Would you take this job? I don't know....

Struggling with a recent phone call from my companies HR department.

I live in the midwest US, and travel around the US for my job, which deals with pipelines and industrial instrumentation, pressure transmitters, valves etc. It keeps me on the road for 3 weeks at a time, and then they fly me back home for a week for time off. It pays decent for my area (where there isn't much of a job market) being on the road all the time gets old.

Anyways, long story short, my company is in the midst of sealing a five million dollar deal with an oil company in the middle east. The position would be would be working with a Qatari oil company from 6 months to a year over there. There is an opportunity to bank a lot of money on this job, but I don't know.

Sitting in the desert for that long? Anyone ever been there? I haven't.

I'm glad they offered the opportunity, but I'm have tempted to tell them to find someone else for the position. I don't have any family, but road life gets old. I like being home as much as anyone else.

So what do you think? Suck it up and do the 6-12 months in the desert or tell them to find someone else? What would you do?

reply to post by Darkrunner


Take it.
Think of it as a learning experience that will look great on your resume.
Good luck.

reply to post by Darkrunner


I would take it in a heartbeat. It is at most 1 year of your life, its not much, but you might regret not doing it for the rest of your life, wich could be a long time

Take it man.

reply to post by Darkrunner


Well, the Middle East is notoriously stable and Foreign Oil is one of those businesses where at least you dont have to worry about any nonsense like behind the scenes shenanigans, politics and conflict and suchlike so it's a no-brainer really.

In other words, the money is good for a reason.... about five years ago a friend of mine was offered a "driving job" in Iraq, paying @£3k a week iirc. He did not take it, reckoned that his life was worth more than that and i dont blame him

I personally would not but my brother did a few years back.

He was a private contractor in Iraq for computer systems.

Yeah, he made hundreds of thousands of dollars in like 6-9 months or something. I don't know about your deal but he was not allowed off base the entire time for his own protection- none of the private contractors were.

I'd go stir crazy. lol

But it would be hard to turn down that kind of money for such a short time and I bet it would be an interesting experience.

Middle east is not what the media show you.

in fact many countries in middle east is highly advanced, both in architecture and technology than the west.

Qatar is one of those places. You wont see a car burning in the street or random beheading. You wont even be criticized as long as you don't criticize them.

Chances are you are probably gonna stay with the rich people in rich protected area.

Fear of the unknown I guess. Have to look deeper into the country I suppose. Qatar doesn't seem as bad as Iraq or other nations in the area as far as terrorism is concerned, but who's to say.

Anyways, you've given me something to think about. Thanks.

I lived in Jeddah Saudi Arabia from 1978 to 1983. My father flew for Saudia, and we lived in a compound. We did go out, I wore the traditional garb and we never had a problem. My father drove very carefully because if he did ever get into an accident it was automatically his fault because if we were not in their country the accident would not have happened.

I got my scuba diving license there diving in the Red Sea and a lot of foreigners do this sort of thing. Lots of them entertain friends at their houses, but I warn you to never use drugs or alcohol for the penalty is very stiff, and prison there is nothing like it is in the West.

It all depends on the political climate. We kept an apartment in Greece in case of an emergency where we needed to leave the country quickly. We never had any problems with the locals and quite frankly they were lovely people, incredibly hospitable.

It wasn't like what you see on T.V.. Being a female, I did have to be very careful. There were two occasions someone tried to abduct me, so if taking a female with you, please never let her go anywhere unsupervised by a male. Lastly, pray about it, and if you feel at peace then take the job.

Here's what to ask:

1 will you be living in an English speaking "American" compound? Most companies keep their western consultants together with other westerners. It is safe and you are with people you can talk to.

2 What will you do with your off time? On the weekends you can go to Bahrain where you can drink, buy dope and "ladies" we'll you know what I mean. That could be important when imbedded in a Muslim nation.

Those are the first 2 things I could think of. I almost took a job like this in Saudi Arabia, I would have been a millionaire in 2 years (check out the tax advantages) but I was married with kids or I would have gone in a heartbeat. The two things I listed were two things I remembered from the job offer. Check it out, might be the chance of a lifetime.

Unified Serenity: isn't Jeddah the most beautiful place at night?

reply to post by damwel


Jeddah was stunning at night. I particularly loved flying in the cockpit with my dad when we came in for a landing in Jeddah. The sky is so dark you can see every star. It's truly out of this world when you get out of civilization near a beach looking at millions of stars and seeing forever.

I cherish my time there, thanks for asking.

reply to post by Darkrunner


Do it to it Dona Pruit!

Yes, that's an old saying that nobody knows.

I have a moral issue with working for oil, so I would not based on that.

HOWEVER.

It's a wonderful opportunity to see the world in a whole new way. Being in the Middle East provides an incredible change of perspective, trust me, you won't look at the world the same again.

Just don't spend much, bank that noise.

~Tenth