Post by derekg on Dec 9, 2011 11:02:34 GMT
The Aramco ExPats was a great process when I began my hiring process with Saudi Aramco. I'm one of the few they moved very quickly on from first contact to offer letter; it was a rare case where I needed to slow the process down a bit. With all this said, there have been many challenges with the transition starting with the information provided during the hiring process. This post is about my experience and realize that while there are many very negative aspects within it, my decision to stay here is well founded!
Hiring Process
Everything began with a call from out of the blue in early 2011 to see if I could come into ASC Houston for an interview with Saudi Aramco. Being in Houston and having the day off, it seemed like a viable option. Then the first thing went wrong: a major storm with freezing rain hit Houston causing all kinds of logistics problems. This was frustrating given I grew up on Canada and was quite used to driving in these conditions and showed up on time. There were some major delays and after waiting a while my interview was rescheduled for the next day. It went well and there were 8 people on the panel interview; the initial offer came within a few weeks of this. After some back and forth, we came to an agreement and I decided to join Saudi Aramco. What really helped was talking to the hiring staff (ASC recruiters) at length and getting as much information as possible since many things were not clear. I also got some feedback from an Aramco Brat in Houston who was probably what really tipped me to accept the offer (and for those needing auto work in Houston, his shop BarTuning does amazing performance work on most any car). As a footnote to this, every offer is negotiable but not every department or group will negotiate - it is a risk if you chose to do so.
Offer Particulars
The offer is the most important part of the process since it tells you your grade code, which implies privileges, and where you will be living. Generally, if you are not on the US/Canadian payroll you will likely be in Abqaiq or Ras Tanura; both of these are very nice communities, but they are about one hour from Dhahran which mean you commute if your job is in Dhahran. Housing is one item there is virtually no room for negotiation (see below). There is some potential for salary negotiation, but the room for negotiation is very small and the offer is based on your past salary history, so rarely will you see a significant jump in base salary - your benefits come in with the retirement packages and other benefits that you must read very carefully and ask the ASC recruiter to fill in any missing details. Get an explanation of the grade codes! If you are GC10 or lower, you will be limited in where you are housed and what privileges you get. GC11-14 is the norm for most new hires, and GC15+ are extremely rare among new-hires. One thing to be aware of is that vacation is calendar days and not working days, but there is a process called bridging that affects the Eid holidays that can work in your favor at times.
Houston Orientation
The orientation process was a half-day at ASC Houston. The provided some basic information and some cultural overview, but it was mostly about filling out the necessary forms. What you need to find out information on is your housing and what it is like over here. The best information so far is a blog from an Aramcon called SaudiScenes where you will find great photos and some good narrative about what to expect. They also provide you some documentation to read before coming to Saudi Arabia - it is a bit outdated, but read it all!
Arriving in Saudi Arabia
When you travel to Saudi Arabia, you will be on a business class flight, which is quite nice, and your first experience with the country will be the immigration process and King Fahd International Airport (KFIA). You will encounter long lines where Saudi's are processed first, then GCC nationals, westerners, then (finally) those from the sub-Asian continent. The process will take several hours and those with families have an advantage, especially when their children have too much energy (hint: noisy children can be an asset in this one instance). Once processed, you get your bags then follow the map to the Saudi Aramco representative's office - he will not meet you outside the baggage area so you need to walk. If you are unsure, hire one of the porters - they are not expensive but if you have many bags it does save some stress. You will likely be met by a representative from your department who will either take you to your house, or get you into a taxi to your house ... and be aware that taxis can be scary here at times. You will not be able to drive for a while (see below).
