Ceased To Be Amazed]

Actually, it is Aramco Services Company and they interview at their headquarters...jes' put you up for a night at a hotel after flying you in. Bebsi, is essentially correct, but there ARE some teaching positions outside of their school for the kiddies. Those direct-hire jobs are as rare as hen's teeth, I hear...

NCTBA

[talktome]

The interview was at the Double Tree Hotel located in the Galleria section of Houston, which had tons of clubs and bars along with one strip where my hotel was on.
A word of warning- don't expect much to be open after 10pm except a few bars and clubs since that area is also a very dangerous area as well.
If you could, try to get a car rental since public transit is not very frequent.
However, all the major hotels in the area are very close to each other and they provided transportation or arranged for a cab to the venue.

The interview consisted of watching 2 videos- one was about 20 minutes long and the other was about 15 minutes. The videos gave the meat about the company and the positions. During the interview period, they were interviewing for both ESL trainers and Industrial skills trainers. There was a woman from another recruiting agency (who claimed to be a rival) who actually helped during the interview gave some info about the job (which I found quite odd).
The interview itself was done by four men working in two teams (actually, they conducted 2 interviews simultaneously). The interview was very plain and the questions I was asked was similar to the type of questions I have been used to, so there were no surprises. The one thing I would advise is to make sure you know your parts of speech, they will ask you some grammar questions and ask how you would teach such a class.

Primarily, there were several types of ESL jobs;
- ITC (Industrial training centers)- where teachers would teach workers English
- PELP (Professional English Language Program), which I think was mostly to teach technical English and Business English communication
- CPC (College Prep Course) which was the prepare certain employees to attend college within the kingdom or abroad.

The centers are mostly located on the east coast with a few on the west and in the south.
There is no housing or transportation, but they claim to pay the contracted salary plus 65% above base to pay for accommodations and transportation.

If you need anymore info, let me know.

[Al-Mansoor]

That's great information. Did they give you any indication as to where you would be located?

[Al-Mansoor]

My interview is next week and directly with Aramco. Well, it's based in their London office on the 26th floor. I also refused to provide any bank details prior to the interview, which they were ok with.

How long did the whole process take?

I can't write any pms due to lack of posts. Maybe this will add up to five!

[talktome]

I would think it depends on how many people are going to be interviewed among other things.
But with watching both videos (35-40 minutes), waiting (20-30 minutes) and the interview itself (20-30 minutes), I would say about 75-100 minutes in all.

But then again, I would say it depends on the venue, the people being interviewed and jobs being offered at the time.

They said that the interview process would continue until the middle of December and that selection would be made in Saudi by early January.

[Never Ceased To Be Amazed]

[Al-Mansoor]

You usually get a sense of the structure of an interview prior to attending it. With Aramco we're just told to turn up and bang! Bit of a mystery...