I was in touch with them for about a week or two after my second interview before I was officially offered a job. I have heard from colleagues that it took anywhere from a couple days to a couple months. Aramco is a big company, and it's not as simple as one person just deciding they want to hire you. Things can take a long time. Best of luck to you!

First of all gbr1964, congrats on your positive interview! I am very sorry for not getting back to you. The forums once again stopped sending me notifications of new messages, and I don't always check the website frequently. I am glad to hear that it went well. Let me know if you get the job. You will have a million questions about the paperwork, what to bring, etc. :D

I never said I "know" her preferences. Lol. I explicitly said that it was a "hunch" and that I was "guessing." I also never stated or even implied that there would be anything wrong with julie33 wanting to date an Asian woman.

It was a joke. Chill out and stop trying to turn every conversation into a confrontation. :-)

"Youll be able to afford a girlfriend or save some money for the summer."

This is just a hunch, but I'm guessing that "julie33" isn't concerned about being able to afford a girlfriend or impress a girlfriend's friends and parents. :-)

"It is Dubai....."

The poster was asking about GEMS Abu Dhabi, not Dubai. While the two cities/emirates may be close enough in weather and culture, I've heard that the schools are different. The the OP, I'd just suggest making sure that you're getting information about the correct GEMS as you ask around. :-)

I've worked at schools that bought my flight and sent me an e-ticket, as well as schools that asked me to purchase a ticket and then reimbursed me when I arrived. There's pros and cons of both.

Similarly, I've been at schools that offered a shipping allowance and schools that didn't. In that case, I was given a one time relocation allowance/fund that was supposed to cover the extra costs of moving, like excess baggage.

"Get use to disappointment..."


It's ok. Everyone on these forums already knows the answer. :-)

"It is what it is",well i guess since we have a cliché for it, it most be okay.

P.S. I never said it was okay. My exact words included "unfair" and "sexist."

Thank you for yet again choosing to ingore the questions pertaining to your personal experiences (or lack thereof) in Saudi Arabia and with Aramco. :-)

Sorry guys. I haven't checked the forums lately and for some reason I stopped getting email notifications about updated threads. I'll try to answer everybody's questions.

gbr1964: I don't remember specific questions. My husband and I interviewed together, and our experience was similar to nkraai's. It was not the kind of interview where the admin fired questions at us. He did a lot of the talking, telling us about the school, the positions, the company, and life in Saudi Arabia. We asked a lot of questions and were able to show our skills and personalities through those discussions. Sorry I can't remember specific questions, but I don't recall any questions being particularly tough.


hallier: If you post your email address, I'll email you. :D

nkraai: Congratulations on your successful interview. I know you didn't ask a question, but I want to touch on the subject you brought up. I am not up to speed with the government regulations, but I do know that Aramco does NOT pay a woman less purely because she is a woman. It's more complicated than that. The "head of household" gets paid more than any dependents. Actually, it's not really the salary that is different, but the benefits. When there is a married couple, the husband is the HOH and the wife is considered a "casual hire." Dependent children would also be casual hires if they were to get jobs. All of the couple's benefits (expat premium, travel, relocation, etc) are included in the husband's pay check - he would get family allowances for those things. The wife's paycheck would be just her salary without the added benefits. It does work out to be less combined benefits than if each person received a single person's benefits.

However, a single woman is also considered the "head of household" and gets paid just as much as a single man given the same job title and qualifications. She does not get paid less because she is a woman. The kicker is that married women cannot sponsor dependents. A married woman cannot bring her husband over as a trailing spouse. She can still be hired, but he would stay behind. I belive that is a Saudi rule, but I am not sure of that. That part is unfair and sexist, but it is what it is.

psyguy: You said "When I was there....," implying Saudi Arabia. Or perhaps you specifically just said "they" so that when called on it you could claim that you never said you were talking about Saudi Arabia specifically? You have yet to answer the questions about your experience with Aramco. Have you worked in or traveled to Saudi Arabia? Have you worked for Aramco? Or are you basing all of your opinions on your short stint at a school in Egypt? Please clarify so that we can better understand your perspective.

I have no idea what most hiring administrators think of colleague letters of recommendation. I can only say that I have used such letters in the past, and they were well received. These were colleagues I worked with closely. They could better judge my abilities than most of my administrators. When I used colleague references, they were in addition to the standard 2-3 supervisor recommendations, not in place of.

I don't have personal experience with AISR, but I do work in Saudi Arabia. I have friends at AISR.

