Working Days and Probation

Officially it’s 7-4, but you’ll find many leave well before that…

Really depends on where you are working. Some offices are better than others; it’s a mix of 1970s type cubicles and offices with bits of open plan where I am. Like the offices I used to work in back in the 1980s, pretty dated and old fashioned compared to other majors I’ve worked at. Forget breakout spaces, collaborative working, private places to take calls etc…

Some of the working practices are strange, It’s like a graveyard on my dept, you can hear a pin drop. Everything is done over Skype, even with managers sat in their offices 20 feet away, often they’ll lock themselves in their offices all day…

Overall corporate culture is stifling and backwards, think similar to local government or civil services back home. So many people in the enormous hierarchy have non-jobs and spend time delaying things to justify their existence. Things are naturally slow here anyway, Aramco is an arm of the state, it’s not a normal commercial organisation by any measure!

Hey Mavs9, I sent u a PM

JRS

Each unit will have it's own challenges. I haven't found the work to be stressful, but often frustrating. I posted this on another thread, hope this insight helps.

If you want to fail probation, be arrogant, act like you know everything about your field of expertise, express dismay at how backwards your Aramco department operates and let your supervisor and Saudi co-workers know how you think they aren't very smart and are lazy. I Guarantee if that is how you act, you won't make it six months.

Again, yes they can sack you anytime, but they have spent in the neighborhood of $100,000 in the process to recruit your position and relocate you and taken close to a year in the process. Their goal is not to get rid of you and have to repeat that process. They are understanding that it is an adjustment and the first few months you will be spending more time getting settled then getting work done. After that, show you can learn, you are an asset and you will be accepted. Go the extra mile and if your supervisor or division head makes a point of mentioning they like seeing members of their department publish papers and give presentations at conferences, make sure you take head and follow through on those extras. If you are perceived as putting in the minimal amount of effort and being somewhat difficult to work with, your time will be short. Go the extra mile (kilometer) and you should be fine.

Understand there will be challenges with communicating with your co-workers and some cultural differences. I'd say few Saudis are truly fluent in English and can clearly read and right English. So even if their English seems excellent there will be times when you realize you are struggling to communicate and this can become frustrating.