Questions to ask at phone interview

Hello Amtrakker.

Welcome to Expat.com!

Hope you'll get some useful informations soon.

Thank you,
Aurélie

amtrakker wrote:

Have been approached about a short term (1-2 month) contracting role in Riyadh over LinkedIn and have a telephone interview this weekend.  I'm a UK resident and use my own ltd company in the UK. My prospective employer would pay and arrange business visa, but I have to find my own accommodation and living / travel / insurance arrangements have to be factored into my daily rate.  The role is based in the Ohaya district.

Most of the discussion will be about the role, but would welcome any thoughts on questions to ask around living and travelling in Riyadh / Saudi, and any thoughts / experiences of expat live there also very appreciated!

For clarification, there wouldn't be a prospective "employer"; you're already employed with a company in the UK and will be in the Kingdom solely for business, technical services, or consultive purposes.  As such, the Saudi entity is your potential sponsor and client.

You can easily find info on this forum about living in Riyadh, so you don't want to use up your interviewer's time with these types of questions, especially since you're coming over as a short-term contractor and not as a bona fide expat resident.  (BTW, I believe you mean "Olaya" district.)  In terms of accommodation, if the sponsor isn't willing to provide a list of serviced apartments or hotels in the area, then I'm sure you'll be able to get some info from others on this forum.  Similarly, you can do an Internet search on olaya district hotel to check out rates and amenities of a few places. Transportation costs will depend on your intentions---if you expect to take several road trips around the country as opposed to basic transportation to/from the worksite and within the city.