Job Discussion Forums

[JohnG]

Has anyone who was not offered a position ever gotten reimbursed for travel expenses for a MLI interview? I have been waiting since July for mine. Is there anyone else waiting, too?

[scot47]

It is common practice in the ME NOT to pay travel expenses. Some employers will pay but only if you take the job. Write it off. Put it down as "school fees", ie the cost of learning something about this neck of the woods.

[JohnG]

Thanks scott. I iwsh I had known earlier. Let others beware.

[mli_vet]

Had they made a commitment to cover these expenses? Sounds like they're getting cheap on the interview side of things if so. Beware indeed, job offer or no job offer.

MLI Vet
Over and Out
[email protected]

[JohnG]

Yeah. They had made a commitment and I have been trying to get reimbursed since July. I was communicating with someone named Roberto. Since I never received anything I thought I should warn others.

[kaw]

hiya
Just to be picky - the woman's name was Roberta (not a bloke called Roberto)
As for getting expenses paid - a colleague and I both attended interviews in abu Dhabi and neither of us got our expenses refunded. Neither did we get out photos back.
Any idea why they would hang onto these? Can't they afford a dart board??

[JohnG]

Well, thanks KAW. At least I wasn't the only one screwed on this deal. People beware.

[scot47]

This should remond all of us that tings are done differently in the Middle East. If you expect to be treated in the same way as you might be by a western or multinational organisation you will be in for some surprises.


I am not saying if it is worse or better, but it is different. And that is even before you step foot on Arab soil. Once you get here (if you ever make it through the hurdles) you will find the same generalisation is a good one. Do not expect ANYTHING to be the same.

And if you can't adapt to a culture where things are done differently, stay at home !

[JohnG]

Your advice is good and it is valid for any overseas position. I personally have lived many years in Africa and Asia, and I appreciate and respect the differences between cultures, but one thing that does not change between countries/cultures that I have lived in is honesty. This is the reason I was very surprised that they did not reimburse me as they said they would.
Are you saying that in the Middle East I should not expect people to keep their word. I am very interested in your response since I will be going there in about two weeks. I imagined that the people strictly followed the teachings of Islam in which honesty, charity, and respect are valued virtues. Am I wrong in my assumptions? Any other advice you can give would greatly be appreciated.

My sole objective is to inform as many people as possible to what happened to me to let them know what to honestly expect.
Thus, be forwarned that this company will not reimburse you as they state that they will.

[johnslat]

Dear JohnG,

" I imagined that the people strictly followed the teachings of Islam in which honesty, charity, and respect are valued virtues. Am I wrong in my assumptions? "

I'm a bit surprised that someone such as yourself, someone who's " personally . . . lived many years in Africa and Asia " would not have discovered by now that there's about the same percentage of bozos, jerks, liars and thieves in every country in the world. Fortunately, its a very small percentage - but people in the Middle East are no exception. And to make an assumption such as the one above is dangerous. You'll find plenty of people there who do value honesty, charity and respect. However, you'll also find some who would lie to you as soon as look at you, who would thoroughly enjoy divesting you of your cash and who have no respect for you whatsoever - just as you will everywhere else on this planet.
Regards,
John

[JohnG]

Sure, of course. I don't mean to sound so naive. My assumption was about an organization that presents itself to be an excellent professional place to work...From individuals I expect such behavior, but in a supposedly top notch organization I expect the policies to be better implemented. Thanks for your reply

[grand fromage]

Welcome to the new unimproved MLI! Since AMIDEAST was let go nothing has been the same. I guess problems with these reimbursements may have something to do with this (amideast used to handle interviews and billed the army for these kinds of expenses). As it stands, middle management are all former teachers. This is both good and bad. Good as they might be more sympathetic to our needs, but bad as they have no idea about what they are doing most of the time. Not their fault all the time as the military admin is even more lost than them. Oh, two former supervisors remain but one has already resigned and the other should have left a long time ago (nothing personal Zaf. just expressing my honest opinion;) Yes, say what you want about amideast running the place (I wasn't always a big fan of theirs), but it is getting from bad to worse. Now there is no one to go to to complain about something major being a problem. Especially after the officers have isolated themselves from us by asking not to see them unless we have something very personal to discuss. Bunch of incompetent, lazy and insensitive paper-stackers (versus pushers). Did I used to be more optimistic about the place in the past? Forgive me if I have- mea maxima culpa. Ok, bask in the glory mli_vet Seriously, the ship's sinking; time to look for a lifeboat. Over & Out.

[MLI Advocate]

It�s true. There is change at the MLI. Sinking? Depends on your view. From where I sit, the day-to-day operations aren�t much different from past years. I think the comments of Big Cheese are a bit out of line � If you are that unhappy, then it is definitely time to move on. Leave the personal attacks to a more private venue.

I�m not saying MLI is the perfect place to work � there is no such place. Anyone considering MLI should know that it is a government institution. All government institutions everywhere in the world are prisoners of bureaucracy. On top of the bureaucracy, the M in MLI is Military. This means rules, regulations, and chain of command. If you can�t accept that environment, look elsewhere. If you are flexible, ready for change, and have a �half-full� perspective, it can be a very good place to work.

This thread started with travel reimbursement questions, so � When AMIDEAST was doing the recruiting, the policy was to reimburse for travel within the US to an interview in DC. I don�t know that they ever made reimbursement for travel to Abu Dhabi. The money came from the AMIDEAST budget, not from MLI.

If a pro/con MLI thread is going to run again, maybe start off a new one

[JohnG]

I am the one who started this dialogue. I was promised reimbursement to go to Cananda. I did exactly as I was told & I have waited since July to receive my money. NOTHING, Even though Roberta promised me a number of times that things are being worked out. My mission is to report the factual truth of what has happened and I will be glad to provide complete documentation to back up everything that I have said. The manner in which this has been handled speaks for itself of the type of organization that MLI is.

[mli_vet]

I'll take your word for it! MLI has shortchanged quite a few people, and not just the ones who weren't hired. Bureaucracy is expected in the military, of course, but people can only take so much of this, especially when it comes to being shortchanged on your salary, more money being taken out than what you thought, for longer than you had been told.

No, Big Cheese, I'm not going to say "I told you so" because that's just not what it's all about. MLI Advocate says you're out of line, and other posters have taken their jabs at the MLI Vet. But what they can't get around are the cold, hard facts--constant headache of late/unpaid $$$ being a major issue along with major administrative ineptitude.

Best case scenario, JohnG's payment is just a few months late, but I seriously doubt it. Sounds to me like they've written off a non-hire and shafted him with expenses which used to be reimbursed.

That's cold, man. Cold, mean and downright dirty.

As the saying here in the Gulf goes, "Buyer beware" -- In the case of MLI, "Job-seekers beware!"

MLI Vet
Over and Out