Speaking of Aramco

Open Communication · Post by **Open Communication** » Wed Oct 17, 2012 11:42 pm

edited.

PsyGuy · Post by **PsyGuy** » Thu Oct 18, 2012 6:57 am

Primary Teacher: M.Ed in EC
Secondary: MA/MS in your teaching field
Admin: Doctorate

Really everyone has a M.Ed, and its not going to impress anyone, and certainly wont make you standout. Thats not to say people with a bachelors or an M.Ed dont get hired, but you asked about graduate degrees and what would make you the most marketable.

gbr1964 · Post by **gbr1964** » Thu Oct 18, 2012 10:13 am

Psyguy do you have any idea on the best way to approach aramco? Job Fairs, direct contact, HR, recruiters...have you heard if one approach is better than any other? Thanks for any insight you may have.

PsyGuy · Post by **PsyGuy** » Thu Oct 18, 2012 1:36 pm

That's hard, well they are repped by Search, they attend 1-2 fairs a year. I've never seen a candidate leave a fair with an offer or contract from them though. Their HR is all automated and handles a mass amount of applications, they are not just a school after all. It's very likely a human being would never see your application if you applied through HR. there are some executive recruiters that have Aramco as clients but they don't work with teachers.

The best was is the same with any school network. Research the admins, find out what social network sites the are n and what there interests are, then get interested in those things, establish a relationship, and then when your at a fair meet in person over a drink, and let the conversation move to the vacancy they have happens to fit your resume.

gbr1964 · Post by **gbr1964** » Thu Oct 18, 2012 2:42 pm

psyguy,

thanks for post. Would you happen to know if their principals attend the fairs or is it their sup? I also heard they have recruiters in house so I was wondering if they attend the fairs as well? Thanks again.

PsyGuy · Post by **PsyGuy** » Fri Oct 19, 2012 2:59 am

I can't say who attends each fair year after year, I don't personally have any interest in the school anymore. They are a reclusive school though. They are the only ME school that ever has a line, and their line moves pretty quickly, unless they find someone and then they will eat up 5 minutes talking to one person. They usually dont do a presentation, or attend the social. what i heard is they stoped doing presentations some years ago, because afterwards their would be a whole room of people trying to talk themselves into an interview. Its the same with the social. The reality is they dont really have to recruit, they attend the fair to make it convenient to interview in person the one or two people they have preselected in advance they want to meet, and to build presence as part of their PR.

Their inhouse recruiters primarily focus on other job functions within the organization. Teachers are a very small part of the overall organization.

Gereja · Post by **Gereja** » Fri Oct 19, 2012 3:55 am

Two years ago our Director of Instruction (MA) was hired. He recommended two other families the following year and they were also hired, however are on different campuses. After the initial recommendation and phone interviews they did have to go to the fair to interview personally. So from this experience it was having someone they knew at the school.

amerikumar · Post by **amerikumar** » Tue Feb 12, 2013 8:30 am

My husband and I just came back from the Cambridge fair. We met the Aramco superintendent at the fair on the first evening when they were hiring only counselors and interns. We were really impressed with him and had a great conversation with both he and his wife. (She is a counselor at the school and had accompanied him on this trip.) I have a Master's degree in school counseling but never used it. Anyway, they agreed to interview us despite my lack of experience.

During the interview, we again had great conversations and really enjoyed our experience with them. They told us about the school and answered all of our questions. They did a presentation the following day which included a very informative film showing what the compound looks like and also detailing their salary and benefits.

The next day, we received a note stating that they were still interested in our candidacy but wouldn't be making any final decisions for a couple weeks. Our recruiter told us that the process of getting hired at Aramco is often a very long process because the superintendent goes back after attending the fairs and discusses his top candidates with all of the principals.

When we were leaving, we saw the superintendent having breakfast with his wife. He come over to meet us and asked to meet our kids who were staying with us. He seems like a very warm and sincere manâ€¦and told us he has been with Aramco for 14 years.

In the end, I'm not sure if anything else will happen. We are keeping our fingers crossed because we declined a few other offers at the fair in hopes of landing the positions at Aramco. Again, we've heard from numerous sources that the process is longâ€¦but I do believe that the superintendent is a sincere man and will hopefully follow-up with us even if we aren't a match for his school at this time.

PsyGuy · Post by **PsyGuy** » Tue Feb 12, 2013 9:09 pm

You turned down offers for a DS, risky, very risky, considering its a long shot. I would have taken one of those offers as a backup, and if you got an Armaco offer, broken contract. Once your at your DS, it doesnt matter what your reputation is or what people think, your not really going to be going anywhere. Its like a DoDDS job, no one would think twice of breaking contract, if they got one.

shadowjack · Post by **shadowjack** » Wed Feb 13, 2013 6:25 am

The Director at Aramco is very approachable, and answers his own emails! However, they fill their spots fairly quickly, honestly are seeking teaching couples, and are quality all the way. There are some things that teachers don't like about ARAMCO (different strokes for different folks), but having been in their schools (as a visitor from another school in the Kingdom), competed against their students (as the coach of a team), and who knows people who work there, I would go there in a heartbeat if they had an opening for me. Unfortunately they didn't. They were at Search Bangkok, had their table out at sign up, and were very pleasant to talk to, but also up front with what they were seeking.

Having someone inside is the best way to go, provided you are part of a teaching couple (not quite there yet! LOL)

amerikumar · Post by **amerikumar** » Wed Feb 13, 2013 8:12 am

@Psyguyâ€¦we would never break a contract. We are a couple with high morals, ethics and values. Your word is your bond.

PsyGuy · Post by **PsyGuy** » Thu Feb 14, 2013 1:56 am

@amerikumar

So you say you would never break a contract, ever, ever, ever? So if the end of the last month of school came, and your school admin said "we are withholding the last month salary of all teachers until they return in August, as a guarantee" and this wasnt in your contract but a new policy (completely legal under the contract under the "administration reserves the right to change policy") youd be fine with that?

What if your admin made a pass at your wife and offered her extra if shed go out with him?

What if your HOS said they would have to terminate your contract if you didnt convert religions? What if they required you to have a sex change operation?

What if you got to the school and found out that yes tuition was covered for your children but there was a "foreign student fee" equal to a couple months salary that was not included?

What if the 3 bedroom housing you were shown turned out to be a three room apartment: living room, bedroom and bathroom for your entire family?

You still would NEVER break contract???

Thats a great personal code you have and i would live the same way, if only recruiters did the same thing, and didnt over sell, misrepresent and deceive their staff. Then the whole paid side of this site would just be a big blank web page, and rainbows and sunshine would be everywhere and song birds would set my clothes out in the morning, and a magical flower petal bus would take me to work and back...

::Sigh::

Oh wait, and all the woman I dated were princesses...

heyteach · Post by **heyteach** » Thu Feb 14, 2013 2:04 am

PG has all the integrity of a Wall Street banker and the emotional maturity of a 12 year old. As Walter posted in another thread, he has a very paranoid, Us vs. Them attitude towards schools and their admin, and it's no wonder, given how completely conniving he himself is.

How very adolescent to play the "What if..." game.

amerikumar · Post by **amerikumar** » Thu Feb 14, 2013 11:03 am

@heyteachâ€¦AGREED! And with over 2500 posts on this blog, he obviously has WAY TOO MUCH time on his hands!