Job Discussion Forums

[Canuck_teacher]

Hi Guys,

I'm looking for a job in Middle East and have been considering the KSA. I have applied to a few jobs and was curious about a few things:

1- When is the best time to find a job?
2- Are visas open to Canadians? It seems most are open to Amer / UK nationals
3- What should I be looking out for?
4- Any pieces of advice that you KSA vets have would be super appreciated.

Cheers

CT

[Bebsi]

Hi CT,

I will answer your questions chronologically.

1. If you want to work in the oil or military-contract sectors, anytime is good. Generally, the money is better (but not always) in this sector. If, on the other had, you want to work on a univ PYP then the best time to look for a job is from April onwards, for the autumn semester start in September. However, some start recruiting around now, for the second-semester start in February.

What usually distinguishes the university packages is less money but theoretically better holidays. I say, 'theoretically', because the growing number of private univs in KSA tend to give far fewer vacation days than the govt ones. The students get the same number of days, but management in most of the private places have this quaint idea that if teachers are sitting around doing nothing constructive in the absence of students, they're getting value for money whereas if you're on vacation somewhere, they're not. They appear to have never hard of motivation or morale, but are often working on the advice of someone in mid-management merely trying to make themselves look better!

Private operators working on contract to the government universities, tend to actually not pay one month or more of the summer period. So, you get an 11-month contract starting 01 Sept. You will finish work in mid June, usually, and they pay you up to 31 July. This is not perfect either, but is more honest in a way, and I can understand their practice from a business point-of-view.

Go for government univs, direct hire, and that way you cut out 99% of the grief, with very good vacations, pay always on time, and guaranteed work visa as opposed to a Biz Viz.

2. It all depends on what work visas the employer gets. When they apply, they must apply for a block-visa initially, which can be for one single person, or for 2000 of them! The nationalities of the visas being sought must be stated, and cannot be easily changed later. Often, the government allocates visas by nationality, so the employer doesn't always have a choice. Sometimes, it's the employer. There are 30m Canucks in the world, as opposed to 300m Americans, and in many cases they just don't think of Canada when applying for English-teacher visas. Same with Irish/UK, folks are often told, 'Sorry, no visas for Ireland, only UK'.

3. This is far too broad a question. Go through the threads in this forum; start at the most recent, and work your way back through the last year or two.

4. Ditto.

[Zaytoon]

Can someone talk about how to get paid--direct deposit or does it depend on the employer?-- and what to do before you leave your own country, as far as setting up banking, etc. I can't find any U.S. banks with branches there, but I am hoping a credit card from an international bank would be useful. Would setting up a power of attorney with someone still in the U.S. be valuable?

Google is not my friend here, neither is the many hours I have spent pouring over these threads. Is there a particularly helpful thread someone can point to, or someone who has written about the essential last minute things to do before you leave?

[Cleopatra]

[sheikher]

My Friend reveals http://www.saudiarabia.alloexpat.com/saudi_arabia_information/banks_saudi_arabia.php

and a previous thread reveals:

If you are to be paid into a UK bank account, check the possibility of getting some of your salary paid locally, as transfer charges can be excessive. The reverse is also true, though to a lesser extent if you will be salaried in Saudi but wish to send money home � banks will telex money, but a cheaper alternative is to use one of the many �Remittance Services�. Two that are recommended are Al Rajhi Banking & Investment Corporation, and SpeedCash (Saudi American Bank � SAMBA) � Both are fast and efficient, although you will have to go to their offices with cash and a note of the account details to which the money is to be sent. The latter will issue you with a plastic card with a number that will access your details from their computer database, making the transaction that much quicker. Also worthy of note here is that Bahrain, home of Pubs �n� Pork take Saudi Riyals in most larger establishments.

http://americanbedu.com/2007/10/18/newcomers-to-riyadh/


and another previous thread reveals:

Exactly a year back, I had written a post about money remittances from Saudi Arabia (Click here to read that post). A lot of water has flown down the river since then, new exchange houses have come up, new rules have been framed and it is about time that I updated some additional information for the benefit of the readers.

There are many exchanges and banks from where you can send your hard-earned money home. There are no restrictions on remittances from Saudi Arabia in the sense that 100% of your earnings can be repatriated back home.

However, not all the banks are popular. The exchange rates, particularly in some of the banks, are extremely unfavorable. To top it all, there is no such thing called a customer service or an ombudsman in these banks. Some of the staff in such banks have nothing but utter contempt for the expatriates, as though they are here as bonded slaves, going by the way they treat them. Naturally, these banks are the ones having the least expat crowd. An absolute textbook case of how not to run a business!

