Job Discussion Forums

[Four]

But for that you have to share accommodation.

[spanglish]

I applied. Looks like tolerable living conditions and a good saving opportunity.

[Four]

But you will be sharing with alkies.

[murphya33]

This policy of TQLS of shared accommodation is not a good idea. Of course it is to save costs and the teacher can make an extra 200 a month but one should seriously consider before jumping in because you never know what you�re going to get (like a box of chocolates). Last year I accepted shared accommodation and I ended up with this guy who had full blown flu for the first 6 weeks. He was an angry, morose person who would spend his time just sitting there seething about his ex and all the people who have done him wrong in the past and trying to have a conversation was like pulling teeth. He would fly off the handle at the drop of a hat and jump up with a fright every time I opened the door. I�d be awaken at 2am by a war movie blaring on the TV with him sound asleep on the sofa which he hogged most of the time. When ever I tried to point something out, he would flare up and get defensive and attack. After a while, I was afraid to say anything to him. Living in an environment like this is like walking on egg shells. He really was a flat mate from hell and as tight as a crab. Now I work in Qatar and have my own apartment. What a difference it makes. It took me months to recover from my Kuwait ordeal. I�m never doing that again.

[Spinoza]

I shared accommodation in the Middle East once before. Housemate was a pedophile from the UK.

Sharing accommodation with any random person will always be 50/50 - you might get along okay, but then again maybe not. But with 'English teachers', the likelihood of disliking your housemate increases dramatically, I find.

[JoeRomano]

I had a Canadian housemate, a nice guy. TQLS put me in a two bedroom apartment with him. He was there first so he took the bigger bedroom. Then, he took the living room to himself, too. The thing was he did not realize how he basically pushed me out and into my tiny bedroom because he was just too self absorbed and was always chatting with his girlfriend and to others about her.

Anyway, also, please do not work for TQLS- it is like living in some Latin American country during a dictatorship- people disappearing in the middle of the night, people getting fired just about weekly, people being pulled out of classrooms and put on buses ala Black Mariah. The place is insane. No stability at all.

They used to be called IPETQ and once ( or more than once) got sued publicly for their shameful firing practices- there were write ups about them in the papers, too. They were also reported to the labor department in Britain for their indiscriminate summary endless sackings of people for tiny reasons.

They changed their name to TQLS and are back to the old game except that now they are wiser- they fire people 'before' these get Kuwaiti work permits/visas, etc.

Of course, not everybody is getting fired, but Pinochet did not disappear all the political prisoners in Chile, and Stalin did not kill all his enemies, either. Some people actually remained alive.

[mustafabeer]

A mate of mine worked for TQLS and quit because of all the problems there. It doesn't get any better, just worse. So relieved I didn't take up their job offer a year ago. From what I understand, the number of teachers has gone from nearly 30 in September 2011 down to less than half that now. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to work out why. Teacher turnover is high and they're struggling to fill vacancies.

I think if you treat employers like TQLS as a stop-gap until something better comes along then maybe you can tolerate the unhealthy accommodation, bad working environment, insolent students, low morale, questionable management practices, weak leadership from the DOS, etc., etc.

But get out before you're a victim of their summary executions (see another thread in the forum.)

[JoeRomano]

One thing that amazed me though is that they are still in business until now, are prospering, and the top people are getting richer and richer.

I mean, they bill their clients, but aren't the clients concerned that they are paying for several expensive tickets per week? That the students need to get used to new teachers weekly? That ,obviously, the HR are hiring "incompetent" people who need to be replaced. Why do they enter into contract after contract with them?

And even if the clients don't care, isn't it wasteful , period?

I have heard of two sadistic sackers who would always walk around telling people how this and that bloke lost his job and how they could be next (they use fear tactics)and who in the end got sacked themselves.

The place would be a joke, but they are rich and getting richer! How does that work?

[dragonpiwo]

How's the gig at TQLS these days? Still fingering in and out, watching some (the chosen few) do sweet fa while you doing 6 a day? Still passing fails and enduring the 'bus of gloom'? Still bored out of your nut at the Mangaf mall/Mangafistan?

[middeastgirl]

Things have all but completely dried up for "The Plumber" and his crew. One piddly contract, I believe.
Came across this ad, but I don't think it's a done deal.

http://www.tqls.com.kw/vacancy.asp

[dragonpiwo]

Is the plumber still knocking off one of the Witches of Eastwick (Head office).....or did his Asian wife finally catch him?

I worked there as a fill in during my war evac. The plumber made us all wait till 15.30 one afternoon and gave a speech along the lines of;'Well this isn't the best job in the world but it's a job. Any questions?' The room remained silent, we all got up, walked to the fingering out machine and got on the bus.

I can honestly say that I've never worked with so many twisted people in my life. We had an American woman, who got fired after 3 weeks for swearing and fronting up to everyone. An American guy who had tourettes, who got canned after about 6 months. There was an Irish guy who'd clearly made up his CV as he couldn't teach and got let go and a Canadian woman, who spent her whole time trying to undermine just about everyone and then did a runner. A Scottish guy had a melt down and left and then there was the passive aggressive 'gem collector'. They were the worst of them but throw in a couple of mute living dead characters and 3 or 4 who were so tight they took all the biscuits and water from the tea hut until a blanket ban was put on anyone entering it and you were left with 'a few good men' and one really great woman who was married to a top bloke.

The 'teaching' involved passing everyone or at least testing them again and again till they were passed..

I did my moonlight flit back to my oil company as soon as I was recalled and have never looked back.

I had my nights in Salmiya and compound parties etc, I did the fancy malls and restaurants. However, Kuwait for me was perhaps the biggest disappointment ever. All that money and they've built a hole.

[watchdawg]

Folks I have been reading many false comments about TQLS and its management. Let me STRONGLY advise you as a person who has worked throughout the middle east and spent two terms with this company, it is in your best interest to avoid this company. Any positive comments were endorsed by the TQLS staff themselves. I could line up 50 different people who have had nothing but bad experiences with them. If they are so good then why are the continually looking for staff?

here is some of the things that have happened while I worked there.

- no instructor support, trainees have more authority and management
wont back you, cheating is rampant
- I asked for white board markers, I was told to go buy my own
- cant leave the facility during lunch hour to go eat where ever, you bring
your own or eat the slop at the local cafeteria
- un paid wages & flights, literally stealing from the staff based on what
they deem as their contract as it is outlined. one individual was striped of
more than 5000. US, by the time I had left they got me for around 500
US
- personnel belonging I had in my office desk were stolen by the Indians,
nothing was done about it even when I caught them red-handed going
through another instructors desk
- the Kuwaiti's are trainees are as immature as 6 year olds, abusive
towards the instructors, lazy, don't care to learn, basically a waste of time
for any talented teaching staff
- TQLS uses the City and Guild assessments yet break the very rules that
endorse its credibility, signing off trainees who are not component at
anything but using their Mobil phones, is a farce
- TQLS and its Kuwaiti associate have been investigated for scamming and
corruption, Kuwait Times (July 2008), it all went away when the minister
of education, AL Sabahs daughter, was paid off


are you getting the message now, look somewhere else for work, if your cant find work go to the food bank, your health will be better off for it in the end