Job Discussion Forums

[ghost]

Folks: I have been offered a job through a recruiter, Mohammed Saeed, Al Falak company, to work at KFUPM, but looking at the contract, it does not look as good as a contract which I was previously sent by KFUPM direct hiring office. For example only 30 days of vacation are mentioned in this contract. Also this contract mentions working 8 hours a day, compared with around 4 hours a day, which I know a certain eminent educator works at at KFUPM! Big difference there

Also, the recruiter told me on the phone, that my housing would be on a 'compound' but not on the KFUPM campus, and would be a "10 minutes drive" from campus - seems inconvenient. I was originally really sold on the idea of living and working on campus, based on what I had been told of the campus at KFUPM. Driving to work and relying on others to transport one to and from seems like a burden.

What do you think about this contract, and is it worth accepting the job offer? I have some reservations, but your input would be most appreciated? I have 10 days to accept or reject this offer.

My gut feeling is that I would rather be hired direct, rather through a recruiter, but anyone working there who has gone through the recruiter in question - it would be good to hear from you. Many thanks.

Ghost in Korea

EMPLOYMENT OFFER NOTICE


Date: January 2, 2008

ATTN: - "My name"

This is to confirm that you have been successfully selected for a position with Al-Falak Co. We are pleased to provide you the following offer as English Language Teacher starting from your date of joining. You will be working under our client (KFUPM) Project, located in Dhahran / Dammam city (on the east cost of the Arabian Gulf).

TERMS:
 Work schedule is 5 days a week, 8 hours a day
 Class hours will be scheduled by client.
 Work hours consist of Five hours teaching and Three hours preparation.
 Work days Saturday to Wednesday.

SALARY AND ALLOWANCES
Employee will be remunerated as per the following:
 Monthly Remuneration Package = SR. 14,758.00 (starts from 1st day of reporting at work site)
 Overtime Hourly Billing Rate = SR. 150.00 (includes preparation time)

 Monthly Remuneration Package to employee shall cover all costs of expenses and benefits including and not limited to: The Government (client declared) Holidays, and the 30 Days Calendar Vacation pay (after 12 months of services).

 Out of the remuneration Rate, Employee will have to bear and pay for all expenses related to mobilization and demobilization, governmental services fees, processing fee, and any other expenses during his stay in Saudi Arabia, i.e.: (Local Transport, Housing, Medical Insurance, Sick Leave, Air-Tickets including air ticket to come to Saudi Arabia and back to country of origin, and air tickets for annual Vacation upon renewal of the contract).

Notes:
 Validation of this offer is for 10 calendar days from the date of this notice. Please confirm acceptance within this period.

Concurred by:

[scot47]

Decisons ! Ain't life hard ?

[Arab Strap]

Out of the remuneration Rate, Employee will have to bear and pay for all expenses related to mobilization and demobilization, governmental services fees, processing fee, and any other expenses during his stay in Saudi Arabia, i.e.: (Local Transport, Housing, Medical Insurance, Sick Leave, Air-Tickets including air ticket to come to Saudi Arabia and back to country of origin, and air tickets for annual Vacation upon renewal of the contract).

You'd be a mug to take this offer. Nearly 15,000 SAR might sound nice but your expenses (see above in bold) will soon eat into that.

At the end of the day you might get a higher basic salary than KFUPM direct hires but they don't have to fork out for flight tickets, accommodation, medical insurance and visa fees. They are given both a transportation and children's educational allowance...............and let's not forget about those long, long holidays.

All in direct hires get a far better deal and when you add it up it far exceeds the 15,000SAR Al Falus offer.

I was working with Al Falak guys at another government college/university just up the road from KFUPM. Although their salary was higher they had to work longer hours than us. In fact while I was getting paid over-time for teaching more than 4 hours they were expected to teach for 6 hours without o/t.

They were also staying in a horrible compound (paid for out of their salary) and forced to share (and pay for) an Al Falak car, 1998 Toyota Tercel in a hell of a state.

They were kept on the dreaded business visa and had to keep hopping across to Bahrain every couple of months, all at their own expense, to renew their visas.

In short:

NEVER WORK FOR AN AGENCY IN KSA
NEVER WORK FOR A PRIVATE LANGUAGE SCHOOL

Come on Scot47 tell it like it is!

