Hi,Does anyone have experience with 3weeks onsite 1week off staffing schedule?I have an opportunity to get on 1 year long project abroad with this staffing model and my main concern is work life balance of having to work for 3 weeks straight.Is it sustainable in terms of productivity and motivation?Thanks for any advice.

Good grief, it sounds like a nightmare situation. Are they expecting you to work at weekends too?

2Bushy: I didnt ask yet. I am at ACN and dont have experience with this type of cross border staffing model. It would make sense to have at last free sunday.

As you mentioned "abroad", that sounds like you spend 3 weeks abroad and one at home; which is sensible and often used to bring the costs of travel and time spent in transit down.

I agree with Smithy. I know people who've had experience of this and depending on what is important to you this might not be so bad. Assuming you ain't married and or don't have kids, ideal situation would probably be: 3 weeks out of the country working mon - fri, 4th week in home country with the flexibility of working from home through the one week except presence really needed at office base or you personally choose to do so. And oh! Being keen on the travel location ofcourse. 36 weeks is a long time to spend working at a location you don't really fancy.

I was in the same situation last year.As per the first part of the question, in my case I did not have to work weekends more than I would normally do on a UK-based project. The only difference is that not having family / too many friends around, sometimes I didn't mind working a couple of hours over the weekend - it gives you something to do.In general, I absolutely loved the experience, but in my view bottom line is:- You are single and the country is "decent" (doesn't necessarily have to be Tahiti, but at least a safe environment with some interesting stuff to see/do): go and make the most out of it. I personally found working in a completely new environment visiting new places almost every weekend much more stimulating than the average project, but it is subjective I guess- You have kids/wife that cannot/are not interested in relocating for one year/coming to the country for extended period of time OR the country is not safe/has strict religious rule that would limit your freedom of movement: probably a nightmare, would suggest to turn it down or, at the minimum, limit your stay to a couple of months with a clear schedule defined upfront (perhaps shortening the length of stay to 2 + 2)

Sounds utterly grim. Wandering alone through some foreign city all on your own (or, possibly even worse, with work colleagues) at the weekend. Living out of a suitcase, ordering a "table for one" in the marriot restaurant (or, possibly even worse, eating all your meals with work colleagues), working all evening and all weekend because "there's nothing else to do". No place to call "home" except perhaps the country in which you now spend the minority of your time. Urgh. I guess some folks (the type that have watched too much "sxx and the city"?) love that sort of thing though.

Yeah, I see the point, but I genuinely had a good time.Again, mostly depends on relationship status in my view. I can imagine a routine "work-dinner-skype with girlfriend/wife" could indeed be difficult to sustain, but, being unattached, I got to know quite a few fun and interesting people to hang out with, got in touch again or visited friends I hadn't seen in a long time who happened to live in the country / continent and yes..at times traveled with colleagues too (I was quite lucky there as it was a very nice bunch!).My point is, personal circumstances (specifically, in my view, being single and in your 20s/early 30s and being able to speak the local language at a decent conversational level) and personality (eg. would you rather give another go at the full boxset of my beloved *ex&the city" rather than having dinner/drinks with someone you vaguely know or pretty much just met?,..) will determine whether the project turns into an interesting experience or an horrible one.

Which is the country and we'll tell you if it's worth it or not...?But in principle, do it if you're single, get the experience (you may even re-locate out there) and throw yourself into the local culture. Get yourself to a bar, meet a local chick and eventually you'll end up never wanting to go home because it will mean a week away from your gorgeous Senorita....!

I believe the country may have been Alaska (yes, technically a state)

[quote]I believe the country may have been Alaska (yes, technically a state)[/quote]In which case it will be exactly like when the English guy heads to America in Love Actually so you should be very keen to go now!

[quote]Which is the country and we'll tell you if it's worth it or not...?But in principle, do it if you're single, get the experience (you may even re-locate out there) and throw yourself into the local culture. Get yourself to a bar, meet a local chick and eventually you'll end up never wanting to go home because it will mean a week away from your gorgeous Senorita....! [/quote]Saudi...Is it worth it? I am aware of all cons and pros.

No, it is not. I have colleagues who were based for a project there a couple of years ago, and it wasn't pretty.Not sure if you have a choice, but if you do RUN.

Jeez - run like the f*cking wind... Ain't nothing there but trouble...

Yeah, sounds awful

I saw those Saudi roles....I know 2 people who've gone there recently, both totally hated it.I don't get why you'd go to Saudi on a UK salary/wage. Go there and work directly for a local company and get paid and taxed locally...makes up for the shortcomings of the location!

other than the obvious, exactly what did they hate about it?