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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robt_1

Hello rudegeek,

Thanks for the info regarding your interview with Vectrus. Did they discussed with you location, salary and workweek? I'm also interested in IA position with them and just trying to get as much info as possible.

Thanks

Robt_1

DeyCole

kspenc083 wrote: »

Hello Nick,
I was just informed that I should receive offer letter from Vectrus for a position in Kuwait as a Windows Administrator I. Still not sure if I should accept the offer based on my current pay rate. I may be taking a hit, monetarily, but I'm thinking long-term after obtaining secret clearance and travel I should be able to write my own ticket.

One thing no one mentioned was that after my technical interview I was offered three locations, Kuwait, Qatar, and Afghanistan, I selected Kuwait, but after further review I was informed the Qatar would have been the better selection, more westernized.

How are your living conditions? do you have your own transportation? will you have an opportunity to travel while your there? Dubi, Germany, etc?

~Thanks for any insight

Yes, Qatar is more westernized. I've lived here for 9 years after separating from the U.S. Air Force...I've also lived in Kuwait for 3 months (Camp Arifjan.) I'm a sub-contractor for Vectrus.

If your goals are a clearance, certifications, and to grow your career...you can do that in Qatar as well as Kuwait. The key factor is money. You'll make more money in Kuwait and have less influences that entices you to spend it.

Socially, Kuwait doesn't come close to Qatar...imo. As another member has stated, Qatar has clubs/bars, restaurants, boat-trips, ATVing (sand-dunes), private house parties, and you can legally drink alcohol. There's also a liquor store where you can purchase alcohol...that's if you like to sip. It's also a big melting pot...you'll meet folks from everywhere.

I had connections in Kuwait and attended private parties...it's really about who you know. Personally, I didn't like the place, but I was content b/c my goals were financial...until my contract changed, which is why I quit.

I left Kuwait in 2013, and returned to Qatar. In both locations, you'll live in a furnished apartment and will use company transportation to/from work. I'm very independent, so I opted to have my own rental car here in Qatar. The apartments in Qatar are newer, but Kuwait wasn't bad at all.

Traveling isn't an issue, just schedule a vacation. Only a certain percentage of employees can be absent at any time, so it's best to schedule vacation/weekend passes well in advance.

Yes, you can travel to Germany or Dubai. Qatar is a 50 min plane ride from Dubai, and I frequent often, I love the place

...I'll be returning in Feb. I've been to Germany as well....6 hrs by plane.

Oh, and you might want to add Thailand to your list

kspenc083

New York Nick wrote: »

I do believe that contracts with Vectrus are for one year. My goals are simple and very obtainable:

1- Bank at least $100-200K within 2-3 years.
2- Get as many certifications as possible (Vectrus gives us $1500 per year)
3- Complete my Masters degree.
4- Make enough money where I can take off for 3-6 months and just relax with my family then come back out here later. Money buys time.

So far, I can say that being out here favors people with few responsibilities back home. Your housing and transportation are covered. All you really have to worry about is buying food. Come out here, get your clearance, get your certifications and go back home much stronger.

If you love Germany, GDIT has many IT jobs there. It is not easy to get in with them but if you do, the pay is very good.

I prefer to root for Gang Green in football. As you already know, they show many of the games on the Armed Forces Network.

Hell-of-Plan Nick,
We most undoubtedly share the same blue print.

kspenc083

DeyCole wrote: »

Yes, Qatar is more westernized. I've lived here for 9 years after separating from the U.S. Air Force...I've also lived in Kuwait for 3 months (Camp Arifjan.) I'm a sub-contractor for Vectrus.

If your goals are a clearance, certifications, and to grow your career...you can do that in Qatar as well as Kuwait. The key factor is money. You'll make more money in Kuwait and have less influences that entices you to spend it.

Socially, Kuwait doesn't come close to Qatar...imo. As another member has stated, Qatar has clubs/bars, restaurants, boat-trips, ATVing (sand-dunes), private house parties, and you can legally drink alcohol. There's also a liquor store where you can purchase alcohol...that's if you like to sip. It's also a big melting pot...you'll meet folks from everywhere.

I had connections in Kuwait and attended private parties...it's really about who you know. Personally, I didn't like the place, but I was content b/c my goals were financial...until my contract changed, which is why I quit.

I left Kuwait in 2013, and returned to Qatar. In both locations, you'll live in a furnished apartment and will use company transportation to/from work. I'm very independent, so I opted to have my own rental car here in Qatar. The apartments in Qatar are newer, but Kuwait wasn't bad at all.

Traveling isn't an issue, just schedule a vacation. Only a certain percentage of employees can be absent at any time, so it's best to schedule vacation/weekend passes well in advance.

