Job Discussion Forums

[matthew156]

Is Jubal University College the same organization as the one M-Trading recruits for? I have a telephone interview coming up and would like to know if tacoboy or anyone knows about this.

I've applied from their web site directly and have been contacted for a phone interview.

[Never Ceased To Be Amazed]

Depends upon whether they're talkin' in the "Queen's English" or not. If it were me, I'd let the phone ring and ring and ring and ring and ring and ring and ring and ring and ring and ring and ring and ring and ring and ring and ring and ring and ring and ring and ring and ring and ring and ring and ring and ring and ring and ring and ring and ring and ring and ring and ring and ring and ring and ring and ring and ring and ring and ring and ring and ring and ring and ring and ring and ring and ring and ring and ring and ring and ring and ring and ring and ring and ring and ring !

NCTBA

P.s.- Uninversity AND college...make up yer mind!!!

[matthew156]

grain a salt

[a_ibrahim]

Chances are you will be speaking to more than one person, at the very least 2. I know people who spoke to 3 different individuals during the phone interview. You'll probably speak to someone from whatever department you're being hired for and someone from human resources.

[tacomaboywa]

Well, there are several institutions in Jubail so I'm not sure if you are referring to Jubail Industrial College or one of the others. In any case, if you are getting a direct hire then you're better off. If you want to avoid any possible contact with the mess M-Trading has caused then I recommend that you avoid the Special Unit Programs at Jubail Industrial College. Other then that, good luck!

[Stephen Jones]

Three separate institutions; Jubail University College (UCJ), Jubail Industrial College (JIC), and Jubail Technical Institute (JTI). You'll have a contract with the Royal Commission for Jubail and Yanbu in all cases though.

When I conducted telephone interviews for JIC it was normal to have two people present.

NCTBA has pointed out one anomaly. UCJ is a university college that doesn't belong to a university.

If you're a single woman ask about accommodation. I believe they are still housing single women at an ex-nurse's residence where you don't even get your own kitchen. When men from JIC lived there they referred to it as Guatanamo (the studio apartments for single men were referred to as 'the dog boxes'). Somebody seemed to have taken the Gitmo epithet too seriously because they actually imposed a curfew on single women for a year (it might even be still in force).

Accommodation for single men at UCJ was hardly the bees knees either.

[matthew156]

THANKS EVERYONE

If I do go I'll go married status and ask for married accommodation. Will I be putting my wife through undue stress by bringing her with me? Although it is already decided and she will be coming with me, would it be a good idea to discuss an alternative if it's just that bad.

Matt

[mouse5]

[Gulezar]

"Will I be putting my wife through undue stress by bringing her with me? Although it is already decided and she will be coming with me, would it be a good idea to discuss an alternative if it's just that bad."

You might be burning some bridges. I've known spouses who came solo, and then the visa process for the spouse dragged on for months, and you might be put in bachelor accommodations, rather than in a family apartment. Then if you manage to get a visit visa for your spouse, you'll be shuffled off to a guest house. This may or may not be your experience. The problem with Saudi is you never know what sort of deal HR will brew up.

Some women might like sitting in the house, cleaning, cooking, shopping, reading and writing. It could be a great place for someone who had to finish off her doctoral thesis or had a project: a book or paintings to develop. If she doesn't work, she might even be able to use the health facilities in the mornings (women only). However, if she is physically active, she might find life under an abaya to be restrictive.

[Sheikh N Bake]

Absolutely agree. My wife, a Malaysian Chinese, couldn't stand it anymore in Saudi after two and a half years--bearing in mind that we had several long vacations in the interim. She is somebody who likes to participate in life, not watch it go by from some compound or, worse yet, a street-level apartment. Although she had never been to the U.S. at that time, she left Saudi a year earlier than I did in order to set up house in the States and find a job and take care of the kid! And she was only 25 then. I have to give her tons of credit for that kind of courage, and for joining me from the relative luxury of Kuala Lumpur in the first place. I feel very guilty nowadays for having put her through that Saudi experience. If you love your wife, I would say, don't do this to her...unless as the previous poster wisely noted, she needs to polish off a dissertation or something. Of course, if she has a professional job there such as teaching college, it's a different matter. My wife is a businesswoman, so, naturally, a Chinese businesswoman is considered useless in the Magic Kingdom. That alone tells you what kind of country it is.

[Stephen Jones]

Boredom will be the wife's problem, not stress.

Some spouses loved the opportunity to do a thesis, write a novel, or just rejoice in being a kept woman.

[scot47]

You will be subjecting your wife to torture. Even in an upmarket Western compound like Aramco life is difficult.

[matthew156]

[Stephen Jones]

Step 1 means you are right at the bottom of the scale; if I remember correctly the first two years with a Masters, or four without, are simply qualifying experience to get on the scale at all.

Scale 10 is the standard scale for lecturers and instructors.

As to how much money it translates into you'll have to ask; I don't know the up-to-date pay scales.

[paradox3696]