Job Discussion Forums

[rosannecoates]

Hello,

I am writing to seek any information ( i.e, reputation) on working for ESL Languages Centres/middle east. They have offices in Al Ain, Dubai, Egypt, Kuwait. They have a recent posting at the international jobs centre here. One of my specific concerns is the 30 contact hours. In doing the CELTA and another TESOl certificate, I was warned about teaching more than 20-25 contact hours. Any idea of the typical and recommended teaching hours in the UAE ESL job market.

I worked as an ESL Instructor for a short time for a company called Human Soft in Kuwait, and had a terrible experience, to say the least,- so don't want a repeat of this.

Also, with a Master of Education degree in Professional Counselling and 10 years of mental health Psychiatric nursing practice- I am interested in any good schools/colleges/universities with upcoming counsellor positions ( I would consider other Gulf countries besides the UAE). I know these type of positions are hard to come by- but any word/tips are appreciates.

Respectfully Yours,
SB

[veiledsentiments]

Hi Roseanne,

You are right that counsellor jobs are hard to come by. You really would need to be an Arabic speaker and extremely knowledgeable about the culture to handle this job in the Gulf. I have seen westerners make a bit of a mess of it. That is something to keep in mind if you are searching in this area. I know that the Higher Colleges of Technology have counselling departments, so that means that probably Zayed University does too. Also, you could check out American University of Sharjah.

As to teaching 30 hours a week, I find that outrageous and wouldn't even consider it. One of the reasons that I avoided all of the language school crowd. Did you do a search for ESL Language Centers on this board? There have been many threads about them. Much depends on which one, the current management, and their contracts. But, these kind of places tend to have low pay, high hours, low benefits, and no vacation to speak of.

With your experience, and speaking of Kuwait - Allied Health has been looking for people to teach English. KU wants MAs, but I don't know if they would accept yours since it is not EFL related. But it is health related. Another option would be the new Oman Medical College - near Muscat, which is looking for people with medical related experience.

Your Masters is education related, so I think you should be able to use it to avoid language schools.

Good Luck

VS

[rosannecoates]

Dear VS,

Thank you so much for your feedback, advise, and tips. It is greatly appreciated! I will follow up on your suggestions.

I am new to using this chat forum ( the message you responded to is my first experience in using this-so excuse my ignorance in not knwing what you mean by"threads" and how to access them.... I had enough difficulty in figuring out how to even post messages initially-( I am the opposite of a computer geek when it comes to computers). That said, and being new to the ESL business- I wish I wish I had discovered this 6 months ago to avoid my bad experience with the Kuwiat company Human Soft- A little research would have gone a long way- so much for being too trusting.

Thanks again!
Rosanne

[veiledsentiments]

Roseanne,

I didn't know anything about these discussion boards (this isn't really 'chatting' but soon you will learn the lingo. ) when I first visited Dave's back in the mid-90's. But fortunately, this new format is even better and easier to use. Just click on a country and start reading. If you click on a country, you get a list of questions - each one of those is called a 'thread.' You can learn a great deal here about all the different countries and different employers.

If you look at the top right, you will see the word 'search.' It allows you to search for a particular topic or school or college. If you go way up to the top of the page where it turns yellow, you will see "Job Information Journal" - that also has some information about countries and schools. But, I find that it usually tends to be unhappy people who post about bad experiences. It can be interesting though.

So, welcome to the Cafe, and hopefully there is someone passing through that can answer your questions so that your next teaching experience will be better than the last.

VS

[rosannecoates]

VS,

Thank you again for further details on using the job discussion forum- although one shold always read the threads/ content ( I understand now) expressed here, at least one is better informed. I'll let you know how I make out with things.
Cheers,
SB