Saudi Aramco - all you need to know about it (threads merged)
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Join Date: Jul 2008
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Its been a while since someone wrote anything here. I work in Saudi Aramco and very happy to answer any questions related to the jobs or the company.
Most of the info in this thread are outdated. We have new management, new aircraft on its way and significant changes in the company's GI.
I am sorry to say though that the weather is still the same and probably will never change and will never ever get used to it especially in the summer.
Most of the info in this thread are outdated. We have new management, new aircraft on its way and significant changes in the company's GI.
I am sorry to say though that the weather is still the same and probably will never change and will never ever get used to it especially in the summer.
Join Date: Jul 2008
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The company is always hiring. Preference are given to locals. Any non-locals apply through the branch in Houston, Tx.
The only thing that sucks about it is the hiring process itself which could take on average 4 to 6 months (For expats only)
The only thing that sucks about it is the hiring process itself which could take on average 4 to 6 months (For expats only)
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Don't waste your time all the flying in the region is going down the drain with the price of oil down and these companies are just trying to pick up locals to keep the costs down of having to buy airline tickets etc
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... all the flying in the region is going down the drain...
Not sure who pi$$ed you off but you don't seem to be happy with Nexus. Can you elaborate more?
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Guys,
I haven't posted here for a good while now but I feel obliged to share my experiences with Aramco.
I know a handful of Aramco employees (present and retired) and they all agree that Aramco is a great employer. Based on their recommendation, I applied in mid 2014. Standard procedure, online application with reference number. I did get a little bit of inside help from someone high up in the flight department. Whether or not it actually served the purpose to get HR to look at my application I will probably never find out.
Anyway, about half a year after my initial application, I was invited to attend an interview which was held at CAE Dubai. The interview was relaxed and very professional. It was administered by 2 pilots from the Aramco flight department and monitored by one more HR guy. All of them were Saudis. The SIM assessment was done on the B-737 simulator. Very standard profile without any surprises - takeoff with engines running. One of the Saudis from the interview panel was in the right seat and served as PM. Takeoff on heading to 10.000 feet, followed by airwork (to get a feel for the aircraft handling, trim, pitch & power), followed by a hand flown visual approach and a touch & go. Next was an ILS, during which I was given an engine fire (around GS intercept). Flew it to the ground, doing only the neccesary items to secure the enigne. Landing and that was it. No feedback, no critique, just a thank you and you will hear from us.
Another half year later, without any correspondence inbetween, I receive an e-mail from the Houston HQ, inquiting whether I was still available to join. I confirmed and a few days later I was asked to fill out some more forms and submit my most recent documents. Another 10 days later I was offered a full-time position with the Aramco Aviation Department.
So much for my application process/progress. It all took a good year from the time of first applying to receiving a formal job offer.
Before I share with you how it all ended, here are a few things to keep in mind:
- Aramco is not an aviation company as we all know it. First and foremost Aramco is and always will be OIL. Their Aviation Department (this is literally how they refer to it) is just one of many branches of their vast operation and serves the purpose to shuttle employees between the oil fields (Boeing/Embraer) and also to transport their executives around the world (Hawker/Gulfstream/767).
- According to their philosophy, you are not hired as a Captain or a Co-Pilot. You are hired as simply as a service provider (in this case an "Aircraft Pilot"). This goes especially for the salary structure. Aramco will slot their pilots into what they call "Salary Code", and an Aircraft Pilot is pretty high up in the overall Aramco salary code already, and any promotion from the right to the left seat doesn't neccesarily imply a move up to the next salary code. Any pilot who joins Aramco will fly from the right seat regardless and will move on to the left seat when such position opens up and based on performance and seniority.
Aramco also differentiates between "single" and "family" status, but this is of lesser significance and will therefore not be the subject matter of my contribution here.
n.b. While I have all the numbers (salary & benefits) readily available, please understand that I cannot share them publically.
- since Aramco is essentially a US company, they do unfortunately distinguish between US citizens and non-US citizens (referred to as "Global"). Therefore, there is a "US payroll" and a "Global payroll". THE CONDITIONS ARE DIFFERENT!
