Anyone ever deal with overseas jobs with the company Vectrus?

They've just sent me the attached job description for a "Systems Administrator 1" position in Kuwait. I'm curious as to how much a government contract with them would pay, as I've heard good things about the monetary potential of taking such jobs.

Systems Administrator I.pdf

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LittleBIT

My bad Fulcrum, I was asking the guy above me :P

But Im suprised ADPE made that bonus in Afg. I heard Afg Uplift going to 70% this upcoming pay cycle! Im In Iraq now. Ill PM you a question or two. Where did you work in Afg?

devilbones

LittleBIT wrote: »

My bad Fulcrum, I was asking the guy above me :P

But Im suprised ADPE made that bonus in Afg. I heard Afg Uplift going to 70% this upcoming pay cycle! Im In Iraq now. Ill PM you a question or two. Where did you work in Afg?

Everyone in AF was getting 70% with the exception of Vectrus. I was there from Dec 2015- Nov 2016 and met lots of Vectrus guys. They seemed to be getting screwed, however most of them didnt deserve what they were getting anyway.

LittleBIT

devilbones wrote: »

Everyone in AF was getting 70% with the exception of Vectrus. I was there from Dec 2015- Nov 2016 and met lots of Vectrus guys. They seemed to be getting screwed, however most of them didnt deserve what they were getting anyway.

Haha, not suprised then.

Yea, working with Vectrus, I see either experts in their crafts, or complete novices/newbies. Theres no middle ground.

But so far where Im at everyones been professional, and for the most part, very knowleadgable in their craft.

Fulcrum45

devilbones wrote: »

Everyone in AF was getting 70% with the exception of Vectrus. I was there from Dec 2015- Nov 2016 and met lots of Vectrus guys. They seemed to be getting screwed, however most of them didnt deserve what they were getting anyway.

Unfortunately both statements here are true. I worked with plenty of people who must have brain dumped their way to that job as they lacked understanding of even the most basic tasks- mapping a network drive, recreating an Outlook profile, installing a driver etc. I was dumbfounded. I would think to myself "and you make six figures?!?!" That wasn't everyone of course- we had some very bright people as well and it didn't take very long for those individuals to stand out.

xxxkaliboyxxx

Fulcrum45 wrote: »

Unfortunately both statements here are true. I worked with plenty of people who must have brain dumped their way to that job as they lacked understanding of even the most basic tasks- mapping a network drive, recreating an Outlook profile, installing a driver etc. I was dumbfounded. I would think to myself "and you make six figures?!?!" That wasn't everyone of course- we had some very bright people as well and it didn't take very long for those individuals to stand out.

Move out*

Fulcrum45

xxxkaliboyxxx wrote: »

Move out*

That too.

SJdoublebluff

Hey guys, I actually joined this site because of this thread. I have been offered a job from vectrus but the pay rate is much lower than what I'm already making.

It's a Kuwait job and I want to do the tax free thing for a few years. I read here that they respond to emails and I have read others say they sent counter offers. How did you guys submit the counter offers? I didn't see an option on their website or in the drop down lists from the offer letter.

Also, they have yet to respond to an email. They answer the phone but not emails (for me at least).

I'm concerned with the amount of people here saying Vectrus undercuts so much. I don't want to find out later

SJdoublebluff

Hey everyone, 1 more thing I have noticed is you can work any where abroad and get the tax exemption so what is the benefit of working in Kuwait over some place in europe or even like the philippines?

advanex1

Fulcrum, which service desk were you at?

Fulcrum45

advanex1 wrote: »

Fulcrum, which service desk were you at?

I was over in KAF.

As a side note: I've been told that Vectrus has raised the uplift in Afghanistan back to 70%.

SJdoublebluff

Hey Flucrum,

I'm on the verge of accepting the Kuwait position. They say you get 6 weeks vacation but you get 240 hours and with 12 hours a day that translates to a little over 4 weeks. Where do the other 2 weeks come from?

EANx

SJdoublebluff wrote: »

Hey Flucrum,

I'm on the verge of accepting the Kuwait position. They say you get 6 weeks vacation but you get 240 hours and with 12 hours a day that translates to a little over 4 weeks. Where do the other 2 weeks come from?

Is your contract for five day weeks (60 hrs per week) or for six (72 hrs per week)? Making sure you don't get screwed in contracting is all about the details.

advanex1

Ah, okay. I ran CAAN-E for 2016 for the most part.

Mischej

48 hours, 6 days a week with overtime as needed. Based on what I've seen from others I should expect 12 hour days. 2000 vacation allowance and 80 hours base rate completion bonus. It's my first contracting gig, so more than anything I want to take it to get my foot in the door. Just looking for input. Thanks in advance.

Mischej

Thanks man. Heard from my recruiter, should be headed out in a couple of weeks. Still waiting on my visa to process. Already had a security clearance.

SJdoublebluff

EANx wrote: »

Is your contract for five day weeks (60 hrs per week) or for six (72 hrs per week)? Making sure you don't get screwed in contracting is all about the details.

Hey Eanx,

My contract states 5 days and 56 hours a week. The only way it makes sense is if I don't get those overtime hours in leave and if that is the case I miss out on like 96 hours of overtime which is significant.

Fulcrum45

advanex1 wrote: »

Ah, okay. I ran CAAN-E for 2016 for the most part.

I was stuck in Bagram for a couple weeks in Oct. 2016 trying to get home. Perhaps we crossed paths? We're you SD as well?