Here is where the miserable part of the experience began ... I was taken to my new house in Dhahran Hills, the Mint/Mango area where all of the single people are. We drove around for about 30 minutes trying to find the place and eventually did. It was a bit of a hike from the parking area and we hauled my bags to the place and I was basically left there ... in a place that took us a few minutes to find the lights (no lights at the inside entry) and smelled like mildew. I was tired at this point so I decided to just go to sleep - and found a single bed upstairs. Not at all what I was expecting. Since I arrived in a Wednesday night, I had Thursday and Friday to figure things out and on Saay someone from work would pick me up to take me to work. Realize now that I have no idea where I am or where things are and have no transportation. With two days to orient, I could not figure out how to get around via bus since area I was in had lacking service on weekends and I had no transportation. This is the end of May so it is getting rather warm during the day. At this point I had a telephone in the unit but no Internet. I ended up walking around a bit and found the Al Mujamma building but could not connect to the free Internet. So there was no way to easily communicate with the world I was from and I no idea where I was, what was around or how to get places. Taxis were attempted (many times) but with no local cell phone and only the house phone it was frustrating - as was that standard reply "no taxi available. Call later" every time I tried to get one. Let's just say the weekend #1 was a terribly lonely experience that really sucked. I lived in an isolated part of the community where anyone I tried to say "hi" to just nodded and walked away - VERY unfriendly and made the bad experience worse (six months later I only know TWO people who live in the Mint/Mango area - the other people seem to ignore people, especially new ones).
Saay came around and my department came and got me in the morning so I did make to work safely ... to find no computer or anything like that. Our admin did his best and located a laptop which also got me Internet access to the outside world, but only when he logged me in because I did not exist here until I had done the orientation! Orientation is required to start everything (e.g. ID card, Iqama, driving license, computer login, etc.). So the next day was orientation and that helped a bit since they also gave a tour of the camp (the benefit when you are picked up first) and filled in a few gaps then we signed the housing agreement (regret #1 for me - I should never have signed it ... you will see later). I should mention I was the first western expat in the group I joined, and we were in an isolated building so contact was difficult with others.
Now, with all of this done I was now four days in Saudi and still no clue was to what was happening or where things were. The advantage was I now knew a few other people in a similar situation!
Working Environment
This is where Saudi Aramco can really shine since it is full of may really good people. There are some issues with "wasta" or "influence" that depend greatly on the group you are in and how diverse your group is. I am fortunate it is not an issue where I work, but it can work for or against you if you have to deal with it. The work environment simply expects you to get things done and as an expat, you are expected to hold a higher standard of effort and quality than the Saudis. This is frustrating at times, but it is what you make of it. When you get to your work area after your orientation, you must do the following asap (in this order):
Once you complete all that you can work. Nothing much else can happen until you get your Iqama, which can take 2-10 weeks. Once you have the Iqama, you can become a normal person and get:
Settling In
Now there were things that really helped my sanity, but was one thing that really kept coming up: housing. The mildew smell remains today but for almost five months was compounded by the smell of raw sewage venting into my home. There were a lot of house issues but efforts to resolve them have been unfulfilling to say the least and are now in the hands of my Division Head since the list has grown to 24 items, all of which are documented and had poor response from Dhahran Housing. Anything that does come up with your home should be handled through a paper ticket which is signed by you when it is complete; if there are multiple items, only call for one at time to be fixed and close each ticket individually or they may close multiple items when only one is completed, or provide an incorrect resolution. This has been an ongoing issue.
Transportation is the other issue. Taxis are extremely difficult to get and there is a shortage on camp. The major provider seems to make appointments several days in advance, meaning that new hires can't get taxis until they figure this out. Buses do run around the camp, but they are a challenge to figure out - and if you live in Dhahran Hills it can be a long ride (longer than walking). Getting a car or a moped is not that difficult, but it does take time. Once you arrive, you need to find reliable transportation in the form of your own vehicle, or a good understanding of the buses and taxis.
What also helps is joining activities and groups on camps. It is difficult for newcomers since many are entrenched in their circles and breaking to one takes a lot of time and effort! I've managed to find some really good people here now and that is my sanity break. Again, you need to get around since after dark it can be more challenging!
I think I kept this positive and useful - any feedback or questions would help a lot. Needless to say, being here is a good experience but expect some fairly major challenges in the first 3-6 months; if you make it through those you will find the rewards greatly outweigh the downsides!