If your friend genuinely wants to chill out and make money for a few years, then it could be a decent option for him. I've heard that the salary and benefits are good.

The downside for a single guy, of course, is that there's not a lot of nightlife in Saudi. As far as I know, there would not be opportunities for him to date the local women. There are no bars, but people find a way around that. There is a lot of "forbidden" activity that happens every day. He could socialize with other expats, and there are an awful lot of western and Asian expats in Saudi. Flying in and out of Saudi, I see more expats than Saudis/Arabs. Riyadh is a more conservative part of the country, but it's the capital and a huge city. My friends at that school seem to have an active social life. They are always posting pictures of parties. They are happy there. They are couples, though. I don't have single friends there.

There would be things for your friend to do, just maybe not typical "bachelor" activities. If he wants to travel, he's in a decent spot since Riyadh has a big airport with easy access to Europe, Africa, Asia, and of course the Middle East.

FYI WiscoKid - There is no school called "Saudi Aramco School." Saudi Aramco Schools (SAS) is the name of the district. There are five schools, each with its own name. I think all teaching jobs are listed as being in Dhahran. That is the company and schools headquarters. Only 2 out of 5 schools are in Dhahran (but they are the biggest schools with the most jobs). I believe that all jobs are listed as Dhahran, and you don't find out where the actual job is until you interview. I know it's that way on Search and ISS. I have never seen the UNI website. So the job may actually be in Dhahran, it may not. But good luck in your efforts to get an early interview. I hope it works out for you!

Hi WiscoKid,

1. I don't know which location the job is at, sorry. Being a school district, and not just a single school, I rarely hear anything about the recruiting going on at the other schools. The job itself may depend on the school location. Some of the school IT people work in the central office (the school district headquarters). Others work in the individual schools. Some IT people do a lot of instruction, others do more actual computer support and liase with the company IT guys. It would really hinge on location.

2. Sometimes building principals do their own searching/recruiting, sometimes the district superintendent is heavily involved. Unfortunately, I really can't tell you much else other than to go through the normal Search/ISS channels. Make sure you express interest. I know of several people who have already gotten interviews. They were contacted by principals after posting their info on Search/ISS and expressing interest. In the past, the superindendent's email address was listed on these websites. I'm pretty sure I remember emailing him directly when I was first applying. Now there is a dedicated jobs email address. I take this to mean that the superintendent doesn't want his own inbox bombarded with emails from prospective students. If I were to recommend a teacher based on personal experience with that person, I might go directly through the superintendent. I'm sure you can understand why it would be inappropriate for me to give out his email to someone I don't know. Sorry!

I compeletely agree. There is no perfect place. And what is perfect for me might not be perfect for the next person. For me, Aramco IS a great gig. The money & benefits are fantastic, the schools are pretty top notch, the students are high achieving, behavior issues are minimal, there's a culturally diverse school and compound population - a true "international" vibe, teachers are dedicated, students are motivated, classes sizes are small, schools are extremely well resourced, and the travel opportunities are great.

I wouldn't complain about much, but a few things would be:

1. The hiring process is a nightmare. Teachers go through the same scrutiny that all Aramco employees go through. It's not just offer-contract-job. It's months (sometimes years for other employees) of paperwork, signatures, medical checks, background investigations. Even if the schools want you, Aramco can reject you. You don't officially have a job until you get your Saudi visa and your final contract. That may happen mere days or weeks before you are scheduled to travel to Saudi Arabia. So a teacher can be offered a job in October or November, but not officially have a job until July. If it falls through, it's often too late to get another good job.

2. While the schools are fairly autonomous, we all still work for a company. A huge company. I've heard figures like 30,000, 50,000, or even 70,000 employees. I don't know which is accurate, but it's a lot. That means that there's a lot of red tape and bureaucracy. When dealing with the company, everything is more complicated that it needs to be, and takes longer than it needs to. I don't feel that the company has a good communication in place, so it's often hard to figure out what's going on and who to talk to if you have problems.

3. Because we are part of a company, we don't use a normal school calendar. The school year for the students is similar, but teachers have to work more days per year than at other schools. The vacation time is still sufficient, but it's complicated. The system is too complicated to explain, but one quirk is that depending on how much time you take off, you sometimes get docked for weekends that are part of your vacation. That can be frustrating. We teachers often find ourselves working even when there is not much to do, but we still have to be at work, because so does everyone else in the company. I have never felt like I didn't get enough vacation time, but it's not as convenient as a normal school schedule.