And this is where we return to my adventure with Aramco where we left it a few minutes ago:
I am not a US citizen. Therefore, my job offer with Aramco was based on the conditions of the Global payroll. While the salary is pretty much the same, the employees on the Global payroll ARE NOT entitled to the following:
- to live on camp. You will need to find and rent (pay) your own accomodation on the Saudi side of things OUTSIDE of any of the Aramco camps.
- Aramco schooling. Even though you are an Aramco employee, your kids will not be able to attend the Aramco schools. You will have to find a local school (again on the Saudi side of life), either private or government, and pay for that as well.
Aramco does offer to provide rental assistance as well as an Educational Assistance Plan, but the fact of the matter remains that as a Global employee, you will live OFF CAMP and the kids will not be eligible to attend the Aramco schools.
In short: what you see on their website (all the high-gloss pictures of life and benefits in the Aramco world, e.g. women on the beach in swimsuits, women driving cars) DO NOT APPLY if you are are an employee on the Global payroll.
Consider the following before making your final decision:
- is your family willing to live in Dammam City (off camp, in Saudiland)?
- can you / do you want to go and look for a suitable off-camp school for your kids?
- does your wife know that she needs to cover up entirely while out of the house in Saudi-Arabia?
- does your wife know that women are not allowed to drive a car in Saudi-Arabia? You will need to hire a full-time driver or budget funds for regular taxi trips to get the kids to and from school and the wife to and from the shopping centres.
- Saudi-Arabia in general isn't quite as clean and tidy as what the pictures on the Aramco website might lead you to think. But keep in mind, those pictures were taken within the Aramco compound, but that is NOT where you will be living your life.
I am attaching a copy of the e-mail that I received from Aramco notifiying me of this situation:
QUOTE
Dear Mr. (........),
The purpose of this communication is to advise you of a change to the availability of company-provided housing in Saudi Arabia. Due to our continued growth and expansion, the supply of Saudi Aramco company-provided housing has become very limited. As a result, we will provide you with a Rental Assistance Allowance in lieu of company-provided housing until more housing becomes available for bidding.
In addition, if you are being hired on family status and have school-aged children, as you will not be provided with Saudi Aramco housing, your children will not be eligible to attend Saudi Aramco schools. Instead, you will be eligible for the Educational Assistance Plan which will assist you with paying for your children’s schooling in Saudi Arabia or overseas. Should you later move to company-provided housing as it becomes available, your children would then be eligible to attend Saudi Aramco schools.
Housing
When you first arrive, you will be accommodated in company-provided transient housing, if available. If transient housing is not available, you will be provided a daily full per diem (lodging, meals, and incidentals) and a transportation per diem. The initial per diems will be up to 30 days. An extension of an additional 30 days may be approved by your Department Head with the total (initial and extension) not to exceed 60 days. This will allow you time to obtain your residency permit, receive your Rental Assistance Allowance, and manage your rental arrangements; including visiting apartment complexes/houses and selecting a unit that matches your preferences and budget.
To ease your transition, Saudi Aramco’s Community Services Department has an office dedicated to providing support to new hires after arrival. You will also be provided with the names and addresses of expatriate compounds and real estate agencies who deal in individual house/apartment rentals.
Schools
We recommend that you contact schools in Saudi Arabia to ensure there are available spaces in the school of your choice. Attached a list of selected schools for your easy reference. You will also be eligible for the Saudi Aramco Education Assistance Plan, which provides for boarding school options you may wish to consider.
Acknowledgement
We kindly request that you acknowledge your understanding of the above situation by signing and returning a copy of this notification to your relocation advisor.
UNQUOTE
In closing, it was the above that made me and my family turn down the Aramco offer of employment. The mouth-watering images and the apparent American way of life that you see on their website was not going to be for us.
Would I still recommend them? Yes, but only if you are either a US Citizen or a single-status employee who doesn't mind not being allowed to reside in the Aramco compound.
I honestly hope that my contribution was of value and will provide guidance to anyone who is contemplating working for Aramco.