Yes, you can travel to Germany or Dubai. Qatar is a 50 min plane ride from Dubai, and I frequent often, I love the place ...I'll be returning in Feb. I've been to Germany as well....6 hrs by plane.

Oh, and you might want to add Thailand to your list

DC,
Thanks for all the great info, my end game is to bank $200,000 in three years so I can purchase this ocean front property in Mexico, of course after visiting Thailand that may change

http://www.remaxsunseteagle.com/view-property/beach_home_-916/.

~Again, thanks that was some really good info.

ceejoh

Hi everyone!
Does anyone know what this means
" For the first 45 calendar days of your employment, you will receive a reduced hourly rate equal to 75% of the $26.07"

bryanthetechie

This means that for the first 45 days you are employed at that job, you will make $19.55 per hour. After 45 days, you'll be making the entire $26.07.

bretthexum

I also received a few calls and interviewed with a tech lead for a position in Kuwait. I have 13 years experience, so we'll see what the pay range comes to.

kspenc083

[h=2]Offer Letter Received Today:

KUWAIT REMOTE SYSTEMS ADMINISTRATOR I
Job Description[/h]POSITION SUMMARY: The Systems Administrator I monitors Tier 1/2 server operations and performance using appropriate software applications and tools. The Administrators shall be the Helpdesk POC for all theater NIPR and SIPR enterprise systems issues, create and/or manage trouble tickets, and monitor status and report outages to RNOSC Operations. Reports directly to the Systems Administrator II.

REQUIRED JOB ACTIVITIES:

1. Operates and maintains all aspects of server administration to include but is not limited to Microsoft 200X Active Directory, WINS, DNS, DHCP, print queues etc.
2. Daily administration of Exchange 200X servers and Outlook Web Access.
3. Microsoft SMS, MOM, SCCM and WSUS.
4. VERITAS Backup Exec to conduct file server Backup / Restores.
5. Maintain Systems Availability and perform regular maintenance on equipment.
6. Proficient at hardware maintenance and troubleshooting of various vender Server platforms including Dell, HP, LTO tape library, fiber switch, and SANs.
7. Maintaining antivirus / security requirements by the US Army standards and regulations.
8. Provides user and Microsoft Exchange account maintenance as required.
9. Performs other duties as required.

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS: Education Requirements: Associates Degree in Information Technology (IT) or a related field. Experience: At least five (5) years of practical experience working with Windows Server 2008 or higher operating systems (OS) and Active Directory tools. Candidate must possess a basic understanding of security principles and their application to an enterprise AD environment. Certifications: This position requires candidates to adhere to DoD 8570.01-M. All candidates are required to maintain at least one (1) baseline certification and one (1) computing environment (CE) certification. The authorized certifications for this job title are listed as follows: IAT Level: IAT II Baseline: CASP, CCNA Security, CISA, CISSP (or Associate), GSEC, GCED, GCIH, Security ce, SSCP CE: MCSA System Administrator: Windows Server 2003, MCITP Server Administrator: Windows Server 2008, MCITP Enterprise Administrator: Windows Server 2008, MCITP Virtualization Administrator Windows Server 2008 R2, MCSA Windows Server 2008, MCSA Windows Server 2012, MCSE Server Administrator: Windows Server 2003, MCSE Desktop Infrastructure 2012, MCSE Server Infrastructure 2012, MCSE Private Cloud 2012, Server , VCP 4, VCP 5 Note: One year of related experience may be substituted for one year of education. SECURITY CLEARANCE: Secret

Was looking for a higher rate, what gives????

kspenc083

Can someone give me any insight regarding this part of the contract???

For the first 45 calendar days of your employment, you will receive a reduced hourly rate equal to 75% of the $XX.XX After 45 calendar days of employment, you will receive the full $XX.XX.

What's the purpose of the reduced rate, and after further review (calculation) I believe the money is made on these contract based on the hours worked per week.

I currently make twice the current offer, but I only work 37.5 hrs per week. So when I calculated the hourly rate, bonus, etc I would actually end up making close to $47,500 more per year if I take the offer.

Hmmmm....

wtrwlkr

Basically they'll pay you 75% of your offered hourly rate for 45 days, afterwards they'll pay you the full hourly rate. You'll still get danger/hardship pay if you qualify for it.

Bakerself

What is the average salary for a Vectrus Network Admin in Afghanistan?

LefField

I have a few questions... I am in the process of going to Kuwait. Completed my medical/Dental last week and I should get my decision this coming up week. I'm retired military. Does anyone know if Vectrus requires you to take their healthcare and do you receive fringe benefits pay? Also, how long does it take hirecheck to finish the background check?

