alcooke69

Hi All, I have a dilemma - I recently have started a role with a company based i thought in Dammam . The recruiter told me dammam so all my research was done on this area ...compounds , schools etc so imagine my horror when on arrival i was told it was Riyadh. The post i read here on Riyadh vary from Ok (at best ) to the first gate to hell ...some are quite old though so I wanted to ask people from Riyadh how bad is it - I was planning to bring my new wife and our child over in December but am having second thoughts on this now and if thats the case when i go back for the wedding i may not come back ...so please can i get some feedback..Thanks

alcooke69

Sorry just to clarify my first week was in Jeddah at the head office so i was told jeddah - week in Riyadh then on to dammam ....it worked out in reality as Jeddah , Riyadh ...full stop !!!!!

Fahd

How bad it is ??

please be a positive thinker . it will not be bad as your home town for sure at least you got a very good job with a competitive package .

i think you will live in a compound very good one actually , you will suffer from traffic only , also the weather it is not so good for a European especially in summer .

as i said you`ll live in a compound which is secure so bring your family with you to have fun and don`t put your self in trouble and you will live your best time there .

welcome abroad .

coffindodger

hi welcome, having spent 2 years in Riyadh and i enjoyed it, some people do and a lot do not !!!
now here in Dammam and been here for nearly 9 months
so yes i have the best of both worlds
Also i know Jeddah a little but not as good as the other 2 .
Please feel free to contact me directly if you require any info.

However i am sure many other members will give you answers to your questions as well.

alcooke69

Thanks CD will drop you a line now

norsk

unless he comes from kabul I doubt very much his home town can be worse than riyadh...

unfortunately some saudi companies are seriously screwed up. the op is the third person i hear about who's been told he will work in dammam only to find out this was a lie when they arrive in the country. personally i would play nice until you can get away with asking for a couple of days holiday out of the country (bahrain/dubai for example) and just don't come back. if they are willing to trick you into working in riyadh, then what other kind of shit would they be happy to put you through if you decide to stay.

alcooke69

to be fair i think the recruiter may have been misled by a guy who was leaving or he chose to misunderstand - i think the company always intended Riyadh ...i guess now its about trying to find out from people here what to expect and then taking a decision .

norsk

Your choice of course, but unless your desperate for work and can't get anything elsewhere in the world I don't see why you're giving them the benefit of the doubt...

Saudi is a challenge even in the relatively liberal cities of the Dammam/Khobar and Jeddah. Riyadh is a different story altogether. As Coffindodger said some people quite enjoy it, but the huge majority of people spend their time counting the days until their next plane out.

khitan004

Al, (I presume your name is Al)

I am out here on my own with a fiancee back in UK. Getting married in July. I would say that the disparity between a good and bad experience is massive. It all depends on how mentally prepared you are to be bored and whether you can find a compound to stay on.

Getting onto a compound is notoriously difficult. If your company is not finding you one you will struggle. People on these boards will help, as they have me as well as myself helping others with phone numbers etc. I definitely would not bring any family across for a while until you get everything sorted. If you work a typical 9-5 out here you can survive because you have social interaction at work. I work 4-9 in the evening and outside of that have virtually no social interaction. This is improving drastically thanks to this board and meeting people who are in the same boat.

There is no way I would bring the missus over here unless I was in a compound with other people around. She would go crazy, it can feel like a prison at times. If you have any questions please feel free to message me. Hopefully I can pass forward all the advise I've received.

saddam

Putting in my 2 cents !!

DO NOT STAY DEAR

100% agree with NORSK, it is bearable if you are coming from kabul or Somalia

For me, I was in a good compound, good money = v good money to be honest + 4 flights/y + driver + etc , 6 weeks later ( worst weeks in my life) I went to dubai and here I am = today I will be watching all blacks & France in eden park stadium

stick to principals and don’t take a shite from any one/ or place? We live once and no point living in hell for the bucks … I speak Arabic by the way and spent the last 30years working in awful places ( i.e . yemen,libya,iraq,Qatar, Persia oil rigs) and Riyadh was the nastiest and most horrible spot – just to give you an example ….i prefer to stay on the income support /welfare than go back, even being homeless!?
Best of lucks

Fahd

I know people eager to work in Kabul if their bill get paid !! anyway if you are a playboy or alcoholic yes Riyadh is not like London nether Dubai , and maybe many of westerners hate it for this reason . but in majority it is a nice place for a conservative man love his work and his family .

weasel decentral

Riyadh is a medieval dump for a western man, balance it versus what you get paid. If you have just somehow teleported from the 16th century, welcome home!

Incredibly oppressive atmosphere with no real entertainment available unless you like shopping, and you need to be in a compound to remain sane. As you have probably realised Fahd is a native.

iamthestig

I've been in Riyadh for 8 months, and I have been spending an increasing amount of time trying to move to somewhere, anywhere else. On the plus side, the money is pretty good, but that's about it. As I don't live on a western compound, everything else is shit.

The only thing that keeps me sane is the guys I work with are mostly a great bunch (other than the corrupt bastards that permeate the company), and my net connection which gives me a window on the 21st century from within this medieval hell hole.

norsk

it's always about money! if you pay me enough i will also live in a shithole like kabul, islamabad or riyadh for a while, but that doesn't mean I will consider it to be a nice place to work and live. in fact even devout muslims (including saudis) i know think riyadh is an awful place to live..

playboy or alcoholic? you are a black and white man aren't you? you think it's impossible to have a drink once in a while without being an alcoholic and definitely you shouldn't be looking at women or you are a playboy.

also it's funny how bahrain and dubai is full of saudis every weekend getting it on with hookers and drinking more than their fair share of booze. of course there are also plenty of saudis who don't go that far, but who come with their family to go shopping in nice shopping malls or go to a restaurant without having to hide behind a curtain, and of course there is the possibility of going to watch a film in a cinema. yes mate, a lot of saudis think saudi is a shit place to live as well..

Alexa

I would only go there if they give me a villa on a Western compound. I lived there before, had a fab time...but I do like shopping and parties.