Fulcrum45

SJdoublebluff wrote: »

Hey Flucrum,

I'm on the verge of accepting the Kuwait position. They say you get 6 weeks vacation but you get 240 hours and with 12 hours a day that translates to a little over 4 weeks. Where do the other 2 weeks come from?

They do some creative math when it comes to calculating vacation time. In my case I worked 56 hours a week BUT when I went on vacation I was only to account for 48 hours. It's a dual edge. It stretches the vacation time that you earn but you make that much less when your on leave. Couple that with the lack of uplift and your vacation pay is almost 1/3 less than your typical pay is. Moreover I was told that you couldn't take more than 30 days at a time but that was Afghanistan, not sure about Kuwait. You should continue to earn vacation to the end of your contract at which point they pay it out if you choose to leave.

SJdoublebluff

Fulcrum45 wrote: »

They do some creative math when it comes to calculating vacation time. In my case I worked 56 hours a week BUT when I went on vacation I was only to account for 48 hours. It's a dual edge. It stretches the vacation time that you earn but you make that much less when your on leave. Couple that with the lack of uplift and your vacation pay is almost 1/3 less than your typical pay is. Moreover I was told that you couldn't take more than 30 days at a time but that was Afghanistan, not sure about Kuwait. You should continue to earn vacation to the end of your contract at which point they pay it out if you choose to leave.

Thanks for the input Fulcrum,

sounds like that means I can take the full 56 hours off for vacation which is fine with me. I only plan on taking 4 weeks a year on a 2 weeks, twice a year basis.

This is a huge change and I'm leaning towards doing it. taking home at least 100k tax free is a huge incentive and I hear Kuwait is a nice place to live with decent internet.

advanex1

I am on the military side. I was the NCOIC for CAAN-E starting in early January. I was up at the 25th Signal Battalion S3 prior to that.

Fulcrum45

advanex1 wrote: »

I am on the military side. I was the NCOIC for CAAN-E starting in early January. I was up at the 25th Signal Battalion S3 prior to that.

Ah, gotcha. I was surprised to not see any military in BAF yet we worked along side them in KAF.

EANx

SJdoublebluff wrote: »

sounds like that means I can take the full 56 hours off for vacation which is fine with me. I only plan on taking 4 weeks a year on a 2 weeks, twice a year basis.

I did a year in Iraq at Camp Cupcake a while back and think I would go Bat-s**t crazy with one R&R. Only you know you, and Kuwait is different than Iraq, but don't underestimate the mental boost getting out of Dodge will do.

SJdoublebluff

EANx wrote: »

I did a year in Iraq at Camp Cupcake a while back and think I would go Bat-s**t crazy with one R&R. Only you know you, and Kuwait is different than Iraq, but don't underestimate the mental boost getting out of Dodge will do.

I did a google map view of where I would be staying in Kuwait. Looks pretty good and the lodging is nice too. I can understand why the pay isn't as high as the other zones. I'll have to take at least 2 vacations a year and I'm going to try and keep it at that. The whole point of this for me is to make enough money to get out of the rat race and start my own business.

EANx

If the goal is to save money, you can do that. Pay close attention to nutrition and exercise and do the minimum required for R&Rs. I knew a guy who was so focused on avoiding R&Rs, his command eventually said, "you're heading out, the only question is if you're coming back." Pay close attention to stress and do what you need to, to mitigate and you'll be fine.

SJdoublebluff

Thanks for the advice. You're reading my mind. I planned on focusing on fitness. Doing a lot of reading and writing etc...

LittleBIT

I think thats everyones goal. To save money and be carefree. But little do you know, "Im only going to be out here one year" will turn into "Maybe a second year wont be so bad" then "Might as well do another..." Before you know it, you'll be retiring early with a nice nest egg.

inscom.brigade

wtrwlkr wrote: »

LOL. I assume kaliboy is referring to the fact that nearly every company pays higher than vectrus. The company I currently work for is Salient CRGT. I'very only been with them for a month but I enjoy it so far. If anyone is thinking about applying, please let me know and consider using me as a referral. Manchild, feel free to PM me.

I just had an interview with vectrus, I am thinking i need close to 3x regular pay to be worth it for me; is that realistic, they said mon - wed i will get an offer.

dtmpower

Hi guys, i have made it so far as to complete all tasks, background, certs, and now i am awaiting review of equip for sec clearance and the medical appointment, on Friday i asked how long it would take for the equip and she quoted the government is backed up by 120 days? is this accurate? an additional 4 months to process a security clearance app? how long did it really take for you guys? i had a clearance before but i am within the 10 years for the application. I know its hard to state an actual time but have you guys experienced a lesser processing time?

xxxkaliboyxxx

dtmpower wrote: »

Hi guys, i have made it so far as to complete all tasks, background, certs, and now i am awaiting review of equip for sec clearance and the medical appointment, on Friday i asked how long it would take for the equip and she quoted the government is backed up by 120 days? is this accurate? an additional 4 months to process a security clearance app? how long did it really take for you guys? i had a clearance before but i am within the 10 years for the application. I know its hard to state an actual time but have you guys experienced a lesser processing time?

if you get a security clearance in 4 months, your doing pretty good.

dtmpower

Wow that's insane, perhaps with the stoppage of expedited investigations for the worker visas the gvmt can can clean up processing time. 4 months is crazy. How long did the sec app portion of the process take for you?