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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Fulcrum45

elijk wrote: »

Hello Fulcrum45, I have been offered a Service Desk Admin position with Vectrus. Are you still with the company? Are you still in KAF? Where are the service desk admins needed? Small FOB or larger FOB? Can you tell me a little about the daily routine and how many admins are working at one given time. They mentioned overtime in the offer so do you get time and half or time and a quarter of your hourly rate?

Thanks

Wow, Sorry I'm just now seeing this. I left Vectrus back in late Oct. Usually the Service Desk Admins are needed on the larger bases but I have HEARD of them working small bases by themselves. You'll most likely be in BAF, KAF or Kabul. Daily routine is straight forward. You come in and work your shift. Go through the ticket queue and work the tickets you can and route the ones you don't have control over. Phones can get busy and folks there will expect you to know everything about every piece of software ever made (kinda like users back in the States) but you'll get through it. I say it takes about 3 months to learn the flow because it's more bureaucratic than it is technical. Overtime will just be figured into your schedule at 56 hours a week. I worked 8 hour days (+1 hr for lunch) 7 days a week. If you have enough people for a day off (we rarely did) then you can swing 10 hour days and a few 8 hour days and get one day a week off. It RARELY happened and because I worked nights having a day off wasn't all that great anyway. As far as pay goes; you get the 16 hours of overtime a week but your hazard/ hardship pay cuts off after the first 40 hours. They do some weird math but the checks are decent. Shoot me a PM if you have any more questions.

Daniel J

I'll be getting ahead in my career field by completing my MS in Software Engineering in the year I will be there. Gaming is the best way I know how to combat boredom, which is apparently something that people experience over there once they have all the certs/schooling they need.

xxxkaliboyxxx

dialectical wrote: »

I don't see how it's possible to get ahead if you're playing games when you come home from work. That seems more like a formula to stay on your level and maintain it rather than climb up. Maybe just use the experience to binge on the books.

I guess I don't sound like a lot of fun but going somewhere abroad like this would not be a time killer but a mandatory vertical jump so that I could skip steps on the corporate ladder when returning to the land of Netflix and 300 Mbps internet.

TBF dialectical, there will be so much downtime, that you need a stress reliever besides just studying to unwind a bit. Some people go to the gym, some people watch movies, some play games. You will have mass amount of down time that watching a few movies or playing games here and there will keep you from going crazy.

Edit: Just saw Daniels response and you are correct, boredom gets people in trouble.

shimasensei

Just curious, has anyone had experience / what do you guys think of Vectrus positions within CONUS?

LittleBIT

Confirmed that rates went up. Bonus for Iraq is now $13,000 and hourly rates went up.

If anyone wants a referral, email me: Littlebit02135@gmail.com

globalenjoi

How common is it for someone without a security clearance to get picked up by a company like this? My TS/SCI fell off something like 5 years ago, so I'm missing that edge and it never sounds likely to land one of these positions without an existing clearance. I'd love to go overseas for a bit, ideally to an Arabic-speaking country so I could refresh all the Arabic I took in college.

A guy I met at a SANS training suggested somewhat jokingly that I join the military again and just eat the 5 years as the price of the clearance, but I'm pretty sure (100% sure) that I don't want to go that route.

josephandre

Vectrus seems pretty willing to sponsor clearances. Just have to be able to stomach the wait. Not sure what the current turn around is with all of the OPM issues and backlog

LittleBIT

Yeah The wait time blows. I had a 4-5 month wait time, even with an current Secret.

Some people got interims in 6-8 months.

Just gotta role the dice

Fulcrum45

josephandre wrote: »

Vectrus seems pretty willing to sponsor clearances. Just have to be able to stomach the wait. Not sure what the current turn around is with all of the OPM issues and backlog

This is also partly the reason why Vectrus doesn't pay as much as other overseas contractors. Often they pick up the tab to pay for someone's clearance and fly them over only to have that person jump ship to another company 5 months in to their contract.

globalenjoi

Fulcrum45 wrote: »

This is also partly the reason why Vectrus doesn't pay as much as other overseas contractors. Often they pick up the tab to pay for someone's clearance and fly them over only to have that person jump ship to another company 5 months in to their contract.

That's fair. I'm not in any significant rush to leave my current position, I've just been curious about the possibility. I think I've kind of hoped that attaining well-known certs would help, since my experience can only move so fast. A longer-term career goal of mine has always been to work for the state department as a FSO or FSS, but I'm not where I need to be as far as experience goes, and the budget cuts are pretty concerning.

