Tahir84

I am looking at rail opportunities in the Kingdom. Currently I have option to work in Dammam or Riyadh (different employers and different projects). My preference was to be based in Makkah Province (Jeddah) as that is the only city I have lived in and have good experience of so naturally would have preferred to be as close to if not in Jeddah however the reality is that the currently its Dammam or Riyadh for me. Can someone please do a very generic comparison (excluding salary) among the 2 cities i.e. things to do, accommodation, schools, how boring the 2 cities are in comparison to say Jeddah. I plan to move with wife and an infant hopefully this year.
One more query, once you sign a job contract (2 years for the one I am interested in) are you bound to complete 2 years in that very position or if you were offered or seeking a different job with the same employer or if you got promoted, how practical is this scenario. Reason for asking is that the job I really wanted requires someone with slightly more experience than what I currently have, what I am thinking is that how easy/hard would it be once I have hit the requirements before the initial 2 years were up.
Thanks in advance.

scot47

Dammam is a busy and vibrant city and as a port is more "easy-going" than Riyadh which has a reputation (deserved) for being uptight and xenophobic. I cannot comment on chances of promotion within the Railways.
I was impressed as a passenger with the service provided on the Dammam-Hofuf-Riyadh line.

Tahir84

scot47, thanks a lot for sharing your experiences. With regards to promotion, what I am meaning to ask is that is it possible to switch jobs under the same employer before your initial contract is up or are you stuck with the job you signed for originally?

FrontonTrack

Hi Tahir ,

I have recently been offerd a railway job in Saudi. I also have option between Riyadh or Eastern Provinice (jubail) . Looking at ur previous posts your rail experience is not disimilar to mine (abit more than mine in terms of years) , I would be interested to know about the package you were offered so I can bench mark with my own .

Thanks

Tahir84

Congrats on the offer. I am however in very early stages, infact I haven't even had the interview hence been asked which position am I interested in as they have the different locations. I have not a clue about what to ask for in response to salary expectation.Would you be kind to share the package you have been offered so that I can get an idea of a ball park figure that I should be quoting at this early stage?

FrontonTrack

My offer monthly: 25k SAR basic, 6.25k housing, car and phone provided by company, 30 days annual leave, no education allowance, no bonus + medical insurance, one round trip flights a year for me and family.


My view of the offer: I think its very fair bearing in mind I have less than 3 years rail experience. I never lived in Saudi but I can speak Arabic and have some Saudi friends from Uni, 2 of which still in regular contact with. I am about to accept the offer as my goal is to use this opportunity as a first step in the ME rail industry ladder.

looking at your previous posts, I take it you would be looking for a lot more than what I was offered, do let me know what they offer you as well please,

Also , I am interested to hear your views on my offer and my view of the offer.

Thanks in advance.

Tahir84

From my limited knowledge on KSA packages, I think this is a good package considering that you have only 3 years experience. Infact I have been downplaying myself for thinking that 8 years experience I have is low as most of the jobs in ME tend to ask to 10+ years as a minimum, so there is hope for me Only thing I personally would ask for on top is medical insurance and probably relocation payment. From what I have learnt is that, what you don't ask for is what you don't get, the worst they can say is No.
Is the job in Rolling stock or infrastructure and is it in engineering?

FrontonTrack

I do have the medical insurance as well, and to my knowledge it comes standard with most if not all offers.

I do have 3 years non-rail experience on top (oil and gas) . its a technical support role that spans across all these areas you mention.

True, you ask the question and see what you get, but remember competition is tough out there especially with all budget cuts and so on, so if you really want the role, might be ok to accept a little less that what you might be worth to get the job. I hope it goes well for you.

Tahir84

I agree competition is tough, but I have never seen or heard where a candidate was rejected purely because he asked for an improvement in the offer, at least in my personal experience.
Best of luck with the move, hope all goes smoothly, who knows our paths may cross

FrontonTrack

All depends if there is competition from other candidates going for the same job, prolong the negotiation and yea they will reject you and take him/her, happened to one particular guy I know ( different industry). I am not saying its common, but its possible.

Get the job and I have no doubts will cross paths .

nonthaburi

I lived in Riyadh for three years, still visit regularly. It's a big city with a great expat social scene. Weekends can be a blur of parties, bbq, pool. Expats are very friendly and down to earth. You have to make your own fun. On the downside, the traffic is bad, especially now with the metro construction, and the driving can seriously grind you down. It's very dry as you'd expect and gets quite dusty.

I've only visited Dammam, but I found it more friendly, less hectic, the driving more or less normal. I can't comment on the social life but there may be less options as it's smaller. The biggest plus though, would have to be it's proximity to Bahrain. It's humid too.

Tahir84

nonthaburi, thanks for sharing your thoughts. Its amazing how different people's views are of the same city (Riyadh).

nottmbantam

Not much to add to nonthaburi's comments about Riyadh. We lived in Jeddah for two years and personally, I'd move back there ( from Riyadh ) in a heartbeat.

Although I've not lived in Dhahran/Dammam, I would imagine it's very similar to Jeddah, a bit more laid back / relaxed, and if I had the choice, I'd choose the East Coast.