the road to here

A long time ago in a country far, far away...
(nod to Star Wars)

"... now go away or I will taunt you a second time!"
(nod to Monty Python)

(Some of you may be familiar with my previous blog, if you aren't, no biggie.)

Back in mid June this year I responded to a job post for Raytheon in Jeddah KSA. Just before Independence Day I received a notice that they would like to interview me the following week. Interview seemed to go well enough. I got an email within a half hour or so asking me for some paperwork, resume in a certain format, diploma, etc. Curiosity piqued, I called to ask what all this request for detail so soon was about. To my surprise, I was told that with just that one phone interview they had decided that I was the best candidate for the job. (I trust they had screened other qualified individuals prior to this and I was that last applicant, not that I was the only one who had applied at all.) 

I forwarded my documents and the ball, so to speak, was rolling, or so I thought. 

First feedback - the customer in-country didn't like my reformatted resume for some reason. So I sent a nice message to the hiring manager thanking them for the opportunity and regret that it looked like I would not be joining them. That seemed to get things rolling again. (Gee, maybe they really do want me and I'm the best candidate. "And darn it, people like me.")

Days pass, weeks pass, and I finally hear back that the General has approved my resume. (He was on vacation.) Forward motion again, or so I thought.

After getting a verbal confirmation of the salary, etc. I heard nothing but crickets for a while. Then I was told that the job title and description were wrong and it had to be re-posted. (Insert panic face here: 😱) This was via a cryptic (to me) voicemail. Fortunately, the next day I spoke with the ever-pleasant talent acquisition person who explained that they would list the 'new' position for five calendar days and move all my information over to that so I would not have to do anything else.

Then November 1st I received five emails - official offer and a slew of others since of course I submitted my acceptance immediately. So, background check form, drug screen form (pee-in-a-cup), over-night to me a poop-in-a-box kit for a Monday morning physical. Of course that had to be on Veteran's Day and we were in the midst of a winter storm that dropped about 4" here (and about 11" just 30 minutes south of us.) Oh joy! Then there was the 10 day wait for the poop test results to come back. So I found out on the 22nd that I was apparently healthy enough for KSA. A little more sit-and-wait time.... 

Scheduled for a Skype interview with the 'SAR' December 3rd - the last hurtle. This is supposed to be a pro-forma step but still an important one.

Then on Sunday, December 8th, I fly to Raytheon HQ in Massachusetts for a one day orientation. From there it is straight on to Jeddah. I hope I haven't forgotten anything important.

And so it begins again...

OK, so the 12/3 Skype interview didn't happen... It was supposed to be rescheduled for the 5th, same leaving date of 12/8. Aaaaand, that didn't happen. Skype interview with the SAR (resident Saudi in MA) set up for Monday, December 9th at 11:00 a.m. with a test call at 10:45 a.m. 

10:45 comes and goes, I'm panicking! I know my Skype (and associated email) work just fine but no call. With a few hasty texts, emails, and phone calls the interview is rescheduled for 1:00 p.m. Finally I got a connect request through Skype (which is the precursor to being able to chat on that software.) At the appropriate time they call and I'm able to video chat with the SAR. The actual interview probably took all of 5 minutes and I get the thumbs-up. Obviously I was expecting a much more intense interview - not that I would not have been able to hold up my end but the two of us seemed to hit it off just fine.

Now the deluge of paperwork has started in earnest. Thus it is official. I will probably add another post before I leave.