On the contrary, some of the exchange houses work 12 hours a day, Saturday through Friday, except for prayer times and on Friday mornings. There are several counters and the staff are manned by expatriates too, who are courteous and understand the problems of fellow-expats. The exchange houses have, what is known as 'Correspondent Bank' arrangement. What it means is that when you send money through these exchanges and you have a bank account back home in one of these correspondent banks, money transfer is immediate.

Usually there are two ways of sending money home. The first one is the traditional Demand Draft whereby you pay the money plus the commission of the exchange house and get a Draft. Make sure that the draft is signed by atleast two authorized officers of the bank for amounts greater than SR10000 (this is usually the norm unless confirmed by the bank that it is not required). I have personally seen people walking off with drafts, without having even one signature. People simply assume that they are signed when they are issued, so do make sure to double check before you leave the counter, because without a signature these drafts will not be honored back home.

The other method, and more convenient one, is money transfer direct into your account. The commission for MT is a bit higher, but is very safe and almost instantaneous. My personal favorite is the MT.

A word of caution is not out of place. Some of the expats have a habit of accumulating their savings over a couple of months or more and send them as a lumpsum amount. When the amount becomes big (typically amounts above SR20000), questions are raised. You will have to take the printout of your bank statement with the rubber stamp of the bank and also the mini statement from the ATM machine of your bank. As per the new rules of Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency (SAMA), these will be verified by all banks and exchanges as a measure of safety against money laundering, so it is better to go prepared with these documents to save your time. Also, SAMA has now made it mandatory for all banks and exchanges to have the iqamas and the passport copies verified for everyone, particularly when any of these documents are renewed.

The exchange houses are not complaint-free, though. The most common problem with these exchanges happens in case of Demand Drafts. As long as things go smooth, there is no problem. The moment a Draft is struck up somewhere, then there is a long-drawn process before you can get your money back. This is why it is so important to keep the counterfoil of the form which you have filled in, till you are sure that the money has indeed reached your account back home.

You must take care to fill in all the details correctly in the form. Afterall, it is your own money and you do not want to throw it away. You must know the email address / phone number of your bank back home. This is to ensure that in case of a delay or non-delivery of your money, you can immediately mail them and sort things out.

Finally, as most expats do, it is advisable to keep multiple accounts in the various exchanges. All it needs is a photocopy of your iqama and that of your passport with your company's stamp to open an account. This is just to ensure that you get the best exchange rate available. Remember, the exchange rate you see in the newspapers is not what is offered by the banks / exchange houses.

You will find different rates in different exchange houses, all in the same road, so you have to be alert, keep your eyes and ears open and strike the best bargain. After all, the happiest day in the life of an expatriate is the day his hard-earned money goes into his bank account :)

http://workinginsaudiarabia.blogspot.com/search?updated-max=2009-02-04T14%3A53%3A00%2B03%3A00&max-results=5


Last-minute items:
1. get international driving license (make sure there's Arabic on one page)
2. hoard prescriptions (Chinese fakes are common in KSA) and spare spectacles
3. get immunization booklet
4. get heaps of mug shots
5. get health insurance for the first few weeks if you demand private care
6. update and pay for your personal effects insurance plan
7. hire U-Haul and pay commercial storage locker invoice, pre-paid year plan best deal
8. cancel car insurance and registration, arrange refunds
9. get school's address to which mail may be forwarded
10. cancel post box, apply and pay for mail to be forwarded
11. submit final electricity and water meter readouts, pay and cancel
12. cancel telephone account, pay balance
13. register temporary non-resident status with IRA
14. obtain definitive objective translation of visa sticker in passport, shift to point #0 of this list
15. secure all health check, criminal record check, visa application, etc., receipts for possible reimbursement according to your employer's vicissitudes despite what is specified in Labor law and/or your contract
16. be aware that a business visit visa holder will be absolutely, categorically, empirically plus unequivocally denied a formal banking account; don't even try it. There's Western Union, however. Google is friendly in that regard.
17. print government website's Travel Warning and show mom
18. memorize "White Christmas" lyrics
19. rehearse meditation exercises
20. check your boarding pass
21. comply with TSA intrusive regulations
22. heed advice that in the event of a sudden loss of cabin pressure, the panel above your head will automatically open. Grasp the mask firmly and breathe naturally.

