Job Discussion Forums

makeeba · Joined: 19 Jan 2014 Posts: 5

I'm new to the Saudi job hunt arena and want to make sure that I'm doing the right things.

Are there rules?
Can I sign more than one contract at a time ?
Can I sign with more than one recruiter and/or direct hire at the same time for a particular school?
Is there a red flag system to alert employers of candidates who have already been hired?
Can you have more than one visa issued by several employers at the same time?

I'm asking these questions because as I apply for positions I notice that many recruiters are hiring for the same schools. My concern is signing a contract with a company that takes forever to process my paper work and lose out on a better contract with an employer that can put me to work faster.

What about the probation period? If I accept an offer and test the waters out with one company during the probation period can I exit and return with another employer that I was negotiating with?
How does this all work?
Am I stuck once I sign an offer?

lcanupp1964 · Joined: 12 Dec 2009 Posts: 381

cnthaiksarok · Posted: Wed Feb 05, 2014 1:39 am Post subject:

As I am 1/3 of the way through the process (for the 4th time in my history) I can tell you that "rules" and Saudi don't belong in the same sentence, nor do "regularities."

If you are going through the process with more than one agent, contractor, company or school at the same time, you are only asking for major troubles.

Pick one and try to see it through to the end. <period>

cnthaiksarok · Posted: Wed Feb 05, 2014 1:40 am Post subject:

You could exit during the probation period (or any other time) and return with someone else IF you were to take a position on a business visit visa.

A way in itself NOT advised by many....and for very good reasons.

rollingk · Joined: 23 Jul 2006 Posts: 212

The bar may have just been raised a bit. At last, one to vie with the natives.

nomad soul · Joined: 31 Jan 2010 Posts: 11454 Location: The real world

plumpy nut · Joined: 12 Mar 2011 Posts: 1652

scot47 · Joined: 10 Jan 2003 Posts: 15343

The employer may contact his sorcerer and have you turned into a cat.

SENTINEL33 · Joined: 19 Jan 2014 Posts: 112 Location: Bahrain

The long and short answer to your questions is : No

1. You can apply to as many jobs as you want in KSA at the same time. But you can't "sign a contract" as you put it with more than one employer at the same time.

1. Actually. you wouldn't get very far. No KSA consulate is going to post a SECOND entry visa onto a passport that ALREADY has a valid entry visa. They'll just cancel them both and you could jeopardize any future job possibility in KSA. (EACH job has its own visa and visa number.....it's not like one visa covers any and all jobs...so for each job you "accept" and sign a contract with, your passport has to go to the Consulate for the appropriate visa....and that's where you'd get caught).

2. You will almost certainly immediately "dislike" your new employer. You'll pretend you don't, but you will. (I have always disliked my new employer anywhere in the world....by noon of the first day on the job).

As with any new employer, you're taking a chance as to whether you'd want to stick around. It's actually a little hard to advise you because you haven't given enough facts about your prospective job for an outsider to offer a considered opinion or suggestion. You say "school", but that takes up a lot of territory.......you mean a uni? a local high school? an "international" high school? etc etc.

But as someone above implied: You can't simply "walk into the Kingdom to take up a job, and depart the next day, willy nilly" simply because you dislike the job. For one thing, you need an EXIT VISA to depart the Kingdom. If your employer doesn't want to issue you one, you can't leave, period.

You don't "have to" stay at a bad job, but it requires some time and procedures to depart. Were you to do this, it's almost certain that you couldn't come back in on another job, at least not right away. You can do that if you complete your original job. But if you bug out after a couple of months, there's almost no way you could return to take up another job right away.

(Years ago, all this in and out could be done much more easily. But not anymore. It's like boarding a plane in the USA. Years ago, you could just "board" the plane, no problem, and your "loved ones" could practically meet you as you stepped off the plane at your destination.

In some places in not too distant past, your "loved ones" could even "run after the plane" as it was taking off, waving goodbye....like you can still do with trains......but not anymore).

sicklyman · Joined: 02 Feb 2013 Posts: 930

troll?

makeeba · Joined: 19 Jan 2014 Posts: 5

Thanks for all the responses to my questions. It is all becoming clearer now how things work. I need to clarify one of my questions asked.

Can you have more than one visa issued by several employers at the same time?

What I really want to know is about the visa invite. My understanding is that you will receive this first and need to process it in order to obtain a visa. Can you have more than one of these at a time?

If not, can they be cancelled?
What if you accept a job offer by signing a contract but then get a better offer which you want to complete the visa process with while the first company is supposedly processing your visa invite?

A few questions were asked of me.

Yes, this will be my first time working abroad. I'm American and I am seeking teaching positions at universities only.

Not being able to exit without an exit visa from your employer happens immediately upon arrival or once your Iqama is finalized in country?

Thanks

SENTINEL33 · Joined: 19 Jan 2014 Posts: 112 Location: Bahrain

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

I do not recommend Saudi Arabia as one's first experience of living and working overseas... and based on your questions, that opinion is even stronger.

Pick a job... sign a contract... eventually after much aggravation and paper chasing you get your visa... and go. If you arrive and hate it and want to bail out, there will be financial cost to you which is fair enough since you have cost your employer money and they have received nothing.

Your options in this game that you seem to want to play don't exist. Do NOT sign multiple contracts!! If you sign a contract, fulfill it!! You can always leave at the end of it.

Have you looked at any other countries? There are many places that are not as problematic as Saudi Arabia if you have a decent CV.

VS

nomad soul · Joined: 31 Jan 2010 Posts: 11454 Location: The real world

scot47 · Joined: 10 Jan 2003 Posts: 15343

Your Iqama must be processed before you can get any type of Exit Visa. If you have not travelled outside the US I would advise you to stray away from KSA

I may be slow on the uptake. Why would you want more than one entry visa ? How many employers do you want to work for ? My guess is that you will not go, but if you do, you will hate KSA from Day One. Stay in Kansas.