Hello everyone I am writing as I need advice on how to deal with a situation.
I had landed a great job via a legit recruitment agency, a once in a lifetime job I would say, in the private sector in Saudi Arabia. As a part of the hiring process, there was a trial period of 10 days where I was supposed to go there on a tourist visa and meet my employers and work unofficially for 10 days. There was a cash compensation for the trial. After my trial period there would of been me returning home and they would have applied for a work visa to make my employment right. they basically wanted to meet me in person before doing work visa which in part is also understandable.
I said yes however right away i felt very anxious about doing trial work on a tourist visa as I know they are very strict there. Also, I had never been there and didn't know what questions to expect at the passport control.
The employer booked my flights and hotel, but already in the morning when i had to catch a flight I felt terribly uneasy and worried about the immigration and passport control once I would have arrived in Saudi.
The first leg of my flight was TERRIBLE, I have never felt so anxious in my life (and I have travelled for work extensively for all of my working life) I wasn't feeling comfortable at all telling the authorities I was there for holiday when in fact i was there for work. Seeing me so anxious, they simply would have understood something wasnt right and god knows what would of happened over there! probably a huge fine, deportation.
At the end I panicked extremely and ended up not taking the second flight that would have brought me to the destination country. I told my future employers and my agency about this and they said 'everyone does it', 'how else can they see you are a good fit, if they don't meet you first?' well maybe everyone does it but I don't feel comfortable doing it! The employer explained that it is something acceptable, to do trials on tourist visa and that i had nothing to worry about.
Althought i don't regret my decision at that time, I feel terrible for having missed out such a great job opportunity. Now the agency thinks I wasn't serious about the position and made them waste time, althought I have explained to them that the only issue was entering as a tourist.
I know i should have let them know right away, before booking flights and hotels...but i was genuinely excited about the idea and I TRULY WANTED THE JOB. But i don't really like doing things that are not transparent at the airport!! I am not someone that likes to lie and have always travelled for work with regular work visas.
I know many people do trial periods while on tourist visa, but we all know that saudi arabia is a strict country and i got so worried!
now feel like a complete loser that missed out on something great!
Couldn't have they done a business visa, so that I could have gone into the country feeling comfortable, do the job interview and spent few days with the future employer? It seems more appropriate! And waiting times for business visas don't seem to be that long so that was also doable...Another option was to meet the future employers in another country where I could legally do trial work, as they travel extensively abroad too.
**EDIT: I just checked online and saw they have recently released a new 3 months maximum, multiple or single entry 'Temporary Work Visa', as Saudi Arabia is trying to get many foreigners from all over the world to work there as the country doesn't want to rely purely on its oil economy anymore.This is why they opened their doors to tourism also, since a few years. This Visa allows the candidate to 'taste the waters' to see if they would like to live and work in Saudi Arabia, see if they are a good fit for the role and of course for the employer to see if they like the candidate. The procedure is pretty straight forward and the costs are the same as tourist visas. These new visas are made specifically to help facilitate the recruitment of candidates outside the Gulf.**
What would you have done if you were in my shoes? Do you think my decision of not going was stupid?
How to deal now with the loss of a great opportunity and with the agency thinking I am an idiot?!
I would love to hear opinions from other professionals!
Thanks