Hiring Process
Everything began with a call from out of the blue in early 2011 to see if I could come into ASC Houston for an interview with Saudi Aramco. Being in Houston and having the day off, it seemed like a viable option. Then the first thing went wrong: a major storm with freezing rain hit Houston causing all kinds of logistics problems. This was frustrating given I grew up on Canada and was quite used to driving in these conditions and showed up on time. There were some major delays and after waiting a while my interview was rescheduled for the next day. It went well and there were 8 people on the panel interview; the initial offer came within a few weeks of this. After some back and forth, we came to an agreement and I decided to join Saudi Aramco. What really helped was talking to the hiring staff (ASC recruiters) at length and getting as much information as possible since many things were not clear. I also got some feedback from an Aramco Brat in Houston who was probably what really tipped me to accept the offer (and for those needing auto work in Houston, his shop BarTuning does amazing performance work on most any car). As a footnote to this, every offer is negotiable but not every department or group will negotiate - it is a risk if you chose to do so.
Offer Particulars
The offer is the most important part of the process since it tells you your grade code, which implies privileges, and where you will be living. Generally, if you are not on the US/Canadian payroll you will likely be in Abqaiq or Ras Tanura; both of these are very nice communities, but they are about one hour from Dhahran which mean you commute if your job is in Dhahran. Housing is one item there is virtually no room for negotiation (see below). There is some potential for salary negotiation, but the room for negotiation is very small and the offer is based on your past salary history, so rarely will you see a significant jump in base salary - your benefits come in with the retirement packages and other benefits that you must read very carefully and ask the ASC recruiter to fill in any missing details. Get an explanation of the grade codes! If you are GC10 or lower, you will be limited in where you are housed and what privileges you get. GC11-14 is the norm for most new hires, and GC15+ are extremely rare among new-hires. One thing to be aware of is that vacation is calendar days and not working days, but there is a process called bridging that affects the Eid holidays that can work in your favor at times.
Houston Orientation
The orientation process was a half-day at ASC Houston. The provided some basic information and some cultural overview, but it was mostly about filling out the necessary forms. What you need to find out information on is your housing and what it is like over here. The best information so far is a blog from an Aramcon called SaudiScenes where you will find great photos and some good narrative about what to expect. They also provide you some documentation to read before coming to Saudi Arabia - it is a bit outdated, but read it all!
Arriving in Saudi Arabia
When you travel to Saudi Arabia, you will be on a business class flight, which is quite nice, and your first experience with the country will be the immigration process and King Fahd International Airport (KFIA). You will encounter long lines where Saudi's are processed first, then GCC nationals, westerners, then (finally) those from the sub-Asian continent. The process will take several hours and those with families have an advantage, especially when their children have too much energy (hint: noisy children can be an asset in this one instance). Once processed, you get your bags then follow the map to the Saudi Aramco representative's office - he will not meet you outside the baggage area so you need to walk. If you are unsure, hire one of the porters - they are not expensive but if you have many bags it does save some stress. You will likely be met by a representative from your department who will either take you to your house, or get you into a taxi to your house ... and be aware that taxis can be scary here at times. You will not be able to drive for a while (see below).
Here is where the miserable part of the experience began ... I was taken to my new house in Dhahran Hills, the Mint/Mango area where all of the single people are. We drove around for about 30 minutes trying to find the place and eventually did. It was a bit of a hike from the parking area and we hauled my bags to the place and I was basically left there ... in a place that took us a few minutes to find the lights (no lights at the inside entry) and smelled like mildew. I was tired at this point so I decided to just go to sleep - and found a single bed upstairs. Not at all what I was expecting. Since I arrived in a Wednesday night, I had Thursday and Friday to figure things out and on Saay someone from work would pick me up to take me to work. Realize now that I have no idea where I am or where things are and have no transportation. With two days to orient, I could not figure out how to get around via bus since area I was in had lacking service on weekends and I had no transportation. This is the end of May so it is getting rather warm during the day. At this point I had a telephone in the unit but no Internet. I ended up walking around a bit and found the Al Mujamma building but could not connect to the free Internet. So there was no way to easily communicate with the world I was from and I no idea where I was, what was around or how to get places. Taxis were attempted (many times) but with no local cell phone and only the house phone it was frustrating - as was that standard reply "no taxi available. Call later" every time I tried to get one. Let's just say the weekend #1 was a terribly lonely experience that really sucked. I lived in an isolated part of the community where anyone I tried to say "hi" to just nodded and walked away - VERY unfriendly and made the bad experience worse (six months later I only know TWO people who live in the Mint/Mango area - the other people seem to ignore people, especially new ones).
