Job Discussion Forums

boundforsaudi · Joined: 29 Jan 2003 Posts: 243

Can anybody say what contractors ARAMCO is currently using? And what recruiters each contractor is using? And what contractor pays the most, etc? And what contractor will pay interview traveling expenses up front? And what recruiter is most reliable? Etc.

desert_traveller · Joined: 28 Nov 2006 Posts: 335

... and where is the button that boundforsaudi needs to press to get the contract shipped to his tv room by courier with pizza and cold drinks and spare batteries for the remote?

boundforsaudi · Joined: 29 Jan 2003 Posts: 243

Please hold the trans fat and fructose.

Cuffs · Joined: 10 Feb 2009 Posts: 77

I was recruited recently for Aramco by Al Falak, via eVocation in the UK (you don't state where you are applying from).

There are several league tables of recruiters on this forum, and Al Falak never made it past fair-to-middling. However, I have been delighted with Al Falak in the three months I have been here. They are always quick to respond to any queries, they pay correctly, and on time, they issue multi-exit visas with no questions asked, they sorted me out with a phone and a rental car on the first day here, they had organized a room for me on their compound in Al Khobar, I got my iqama in 16 days, and once I had that, they came with me to get my driving license sorted out. No complaints whatsoever.

eVocation are a fairly small operation and this was the first time they had recruited for Saudi, so the visa application process was done pretty blind. They were great at staying touch, though, and refunded half my train fare to London for the interview.

There is a new contract system which is dictated by Aramco. Contractors are obliged to pay what Aramco tells them to, and take their slice from that. There is room for negotiation dependent upon qualifications and experience, which will be done between you and Aramco at interview.

Hope this helps.

boundforsaudi · Joined: 29 Jan 2003 Posts: 243

Thanks. So the recruiter, not the contractor, reimbursed your interview expenses? And you are working at ARAMCO now? So you must have an idea what various contractors your colleagues work for and how happy they are. Can you comment?

I'm in the USA. I am being recruited simultaneously by SRACO, an ARAMCO subcontractor, as well as Creative English, a recruiter for SRACO. I think CE will bow out when they realize I am communicating directly with SRACO, but both told me I would be reimbursed for travel expenses for the interview. However, when I explained my financial situation and asked whether they would buy my ticket up front I just got ambiguity. According to CE, ARAMCO still does not have a short list and I may get better answers if I make it. I have fallen for the reimbursement line before, and I know that you have a much better chance of getting reimbursed if you get the job, but I'm in no position to take the risk of booking a Houston flight and hotel.

When I asked CE for a salary estimate, she said salary would be determined by ARAMCO. Hmmm. I don't think it's that simple. I'm thinking maybe ARAMCO tells the contractor they will pay $X for me, then the contractor takes as big a cut of that as he can get away with. That how it works? So what contractor seems to take the smallest cut?

7168Riyadh · Joined: 19 Jan 2009 Posts: 149

scot47 · Joined: 10 Jan 2003 Posts: 15343

Increasingly employers cut expenses by not paying for travel to interview. or they do an interview over the web. That is what the web-camera was invented for !

While I was out · Joined: 24 Feb 2008 Posts: 119

Yeah. I've been told that airfare for teachers flying into London won't be reimbursed. Trainfare from the airport will be paid back once you reach Saudi, if you pass the interview of course. Seems like they won't pay back the trainfare if you don't pass the interview. Quite the gentlemen.

scot47 · Joined: 10 Jan 2003 Posts: 15343

What employer pays international airfare to attend interview ? Only the ones based on the Big Rock Candy Mountain !

h-train · Posted: Tue Mar 16, 2010 1:32 pm Post subject:

That's a cop-out. I work for Aramco and didn't even do an interview in person. The salary was the first thing discussed and then after about 3 phone interviews I signed and was in KSA 30 days later and had my iqama 14 days after that. It was very painless. I am also not a direct hire.

kazazt · Joined: 15 Feb 2010 Posts: 164

While I was out · Joined: 24 Feb 2008 Posts: 119

mindloop · Joined: 25 Feb 2010 Posts: 18

When aramco subcontractors say they're "hiring", it usually means they're collecting resumes in case they manage to secure a contract and need bodies at short notice.

