I made a cardinal mistake when I left a much more stable job and came to Aramco because at that moment I needed higher pay and better benefits. Now I would be much happier if I could go back to the previous company.
Have you ever been under more stress and uncertainty in any company constantly worrying when they will tell you that you are not needed anymore? I have not.
This thread needs to be reposted every month in order to advice future ex-Aramcons. Aramco created this expat mess, so they should read about it frequently.
LOL!!!
However, they would reply that you are there to spread your knowledge not receive.
List of things I learned from that vast talent pool:
I had no problem landing a job after leaving Saudi Aramco. Now? Companies are paying top dollar. There’s no reason to stay there. All of the advantages of going there are gone.
In certain way, the company high turn over, it is like a new company every 10 years, was not so evident In the past because most people was going for retirement after 10 -15 years of work, so Aramco was consider a good company to end your career with a good salary. Uncertainty is the rule now.
In some ways COVID has made it easier to leave because companies are more comfortable doing online only interviews without requiring you to come in for an in person.
I got a job in the West after interviewing online and with 60 days' notice. Alot of companies, if they really want you, will hold out for 60 days to get you onboard, especially if it involves an overseas move.
The maddening thing about Aramco for me was they bring you out there and you have made that big decision to move there, only to then be treated like cr-p! And you end up leaving before you intended...well I did stick it out for a while but after that it just wasn't worth it.
@tde+1coAqMDu
"Working with extremely intelligent Saudis is a pleasure."
And quite the oddity as well. I did meet a few, but they get promoted too quickly to make any meaningful impact.
"by learning from the vast talent pool of local Saudis, they could thrive and develop timeless job skills that could be utilized throughout their career."
Learning exactly what?
How to put up a show?
How to endure hours of meaningless meetings?
How to jump levels in Candy Crush?
Most US Expats come to the Company because they could not find or keep a job anywhere else in the world. It never occurred to these marginal US Expats that, by learning from the vast talent pool of local Saudis, they could thrive and develop timeless job skills that could be utilized throughout their career. Instead, the marginal expat would rather sit on their hands in hopes that nobody finds out that they never had any job skills in the first place. Working for a company as great as this one is truly an honor. Working with extremely intelligent Saudis is a pleasure.
Yeah, IMO it's not much like the era of the golden expat anymore. Much closer to a zero sum game these days.
I got another job no problem. Gave my 60 day notice and had two offers lined up in the US before I left Saudi. My base pay is 20k more than it was with Aramco. Total compensation is less but the drop wasn’t as steep as I expected. The market for engineers is good right now in the us
Good luck trying to get another job in the west while working at Aramco in Saudi. Your skills have gone stale, you aren't able to interview in person, and you have to give 60 days notice before you can start the new job. Aramco OWNS you. I hope you at least didn't bring your family.