Nyblizzard

globalenjoi wrote: »

That's fair. I'm not in any significant rush to leave my current position, I've just been curious about the possibility. I think I've kind of hoped that attaining well-known certs would help, since my experience can only move so fast. A longer-term career goal of mine has always been to work for the state department as a FSO or FSS, but I'm not where I need to be as far as experience goes, and the budget cuts are pretty concerning.

FSS wanna be here

Kenny23692

Fulcrum45 wrote: »

This is also partly the reason why Vectrus doesn't pay as much as other overseas contractors. Often they pick up the tab to pay for someone's clearance and fly them over only to have that person jump ship to another company 5 months in to their contract.

What are some other overseas contractors working in that area besides vectrus?

Fulcrum45

Kenny23692 wrote: »

What are some other overseas contractors working in that area besides vectrus?

This is a pretty good list:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Top_100_Contractors_of_the_U.S._federal_government

Mind you there are a lot of tiny companies who didn't make the list as well.

dialectical

So after distinctly saying no in short and simple words (on the grounds of moving on and never getting a salary estimate) I just got prompted again to schedule a phone interview, and I see 4 HR people on the string. I'm not sure how something like this can happen but communication this bad would make me very worried about them managing my overseas adventures. Perhaps their policy is that you can only decline a job solicitation over the phone.

josephandre

Are any of you vulnerability analysts or received an offer for that role?

Shuaib2016

Hello everyone! just wanted to say this is awesome thread! It is very enlightening. I just passed my technical interview Tuesday the 23rd for a Network Admin 1 position in Kuwait. I have CCNA R&S Cert. They told me to get the Security+ which is I am currently studying for it and i hope to pass it at the 1st attempt!
Does anyone knows how much is the Network Admin Makes with Vectrus in Kuwait???

dynamitexvx

Does anyone know how long the Iraqi visa takes?

daviddws

I just turned Vectrus down on an offer for Sys Admin in Kuwait hoping they will counter. If not I would probably consider Afghanistan.

josephandre

after a couple years flirting with them, I just accepted a vulnerability analyst position in Kuwait. If anyone has any questions about it or otherwise, let me know.

Whoevers in Kuwait, see you in a few.

daviddws

Accepted the position in Afghanistan. 56 hours which would be acceptable, but I'm hoping its 72 hours. Can anyone comment on IT positions over there in regards to hours?

Fulcrum45

daviddws wrote: »

Accepted the position in Afghanistan. 56 hours which would be acceptable, but I'm hoping its 72 hours. Can anyone comment on IT positions over there in regards to hours?

I was in Afghanistan last year and we only worked 56 hours. No one to my knowledge ever did any more than that.

Shuaib2016

Accepted a Network Admin position in Afghanistan. Currently doing my e-QIP .....

Press ANY Key

dynamitexvx wrote: »

Does anyone know how long the Iraqi visa takes?

It depends on your company and how urgent you are needed in Iraq. The fastest time that I heard of was a week. Generally it takes 4-6 weeks to process.

Shuaib2016

Fulcrum45 wrote: »

I was in Afghanistan last year and we only worked 56 hours. No one to my knowledge ever did any more than that.

hey Fulcrum45, I have just submitted my e-QIP on jun 5th. 2017. Do you know how long it takes to get the interim clearance? is there any interviews?

Kenny23692

sigh I'm just doing the dental exams.....

Fulcrum45

Shuaib2016 wrote: »

hey Fulcrum45, I have just submitted my e-QIP on jun 5th. 2017. Do you know how long it takes to get the interim clearance? is there any interviews?

It only took me two weeks to get my interim- your results may vary however. I was initially told there would be an interview but they never gave me one.

tiredofworking

just an update, my timeline is below
submitted equip 11-18
interim was granted 5-20
just did medical and dental- they are good
waiting on a date to ship out

Shuaib2016

Good to know. My recruiter said " First come, first serve" I guess to many folks are applying for the position and basically they put them in the waiting line. what i understood from him, this is not guaranteed, until you get scheduled for CRC. However, I will stay optimistic

Fulcrum45

Shuaib2016 wrote: »

Good to know. My recruiter said " First come, first serve" I guess to many folks are applying for the position and basically they put them in the waiting line. what i understood from him, this is not guaranteed, until you get scheduled for CRC. However, I will stay optimistic

Yeah, they told me the same thing but I wouldn't stress it. Get your stuff in and you should be fine.

curtisc83

I just accepted a position in Alice Springs Australia. The work hours are 8 hours a day 5 days a week. And the pay is 161k a year. Not bad considering the work life balance is way better than my position in Iraq right now.