PM me with any further questions.
I haven't posted here for a good while now but I feel obliged to share my experiences with Aramco.
I know a handful of Aramco employees (present and retired) and they all agree that Aramco is a great employer. Based on their recommendation, I applied in mid 2014. Standard procedure, online application with reference number. I did get a little bit of inside help from someone high up in the flight department. Whether or not it actually served the purpose to get HR to look at my application I will probably never find out.
Anyway, about half a year after my initial application, I was invited to attend an interview which was held at CAE Dubai. The interview was relaxed and very professional. It was administered by 2 pilots from the Aramco flight department and monitored by one more HR guy. All of them were Saudis. The SIM assessment was done on the B-737 simulator. Very standard profile without any surprises - takeoff with engines running. One of the Saudis from the interview panel was in the right seat and served as PM. Takeoff on heading to 10.000 feet, followed by airwork (to get a feel for the aircraft handling, trim, pitch & power), followed by a hand flown visual approach and a touch & go. Next was an ILS, during which I was given an engine fire (around GS intercept). Flew it to the ground, doing only the neccesary items to secure the enigne. Landing and that was it. No feedback, no critique, just a thank you and you will hear from us.
Another half year later, without any correspondence inbetween, I receive an e-mail from the Houston HQ, inquiting whether I was still available to join. I confirmed and a few days later I was asked to fill out some more forms and submit my most recent documents. Another 10 days later I was offered a full-time position with the Aramco Aviation Department.
So much for my application process/progress. It all took a good year from the time of first applying to receiving a formal job offer.
Before I share with you how it all ended, here are a few things to keep in mind:
- Aramco is not an aviation company as we all know it. First and foremost Aramco is and always will be OIL. Their Aviation Department (this is literally how they refer to it) is just one of many branches of their vast operation and serves the purpose to shuttle employees between the oil fields (Boeing/Embraer) and also to transport their executives around the world (Hawker/Gulfstream/767).
- According to their philosophy, you are not hired as a Captain or a Co-Pilot. You are hired as simply as a service provider (in this case an "Aircraft Pilot"). This goes especially for the salary structure. Aramco will slot their pilots into what they call "Salary Code", and an Aircraft Pilot is pretty high up in the overall Aramco salary code already, and any promotion from the right to the left seat doesn't neccesarily imply a move up to the next salary code. Any pilot who joins Aramco will fly from the right seat regardless and will move on to the left seat when such position opens up and based on performance and seniority.
Aramco also differentiates between "single" and "family" status, but this is of lesser significance and will therefore not be the subject matter of my contribution here.
n.b. While I have all the numbers (salary & benefits) readily available, please understand that I cannot share them publically.
- since Aramco is essentially a US company, they do unfortunately distinguish between US citizens and non-US citizens (referred to as "Global"). Therefore, there is a "US payroll" and a "Global payroll". THE CONDITIONS ARE DIFFERENT!
And this is where we return to my adventure with Aramco where we left it a few minutes ago:
I am not a US citizen. Therefore, my job offer with Aramco was based on the conditions of the Global payroll. While the salary is pretty much the same, the employees on the Global payroll ARE NOT entitled to the following:
- to live on camp. You will need to find and rent (pay) your own accomodation on the Saudi side of things OUTSIDE of any of the Aramco camps.
- Aramco schooling. Even though you are an Aramco employee, your kids will not be able to attend the Aramco schools. You will have to find a local school (again on the Saudi side of life), either private or government, and pay for that as well.
Aramco does offer to provide rental assistance as well as an Educational Assistance Plan, but the fact of the matter remains that as a Global employee, you will live OFF CAMP and the kids will not be eligible to attend the Aramco schools.
In short: what you see on their website (all the high-gloss pictures of life and benefits in the Aramco world, e.g. women on the beach in swimsuits, women driving cars) DO NOT APPLY if you are are an employee on the Global payroll.
Consider the following before making your final decision:
- is your family willing to live in Dammam City (off camp, in Saudiland)?
- can you / do you want to go and look for a suitable off-camp school for your kids?
