TheGman

I got my verbal offer in May and contract in August, I was told that the offer letter would need to be approved by management. I think this and EID holidays were the reason for delay.

AE2022

Oh wow... now I wonder if the HR mistakenly mentioned 2-3 'days' instead of 2-3 'months' lol. Yes - i was told that mine was sent for approvals. Waiting game is tough...

TheGman

Yep, sit tight. It will happen!

Evilbungle

I think approximate and average timescales are completely useless when dealing with Neom. My official offer took about 3 days to arrive - but the supporting documents that were promised in 2 weeks to 2 months. Pretty much everyone seems to have had a different experience in terms of timescales.

Claud123

Its EID everyday with onboarding

Che0201308

just be mindful that if you have a UK degree certificate you need to get it signed by the saudi cultural attaché in London first, before the saudi Attestation process. Current waiting time for the attaché is between 4 to 5 weeks.

In addition you cannot submit an attaché application until you have received a letter from Neom (stating you will be joining them etc) along with scanned copies of passport and a letter of consent (from you to the attaché) allowing them to contact your university for verification. From my experience, waiting for the letter from Neom (for the attache application) took 4 weeks. So expect a lengthy wait.

christmasoompa

Exactly what my husband has been telling them, they need to sort this out if they want to attract top talent. They're desperate for him as his skills are very niche, and keep upping the salary and everything else, but he keeps telling them that even if there was a 2 bed available, there's no way we'd move to it with two opposite sex teenagers, plus 2 dogs and a cat. Can you imagine the teens faces when we tell them they'd need to start sharing a room?!? Nope. He's said they need to provide decent accommodation for families and sent them away with a flea in their ear.

I think if you're single or just you and a spouse it's probably a great opportunity though.

apospark

So is there actually room to negotiate (assuming niche skills)? I've been verbally told to expect an offer, but I don't think I'd join for a 20-30% increase on my current salary only. Very niche area... so if there's some flexibility I may push for something more.

n_aAUH2neom

Hi, we are in the exact same situation - moving over from the UAE with a 6.5yr and 1.5yr old. We have just been given an option to enroll and have been told that we can enroll starting Jan (our preference).

My husband has also been told - verbally - that NC1 2bed would be about 6 months from now, which matches perfectly.

However, reading other comments about ~18month wait for a 2 bed I am worried that moving over in Jan will not be possible.

Not only this will disrupt the family situation for longer than what we are comfortable with, but also as part of the school enrollment we have to sign the enrollment agreement by which you forfeit your schooling allowance.
So if we end up not having accomodation for the family and have to stay back in UAE, we would be backing out of the school enrollment and hence losing our education allowance..
Is this right or Am I over- complicating things? has anyone had to back out of moving the family there and was able to cancel the school enrollment succesfully? (And reclaim the allowance for use in another school?)

it seems that nc1 2-bed priority list is tied with school enrollment, which is tied to education allowance. But it all comes down to Accomodation availability, so I feel it is not fair that we all have to make serious life decisions without any sort or confirmation of time scales.

christmasoompa

There is, but my husband would be exec level, I don’t know if that makes a difference?

I would assume it must do, as they simply wouldn’t attract higher level applicants with only a 20% pay rise.

Somebody on (plucking a figure out of thin air as an example) £30k a year that is youngish, with no kids and a 1 bed apartment in the UK is going to be far more likely to move for £36k tax free with all living expenses paid. Somebody with decades of experience on £300k (again, example figure) who has a family and large home in the UK simply isn’t going to move for £360k and a huge downgrade in lifestyle.

So I’m only guessing, but I think once you’re at a certain level the 20-30% rule would have to disappear. And definitely worth negotiating if so.

ChileScot

fwiw I've been told Jan-2024 for earliest two bed & schooling start so I guess that rules it out for me also.

re relocating family to KSA outside of NEOM and for anyone flying back to Riyadh/Jeddah, are they leaving early on a Thursday because I only see 1 flight to each city and it's at 4pm/5pm and arriving back 9pm/10pm on the Saturday. Someone asked earlier in this thread if a Tabuk commute was an option - any thoughts?

Hash

Hi all,

Is it true that to get a job with NEOM I should have as a minimum 10 years of experience in my field?

I only have 7 years of experience (based in London-UK).

I had no luck with any of the main contractors (AECOM, Bechtel, Parsons, etc.). Where they all demand 10y + experience even after couple of informal conversations. They admitted that the client (NEOM) wouldn't approve someone with such experience.

Therefore, I think that even if I start applying for jobs directly with NEOM (the client), my application won't be looked at!

How did you guys (who got the job with NEOM) have been hired through a headhunter or via applying through NEOM website?

just wondering and thanks for the help in advance.

apospark

Appreciate the insight! I'm in for a senior role, but I don't think it's quite as high as exec, so probably just the 20-30%. Will see what they come with and how it goes from there... since I might be okay if they take into account some of my stock options (but from what others have said, it may not be considered). Thanks again!

Trailing_Hubby

Nah, no worries. Just wondered if it was someone external. I don't think the wait for the school is that long but I didn't hear about that wait for cabins.

Trailing_Hubby

With the tax though that £360k is almost £200k more a year. If that was me I'd stick the family in Riyadh or Jeddah and be back every weekend. Even Dubai or Bahrain would work. Agree you couldn't live in camp with mixed teens, however.