Civilian Jobs In Iraq

Civilian jobs in Iraq are plentiful and most pay very well, especially the jobs with American companies.

Some of the foreign companies do not pay well at all or on time.

Generally what they like to do is get you to agree to some sort of base plus commission. Then they figure out how to squeeze that commission from you.

Jan 2011

As the US pulls out of Iraq, the jobs are drying up. There are still a few available but not like they were before.

For a list of companies who hire for Iraq go to Job Opportunities in Iraq.

When I was working at the Al Asad Hardware Store, my salary was based on commission. The only way to make the commission was to have sales and to have sales required merchandise to sell.

The company was bleeding off all the store profits to open up a cement plant at Taji in order to make T-Walls and other things. Unfortunately, the company did not have the know how to do this project and ran into enormous cost overruns to the point that they could not stock the store. So my salary was not anywhere near the amount the company told me it would be.

Also, they do not do direct deposit like American companies do.

They would wire transfer the money to my bank account which cost me $20 to send and then another $10 for my bank account to receive it every month. The wire transfer from the Middle East takes two or three days to hit the bank in the United States.

Foreign companies send the money to a different bank in New York City and if it is the weekend, forget it. If it is sent on the weekend, it will not hit my bank until Tuesday afternoon. In the Middle East, the weekend is Thursday and Friday. In the United States, the weekend is Saturday and Sunday. Monday is a sort of bank posting catch-up day.

So you have to be careful in choosing civilian jobs in Iraq. Go with a reputable American company if at all possible.

One of the best companies to go with for civilian jobs in Iraq is Halliburton also known as KBR.

American companies make sure that you are housed and fed and they pay for it. They use direct deposit and you are never charged for this. The check hits your bank on time so your bills are not late and your wife back home is not hit with a deluge of phone calls from all of the creditors wanting to know when they will receive payment.

American companies usually do what they say they will do in their contracts. No surprises, just the facts.

If you are ex-military, you stand a better chance of getting the higher paying jobs. There are some good places to look for these jobs on the internet, such as MilitaryHire.

There are so many types of civilian jobs in Iraq now with security companies, to food service, to laundering, to warehousing, to truck driving, and the list goes on. There is always a high need for generator and wheel vehicle mechanics.

In the picture below are things needed to put in a base camp for poppy eradication in Afghanistan.