- does your wife know that she needs to cover up entirely while out of the house in Saudi-Arabia?
- does your wife know that women are not allowed to drive a car in Saudi-Arabia? You will need to hire a full-time driver or budget funds for regular taxi trips to get the kids to and from school and the wife to and from the shopping centres.
- Saudi-Arabia in general isn't quite as clean and tidy as what the pictures on the Aramco website might lead you to think. But keep in mind, those pictures were taken within the Aramco compound, but that is NOT where you will be living your life.
I am attaching a copy of the e-mail that I received from Aramco notifiying me of this situation:
QUOTE
Subject: Notification of change in company housing availability
Dear Mr. (........),
The purpose of this communication is to advise you of a change to the availability of company-provided housing in Saudi Arabia. Due to our continued growth and expansion, the supply of Saudi Aramco company-provided housing has become very limited. As a result, we will provide you with a Rental Assistance Allowance in lieu of company-provided housing until more housing becomes available for bidding.
In addition, if you are being hired on family status and have school-aged children, as you will not be provided with Saudi Aramco housing, your children will not be eligible to attend Saudi Aramco schools. Instead, you will be eligible for the Educational Assistance Plan which will assist you with paying for your children’s schooling in Saudi Arabia or overseas. Should you later move to company-provided housing as it becomes available, your children would then be eligible to attend Saudi Aramco schools.
Housing
When you first arrive, you will be accommodated in company-provided transient housing, if available. If transient housing is not available, you will be provided a daily full per diem (lodging, meals, and incidentals) and a transportation per diem. The initial per diems will be up to 30 days. An extension of an additional 30 days may be approved by your Department Head with the total (initial and extension) not to exceed 60 days. This will allow you time to obtain your residency permit, receive your Rental Assistance Allowance, and manage your rental arrangements; including visiting apartment complexes/houses and selecting a unit that matches your preferences and budget.
To ease your transition, Saudi Aramco’s Community Services Department has an office dedicated to providing support to new hires after arrival. You will also be provided with the names and addresses of expatriate compounds and real estate agencies who deal in individual house/apartment rentals.
Schools
We recommend that you contact schools in Saudi Arabia to ensure there are available spaces in the school of your choice. Attached a list of selected schools for your easy reference. You will also be eligible for the Saudi Aramco Education Assistance Plan, which provides for boarding school options you may wish to consider.
Acknowledgement
We kindly request that you acknowledge your understanding of the above situation by signing and returning a copy of this notification to your relocation advisor.
UNQUOTE
In closing, it was the above that made me and my family turn down the Aramco offer of employment. The mouth-watering images and the apparent American way of life that you see on their website was not going to be for us.
Would I still recommend them? Yes, but only if you are either a US Citizen or a single-status employee who doesn't mind not being allowed to reside in the Aramco compound.
I honestly hope that my contribution was of value and will provide guidance to anyone who is contemplating working for Aramco.
PM me with any further questions.
Last edited by localizer28; 16th Sep 2016 at 18:51.
Join Date: Feb 2018
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just a warning
One of my friends received an e-mail from Saudi Aramco. They offered her a really good position in Abu Dhabi and asked for a little personal information (fortunately she didn't give any). After a while, the offer was turned out to be fake. If you receive such offers, make sure they are real because this company has many rivals and fake parties.
Join Date: Mar 2000
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Hello all,
Some cool news:
Saudi Aramco Aviation has selected and will be sending 3 Saudi women to Ab Initio fixed wing training in the next couple months. I don't know what the selection process is like, but I'd expect it to be the same as for the guys, ie. rigorous but doable if you're motivated and work hard.
I'm proud to say that we've begun integrating women into many areas in the Department and by and large its been a non event.
Some cool news:
Saudi Aramco Aviation has selected and will be sending 3 Saudi women to Ab Initio fixed wing training in the next couple months. I don't know what the selection process is like, but I'd expect it to be the same as for the guys, ie. rigorous but doable if you're motivated and work hard.
I'm proud to say that we've begun integrating women into many areas in the Department and by and large its been a non event.