[scot47]

Most employers pay direct into an account that you open in Saudi Arabia. Some military employers (BAe, Raytheon etc) pay directly to an account in your home country.

The banking system in KSA is modern and efficient.

[veiledsentiments]

My goodness... that blog does make it all sound so complicated...

Most of my friends have an account in the US. Their employer (following Cleo's description above... legit with employment visa) direct deposits into the account in Saudi. Then they do their transfers over the internet. You have an ATM (or debit card) to get cash or buy locally. I suggest avoiding local credit cards anywhere in the Gulf... just use your US card. (but be sure to inform them that you are living overseas)

If you don't have a US account, I would recommend setting up an online account with Ally Bank. They pay the best interest rates these days and are easy to work with... online chat or by telephone. They are federally insured and used to be the GMAC bank.

It has become very easy with the net.

VS

[Cleopatra]

[veiledsentiments]

There are nightmare stories of problems with local credit cards around the Gulf and I wouldn't even consider ever having one. People around the Gulf have been blocked from leaving the country because of large unpaid balances, and had their bank accounts frozen. Some have had their departure procedures messed up by them at the end of a contract. Yes, it is rare, but it has also happened. If I needed a credit card and they wouldn't take my US one, I paid cash.

I used a credit card in the Gulf a total of less than 5 times (plus my sat TV in Oman was charged monthly) in my many years in the Gulf. Much better to use the ATM/debit card if you don't have the cash.

VS

[trapezius]

[sheikher]

When the moon is in the Seventh House and Jupiter aligns with Mars, then peace will guide the planets and love will steer the stars. This is the dawning of the Age of Aquarius during which Saudi Arabia's "proper work visa" otherwise known as employment entry visa plus temporary residence permit or iqama (applied for and secured within 90 days of arrival) is sufficient for the newbie to open a bank account.

If the newbie arrives on the business visit visa, forget about harmony and understanding, sympathy and trust abounding. True, the possibly delayed pay cheque may be cashed at any branch of the issuing bank for a wad of cash. The same branch, however, will not transfer funds -- that requires a formal account not available to the unwitting, or defiant, newbie. Western Union (or similar) may be conveniently adjacent or inconveniently distant. Be prepared bring a translator to queue with you and kazillions of other migrant workers also anxiously filling in remittance forms or engaged in excruciatingly exact discussions with respective clerks uttering sentences shorter than this one. Reserve minimum one hour for RT transport plus procedure. Translator gratuity is discretionary.

It is possible to receive salary in cash -- riyals or US$. Negotiate with employer whose whims may shift now and then.

Labor law Article (90):
(1) The worker�s wages and all other entitlements shall be paid in the Country�s official currency. Wages shall be paid during working hours and at the workplace in accordance with the following provisions: Step right up and read all about this and more in the handy dandy, convenient and nifty Sticky.

Then newbies may prepare themselves for no more falsehoods or derisions, golden living dreams of visions, mystic crystal revelation and the mind's true liberation.

Let the sun shine. Let the sun shine in, ad nauseum.

[Citizenkane]

[sheikher]

1. You can only get paid in $ when working for a US company...
2. You can get paid only in $ when working for a US company...
3. You can get paid in $ when working for only a US company...
4. You can only get paid in only $ when working for only a US company...

I bear witness to the contractual and functional falsehood of the above seeming dogma, and do recognize Mr Kane's backtrack "will almost certainly". Some employers' accountants, under certain circumstances, are open to forms of persuasion beyond this post's purview.

And I challenge Mr Kane to name US-Saudi consortia that "maybe not even" pay salaries to migrant workers (for that, spade-a-spade, fundamentally defines English language instructors in the Gulf), and to moreover identify any US company legally registered in Saudi Arabia as a wholly, exclusively independent business enterprise.

[trapezius]

[sheikher]

That's quite some revelation, Mr von Trapp! I urge newbies to keep that tidbit on file.

One other item: some banks and/or money transfer enterprises enter transaction notations in passports. Go figger!

One other item of note to the uninitiated: DHL etc have TSA-like technology. Your sealed envelope faces immediate rejection. Or later the courier's rep will come ringing your bell, unopened envelope in hand, with a request for a signature right here at the x.

You: reach for smart phone, express astonishment, post on YouTube.

Informally representing M_ Zaytoon, have any Members any valuable, not cavalier, information pertinent to his second paragraph?