LefField

Also, what does, "Annual End of Service Gratuity: Paid in accordance with Company policy." mean?

kspenc083

Wlkr man, thanks for the quick response. I quest I was sitting here contemplating the offer to long, when I logged back in to Vectrus yesterday the offer was no longer available. Oh well, as they say, " there's a reason for everything".

Yes, may initial question was, why do they only pay a percentage of the offer for 45 days? is it because of high turnover? I've never experienced a contract that paid less for a certain number of days.

~Spence

revned

That is basically your, year-end bonus.

LefField: I just left CRC this past Friday and going through their orientation in Kuwait right now. Where are you going?

Make sure when you get a confirmed CRC date that your flight itinerary and LOA is correct, meaning your first, lastname, initial is correct or else your info does not match on the army system and will have to be running around trying to fix stuff and having a CAC is important is it is what they use to validate. Last thing you want is spend another week at CRC because of not having a CAC. If you have AKO access already, I suggest you go ahead and complete as much CBTs as possible before getting to CRC.

New York Nick

The Annual End of Service Gratuity is a bonus on top of your end of contract bonus. Based on my research, it should be equivalent to at least two weeks of your regular salary.

wtrwlkr

New York Nick wrote: »

The Annual End of Service Gratuity is a bonus on top of your end of contract bonus. Based on my research, it should be equivalent to at least two weeks of your regular salary.

I think now it's a flat $9500.

thewiz8807

How is it working out there? Any of you guys? What's your typical work day like and typical day off?

wtrwlkr

Keep in mind each location/job is bound to have differences. For me, work is fairly boring. I basically sit at a hot site and there are hardly any outages I have to deal with. The internet is restricted heavily for obvious reasons. What I wouldn't give to them to unblock reddit. The upside is that it's a great environment to study for and knock out certs. Most bases have their own dedicated PearsonVUE testing centers. As for days off, I normally sleep in a few hours, and go to the gym. There really isn't that much else to do over here. There is a rec center with Xbox's and PS4s if you're into that kind of thing. They also have movie rooms with movies running 24 hours. One thing that's cool is that they periodically screen popular new release movies at the same time or before they're seen in theaters. I saw Avengers: Age of Ultron before it was released and The Force Awakens a couple of days after it premiered.

thewiz8807

wtrwlkr wrote: »

Keep in mind each location/job is bound to have differences. For me, work is fairly boring. I basically sit at a hot site and there are hardly any outages I have to deal with. The internet is restricted heavily for obvious reasons. What I wouldn't give to them to unblock reddit. The upside is that it's a great environment to study for and knock out certs. Most bases have their own dedicated PearsonVUE testing centers. As for days off, I normally sleep in a few hours, and go to the gym. There really isn't that much else to do over here. There is a rec center with Xbox's and PS4s if you're into that kind of thing. They also have movie rooms with movies running 24 hours. One thing that's cool is that they periodically screen popular new release movies at the same time or before they're seen in theaters. I saw Avengers: Age of Ultron before it was released and The Force Awakens a couple of days after it premiered.

Damn that honestly doesn't sound too bad. I believe you're in Kuwait right? Or Afghanistan?

Also do you ever go off base? *Depending on your location

The work hours sounds like my job

12 hour overnight shifts, nothing to do but watch Twitch.tv, adult swim shows, and study.

Also how's the internet at your housing location? Decent enough to stream movies and such, maybe game online? Keep me posted. Appreciate the feedback as well.

wtrwlkr

thewiz8807 wrote: »

Damn that honestly doesn't sound too bad. I believe you're in Kuwait right? Or Afghanistan?

Also do you ever go off base? *Depending on your location

The work hours sounds like my job

12 hour overnight shifts, nothing to do but watch Twitch.tv, adult swim shows, and study.

Also how's the internet at your housing location? Decent enough to stream movies and such, maybe game online? Keep me posted. Appreciate the feedback as well.

I'm in Afghan, so no I don't go off base. I did spend about 3 days inprocessing in Kuwait though, and there you actually live off base. It's not bad there. There are plenty of western style restaurants around, and flights to Dubai and Qatar are pretty cheap if you want to go for the weekend.

The in room internet isn't the best. Where I am, it's run by a company called DHI (formerly sniper hill) and the highest speed you can get is 3mbps at I believe around $140/month. The really shitty thing is they make you log into a radius server for every session, and you can only have one device connected at a time. You can stream youtube if you give it a few minutes to buffer. I haven't tried any other sites, though I'd imagine you'd have to use a VPN to be able to access Netflix and Amazon.

kspenc083

Whiteskies,
The trip to and from the site sounds brutal. Do anyone know if that has changed?

kspenc083

NY Nick,
I thought Vectrus moved on, but I was contacted again by my recruiter for the admin l position. They (Vectrus) also have a number of new position on their job site with SWACC, what is SWACC?

