scoot

Hello everyone,

1st post on the forum and would just like to say it is by far the most informative forum i have came across yet, loads of great of info which has been excellent!

I am soon starting a new job working for <<snip>> at the start of June. It is a 1-2 year contract, i have been offered:

Salary of approx £33,500 + £25 per day living allowance, accommodation in the EID Compound and a car allowance (i am awaiting to find out how much this is, what would be reasonable/to be expected?)

We also get 3 return flights home a year, 4 weeks annual leave and medical insurance costs picked up by the company.

How does this sound? This area of work is a total unknown to me, having never worked overseas, so any info or advice would be much appreciated.

Cheers

Blue Cat

have you been to Riyadh to get a feel for the place etc?

scoot

Unfortunately i will not be able to get over to Riyadh before i arrive. I have spoken with a friend of a friend who returned from there after a 18 month stint in January. Gave me the low down on what to expect etc. I am attending a 3 day training course before i arrive where they will cover things as what to wear, laws etc. Which will be great.

Nic1

Welcome.

What about schooling ? It's not cheap out here - assuming you have kids of course. But even if you don't have kids now it's worth getting schooling written into your contract 'just in case'. Many people come out here for a couple of years initially and end up staying forever - not sure why tho' . . . .

N

scoot

I have got no kids to worry about just now, still worth bearing in mind for the future tho

Cheers!

eylesda

So you'll pocket SR 19,500 per month. You will spend like crazy the first couple of months, rubbish like Hungarian made Persian carpets, genuine Egyptian papyrus and the likes. You will then settle down to spending max SR 4,000 per month for food, grape juice and near beer (essentials).

Banking SR 15,000 (2,730 UK pounds) per month is not bad and will set you up nicely after a few years.

Get schooling thrown in and you are laughing.

<<snip>> are good to work for by all accounts and, as a company, are growing fast with loads of financial backing.
We read of them all the time with their expansion plans into other Arab countries.

I came to Saudi in 1984 for 2 years to pay the mortgage off and extend the kitchen............still out here.

I say go for it and enjoy your time out here.

still.unsure

was trying to do the math and it looks like you offer is about SAR17,000 per month (annual salary of £33k + £25 per day / 12 months).

what type of role have you been offered? do you have any staff/major deliverables to do? i'm asking because you'll want to be remunerated in accordance to your responsibility and getting stuff done with a team here is a challenge (and worth a good pay packet!)

the rest of the package sounds pretty much par for the course (and eid is a good compound). are you coming over as single status or married?

personally, the package sounds a little on the low side so need to know a little more. (would be aiming for about SAR20k+ per month with 13 salaries per year - annual + ramadan bonus)

Nic1

You also need to consider what outgoigs you have in UK - mortgage, life insurance, pension etc. as this all makes the disposable income less. You are probably a lot younger than me and the other half, but it is never too early to start thinking about pensions - and you won't get one paid here so need to sort it out yourself. Re schooling it probably easier to get it written into the contract at the start.

Sit down, work out what your outgoings will be and then make a decision on whether it is worth coming. Saudi is an experience, but one best taken with dosh in the bank - just MHO of course!

Cheers
N

scoot

I am only 22 with no real outgoings, i am leaving a relatively secure job to take up this opportunity, but i feel now is the time to go before i get tied down with a family etc. Cheers for all the advice offered so far!

scoot

The Role is a field supervisor, auditing and accepting new equipment for <<snip>> fibre based broadband network which they are expanding/upgrading.
We have 6 guys reporting to us (filipino origin), dealing with day to day issues such as equipment problems, planning of work etc.

I am attending a training event in about 3 weeks to get the low down on it all.

still.unsure

from what you've described, it sounds like a fair package and, given that you're personal circumstances, a pretty safe call.

can i suggest that if you've got a bit of leave owing, that you don't resign until you've gotten to the kingdom and get a feel for it. another chap took leave (unpaid or whatever) from his company and came out for a month to see what it was like, didn't like it, and pulled the pin, still returning to his job back in blighty. as you haven't managed to work in the region before, it can all come as a bit of a culture shock so it might pay to keep a safety net going.

now, having said all that, it can be a fantastic place to work and bloody good fun (compound/embassy life!) it's not for everyone, but if you're pretty open minded (and can give up bacon and women) you'll do just fine!

miuser2

Are you working directly for <<snip>> or through a contracting company <<snip>> Are you working 6 days or 5?

As I imagine is the same with other large Saudi institutions, <<snip>> can be difficult to work for with unhealthy doses of incompetent, arrogant, ignorant middle-management. There is a _lot_ of petty politicing.

I would say for your age the package sounds OK.

scoot

Yes i have heard that the management on the ground (in the field) can be very poor and unhelpful to work with, i have heard this off numerous people.

I will be working as a contractor for a company called <<snip>>, by all accounts they seem like a good company to be with and have won alot of contracts in the middle east for <<snip>>.

Another thing which i have heard is that every 28 days i have to leave the country(bahrain for the weekend etc) due to the type of visa, does this sound right?

miuser2

<<snip>> are quite a small outfit but some of their people have a lot of experience in <<snip>>, recently working on FTTx which I guess is where you come in. Check the visa situation with them - if they want you to work on a business visa, that's OK but as you say you need to leave the country every 28 days which might be a nuisance. Without a full residence visa (iqama) you won't be able to open a bank account, own a car etc. Not a huge problem but you should make sure that they are covering the costs of going to Bahrain every month for example, it's a 4 hour drive and without an iqama you might not be allowed to bring your car across the border.

scoot

Yup, thats exactly it. We will be overseeing the installation and i *think* we will carry out testing etc.

From what i understand, <<snip>> will pay us on top of our salary to cover the costs of leaving every 28 Days ( Waiting for confirmation if this is the case, how much it will be), which i suppose is not too bad and you can relax a bit in Bahrain where its a bit more laidback!