Saay came around and my department came and got me in the morning so I did make to work safely ... to find no computer or anything like that. Our admin did his best and located a laptop which also got me Internet access to the outside world, but only when he logged me in because I did not exist here until I had done the orientation! Orientation is required to start everything (e.g. ID card, Iqama, driving license, computer login, etc.). So the next day was orientation and that helped a bit since they also gave a tour of the camp (the benefit when you are picked up first) and filled in a few gaps then we signed the housing agreement (regret #1 for me - I should never have signed it ... you will see later). I should mention I was the first western expat in the group I joined, and we were in an isolated building so contact was difficult with others.
Now, with all of this done I was now four days in Saudi and still no clue was to what was happening or where things were. The advantage was I now knew a few other people in a similar situation!
Working Environment
This is where Saudi Aramco can really shine since it is full of may really good people. There are some issues with "wasta" or "influence" that depend greatly on the group you are in and how diverse your group is. I am fortunate it is not an issue where I work, but it can work for or against you if you have to deal with it. The work environment simply expects you to get things done and as an expat, you are expected to hold a higher standard of effort and quality than the Saudis. This is frustrating at times, but it is what you make of it. When you get to your work area after your orientation, you must do the following asap (in this order):
- Get to know your admin really well - they can be your best friend as a new arrival
- Find our who your CSL is and meet them
- Get your login ID
- Get authorization for the necessary SAP modules
- Make an appointment for a temporary permanent ID card to replace the one you got at the airport.
- Order DSL for your home
- Check to see your Iqama has been applied for
Once you complete all that you can work. Nothing much else can happen until you get your Iqama, which can take 2-10 weeks. Once you have the Iqama, you can become a normal person and get:
- A Saudi driving license (if you do, get an international driving permit from Al Fifa is you need to drive outside of the gulf region)
- A multiple entry visa (very handy for Bahrain)
- You can buy a car (men and women, but only men can drive off camp)
Settling In
Now there were things that really helped my sanity, but was one thing that really kept coming up: housing. The mildew smell remains today but for almost five months was compounded by the smell of raw sewage venting into my home. There were a lot of house issues but efforts to resolve them have been unfulfilling to say the least and are now in the hands of my Division Head since the list has grown to 24 items, all of which are documented and had poor response from Dhahran Housing. Anything that does come up with your home should be handled through a paper ticket which is signed by you when it is complete; if there are multiple items, only call for one at time to be fixed and close each ticket individually or they may close multiple items when only one is completed, or provide an incorrect resolution. This has been an ongoing issue.
Transportation is the other issue. Taxis are extremely difficult to get and there is a shortage on camp. The major provider seems to make appointments several days in advance, meaning that new hires can't get taxis until they figure this out. Buses do run around the camp, but they are a challenge to figure out - and if you live in Dhahran Hills it can be a long ride (longer than walking). Getting a car or a moped is not that difficult, but it does take time. Once you arrive, you need to find reliable transportation in the form of your own vehicle, or a good understanding of the buses and taxis.
What also helps is joining activities and groups on camps. It is difficult for newcomers since many are entrenched in their circles and breaking to one takes a lot of time and effort! I've managed to find some really good people here now and that is my sanity break. Again, you need to get around since after dark it can be more challenging!
I think I kept this positive and useful - any feedback or questions would help a lot. Needless to say, being here is a good experience but expect some fairly major challenges in the first 3-6 months; if you make it through those you will find the rewards greatly outweigh the downsides!
