Jobs/Visa for Saudi

[AbuAtfaal]

Hi,

I am currently working as an experienced IT professional (3+ years experience), based in the West Midlands, UK.


I am very interested to moving to Saudi, but cannot seems to get very far with job websites like Al-Bayt, etc...

Does anyone have any connections that could help with getting into Saudi via an IT Job? Or advice on how to get to work there legally?


My alternative option is to change career become a qualified English teacher and use Teach Away or some similar company to teach English in Saudi... which is possible, but would take around 3 years (including gaining experience) just to make the change...


Feel free to PM with contact details if required, Jzakallah Khair

[trying_hard]

Re: Jobs/Visa for Saudi

Asalam o Aleikum Wrwb

Akhi, I have been on lookout for Saudi vacancies too. in sha Allah if Allah wills, I will find something. I can share few things from experience with you although my background is engineering, I am sure this will be relevant to a certain level.

In Saudi, most of the vacancies for expats (especially from EU/States etc.) requires 10+ years experience as they employ Western expats in Middle management to senior management positions. Anything lower than that, they recruit Indians, Pakistanis as they cost half of what a western expat would. The number of year's experience may be more or less than 10 years for IT professionals, you need to research. Bayt.com is not the best tool for expats IMHO. Try registering with recruitment agencies that recruit on behalf of Middle Eastern companies in the UK. Get on LinkedIn (if you aren't already), connect with people from companies and recruitment agencies that you might be interested in and get yourself known.

I am told and I believe that there is plenty of work for teachers in Middle East with excellent expat packages, however it wasn't for me so I am sticking with my niche. My advice/suggestion would be to get more experience under your belt for starters and grow your LinkedIn circle with IT professionals who are in Middle East currently, as they can provide first hand and accurate information of job market currently.

May Allah make it easy for us.

[AbuAtfaal]

Re: Jobs/Visa for Saudi

Ws wr wb,

Jzakallah khair for sharing your experiences and knowledge. My priority would be to get there as soon as possible.

If going the IT career route will need another 5+ years experience, I may consider going the English Teaching route.


Do you know of any recruiters for Middle Eastern jobs based in the West Midlands area?

[trying_hard]

Re: Jobs/Visa for Saudi

akhi, the agencies I know are for engineering in railways and oil and gas sector. I found out about these using sheikh Google and followed up on LinkedIn so have a stab at it. You need to set sometime aside for it as it does take a bit of researching.
May Allah make it easy for you.

[bintmydad]

Re: Jobs/Visa for Saudi

:salams

Why would it take three years to teach English in Saudi? Many of my friends started working in Saudi straight after completing their TEFL/CELTA qualification...

There are several universities in Riyadh/Dammam that don't require you to have a huge amounts of experience. As long as you have a British passport then it should be very easy to get in.

[malone]

Re: Jobs/Visa for Saudi

^It's true - but it's also hell. My friend teaches at a college in Riyadh, he says every day he has to deal with casual racism from the students, a corrupt governing body in the uni admin (rich kids cheating openly on tests, uni does nothing), etc etc. He calls it the Zoo lol :D

[AbuAtfaal]

Re: Jobs/Visa for Saudi

:salams

Why would it take three years to teach English in Saudi? Many of my friends started working in Saudi straight after completing their TEFL/CELTA qualification...

There are several universities in Riyadh/Dammam that don't require you to have a huge amounts of experience. As long as you have a British passport then it should be very easy to get in.

Ws wr wb,

I have found that it used to be common for Saudi to let people with no experience in but from what I can tell, now it seems to be more difficult to get in without experience and just a TEFL/CELTA.

It would be good to know how your friends got their jobs, and through who?

If that was all it took it would be a lot easier, but again I'm in need of some connections/recruiters who would be able to advise me..

[AbuAtfaal]

Re: Jobs/Visa for Saudi

^It's true - but it's also hell. My friend teaches at a college in Riyadh, he says every day he has to deal with casual racism from the students, a corrupt governing body in the uni admin (rich kids cheating openly on tests, uni does nothing), etc etc. He calls it the Zoo lol :D

I guess you'd have problems to varying levels with all work places, I'm sure you can also move around once you get there if it's that bad, well after some time I would have thought..

[malone]

Re: Jobs/Visa for Saudi

I guess you'd have problems to varying levels with all work places, I'm sure you can also move around once you get there if it's that bad, well after some time I would have thought..

Hm I have to say be prepared for a bit of a culture shock especially if ur moving somewhere like Riyadh (may you have visited and are familiar). Life is very subdued, there are few things to entertain yourself with outside of work. The problems with racism have deep roots and are faced on a daily basis, and moving around may not be easy - my friend has had holidays cancelled last minute by his uni, been forbidden to visit UK for no reason etc etc. They seem really badly organised and wont care too much if you are unhappy. Also difficult, because your sponsor may not permit you to move. No procedures and infrastructure is pretty poor.

My town on the east coast is a lot more relaxed. Not to put you off, but best to be aware of some down sides, I feel some people go because they will find Islamic paradise and religious people and its not the case for the most part! They are more conservative than religious if that makes sense.

[Oum Soumayyah]

Re: Jobs/Visa for Saudi

:salams

Why would it take three years to teach English in Saudi? Many of my friends started working in Saudi straight after completing their TEFL/CELTA qualification...

There are several universities in Riyadh/Dammam that don't require you to have a huge amounts of experience. As long as you have a British passport then it should be very easy to get in.

Wa alaykum salaam wa-rahmatullah wa-barakatuh.

For the experience part sis, that's the standard now. And it actually makes sense to have some class experience before starting teaching in a whole new country; at least to me.
Maybe some employers who hire directly may make exceptions, but the general rule is experience. And the more experience you have, the more they pay.

[AbuAtfaal]

Re: Jobs/Visa for Saudi

Hm I have to say be prepared for a bit of a culture shock especially if ur moving somewhere like Riyadh (may you have visited and are familiar). Life is very subdued, there are few things to entertain yourself with outside of work. The problems with racism have deep roots and are faced on a daily basis, and moving around may not be easy - my friend has had holidays cancelled last minute by his uni, been forbidden to visit UK for no reason etc etc. They seem really badly organised and wont care too much if you are unhappy. Also difficult, because your sponsor may not permit you to move. No procedures and infrastructure is pretty poor.

My town on the east coast is a lot more relaxed. Not to put you off, but best to be aware of some down sides, I feel some people go because they will find Islamic paradise and religious people and its not the case for the most part! They are more conservative than religious if that makes sense.

Jzakallah khair for your advice, I am expecting a culture shock. But it is a good reminder to know what the lack of procedures and structure can be like..

I do expect to find Islamic benefits, but I am aware that not everyone there is a good religious person, in fact most may not be..


May Allah make it easy for us