I'm starting the paperwork process as we speak, question, how is the travel to-and-from the work sites? It was mentioned that it can be a little brutal. Also, I did make an attempt to negotiate the salary, but I was informed that the hr rates are based on the gov'nt awarded contract amount.

~Thanks

revned

kspenc083- I am currently in kuwait. Which admin I position are you applying to? Service Desk Admin, System Admin or Network Admin? SWAC means something like SouthWest Asia Countries or something like that BUT it is also used to refer to the NOC that controls everything. If your applying for a position at the SWAC, that means you'll be living off base in one of the shared apartments. The drive is brutal and drivers have no regards for safety, 10000 times worst than NYC drivers. The drivers will switch lanes without looking, kids sitting on the drivers lap, kids sticking their head out of the sunroof/moonroof, etc. Back home, pedestrians have the right of way, over here in kuwait you better think twice and make sure there are no cars coming your way. They have a mentality which translates to "God's will" so if they get into an accident, it is god's will it happened, if they hit somebody, it is god's will that happened.

wtrwlkr

revned wrote: »

kspenc083- I am currently in kuwait. Which admin I position are you applying to? Service Desk Admin, System Admin or Network Admin? SWAC means something like SouthWest Asia Countries or something like that BUT it is also used to refer to the NOC that controls everything. If your applying for a position at the SWAC, that means you'll be living off base in one of the shared apartments. The drive is brutal and drivers have no regards for safety, 10000 times worst than NYC drivers. The drivers will switch lanes without looking, kids sitting on the drivers lap, kids sticking their head out of the sunroof/moonroof, etc. Back home, pedestrians have the right of way, over here in kuwait you better think twice and make sure there are no cars coming your way. They have a mentality which translates to "God's will" so if they get into an accident, it is god's will it happened, if they hit somebody, it is god's will that happened.

Inshallah.

joelsfood

Driving in Kuwait was fun, as long as you aren't too stressed about living a long time.

New York Nick

I asked my original recruiter but he couldn't give me a clear answer. It is in the contract so if it is $9500, that would be great.

New York Nick

kspenc083 wrote: »

NY Nick,
I thought Vectrus moved on, but I was contacted again by my recruiter for the admin l position. They (Vectrus) also have a number of new position on their job site with SWACC, what is SWACC?

I'm starting the paperwork process as we speak, question, how is the travel to-and-from the work sites? It was mentioned that it can be a little brutal. Also, I did make an attempt to negotiate the salary, but I was informed that the hr rates are based on the gov'nt awarded contract amount.

~Thanks

revned is 100% correct. The driving is absolutely crazy out here. They have no regard for safety. New York drivers have nothing on the clowns out here in Kuwait. As a matter of fact, during in-processing, they told the story about the Vectrus employee who was hit by a car and killed as he was crossing the street. I am not sure if it was a hit and run.

Driving in the only real danger out here.

kspenc083

Ok,
So a moped is definitely out of the question

Well let me stop the paperwork process again, The only reason I'm at my current job is because of the travel time to work is only 15 minutes one way.

revned,
The position is for a (REMOTE system administrator l).

So the traffic is the same in Qatar and Afghanistan? So you really need hazard duty pay just to get to and from work?

revned

kspenc083: If it is Kuwait Remote System Administrator I, you will not be in Camp Arifjan which Vectrus houses their employees in apartments. For Kuwait Remote, you will currently be living inside the Camp as the nearest town is about 1 hour away. Inside the Camp, the Sysadmins are housed maybe 2 minutes (walking) away from the work building. You can get a bike (bicycle) which many use out here to get to and from places.

The Kuwaiti government recently changed their policies for expats, you are required to have a Kuwaiti driver's license to drive a vehicle and right now it has a minimum of 4 months waiting period. You cannot use an international drivers permit if you have a Kuwaiti Visa so basically you'll be relying on people who already have a Kuwaiti Driver's permit if you decide to live off base. The International Driver's permit is only good for upto the point you hand in your American passport when your applying for the Kuwaiti Visa.

I am not familiar with Qatar traffic. But Afganistan is a combat zone so living off base is not an option. If you go to afghanistan maybe your commute is 5-10 minutes walking or faster if you use a bicycle.

Unfortunately, these countries do not have the same comforts of US living with the exception of Qatar, Dubai and Kuwait which can be similar. I am coming from NYC and used to having soo much freedom and accessibility to retail stores and restuarants. And not to mention my 300mbps/300mbps FIOS connection.

However based on your financial priorities, working in these countries can help alot. You can save ALOT of money and pay off a great amount of debt. Not paying for housing puts more money in your pocket, tax free on income is a bigger PLUS (right now it is tax free upto 101K).