KSA Job Market

Question !! Its better if you mail this question to your friend.....

@saimans.

@salah13, The job market is down because of the employees low turn-over rate. Not many projects are started everyday so that opportunties may open frequently. It's a demand-and-supply matter.

Can you compare Jeddah/Riyadh/ Dammam in respect of job Market

For the job market:

Quantitatively (the number of jobs): Riyadh and then Jeddah.
Qualitatively (work environment & packages): Dammam is better.

There are always opportunities (the market is good) but do expect hindrances like Saudization, problemtic visa issuance processes, massive competition from locally residing people etc.

All the Best!

Thanks Legend

Another thing i wanted to know (not related to this Topic)is the KSA visit visa. I have heard the visit visa process is different from UAE visit visa. It also costs more then Uae visit visa. since i have already visited Uae (from pakistan) and it was pretty inexpensive, but the tourist agency is charging 6-7 times more then Uae. Is it the same for other countries?
They also told me not to go on visit visa for job as there is complication when you apply for jobs ( different from Dubai ??)instead they say go on some Employment visa which is transferable in case i get a job and the company wants to Sponsor me. Any idea?

You can't compare other countries to KSA. It's so different.

There is nothing called a Tourist Visa of KSA. Also the agents can't help in arranging a visit visa for KSA. Some company have to invite you or a blood relation.

Doing a job on visit visa is a serious offense against the law and results in a heavy penalty & an immediate deportation.

The following are the options:
1- Look for a job in local newspapers. Apply, qualify and get the employment visa.
2- Purchase an 'Azad' visa (a kind of employment visa), land and hunt for a job.

Yeah that Azad visa i was referring to:

I have MBA Degree and some exp. in a local bank but the person who is giving me this azad visa is the Employment visa of an Engineer.
I asked him about the qualification difference, but he told me that this doesnt matter. He said Nobody will ask you your qualification on visa as you will have to find jobs there on your own Qualification( MBA). Is this Ok to come on Engineer employement visa and then find jobs in other categories ? sorry for asking so many questions but i dont have any source of information related this topic and Thanks for your Replies.

Not a good idea. In other countries, it's easier to make both ends meets while you are looking for the right opportunity because at least you can do something to survive.

I'd still recommend the 1st option mentioned above: "1- Look for a job in local newspapers/agencies. Apply, qualify and get the employment visa."

There are only Engineering and medicine related vacancies come out in News Papers here, not Banking and other Operations as the demand is high for those categories in ksa. But you didnt answer my Question: Is it possible to come on Engineer Employment visa and then find jobs for Banking/other sectors?

Yes.

Thank you very much, Legend Rules

Salah,

You may have problem getting the Engineer visa endorsed/stamped at the Saudi Embassy as they will ask for Engineering graduation degree for it.
Also you will need to submit the engineering degree here in government office when you want to get your visa for your family.

Take care

For more information on Saudi visa process you can check qsaudi.com

@SaudiXpert,
Seems you have gone through the entire thread . The person asking the question seems to have made up his mind for something, is underestimating things  and not willing to take good advice.

His Simple Question: Is it possible to come on Engineer Employment visa and then find jobs for Banking/other sectors?
His Simple Answer:Yes

To add to the 2 concerns you have listed:
The annual iqama renewal of the engineering professional isn't renewed till he provides validity of records of his membership in the Saudi Engineering Council.

Banking sector: It's under major saudization. Extremely low chances that an expat MBA will get a job there.

Thanks SaudiXpert, and Legend

I havent made my mind for anything but im trying to understand the procedure here that is why i have asked you this simple question.But i guess there is difference b/w SaudiXpert and Legend's Opinion on this. But then Is there any MBA Azad Employment visa instead of Eng.? As my qualification is MBA.  And as for as the Banking jobs are concerned, I know the MEJORITY are local people and i saw that in UAE. But they do take Pakistani, Indians because there are millions of Expats from these countries and collectively they make a huge customer base for the Banks thats why they employee from them to target this customer base. Still there are Thousands of Paki/Indian employees working in Banks in Uae. Unfortunately Dubai is down and they are not employing anymore.

salah13 wrote:

But i guess there is difference b/w SaudiXpert and Legend's Opinion on this.

Not at all. I've been telling you about getting into a job with a differently specified visa (step1). SaudiXpert is telling you the side effects (step2).

salah13 wrote:

But then Is there any MBA Azad Employment visa instead of Eng.? As my qualification is MBA.

I don't think so.
KSA visas are not enormous to offer options to choose from. Basically because KSA is not scrace in resources.

salah13 wrote:

And as for as the Banking jobs are concerned, I know the MEJORITY are local people and i saw that in UAE. But they do take Pakistani, Indians because there are millions of Expats from these countries and collectively they make a huge customer base for the Banks thats why they employee from them to target this customer base. Still there are Thousands of Paki/Indian employees working in Banks in Uae. Unfortunately Dubai is down and they are not employing anymore.

KSA and UAE are not very well comparable. The strategic directions of both countries are different and so is the environment, culture and the flexibility levels. KSA is not a good expat-friendly country. UAE has to... because of the weak economy grounds.

Confusion, Let me ask the core questions again:

1)Is it Possible to Get Eng. azad visa without Engineering Degree?

2)Is it possible to come on Engineer Employment visa and then find jobs in other sectors?

Let me try clarifying.

salah13 wrote:

1)Is it Possible to Get Eng. azad visa without Engineering Degree?

No.
If you are not an engineer and applying for any visa that has the profession Engineer anything, the embassy will ask you for the supporting attested engineering degree.

salah13 wrote:

2)Is it possible to come on Engineer Employment visa and then find jobs in other sectors?

Yes,
Someone, with a profession on his iqama as Engineer anything can hunt/do jobs in other sector(s). For example, many engineers here are employed in sales and business development sectors.

I hope this helps.

Thank you, Got it.