DON'T TAKE THIS OFFER

TRY FOR DIRECT HIRE WITH KFUPM

[Stephen Jones]

This is not KFUPM, it's KFUPM project. You will be teaching English to KFUPM adminstrative staff. This was previously done on an overtime basis by existing faculty, but the powers that be have decided they would prefer full-time teachers.

[scot47]

scot47 has no comment on this matter

[Saudi4Ever]

Ghost, if you were previously sent a direct hire contract, what happened?

[ghost]

[Stephen Jones]

As I said, I believe the contract is to teach English to KFUPM Saudi administrative staff, which is why it is not a direct hire. It is not working teaching KFUPM students, but rather the equivalent of any job where you go on site to teach the staff.

As agencies go Al-Falak is passable. I worked with a couple of their recruiters for some years as they recruited people for JIC, as Arab Strap mentioned.

[veiledsentiments]

So... why don't you get in touch directly with KFUPM and check on the status of your application? It is highly unlikely that they have filled all posts for 2008 as there are always people who change plans between January and June...

VS

[ghost]

I have e-mailed recruitment at KFUPM direct, but, so far, they are not responding, and I get the impression this may be a slow time of year - is there a Muslim holiday coming up soon (Eid?).

KFUPM is still my first choice in Saudi, and IPA is choice two, but if I don't get into either one, then I will turn my attention to Oman, and perhaps Ms. Veiled Sentiments, or anyone else, might recommend possibilities there, in Oman.

Although my contract in Korea does not finish until April 1, 2008, I prefer to get things organized well ahead of time.

Thank you.

Ghost in Korea

[johnslat]

The Hajj Eid's over now:

"Hajj begins (18 December 2007)

Eid Al-Adha (20 December 2007)

The next one's not until October:

Ramadan 2008: 1/2 September to 1 October.

Regards,
John

[Mark100]

I agree with what others have stated here.

Al Falak is only an option if you are really desperate.

Your real salary will look quite small when you take out all your holiday, visa, accommodation expenses.

A lot of the Al Falak guys were staying on the Gulf Compound where they lived in sheds basically for 1500 sar a month. At least there is a bar on the compound but they were also on business visas and they were working in Dammam and not at the University and also they worked odd hours in the late affternoon and early evening. Most didn't last long and were very unhappy.

Yeah they also had shared cars which broke down a lot. I think they were Tercels.

If you can't get a direct gig don't do it.

Al Falak for good reason lost the training contract at Aramco a couple of years back.

You could try Jatco which are a recruiter for Aramco and other projects and pay better than Al Falak.

I worked for Jatco and another guy i worked with worked for Al Falak and i was getting considerably more than him and we were on the same grade code.

Jatco have a website which you can view.

[ghost]

Thank you folks, and 'Slats' and company.

I will try for direct hire from now on - better deal overall, and you know exactly where you stand. If you are with a recruiter, they can change the rules and working venue once you are there, and there are many other inconveniences.

Working in Saudi is no 'walk in the park', and if one is to invest one's time there, then you should try to get the best deal possible - that is my thought, at this time.

Ghost in Korea

[guty]

I worked for Al-Falak a couple of years ago. They offer significantly less now than they did then. We had iqamas, multi-visas, and around 4,000 more riyals a month.
Very important point to remember if you think you may be tempted to stay on in KSA is the letter of no objection.
This basically gives the employer the power to stop you working at another place in Saudi for 2 years after your contract finishes.
I believe KFUPM direct hire provide these, I know Al-Falak don't.
While there are worse agencies, everything the previous posters have said is true, if you don't have to use a recruiter, don't use one.
Yes, they were Tercels, but we weren't forced to use them, some of the 100 club opted out and tried to cadge lifts. And the compound I lived on was quite nice, I think it was called Al-Falak. Those at the Gulf were just trying to save a few riyals a month.

[ghost]

How difficult is it to "transfer" from being with a recruiter to being hired directly by the University, after a semester or two with a particular University?

Is there a loophole whih allows people under contract with a recruiter to switch to 'direct hire' after a few months in the Kingdom? Or do you have to leave the country and start the process again?

In any case, I would rather not go the recruiter route at this time, even though it may seem convenient, so I will wait to hear from the two Universities I have applied to.

Ghost in Korea