Cuffs · Joined: 10 Feb 2009 Posts: 77

BFS

Yes, I am working at Aramco now. There are a couple of other contractors involved with my colleagues - HAK/HAKA and Al-Hugayet, I believe, although these may be one and the same. My general impression is that Aramco has decided to keep the contractors on a tighter leash with the new contract system, as the free-for-all that was going on before was causing a great deal of inequality between employees doing exactly the same job and led, I assume, to teachers leaving sooner than Aramco wanted. I have heard from a couple of colleagues that HAK are particularly blunt in their treatment of their contractees. For example, they have to lay down a 5000 riyal bond before leaving the country on vacations; one guy was delivered directly from the airport to the small town where we work, with no place to stay (he was rescued by the kindness of our colleagues, who are, without exception, welcoming and friendly). As I stated in my previous post, none of this is true in my case with Al-Falak. Christ, the Pakistani crew at AF even invited me to join their Thursday morning cricket team. Alas, I do not play.

As an Advanced ITC Teacher, you will be on grade code 11. There is obviously a good deal of elasticity in this, as Egyptian and Jordanian teachers on the same code get about half what I get. I'm not particularly interested in finding out what other westerners earn, as what I was offered was great for me, so I don't know exactly how elastic it is - I don't ask. One thing is certain, though: the number that you are offered by Aramco at interview is the number that you get paid at the end of each month. There is no surreptitious slicing and dicing by the contractor, or not that you will be aware of, at least.

All vacation periods are the same for all western contractees: 36 calendar days, taken in three chunks, with the third at the end of your annual contract. Regardless of where you begin your journey, your vacation flights will only be paid from KSA to London, and back; the rest you pay for yourself. If you do not wish to go home at vacation time your contractor will give you approximately 1/3 cash value (minus applicable taxes) of the cheapest ticket to London at that particular time of year, which you can spend on a ticket to wherever you please.

I, too, do not understand your reluctance to go to interview without a guarantee that they will reimburse your travel costs. Can't you borrow the money? It boils down to one simple thing: you've got to spend money to make money. I also don't understand why you're in touch with both EC and SRACO. Maybe the process is different in the States, but Al-Falak were pretty much powerless to do anything at the UK end until I had organized the work visa. eVocation could only keep a tab on my progress. Unless you use a visa agent (advisable), you are on your own. Your contractor has a mountain of Aramco paperwork (security checks, etc) besides the Iqama paperwork to process at the Saudi end anyway. Your contact will most likely not appreciate being prodded for something he can not control until you arrive in Saudi Arabia. As a guide, interview to arrival took 18 weeks for me.

The workplace itself is pleasant; the students amenable, on the whole. It's not tremendously fulfilling and there is little space for creativity, which is another way of saying that everything is laid out for you. We are meant to teach 5 x 45 minutes per day but I've been doing 7 x 45 with overtime since I started, which isn't an unbearable stretch at all. We report at 7am and classes finish at 3.20pm, with 30 minutes for breakfast and 55 minutes for lunch. There is strict protocol to be followed and as long as you don't come along with any fancy ideas about changing the world or a passion for confrontation, you can fit in easily.

To the person who posted that contractors are merely collecting resumes for future call-ups, there have been strong suggestions lately that Aramco is pushing for a much higher percentage of native speakers in the training centres. Read in to that what you will.

boundforsaudi · Joined: 29 Jan 2003 Posts: 243

Thanks for the info. Since you got the job and the reimbursement you were expecting, as well as a fat salary, your confusion at my cynicism is understandable. And perhaps your expenses were not so large as mine would be. But those who have had the experience once or twice of running up several hundred dollars in expenses and never getting the promised reimbursement will understand.

America is a big place and I'm not Obama, who thinks nothing of running up millions in travel expenses on my dime just to have a photo op. Seems like the ARAMCO folks just need an excuse for a junket to Houston. A Skype teleconference from the comfort of my computer room should do fine. If they want to sniff around on me, they should pay up front.